Hello! This is an early update, I have some chapters pre-written so it was quick but it won't be always that way ;)
A lot of thanks to Danielle for being my beta.
I am sorry, so sorry for Henry's words in this chapter, please don't take offence.
About how this story will go: We got a prologue which is in reality somewhere around chapter 15 in this story so we had a bit of a look into the future. We start going chronologically from the chapter one.
We need a bit of history of Lizzy's "education", so here we go. ;)
Chapter One
September 1806, Gracechurch Street, London
Fifteen years old Lizzy quietly slid into a dark kitchen and then slowly etched towards the pantry. She had been reading long into the night and now she was hungry. She hoped she will find there a bit of that delicious cake which her aunt served for the afternoon tea.
Mmm, chocolate cake with raspberries, I can't wait. She unlatched the door and she crept inside carefully. Oh, here it is! She quietly celebrated when she saw the silver plate.
She put her candle on the shelf and looked around for a knife. There was one hidden behind the big bag of flour. Lizzy smiled amusedly. Her uncle was so predictable with his hiding place. He loved the smoked pork which was hanging in the corner and he often came at night for it. She prayed he wouldn't come that night.
She cut a generous piece of cake and immediately started feasting on it. This is delicious. She chuckled to herself. Mama will be proud of me. She always pesters me about being like a stick with no curves. When will I finally grow up? Her melancholic musings were interrupted by another explosion of flavour which was brought on by new bite. Aunt Maddy has a far superior cook than we have at Longbourn.
Lizzy adored her new aunt Madeline. Her uncle married two years ago and his new wife quickly won her nieces over. She was sophisticated, soft spoken but firm and very generous. Lizzy wanted to be like her. She started with trying to help her aunt as much as possible so it was quite logical when her aunt found herself with child again, with little master Edward being only nine months old, she hastened to London to make herself useful while her uncle was busy in his warehouse.
Aunt Gardiner loved all her nieces, but secretly Lizzy was closest to her heart. She would not show any favouritism on the outside like her brother and sister often demonstrated but she was always happiest when it was Lizzy's turn to come to London.
Lizzy was halfway done with her piece when she heard loud footsteps. She quickly blew out the candle and crouched behind the shelves in the far corner of the room, still clutching her precious cake.
The mysterious person entered the kitchen while singing, not very quietly, a vulgar tavern song. She immediately recognized Henry, her uncle's footman. She heard the banging of pots on the stove and then another voice joined him. From the sound of it, it was John, the new stable boy. He was just a year older than her and very charming, especially towards the young inexperienced girl who was never used to the flattery. She blushed in the darkness.
Her uncle recently made a few very profitable investments and even though he stayed living on the Gracechurch Street to reside near his warehouses, he was able to buy a neighbouring house with its adjacent stable. He had there three horses for now but he planned on buying at least one more.
"Johny, look, Mrs. Tyler left us the dinner we missed, bless her heart." Henry said satisfied. "However, even if I had missed the dinner completely, it would be worth it." He heavily sat down and started stuffing his mouth with baked potatoes.
Lizzy heard the second chair to squeak when John took his food to the table as well. He didn't say a word which was quite unusual for him.
"Ah but you look a bit green." Henry laughed. "Oh boy, you have to learn so much more about the life."
Something ran over Lizzy's foot. Mouse! Lizzy yelped, startled, but quickly stopped her scream with her fist which she stuffed into her mouth. It would do no good to be caught eavesdropping, even if it wasn't intentional. She still couldn't look John in the eye after witnessing that event a week ago. Her face was heating up again.
A week ago
Lizzy had a hard time falling asleep. It was hot August night and she could not get comfortable. She finally jumped out of the bed and went to the table for the water to help her cool down, but she found her pitcher empty. She did not want to disturb Hannah, her aunt's maid, so she took the pitcher and went to the kitchen to find something to drink.
She forewent a candle; she knew the Gardiner's residence like the back of her hand and she also did not want to wake up the housekeeper who had a very light slumber. Mrs Taylor was quite a frightening woman. She was tall and robust and when a maid or even a footman was not doing their job properly, their face usually connected with the back of her hand.
On the way to the kitchen, she heard a bang from the back of the house. A true daughter of her father, brought up as a son, she crept bravely towards the sound. She grabbed a chandelier from the side table and continued determinedly. She often dreamt of being the heroic strong woman who discovers an evil plot, hidden treasure from pirates or a band of robbers.
When she got to the back door, she found them unlatched. It was uncharacteristic for the proper Gardiner's servants to be so careless. She raised her hand to close them when she heard another banging coming from the outside. She carefully looked out through the crack and gasped.
