Hello everyone, this is the new chapter. I am sorry it took so long to post but I didn't really have a computer for a while. It was pretty sad. I tried fixing it myself, but it just got worse. Figures. But now it's alright, thank heavens:) Thank you everyone for the support and thank you kggirl21 for the review.
Now on with the chapter!
Chapter 4
In the drawing room, the two women shone, covered in dust, their cheeks red from exercise.
The yellow light of noon gave them a faded air and the violet shadows under Kitty's wet eyes elongated them to the point where she resembled a real cat.
She had thrown three large packages on the small coffee table. The wrapping was red and they were all tied with string.
Mrs. Smithson quickly took off her shawl and sprawled herself in a chair nearby, trying vehemently to fan herself.
'What were you doing in the back?' her sister asked, irritated. 'Keeping company to the dogs? Oh, I have so much to tell you, Mary!'
'It is a shame, dear, that you couldn't wake up and go out with us,' interrupted Mrs. Smithson. 'I know that in the country side you were in the habit of sleeping till noon, but here Mary you must abide by our rules, unless you want to miss being acquainted with all the good people. We met some very nice young men along the way and we even ran into the Bronhills, an excellent family. Well, it was just Mrs. Bronhill and her son, but we did not mind.'
'Yes, they were very agreeable, especially the son,' Kitty interrupted. 'Mr. Bronhill is a banker and his son will go into business after he finishes his studies. He is very charming and handsome and he speaks German perfectly. You know there are a great deal of people who speak French, but have you met any that speak German?'
'He spent a year in Bavaria and he learnt the language quickly!' Mrs. Smithson added, bidding the servant that had just come in to bring some tea.
'He seems very interesting, I'm sorry to have missed him,' Mary said, still thinking about what had previously happened.
'But you will not entirely miss him. We were invited by Mrs. Bronhill to a small dinner party. It is the day after tomorrow. I hope you will be awake for this one, Mary,' Mrs. Smithson said, chiding her.
'Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world,' she said pensively.
Kitty ran upstairs with her packages and Mary followed her, meaning to tell her what she had seen and heard.
'Kitty,' she said after closing the door behind her, 'the most wondrous thing happened. You know I don't usually listen in on people or I try not to, I mean it isn't such a good thing to do…'
'Get on with it, Mary, what happened?' Kitty asked, pulling off her stockings.
'Well, I was in the back yard and I witnessed this fight between two lovers and ever since I saw them I can't get them out of my head. I don't know anything else about them.'
'Oh, la! Were they some petty town people? Maybe she was a seamstress and he was a chimneysweep! You'd better watch out, they're very common around here and they look just like gentle people. You can get easily fooled. That's what Mrs. Smithson told me.'
'I don't think they were. I mean he…he seemed like a worldly person. A very worldly one. A chimneysweep wouldn't take opium and he couldn't afford to pay women, could he?'
'Oh, Lord! How do you know that?'
'The woman accused him of all that…' Mary said, thinking about the naked friend too. But she decided not to tell Kitty about it.
'Oh, but then he is one of those scoundrels! Maybe rich ones, that like to squander their money. Was he handsome?'
'Generally so,' Mary said, uneasy.
'And was he married to that girl?'
'No, but I think they had some serious relations. She seemed genuinely upset,' Mary said.
'Ha! Maybe she thought it was serious. But oh well, men will always do that sort of thing, they will never be satisfied with one girl. But he takes opium!'
'Wait, isn't it worse that he wasn't faithful to the girl?'
'Oh, come on Mary, men can't always be faithful. It's not right for them. They would be considered stupid.'
'So you would like that?'
'Like what?'
'For a man to cheat on you?'
'Well, he wouldn't because no one would cheat on me. Men cheat on other kinds of women.'
'Oh, but what if he did?' Mary asked annoyed.
'Oh, Mary! It's not like they were married!' Kitty protested.
The argument lasted for another half of an hour until Kitty tired and told Mary that she would take a nap. Mary had to leave the room and go downstairs where Mr. Smithson was reading the paper and Mrs. Smithson was chatting about their trip in town.
Mary reclined in a chair by the fireplace and started reading. But as she flipped the pages, she imagined what it would be like to meet the couple. She would have liked to read about them. Instead she was reading a history book. But maybe she would see them again. After all, this town wasn't so big. But if she did not, she would like to know how their story ended. Even if she wasn't a great gossiper, she thoroughly enjoyed delving into other people's lives.
The dinner party at the Bronhills would have been something ordinary and pleasant for Mary. Both she and Kitty were looking forward to meet this young Mr. Bronhill properly and Mrs. Smithson wanted to see if the Bronhills had acquired the new china they had been boasting. Her eyes were searching for anything that resembled Delft porcelain. She did not find anything of the like, but she did notice they had changed most of the dining room wallpaper and the furniture in the parlour had been repainted in dismal darker tones, which pleased her, if only a bit.
Mr. Smithson and Mr. Bronhill senior started discussing the war with France and, against his wife's wishes, Mr. Bronhill decided they should have some coffee and cakes too.
