The Music Room
Longbourn
Two Mornings Later
Phoebe smiled briefly over at her charge. Mary was seated beside her on the bench before the pianoforte, the two young women playing a duet together. Ever and anon Phoebe would lift a hand to turn the page of the music, so that Mary would not need to break her concentration, as Phoebe's own skill slightly surpassing that of her companion.
It was a delight to both their souls to find in another the same love and enjoyment of music, both of the playing and the hearing. Today they were playing the piece they had bought in Meryton so recently, and it sounded, Phoebe thought, most pleasant indeed.
A movement outside the window drew her attention, and she glanced over absently. A frown gathered across her forehead; Miss Lydia was skulking furtively towards the entrance of the paths that meandered across the Longbourn land, casting shifty glances about to ensure she was unobserved.
"Miss Mary?" Phoebe interrupted the music to ask, still watching out the window. "Does Miss Lydia often walk alone?"
Mary looked up at her curiously. "No, practically never. She always has Kitty with her." She followed Phoebe's gaze out the window just in time to see Lydia's bonnet and shawl disappear behind some the trees and startled. "Perhaps…"
"Perhaps she is going to visit the officers?" Phoebe said rather grimly, rising from the bench.
"I fear so," Mary admitted, looking up at the governess and twisting her hands in her skirt a little. "She and Kitty both spent far more time than proper with the officers before you and Miss Adler arrived, and I know they resent the curtailing of that liberty."
This was, indeed, Phoebe's conclusion, and she and Sophia both had been appalled that such license was permitted. The twins had spoken to Mr. Bennet just that morning in his library, where he was always to be found, cloistered away from his womenfolk. Sophia had brought up Mary's distrust of George Wickham, and both sisters had listened in mounting dismay as Mr. Bennet had told them what he knew of the scoundrel.
When he was through, Sophia had said, rather boldly, "I am surprised we were not informed of this rogue and warned to be on the lookout for him, sir."
Mr. Bennet had waved a dismissive hand. "That is why I hired you two, to look after my girls. In any case, I have thought it over, and now that Elizabeth is in London, I think it unlikely that any young men here would be fool enough to compromise or offer for either of my younger daughters, who are as empty headed as kittens. No one knows the specific details of Elizabeth's inheritance, and any sensible young man would realize that the wealth might be securely tied up."
There were, of course, many other, even worse scenarios in which idiotic young sisters of an heiress might be trapped, and the Adler twins had traded speaking looks. Their employer was lazy and, as he said, not concerned with his younger daughters. He would not inconvenience himself for them.
Now Phoebe stood frowning with worry as she watched Lydia vanish into the woods. "I must go after her. I fear she may be doing something foolish."
"Perhaps we should tell Father and go on horseback?" Mary suggested tentatively.
Phoebe shook her head. "There is no time. If she has agreed to meet with someone along the path, we must hurry to prevent a scandal. I have always been fleet of foot, I will run after her. I am sorry for cutting short our playing, Miss Mary."
"Of course safeguarding my sisters is paramount," Mary said firmly, and Phoebe nodded in gratitude before dashing from the room. In the vestibule she snatched up her hat and donned it without care, wrapping her pelisse over her shoulders before sprinting from the house.
/
Lydia, now free from any possibility of being spied from the house, slowed her steps and looked around with pleasure. She did not particularly enjoy walking for walking's sake, but she was happy that the weather was pleasantly cool, and she even enjoyed the pink and white wildflowers clustered thickly on the right side of the path.
She had, she thought, been quite clever in escaping Longbourn this morning. Miss Phoebe had been simple enough. The woman was apparently as enthusiastic about music as dull, plain Mary, and she was generally sequestered in the music room this time of day.
Miss Adler herself had been more difficult. The woman was most exasperating, with her quiet step and penchant for appearing in the drawing room and suggesting that Kitty and Lydia read Shakespeare, or practice drawing, or something of the sort. She did not need accomplishments, not in the least, when she had already won the love and adoration of Mr. George Wickham, surely the most handsome and clever man in all of England!
She would see him in a few short minutes, and they would make their plans to run away to Gretna Greene, and she would be Mrs. Wickham, the first of her sisters to be married, and that in spite of her lack of fortune. Elizabeth, so proud of her sudden wealth, would be surprised indeed when she learned of her youngest sister's triumph!
She was a few feet from the fork in the path when she heard a voice behind her. "Miss Lydia!"
