The next day dawned bright and sunny, promising to be a beautiful late spring day. As Darcy, Georgie, and I ate breakfast, Darcy suddenly spoke.
"Lizzy, do you by any chance know where you are? In what state?" he asked.
I looked at him, unsure of what exactly he was looking for. "I'm not certain, I think someplace backwoods though. Where... Fitzwilliam," I managed to grind out without shuddering at the man's name, "bought me was quite literally a one-horse town."
Darcy seemed amused and embarrassed about something. "What?" I demanded.
"I apologize," he began, "I'm afraid that I lied to you when you first arrived here. And as for our location, you are both right and wrong."
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.
"I lied when I said that the nearest town was 30 miles away. The town were Fitzwilliam bought you was 30 miles away, but it was by no means the nearest town."
He then began speaking faster, as if hoping it get out this ridiculous new truth before I exploded in rage. "The nearest town is actually a mere ten miles from here, I only said that it was 30 to dissuade you from trying to run away. I couldn't take the chance of you possibly leaving Georgie here alone."
"And what makes you think that I won't run away now?" I asked.
He cocked his head, trying to come up with an answer. "I'm not quite sure, I just feel that you won't?" he looked at me questioningly.
I smiled before reassuring him, "Don't worry, I have no intention of trying to run away."
He nodded, satisfied with my answer. "So where are we exactly?" I ventured to ask.
"Well, you were slightly right about us being backwoods, but not quite. We are in what is considered backwoods New York." he paused a moment to let that sink in.
I stared at him. "New York!?" I asked, incredulous. Here I had thought that I was as far away from civilization as possible, and I was in New York! Backwoods aside.
"Yes, well. Since you now know the truth, I am going to take you to town today. I have some purchases I need to make, and you could pick out some new fabric for another dress," he said, although I couldn't help but notice that he still seemed slightly embarrassed.
"That sounds wonderful," I said, honestly a little surprised that he was trusting me so quickly. "What changed your mind so quickly?"
He studied me for a few moments, "the fact that you stood up to Lady Catherine, and I saw how you were protecting Georgie from her. I appreciated it."
"I hope that you realize that I would never let anyone hurt Georgie, and that I would never run out on her," I said quietly, picking at my breakfast.
I glanced up to see him studying me again. "I am realizing that and I thank you," he said, just as quietly.
We looked at each other for a few more seconds, and then the moment passed. An hour later, Darcy had hooked his horse up to a small carriage that he produced from somewhere in the depths of the barn. I climbed in and settled Georgie on my lap, and we were off.
The horse trotted at a brisk pace, and the ten mile drive went quickly and silently. I observed the forest, and memorized every curve of the road and turn we made, an old escape habit that had become ingrained in the past years.
We rounded one last bend in the road and there was the town. I sat back in surprise. This was a far cry from the small, single street, one horse town that Fitzwilliam had bought me. The town wasn't extremely large, but it was bustling, with a long main street, with shops and businesses lining the boardwalks. There was stable, with a hitching post, and Darcy drove the horse up to it. A stable boy came out and talked with Darcy for a few moments, I gathered that Darcy left his horse here quite often.
I handed Georgie to Darcy and climbed down from the carriage. We set off, with Darcy guiding us with a hand resting lightly on my arm. We walked down the boardwalk until we reached a blacksmith's shop. Darcy stopped and then led us in.
"This is where I work," he told me.
There were two other young men in the shop, they couldn't have been over 15-16 years old. They greeted Darcy, who introduced them to me as, "Tom and Evan, my two apprentices."
I looked at Darcy for a moment. He didn't look old enough to have apprentices, he himself not even 25 yet, I imagined. He must be very good at his trade. Darcy spoke with his apprentices for a few more moments before turning and ushering me back out to the boardwalk.
"What shopping did you have to do?" I asked Darcy once we were back outside.
"Just a few essentials, sugar, coffee, flour, etc cetera. I will have to teach your how to run the pantry and keep it stocked," he told me.
I nodded, and then we stopped again and went into the general store. As an indentured servant, I was not allowed to go to a town of any kind that often, and I was certainly never allowed into a full-size general store before. I couldn't help but gape. The shelves were stocked with enough goods to feed the town for an entire winter. I had never seen so much food all in one place before. Darcy showed me around the store, and instructed me in what to purchase and how much.
As he payed, Darcy talked briefly with the clerk, exchanging pleasantries. The clerk stared at me unabashedly, and I had to refrain from squirming. I held Georgie tighter and tried to ignore the man. Darcy obviously realized what was going on and ushered us outside again, holding the purchases under one arm.
We walked in silence for a while, and I just soaked up the feeling of being able to walk through a town in semi-peace and freedom. It was a good feeling. Our last stop was in a fabric store. We walked in, and there were ribbons and hats and bolts of cloth everywhere. It was a mass of colorful materials.
Darcy told me to pick out a pattern of fabric, and the as much of if as I would need to make a dress. I started on one wall, and slowly worked my way around the entire store, looking at each design. The dress I had now was a dark blue, so I skipped over that color entirely, looking for something different. I finally found a beautiful pattern, it was light brown with a salmon-colored pink swirled through it. As I looked at it, I knew that I would probably quite enjoy sewing with the pattern.
I spoke with the sales lady and she measured out the number of yards I told her to. Darcy made the purchase, and then we were back outside. We were about to head back to the stables when Darcy stopped again. He looked across the street, and then turned to me.
