The trepidation the staff of Darcy House in London felt at the arrival of a letter bearing instructions to be expecting the master and new Mistress of the house was palpable. The letter informed the visit was only going to last a couple of days as the master had some unexpected business to attend, and the Mistress planned to take the time to take advantage of some of the London shops. The staff diligently lined the entry ready to greet the new mistress, and barely contained gasps of shock when the master entered with a pretty brunette on his arm, Mr Bingley following with a handsome blond.
"Mrs Wilks, allow me to present my wife, Mrs Elizabeth Darcy." The gentleman spoke proudly as their outer wear was collected. If anyone noticed the collective sigh of relief from the staff, no one said anything. "With us is also Elizabeth's sister, Mrs Jane Bingley."
He then proceeded to introduce the main members of the staff before asking for tea to be served in the front parlor in a half hours time after the newcomers had a chance to refresh themselves.
Before everyone had a chance to disburse, they heard Mrs Darcy speak for the first time, "Mrs Wilks, I am afraid I come without a ladies maid, and it is my understanding that you have a few maids on staff here with sufficient training. I was wondering if you could ask them if any of them have a desire for the position. If so, please send one of them up to me, I would like to do a trial period with each one to see how we get along with each other, and ultimately pick my maid from a member of either the staff here or at Pemberley."
"Of course madam, I will send one of the girls up to you momentarily." The housekeeper said with a curtsy.
The new mistress then addressed the staff, "I would like any of this to know that there will be no hard feelings should you chose not to apply. I understand that everyone's situation is different, and constantly having to travel with your mistress may not be beneficial to you." She then took her husband's arm, and allowed herself to be led away to her new rooms to refresh.
No sooner had she and Fitzwilliam entered her new chambers had she found herself in his arms, his lips pressed firmly to hers. "The Bingleys can take their own carriage back to Netherfield." He groaned as he pulled away, and she was unable to keep from grinning at the frustration in his voice.
"Did you not enjoy their company on the trip?" She asked with a teasing grin, and burst into laughter as her husband scooped her up into his arms with a growl, silencing her with another kiss.
They were interrupted by the gentle clearing of a throat at the door, and broke apart to see Mrs Wilks and a young maid standing there, the maid blushing a bright red. "Perhaps now would be a good time to put me down before you scandalize our staff even more." She spoke to her husband, and couldn't help but laugh as he grunted in response, and placed her on her feet, his face also a bright red. He then mumbled something about going to freshen up, and left through another door, which she was sure led to the masters suite.
"It is good to see the Master's playful side once again." Mrs Wilks spoke almost to herself, her eyes shining with approval as she looked at her new mistress. "Now madam, this is Hannah, and she is one of two maids who would like to try for the position of your ladies maid." The older woman spoke with a smile, and Elizabeth smiled as the girl curtsied to her.
"It is a pleasure to meet you both." Elizabeth spoke and received warm smiles from each of them. "Before you leave us to return to you duties Mrs Wilks, I was wondering if you would be willing to meet with me tomorrow morning. I know I am not going to be here long enough on this trip to learn all the ins and outs of running this home, but I was hoping to get a start while I was here. I am hoping to make the staff's transition to me being mistress as smooth as possible, and am hoping you are willing to assist me in this. Mr Darcy has told me that you have been with his family since he was born, and as housekeeper know the most of what I will need to know to do my duties."
"It would be my pleasure ma'am." The woman spoke with a bright smile, which Elizabeth hoped meant she was well on her way to earning the woman's respect. With one last curtsy, Mrs Wilks quit the room, leaving Elizabeth and her new ladies maid alone.
"I'm afraid you are going to find the task before you rather daunting. You see, I have never truly had a ladies maid of my own. My sisters and I had a maid we shared, but as there were five of us, we had to learn to do a great many things for ourselves." She explained as she moved across the room to the trunk that had been brought up from the carriage.
"Oh, allow me to unpack that while you are down in the parlor with Mr Darcy and his...your guests." The maid rushed to intercept her as she moved to unpack her trunk.
"You see, not even a quarter hour and already making mistakes, are you sure you are up to even a week with me?" She spoke with a smile so the maid knew the teasing was meant for herself and not the girl.
