Pride and Prejudice
I'm still on holiday but as soon as I go back to school on September 12th, updates might come slower. Thanks for the reviews and all the much appreciated feedback! ^^ Thanks to Audrey for beta-ing this one too :)
P.S.: If you like gypstep then you should listen to Molotov Jukebox (google it ^^): awesome band where Natalia Tena (Harry Potter's Tonks/ Game of Thrones's Osha) sings! She really has an amazing voice.
Chapter 3
Later that night Lisa left her sister's room and felt obliged towards her hosts to spend part of the evening with them. She found them in the living room, playing cards. Smiling at them, she refused to play with them, not interested in losing money against people who surely owned more than her family. She sat at a desk, right under the window and after staring outside for a while she saw a couple books sitting on the wooden table.
"Mr Wilson, may I read one of these books?" she asked politely. The man smiled at her then made his way toward her.
"Of course you have my permission to read these books and all the others in my personal library in the adjacent room. I'm afraid you won't find many book of your likings, most of my collection is still in New York." he said, disappearing in the library. He came back a couple minutes later with a servant, their arms full of old copies of ancient manuscripts and novels. Lisa thanked him with all her heart before sitting by the fireplace with a book on her lap.
Ten minutes later, Mr House was still answering to Miss Wilson's pointless questions. Lisa could see how bored he was by the woman's antics, but kept a straight face. That's what he deserves for being such a prick, she thought.
"How's Miss House, Gregory? I haven't seen her in a while." Mr Wilson asked, looking at his friend from over the cards.
"She's becoming a fine woman." he commented noinchalantly, obviously not in the mood for socializing.
"She's such a cute girl. She's truly beautiful and her manners! Oh her manners, she's so well-educated and also very cultured. And she plays the piano divinely!" Miss Wilson praised.
"I have always been amazed by women's patience. They learn to do so many things." Mr Wilson said. Her sister chuckled.
"It's not every woman in the world, my friend. Only a few can actually master the arts." Miss Wilson said with a smirk, her head moving slightly towards the chair Lisa was seated.
"People overuse the word 'cultured'. From my experience I can count on my fingers the really cultured women I've met." Mr House said. "It's been a long time since I've met one though".
"Neither have I." Miss Wilson confirmed, oblivious to the fact that Mr House had in some way just insulted her and her sister.
"That's because you expect way too much from a young woman." Miss Cuddy said out of the blue.
"Yes, I expect a woman to have many abilities. Everyone expect that." Remy said.
"Of course!" said Lisa mockingly. "A woman must know how to sing, to dance, to play various instrument, to know modern languages and she also has to behave in accordance with her social class and in the meanwhile do everything to preserve her beauty." Lisa said.
"That's not all. She has to cultivate her mind with meaningful books, not petty novels." House added.
"It's not to be amazed that you only know less than ten women who fulfill all this abilities. I am actually surprised you know more than one." Miss Cuddy said, standing up from the armchair she was sitting on.
"Oh, why are you so harsh against your own sex?" he asked.
"I have never seen all those qualities in a simple human being." she said walking to the window.
Both Miss Wilson and Mrs Taub complained, feeling insulted by the younger woman's words, but were immediately stopped and scolded by Mr Taub, who complained about the fact no one was paying attention to the game anymore. Lisa gave one last glance at the room and its occupants, before walking out.
Nonetheless she was forced to go back to the living room to report her sister's situation: Julia was getting worst. Mr Wilson immediately called a servant and ordered him to call Dr Foreman while her sisters, after apologizing, went back to their frivolous conversation.
The following morning Mrs Cuddy came over to Netherfield Part to finally pay a visit to her daughters. Only after lunch, she decided to head back home, having been reassured for the millionth time from Mr Wilson.
The following days started a routine: Lisa would knit by her sister's bedside, Mr House and Mr Wilson would talk about business with a less interested Mr Taub, Miss Wilson and Mrs Taub went shopping in the nearer city every morning after breakfast and came back just in time for supper and to pay a short visit to Julia.
That night they were all gathered in the living room: Lisa was sitting by the fireplace, a book in her lap, her eyes glued to the yellowing pages of a romantic novel; Mr Wilson was playing cards with Mrs Taub and his wife; Mr House was yawning bored at Miss Wilson's every word while trying to write a letter to her sister.