She spun around in shock, which transformed into outrage. Miss Adler, or possibly Miss Phoebe, was running toward her with surprising rapidity.
"Miss Lydia!" the woman repeated, coming to a stop and puffing inelegantly. "Where are you going?"
Lydia spent a few seconds being taken aback and then decided to be angry.
"It is not at all your business where I am going!" she snapped shrilly. "You have no right…"
"I have every right," the governess replied sternly, "and the responsibility as well. Why are you creeping off alone? Are you intending to meet the officers, or perhaps one officer in particular?"
Lydia tried for an innocent look and failed, and Phoebe said, "Miss Lydia, how could you? Do you not know that you could destroy not only your own reputation if you are compromised by a man, but also those of your sisters?"
Lydia was briefly tempted to tell the truth, that she was engaged to George Wickham – that would show her spinster governess that she was a mature woman who did not need oversight. A second later, she thought better of it. Her love for Wickham was a secret, and the Adler women were so annoying! Calling upon her considerable powers of deception, Lydia exclaimed, "I am not such a fool! There is no shame in speaking with the officers on the streets of Meryton in front of everyone. Perhaps it is different in Town, but this is the country! Moreover, you have no right to spy on me and berate me. You are merely a governess, and I am a daughter of the house. I insist you return home, Miss Adler!"
"It is Miss Phoebe," the lady replied sternly, "and I will not return home. Your father has given me the responsibility of looking after you, and I intend to fulfill my task to the best of my ability. Now do come home, Miss Lydia. Your creeping away from Longbourn is most improper."
"I will not return!" the girl shrieked angrily. "I will not! And you cannot make me!"
Phoebe breathed in deeply and then produced a chilly smile. "You are quite correct that I cannot drag you home, but neither can you get rid of me. I am, as you can see, a very fast runner and wherever you go, I will go. So by all means, let us walk to Meryton, and we can enjoy speaking with the officers together, though I suspect that your father will hunt us down in short order, since I left word that I was pursuing you when I left Longbourn."
Lydia felt a strong inclination to burst into tears. She was already a trifle late to her meeting with Mr. Wickham, and of course she could not enjoy her time with him with Miss Phoebe dogging her steps.
"I will tell my mother on you!" she exclaimed petulantly, reluctantly turning toward her home.
"And I will tell Mr. Bennet about you," Phoebe replied sternly.
/
On the road to Half Moon Street
Rain-slicked cobblestones rattled and glistened under the wheels of the Matlock carriage, but the passengers inside scarcely felt or heard a thing. Plush seats and excellent springs kept all travelers comfortable, the door and the curtains firmly shutting out the day's mist and trapping warmth inside.
Darcy and Bingley swayed along backwards. Across from them sat Richard Fitzwilliam and his mother, the Lady Matlock, in the choicest seats. Small lanterns hung in the corners, compensating for the lack of daylight through the windows.
"You say that the Bennets have close ties to trade?" Lady Matlock demanded suspiciously.
"Moderately close ties, yes," Darcy responded. "Their mother is the daughter of a solicitor, and they have an uncle in trade."
The lady turned her attention on her son and said, "My dear Richard, I am not entirely certain that it will do. You are the son of an earl and owe it to your name to marry appropriately."
This was, of course, exactly what Darcy had thought the previous autumn, and which he now knew to be idiotic, and he found himself biting his tongue.
"I love you dearly, Mother," Richard said, "but I am my own man and will marry as I see fit. I have met both Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth and they are charming, lovely, well-mannered ladies. Any man blessed to win the hand of either lady should thank providence for his good fortune!"
"Hear hear!" Bingley exclaimed and then winced as Lady Matlock turned a gimlet eye on the previously silent passenger.
"Am I to understand that you are also entering the lists in an attempt to win the heiress, Mr. Bingley?" she asked.
"No, not at all. I am pursuing Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth's elder sister. She is not wealthy, but she is an angel, and I hope, in time, to win her hand in marriage."
Lady Matlock glanced outside as the carriage turned onto Half Moon Street and then turned her attention on her nephew.
"What do you have to say, Darcy?" she demanded. "You are a sensible gentleman with an appropriate understanding of what you and Richard owe to your name. Do you think that Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a worthy wife for your cousin?"
Since his stupid pride had caused him to lose the woman he adored, he felt a strong urge to respond loudly and rudely. Long standing civility restrained him, and he merely said, "Indeed, Bingley is correct; the Bennet ladies are charming women and worthy of any man."