"Come, let's get something to eat," he said.
We walked across the street to a small sweet shop. We went in and Darcy ordered three small cakes and some lemonade. We sat at one of the small, round tables, and enjoyed the treat.
"Thank you," I said to Darcy suddenly, he looked at me in surprise.
"What for?" he asked.
"For trusting me, for bringing me to town, for the new fabric, for this," I replied. "You are the first person in a long time who has treated me like a human being, not like a possession," I said with a slight smile of thanks.
At first he merely nodded, and then he did something that surprised me. He smiled at me and then said, "You're welcome."
When we arrived back at the stables, Darcy tipped the stable boy, and we loaded the purchases and a now sleeping Georgie into the carriage. The drive back to the house was just as silent as the one to town. This time though, I didn't focus on memorizing the turns in the road. I sat back and just looked at the forest passing by.
_
The next three weeks passed quickly, yet peaceably. I sewed and kept the house in order, and even tried my hand at weeding the garden. After I pulled up my dozenth carrot, Darcy merely laughed and told me to just stick with weeding the squash and tomatoes.
Darcy and I talked, but it was usually light, casual conversation. I did notice that Darcy was smiling more. On top of that, I also noticed that he was quite handsome when he smiled. The first time I realized this, I had no idea where that thought came from, and felt like slapping myself. After a while though, I grew fond of his smiles and began to look forward to them. Life was as peaceful as I had ever known it, and I realized that I rather enjoyed it like this.
One day, three weeks after our encounter with Lady Catherine, the lady herself arrived back on our doorstep. Thankfully, Darcy was home this time, and Georgie was napping. As soon as I heard the phaeton pull up to the house I knew it was her. Her phaeton was lighter than the Collins's wagon, and her ponies had an annoying habit of whinnying loudly when they stopped. I think she had them trained to do that just to announce her arrival.
I tensed over the stove, where I was preparing lunch. Darcy came in from his study, where he had been reading, and we looked at each other.
"Stay here, I'll deal with her this time. She may try to offend you, but please refrain from offending her," Darcy requested quietly.
I nodded, understanding. No matter how annoying they were, one did not want to overly-offend rich relatives. At least not a second time.
I watched through the window as Darcy spoke to Lady Catherine. He then turned and came inside, the lady followed as a slower pace. Darcy raced inside, and to me. He spoke quietly and quickly in my ear, before Lady Catherine got inside.
"She is going to stay for dinner. She has promised to be courteous but I do not know how long that will last. Please, no matter what she says, just walk away rather than lash out." Darcy pulled away slightly, and I saw that he was serious. "Besides," he said then, with a smile both on his lips and in his eyes, "if she becomes too rude, I may be the one to lash out anyway."
I smiled back. "I'll try my best," I said honestly, "family is family, no matter how rude. I would be overjoyed to have family." Darcy's face softened, and he seemed about to say something when we heard a throat clear purposely behind us.
We both turned to see Lady Catherine, staring disapprovingly at our close proximity to one another. Her expression cleared then, as if remembering her promise. Darcy pulled a chair out for her at the table and I set another place setting in front of her. Lunch was then ready and I served the food.
At first the meal was quiet, with that horrible sound of forks scraping plates. Suddenly, Lady Catherine spoke.
"Lizzy, you said you were an indentured servant. How many previous owners have you had?" she inquired.
"Around six or seven. I've honestly lost count," I replied. I was about to try to take a bite when:
"Can you read and write?"
"Yes ma'am, I can." I attempted to take another bite, but Lady Catherine seemed determined I starve.
"How was it you came to be an indentured servant? Were you a London sewer brat?" her voice was so casual, as if she were merely asking how the weather had been lately.
"No ma'am, I have been an indentured servant since I was 12."
"And have you always lived in America?" she asked.
She was fishing for something, but I wasn't sure what it was yet. "Yes ma'am, I have," I replied.
"And your maiden name was Thatcher I gather?"
I was becoming quite annoyed with Mr. Collins and his big mouth, "Yes ma'am."
"What of your parents? Where did they come from and what became of them?"
"My parents were from England originally, but they moved to America long before I was born. They were attacked and killed in an Indian raid when I was 12," I replied, her questions were coming tiresome.
I quickly scooped some food into my mouth before she could open hers again. Lady Catherine didn't ask me anything else for the duration of the meal, but instead made small talk with Darcy.
Once we were finished eating, I cleared the table and we went to sit in the sitting room.
Lady Catherine fixed the two of us with a serious look. "I have come across some grave yet joyful news," she began. "Darcy, surely you remember the Bennets? That unpleasant family whose daughter went missing as a child? Not that it affected them at all, for they had three more," she added sourly.
"Yes, I do remember them. Why mention them?" Darcy asked.
"Because their missing daughter has been found," Lady Catherine said triumphantly. "Darcy, does Lizzy have a rather large, splotched birthmark on her lower back?" she asked.
I tensed. Darcy replied, "I would not know madame, and I don't see how it's any of your affair." His voice was tense as well.
Lady Catherine's expression became sly for a moment, before it smoothed out. I set my gaze on the woman, determined to not to miss anything. She had something up her sleeve, and I didn't trust her.
"Well I suggest you look, Darcy for if she does-" Lady Catherine looked between the two of us smugly, "you, my dear," she said, addressing me now, "are the lost Bennet daughter."
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