"Oh, Gregory, do you always write long letters to your sister?" she asked.
"Yes, I do." He replied, not bothering to lift his head up.
"This is so sweet…" Remy said with a smile. "I have always thought that a man who could easily write long letters couldn't write bad." She pointed out. House chuckled.
"They surely are long but as far as the quality of the words is concerned, I can't really judge." He said, trying to put an end to the conversation.
"Such modesty…" Lisa murmured, only Mr House heard it and grinned before continuing with his letter.
Twenty minutes later, Mr Wilson went upstairs to check on Julia, while his sisters and Mr Taub played the piano, sang and danced. Lisa was sitting in a corner, still completely into the book. Mr House was on the other side of the room, his back against the wall as he stared at Lisa's petite figure: she really was beautiful, her black hair cascaded along her shoulders in wild curls, her reddish lips were enlightened by the pallor of her face; her deep blue eyes were scanning the pages of the worn out book, which seemed to be very interesting to her.
Lisa didn't lift her head up, but she knew Mr House was staring at her, she could feel his big blue eyes boring holes in her head. A tingling sensation run through her body but she shook it away. It wasn't time to feel such feelings for a man she hated, or she thought she hated. She tried to focus back onto the book, only to stop when Mr House walked toward her and stopped right in front of her.
"Would you care to have a dance with me, Miss Cuddy?" he asked. Lisa smiled without answering. Surprised or more annoyed by her silence, he asked her again.
"Oh…" she said "I did hear you asking but I didn't know my answer yet. I know you wanted me to say yes in order to criticize my tastes, manners or whatever… That's why my answer is no. And now, please keep commenting with your friends about how poor or uncultured I am."
"I wouldn't dare to…" he replied.
Lisa stared at him surprised. She had thought she would have offended him, but no. He was being kind to her even after her mean answer. She immediately felt something, rising in her chest, an unknown sensation: a mix of lust, malice and sweetness which made it impossible for her to offend him another time. House stared at her as she looked completely lost in her thought, somewhere only she knew; and he realized in that very moment that he had never felt so fascinated by a woman in his whole life. He felt as if he could take a chance with her even if his family would have been reluctant to such a union.
Miss Wilson was staring at them from a seat next to the piano. With a hurt expression she kept singing as Lisa looked up at Mr House before excusing herself, leaving the room in a rush.
When Mr House went into the dining room for breakfast, Miss Wilson was already there. She smiled at him, offering him a plate with fresh fruit.
"I was waiting for you" she said. "I was wondering if you would like to take a walk with me in the park. It's such a nice day today." Mr House nodded, not really paying attention to Remy, his mind was too focused in his memories of the previous evening and of his dreams. He had dreamed of her, of that beautiful girl named Lisa who seemed to have captured his interest in less than a couple days.
Miss Wilson had a firm grip of his bicep as they walked down the path, towards the enormous fountain in the middle of the park.
"I hope that when the happy even will come, hopefully very soon, you'll have the decency to tell your mother-in-law to shut her mouth a little. She has the ability to embarrass herself and with her, her daughters too." she said smugly.
"Remy, I see that you're already planning my future. Do you have any other suggestion for me?" he asked.
"Of course, I have other ideas. There's so much it would need to change. You should change the disposition of the painting in the main hall at your residence. And about Lisa's painting, you really should find a great painter. I doubt anyone would be able to perfectly draw her profound eyes." She said, obviously envious of Miss Cuddy.
"It really is difficult to actually capture the real essence of her eyes." He said. "But I guess a painter could do a good enough job." He nodded before resuming to walk.
Crossing the fountain they spotted Mrs Taub walking down the path with Lisa. Lisa immediately looked elsewhere, but Mrs Taub waved them over.
"I didn't know you were out for a walk too." Miss Wilson said.
"We went out after you; we needed some fresh air." Her sister said, taking Mr House's arm and continuing to walk with them, leaving Lisa behind them. House stared back at her and saw her smiling shily at him.
"You keep walking, I'll be right behind you with Miss Cuddy" he said, trying to escape from Mrs Taub's strong grip.
"Don't worry about me" she said "I need to check on my sister in a while and you three form a very nice scene, picturesque, really." She said, waving her hand while walking away.
This is not going to end well, she thought, still feeling that funny feeling in her stomach.