There was John, standing with his back to her, pinning the young maid from the neighbouring residence to the wall. Her head thrown back, she was biting her lips to muffle her moans. John had unlaced her dress, suckling on her breast while the other was squeezed by his hand. His breeches half undone, her skirts around her waist, he was thrusting into her and with his pace quickening so was the volume of their moans rising.
Lizzy froze for a few seconds. She immediately recognized the act, although she had only seen her father's sheep behaving this way. She never really realized that human mating looked quite so similar.
She turned around and bolted. She completely forgot about her thirst, she blindly run to her room and drove under sheets. She firmly closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep. She was not successful in this, and she spent the next day with dark circles under her eyes, blaming the hot night for her lack of sleep when her aunt asked.
Since then, she could not look John in the eyes, and his teasing and flirtatious words made her really uncomfortable around him, suddenly understanding all the hidden meanings and double entrees.
John put his plate down. "Ah, this is what I needed." He leant back in the chair. "I am never going to see execution again." He grimaced.
"Oh." Henry just laughed. "Do not tell me that you are so weak-hearted. Those men were criminal, they deserved to hang."
"But I did not like watching it." John replied stubbornly. "That highwayman was a murderer and I understand he needed to be executed but I do not understand why so many people want to see it." He shuddered.
"Aw, you are not a man if you cannot stand looking at it." Henry sneered at him.
"I am a man!" John started getting offended. "You will see! I will go to the court with you next week again!"
"Oh, next week." Henry laughed. "I heard that they caught some sodomist, I hope they will sentence him to the death. A painful one for that animal!"
"Yes?" John started tentatively. "And what-what does sodomy mean?" He asked carefully, he did not want to be seen as ignorant when he just closely deflected Henry making a laugh of his masculinity.
Henry let out a loud cackle. "You do not know?"
"No." John replied petulantly. "And I do not care about you laughing at me." He added hotly.
"Boy, boy." Henry attempted to calm him down. "Sit down and be quiet. No need to rise so quickly."
"Well, will you give me an explanation?" John would not be put off.
"Alright." Henry thought for a moment. "Although you do not need to worry about yourself, from your occupation with Martha, I can easily say that you are safe."
"Martha?" John jumped to his feet again. He leaned threateningly towards the older man. "You do not talk about her!"
Martha? Lizzy mouthed quietly to herself. What does his nightly meeting has in common with criminals?
"Settle down!" Henry forcefully grabbed John's hand and hauled him down back to the chair. "You young lot are too much hot headed!"
John just glared at him.
Henry sighed and explained. "Sodomy is when two men do the same you do every night with that pretty little thing." He made a disgusted face.
Comprehension dawned on John's face. "Oh."
"Oh!" Lizzy gasped, completely shocked.
Henry raised his head. "What was that? Did you hear it?"
"No." John chuckled, feeling that he can get his revenge. "You are getting old and starting hearing ghosts."
"Oh, hush." Henry playfully pushed him but he underestimated his strength and John ended sprawled on the floor.
"You-you." He spluttered enraged. "How dare you-" His voice was becoming louder and louder.
Henry covered his mouth with his hand. "Shh, you will wake up Mrs. Taylor!"
John gulped, immediately aware of the danger awaiting him. They both tiptoed out of the kitchen, praying that they have not woken her up yet.
Lizzy exhaled with relief in her hiding place. That was really close. She completely lost her appetite after the talk about execution. She packed the rest of the cake into her handkerchief for later and quietly returned to her bed.
Their quick mention about sodomy intrigued her. She was always very curious, and this topic reeked of forbidden and dangerous situations, exactly what she should have as a proper young lady avoided. Exactly what she would seek out.
She spent the next few days searching for books about this topic. Then she moved onto newspaper, looking for crime reports. Six men were hanged for this crime that year.
As years went, she heard more about this scandalous behaviour. She even asked her father about it and even though it wasn't proper, he wasn't one to deny her any knowledge. She found out why all the secrecy and how these people had to protect themselves if they did not want to lose their lives.
Her father helped his old friend from university to hide this inclination. It happened years back but his friend was thankful for Mr. Bennet's help until his death. He gave a lot of advice to Mr. Bennet on managing his estate and a few very good suggestions on investments. Mr. Bennet was able to raise all his daughter's dowries to ten thousand for each. My dear George. He was my saviour not the other way around. Her father always said. So gentle and shy, his clothes always very neat, he paid more attention to his attire than a woman would have. He was the best man.
The very best man. Lizzy'ser HLizzy's heart went out to these people because even though she didn't condone to this blasphemy, she couldn't agree with taking their lives. They weren't hurting anybody and yet they were hanged just as murderers.
That's all for today, see you next week, we get to meet Darcy;)
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