A/N: I was originally going to do red/green alternating, but I think it will go better with a few chapters of one followed by a few chapters of the other. Besides that, I have two red chapters and I mostly post as I write. Still loving all the comments, although I don't have time to respond to very many. You have collectively guessed about half of the major plot points ;)

Chapters are running just a little longer than my usual. For stories over 10 chapters I average 2,600/chapter. This one is running 3,200. I suspect I'm getting gradually wordier, and you can decide if that's a feature or a bug.

A couple of people have very kindly asked if things are going well for me, so I can answer that. Things are good here in Seattle. I still work full time, making the sixth generation of the Cancer Treatment EMR I've been working on for a long time. I manage a team of 8 but spend most of my time slinging code. It's still interesting, and I will be at it until February. My wife retired a month ago. Both daughters are doing distance learning, as expected. All in all, things are going as well as they could in a poorly managed COVID world.

So, on with the Red. I expect this and 1-2 more before switching back to Green, but my plans are always fluid, so you never know.

[Update – as the story progressed, I started making each thread longer than in the beginning so less switches. There is some chance I'll eventually move chapters around, but for the moment, they are all as written.]

Wade


RED

Jennings and Mrs. Reynolds preceded Elizabeth out of the parlor, then led her up a flight of stairs and through a long corridor. Mrs. Reynolds pointed out all the rooms they passed on the way and said she would be happy to arrange a more thorough tour at Mrs. Darcy's convenience.

When they arrived at the library, Elizabeth entered and made a cursory survey. With the utter lack of alternative entertainment, aside from having a lot of time to practice the pianoforte without fighting Mary, she assumed that she would be reading and walking a great deal. The library turned out to be large, well appointed, comfortable, and entirely adequate to hers, or anybody's, needs. She could not imagine she would need to spend any of her own coin on books, since she could easily see at least a couple dozen very interesting specimens right in the first glance, and the room was enormous, as one would expect for the work of many generations. She even took a surreptitious look at the infamous black shelf and grew angry all over. She saw any number of wonderful books that might have consumed days, and yet, she was not to read them because her husband worried that she might damage them and wished to regulate her reading as if she were a child.

By the time she had finished a short inspection of the area, she found Molly Hatcher waiting, looking pensive. The younger girl curtsied, and Elizabeth, gave her a grin and a wink, which only the two of them could see.

"It is nice to see you again, Mrs. Darcy."

Elizabeth smiled. "I could say the same, Molly. Has Mrs. Reynolds explained what I would like you to do?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you have no objections?"

"Of course not."

"Are you a good walker, Molly. I may be outdoors more than in much of the time and am not intimidated by bad weather."

Molly grinned a bit. "I happened to come into some unexpected coin a month ago, Mrs. Darcy. I bought new boots and a new coat. I can keep with anybody."

Elizabeth laughed at the boast. "We shall get along fine, then."

Elizabeth then turned to her butler and housekeeper. "Shall we see the mistress' suite then?"

The group acquired three more footmen who were waiting outside the library. Elizabeth wondered exactly how many Pemberley boasted, and what they did when the master was not about. She was sure Mrs. Reynolds would tell her sooner or later, and she would have to learn their names and duties if she wanted any slight hope of succeeding as mistress of this monstrosity – eventually.

They climbed one more flight of stairs, went down a corridor, and Jennings opened the doors to a large suite. Elizabeth entered, looked around, and thought her eyes might never recover from the shock. She just sat starting at the furniture in –

Mrs. Reynolds, seeing her expression, said, "The former Mrs. Darcy was daughter of an Earl, and she liked her furniture," then she paused a moment, scrunched her eyes in concentration, apparently discarding words as she went, and finally settled on, "ornate."

Elizabeth laughed. "I believe you have a talent for understatement I will greatly appreciate, Mrs. Reynolds."

She stared at the furniture which was indeed, 'ornate'. It was exactly the way she pictured Rosings based on Mr. Collins's description. She decided she would use that word instead of – well, she would just stick with that one. There was no point in disparaging the taste of a dead woman, so she just asked, "What do the other chambers look like?"

"There has been no mistress for some time, so the rest of the rooms are not consistent. Some are nicer than others. If you like, I can show you the most recently decorated."

Elizabeth nodded, and went with just Jennings, Reynolds, and Molly several doors down the corridor, where they found a suite that was much more to her taste. To be sure, the furniture was very nice and probably quite expensive, but it was all tastefully elegant.

Elizabeth briefly considered just moving into that suite but rejected the idea reluctantly. Her arrival was already likely to be the stuff of legends for generations and adding yet more gossip to the mix could not possibly help.

She studied the room for some time, and finally asked, "Do you suppose your footmen could just swap all the furniture, Mr. Jennings?"