"I'm sure you are a quick study." The girl assured her, relaxing a bit, "And besides, you did say there would be no hard feelings should we decide not to take the positing." Was said in a tentative but teasing tone.
"You know Hannah, I believe she shall get on quite nicely."
Not much later a knock came from the door that she had assumed led to the master's suite, and once permission to enter was given, opened to reveal her husband. "I was hoping to escort you to the parlor for tea with the Bingleys if you are ready." He spoke with a grin, and she stood, Hannah having just finished with fixing her hair.
"I should be happy to accompany you." She smiled as she accepted the proffered arm. The two meet up with Jane on their way down, and she accepted Fitzwilliam's other arm, allowing the maid directing her to return to her work.
"Charles will be down shortly, he just wanted to finish writing to his man of business." Jane explained her husband's absence.
"Not to worry, we will happily keep you entertained until he arrives." Elizabeth ensured her sister as they entered the parlor. It was quickly decided that after taking some refreshments, a tour of the house would take place, as Bingley already knew his way around and so wouldn't miss anything should he not be done in time. However, it was not to be, for the at that moment the butler, Mr Wilks entered the room.
"Pardon the interruption sir, but Miss Bingley is at the door and refuses to leave, even after being told you were not home to visitors." The butler spoke, and was informed he could show the woman in, as they all felt it was best to deal with her now.
"Thank heavens you have returned, Fitzwilliam! Charles has taken complete leave of his senses." Caroline spoke as she all but burst into the room, crossing it quickly to clutch desperately at Darcy's arm.
"I beg your pardon." He spoke, stunned at her unwanted familiarity with his person.
"Charles has lost his mind, and all for that Bennet tramp." Elizabeth placed a comforting hand over Jane's at the sound of her gasp, but Caroline contributed her vitriol before she could step in and stop her. "I just know that gold digging tart turned him against his family. He has all but cut Louisa and I off you know. To think he could so shamelessly throw away all our father built for some country nobody..."
"Who would only improve his standing in the ton." Fitzwilliam finally found his voice, shaking her off his arm as if she carried a disease. "Miss Bennet is the daughter of a gentleman, and therefor outranks you and your brother in class. What's more is she and her next older sister are superior to you in manners. You would never see one of them barging into a room and clinging to a married man such as you have just done."
The way Caroline's face instantly took on a shade of green would have been comical of it weren't so concerning at just how quickly it happened. "Married..." she could barely stutter the word, in her shock, "But I thought...what with Georgiana's scandal..."
"That no woman would find me desirable and that I would lose any prospects I once had?" He asked, his voice dripping with disdain. "Perhaps you are right, but fortunately for me, I didn't have to find out, for I was able to find a woman who genuinely loves me as a person not a pocket book, but who also cares for my sister and loves her in spite of a mistake.
"What's more is your brother's choice of wife means his children will be grandchildren of a gentleman, this removing some of the so-called taint of trade." Fitzwilliam had clearly reached his limit of the woman's machinations.
"Miss Bingley, it is high time you understand your place in the ton. I do not say this to be cruel, but to advise you on what I have been taught all my life, but you are still rather new to." He then gentled his voice, "Your desire to have your family marry into one of the more affluent families of the ton is not likely to ever become reality. While I would have gladly accepted your brother's suit of Georgiana should he have desired it, that is only out of my friendship with him. Because I care for him I would have gladly weathered the scorn such a match would have created within the ton because of his ties to trade. However, it would not have been enough for me to desire to take the the daughter of a tradesman as my wife, I have not the type of feelings toward you that would compel me to act as such."
"But you do for a simple country nobody." She sneered at Elizabeth, having just noticed her and her sister.
"I do, but what's more, is she is still the daughter of a gentleman. So while some of the ton would scorn her lack of wealth and connections, most would see it as a misguided choice of a young man in love. As the daughter of a gentleman they will be more forgiving to her than if she were the daughter of a tradesman, no matter how successful that tradesman had been."
"That is where you are wrong sir, you will see! You mark my words, you will regret marrying this hoyden when you see the husband I am able to attain. You will feel the disappointment most deeply, and I will just look down on you and laugh. You will regret you choice sir, you mark my words, I will make you regret picking her over me." With that she stormed out of his house, but he knew he would never regret his choice, especially as he felt Elizabeth's smaller hand slide into his own in a gesture of comfort.