Mr. Bronhill junior was a pleasure to both ladies, although Mary suspected some of his studies were more a matter of decorum. He seemed to like Kitty very much. He was tall, but rather coarse in his manner of walking. But he had a witty way of conversing. He had not read much, knew Latin and German by heart, Mary would say, and could calculate big sums without using a single sheet of paper. But when Mary asked him if he had read Goethe he replied that he had not had the time. Then he asked if this "Goethe fellow" was any good. Mary would have been a little bit scandalized, but she was forced upon a new acquaintance the moment they entered the dining room.
'This is my sister, Miss Molly Bronhill,' young Bronhill told Mary and Kitty. The girl bowed and smiled to them both. She was uncommonly pretty and polite to them, but Mary, for some reason, turned as white as a sheet.
She took the girl's hand, her own shaking, and could barely find her voice to say anything.
'It seems your sister is speechless in front of Molly's beauty! We've seen a dozen men act the same!' young Bronhill joked, laughing.
'Are you alright, Miss Bennet?' Molly asked, concern shadowing her eyes.
Mary nodded her head slowly.
'Do you need to sit down?' she asked.
Mary finally found her voice, although it was hoarse.
'Don't you remember me, Miss?'
Molly's eyebrows furrowed. She seemed confused.
'Remember you? I am sorry Miss Bennet, I have never seen you before. But I am very glad to make acquaintance.'
Mary's nerves slowly came to her. She looked back on the scene in the alley and realized that only the man called Eric must have noticed her well enough. Molly did not seem to recall her face.
Perhaps this was a good thing, she thought. Maybe Molly would feel very embarrassed or sad if Mary told her the truth. And of course she could not tell her in front of her family. She had told Eric that her father did not think well of him at all. He wasn't a favourite with the Bronhills. Therefore it probably wasn't a proper subject in this house. It wouldn't be in any. She reprimanded herself for having spoken on impulse. Now maybe Molly thought she was insensible. She dreaded this.
'I am sorry, Miss Bronhill, I don't know what came over me, I felt quite ill.'
'Jonathan, fetch for the physician!' Mrs. Bronhill yelped as she and Molly settled Mary on the sofa. 'Oh, Miss Bennet, was it the coffee? I told my husband it was very wrong!'
'No, please do not trouble yourselves, I am fine,' Mary said trying to get up. 'There is no need for a doctor.'
'But what happened, Mary?' Kitty asked alarmed.
'I…just had a dizzy spell, that is all. I lost my balance. I probably didn't eat too well today.'
'Well, now that you are alright, we should just give her some wine, Mrs. Bronhill, what do you say? I find it is always an ailment,' Mrs. Smithson added, already ready to call Jonathan, the servant.
'If it were alright by you, I would just like some water,' Mary said shyly.
Throughout the rest of the evening, everyone kept a close watch on Mary lest she should have another "dizzy spell". But Mary was only watching Molly. She was such a pretty, lovely creature. She seemed very different from the girl she had seen in the alley. She was charming and elegant and poised and she seemed to bloom right before her eyes. Nothing like the woman who had seemed so angry and jealous.
Molly seemed to like Mary as well. They found themselves talking about subjects of general interest, although Molly held the conversation more than Mary because the latter was never good at talking with people she had never met before.
'I would love to see more of the country side. I have an aunt that lives around Exeter. She has a small house, very quaint. But I am rarely allowed to visit. Though, I do feel best there. I just love nature,' Molly said.
'I agree heartily. Nature is the greatest artist of them all. I love it with all my heart. I am glad to be living in Hertfordshire.'
'I would love to see it, Miss Bennet.'
'Oh, but then you should come and visit!' Kitty interrupted. 'It would make our family very happy. We rarely have good company there.'
'That is not true, Kitty. People in the countryside are a lot friendlier and you know it,' Mary said duly.
'I agree, Miss Bennet. They seem less occupied, their manners are not studied. And they're never dull,' Molly said laughing. 'They amuse me with their wonderful stories.'
After dinner they repaired to the drawing room and while Mrs. Smithson and Mrs. Bronhill were arguing about the cost of satin gowns and whether they were appropriate as wedding dresses, Mary and Molly continued their conversation. Kitty was walking about the room with Mr. Bronhill, but every now and then, she would come to the two and ask them impolite questions.
Mr. Bronhill seemed very amused by it.
'Miss Bronhill, have you given your heart to anyone?' Kitty asked. 'Or are you engaged?'
'Kitty, that is very blunt,' Mary chided her.
'Oh, I…' Molly began, her eyes darkening, 'I would rather keep that to myself, Miss Bennet.'
Mary gathered she was still thinking of that man, Eric.
When the Bennet girls and the Smithsons finally took leave of the Bronhills, Molly made Mary promise she would visit and perhaps write. Mary promised she would though she doubted she would have the courage.
'This Friday the Balls begin!' Kitty said as they climbed in the carriage. 'I cannot wait to wear my new gown! Maybe Mr. Bronhill will be there. He's sure to be. Why wouldn't he be invited? He is very fine, isn't he? Very handsome. I think he liked me. And Miss Bronhill she was very pretty, wasn't she?'
'Oh, yes, very pretty,' Mary agreed.