The butler looked somewhat perturbed by the idea. "What do you mean, Mrs. Darcy?"

"Swap them! I mean, have your footmen move all this lovely furniture in my suite, and all that horrid furniture here, or to the attics, or the burn pit, or – you decide."

Mrs. Reynolds said, "That seems a good immediate solution Mrs. Darcy. It will make your chambers more comfortable until you have time to redecorate properly."

Elizabeth nodded. "I suppose your men may as well get started."

"We shall get to it immediately, madam."

"Very well. The rooms are similar enough that you should be able to just exchange like for like. If we need to make adjustments, I have all the time in the world, so we can do it later. For now, I do not need to hover over the men making them nervous as they work, so I shall leave it in your hands. I have been cooped up in a carriage for two days. Molly and I will explore the grounds. We will stay close."

"Very well, madam. We should be done in two hours."


Molly went to retrieve her coat and boots. A quarter hour later, both women were alone in the garden. Elizabeth thought that at least she had a lot of gardens and woods to explore. The weather was, according to Mr. Gregory very mild for that time of year. He did not know how long it would last. He said sometimes they were snowed in for weeks at a time, but thus far, all they had was rain and light snowfall.

Elizabeth thought light snowfall would be great fun, but being snowed in for weeks, much less so.

Once they got away from prying ears, Elizabeth said, "Molly, you can see my efforts at escape were in vain."

Molly looked just a bit nervous at the unexpected intimacy, but she gamely replied, "I suppose so. Do not worry, Mrs. Darcy. I will not gossip. Mr. Bartlet and the innkeeper know to hold their tongues as well. Your secret is safe, at least with everyone I know."

"I never doubted it," and then she paused a moment, and finally said, "Molly, we must play our parts well when in company, but when alone, I would like you to try not to be overly deferential. I would like to have one confidant in the area."

"I am not certain I can do that, Mrs. Darcy. I know my place."

Elizabeth understood the sentiment, but asserted, "Yes, I know it may be uncomfortable, and perhaps someday, when all of this is behind us, we might have to behave differently, but I would like you to try, within the limits of your own comfort."

Molly nodded somewhat reluctantly, and decided it was time to broach the other awkward subject.

"I still have most of the money you gave me, Mrs. Darcy. I can return it tomorrow."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because it is yours."

Elizabeth reached over to take the younger woman's arm and pulled her along so they might both find some comfort in movement.

"Molly, please trust me that I knew exactly what I was doing when I gave you that money. At the time, I was expecting this exact moment to be almost certain. The money is right where I wanted it to be. If I had thought I might want it back, I would have asked you to hold it for me. I did not. I gave it to you gladly, and I would do so again without qualms. It is yours to keep, with my blessings."

Molly looked dubious, but unless she wanted to have an argument with her new mistress on their very first day, she saw no need to press her point. It was not as if the money would not still be available in time of need, or Mrs. Darcy would be short of funds. She had spent very little and had the balance well hidden.

"If you say so, Mrs. Darcy, I will agree, but if you have no objections, I will keep most of it handy, just in case."

Elizabeth smiled. "You never know what will happen in life, Molly. A month ago, you and I were both in between one life and another. We have begun a journey, but I have no idea where it will end."

"Will Mr. Darcy be joining us any time soon?"

"Apparently not. He is off on some critical family business. I would not want you to gossip, per se, but if people happened to think he was engaged in business for the Crown or the war effort, or something similarly heroic; it might not be the worst rumor possible. I suppose speculation on some vague connection between my mourning and his mission would not be a terrible thing either. There will be speculation, so we may as well try for it to be the least damaging we can."

Molly laughed. "Have no fear, Mrs. Darcy. I will do my best. Have you have engaged Mrs. Reynolds in the task as well."

"I have."

"Who would have thought that I would be sharing a task with Mrs. Reynolds. It is as if I suddenly became a courtier to the Queen."

Elizabeth laughed, and they decided to talk of this and that for a while, which mostly amounted to a discussion of Molly's family, since Elizabeth could still not speak of her family without abusing poor Molly's ears. Molly was quite alone, with both parents dead and four brothers scattered around the world in the Navy. She did have a few aunts, uncles and the like that she visited occasionally, but not often.


Elizabeth returned to find the mistress' suite much improved. Mrs. Reynolds was examining the work with satisfaction and watched Elizabeth carefully to see her reaction.

"Mrs. Reynolds, this is wonderful."

"It will do for the moment, Mrs. Darcy. When shall we start redecorating?"

Elizabeth arched an eye. "What redecorating is that?"

The housekeeper shook her head. "Mr. Darcy explicitly said that you were to redecorate the mistress' suite to your preferences."

Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, that he did. Your footmen just did that. We are done."

"What do you mean, done? Done for now?"

Elizabeth sighed. "No, I mean done. I am entirely satisfied for the moment. If I need a piece or two moved here or there, I will ask a footman, but otherwise, all is well."

Mrs. Reynolds shook her head in confusion, but finally just decided that either Mrs. Darcy was somewhat peculiar, or she was stepping very lightly in the master's absence. It was obvious that something was not quite right between master and mistress, but she saw no way for that to be resolved before the master returned. It seemed that they were all to just maintain status quo during his absence, and the new Mrs. Darcy was simply biding her time. At least, that was the only explanation Mrs. Reynolds could come up with. She did not consider any alternatives.

Elizabeth said, "I presume it must be about time for supper, Mrs. Reynolds?"

"You are certain you do not wish to eat in the dining room?"

"Completely certain. I will hope you can explain my reasoning to the staff adequately?"

Mrs. Reynolds sighed. "Yes, leave that to me, Mrs. Darcy. How shall we serve it?"

"Molly needs to eat too. She should eat with the staff sometimes, but more often than not, she will just eat in the maid's chambers after I am finished, since I might need her to help me prepare for bed."

"Very well, ma'am. I assume this means you will not be dressing for dinner?"

"That is correct. Please explain it as part of my mourning ritual. It is unconventional, but hopefully, it will not seem too odd."

"As you say, Mrs. Darcy. Come along, Molly. Let us get you a tray."

With that, housekeeper and maid left the room, and Elizabeth wandered over to a window to enjoy its prospect. The hill, crowned with wood, which they had descended, receiving increased abruptness from the distance, was a beautiful object, even in the dead of winter, and she assumed it would be stunning in spring or summer. Every disposition of the ground was good; and she looked on the whole scene, the river, the trees scattered on its banks and the winding of the valley, as far as she could trace it, with what would, in better times, have been absolute delight.

There was no doubt in her mind, that Mr. Darcy was entitled to some pride. He had been a very clever boy, who had chosen his ancestors well. The niggling thought that he carried the heavy weight of being responsible for maintaining this and passing it on either whole or improved to his heirs only briefly occurred to her, but while it flitted through her mind, she fleetingly made an attempt to think better of her husband. It was, however, a small success, unlikely to be repeated.

She was still standing there, looking out the window and brooding when Molly returned with supper. She had told Mrs. Reynolds that Molly would eat in the maid's chambers just because she did not want the housekeeper to die of any more shocks for the day. However, now that they were alone, she told Molly they would eat together, and she was not to be dissuaded. They spent the meal talking, but about general subjects and the neighborhood.

After supper Elizabeth asked, "Did you keep up your lessons, Molly?"

Molly smiled brightly. "Yes, ma'am. Mr. Bartlet has set me a course of study, although I am not doing so well now that I have employment."

"We shall have to rectify that. I cannot have a maid who does not read and write well, and we have a lot of time. We shall make a proper lady's maid of you before we are done. I suspect Mrs. Reynolds will conveniently forget most of your other duties, since she no longer needs to prepare meals for the dining room. You will be with me most of the time. Where are your slate and books?"

"In my room, Ma'am."

"Go and retrieve them. We may was well make use of the evening for study. Let us work for a fortnight becoming accustomed to our routine, and then I will lay out a course for you, and make sure you have a few hours for study each day. Mrs. Reynolds need never know."

Molly looked a bit surprised, but in the end, no matter how peculiar their situation was, the lady was Mrs. Darcy and she was mistress of this estate. If she said her maid was to use her work time to study, Molly was not going to argue. It certainly beat being a scullery maid.

A half hour later, both women were comfortably ensconced by the fire. One had a copy of a recent novel about two sisters that she had been surprised to find in the library, and the other had a children's story. Elizabeth was content to have Molly read aloud for a half‑hour, and then she repeated the process to give the younger girl a taste of what she was working for.

The day finally ended, and Elizabeth gratefully changed into her night clothes and retreated to bed. The maid's chambers contained a small bed that was better than the one in the servant's attics, so she allowed Molly to just sleep there if she chose. While it was true that Mr. Darcy had not allowed her a lady's maid, nothing said Molly could not learn to be one in good time, and her husband, in an uncharacteristic bit of sloppiness had omitted to say that she could not have a scullery maid who acted like a lady's maid.

As she drifted off to sleep, Elizabeth reflected that, sooner or later, she would have to start acting like the mistress of an estate. She had little doubt that Mr. Darcy would prefer to install a spy in her suite in the form of a hand‑picked lady's maid, and on that point, she wanted to be prepared to put her foot down and insist on her own choice. It might be her only chance to ensure that she had someone close by who was trustworthy.