Pride and Prejudice

AU NOT Cannon

No Common Lady

REMINDER: This is AU... which means throughout this whole story (not necessarily this chapter) I MAY end up playing with facts I would not mess with if it were in Cannon.

Previously

He saw Mrs. Fletcher was owed more than he ever could repay, the least he could do for the lady was to allow her a room in the old servants' quarters.

Aurelia

Ch 4

The wind blew around the one-level, modest cottage situated on the property of Ambrose Preston, Aurelia Fletcher's cousin. Its dark brown stone house was surrounded by rows of thick trees. Its windows, once covered with fine curtains, had been replaced with coarse material that made Aurelia cringe inside. But she refused to show it, as it would give Ambrose too much satisfaction. He had shown her the place where she was to live after she had lost her home in Brighton upon her husband's death, and then her father's upon his.

"Are you certain you will be well?" Her cousin inquired, his voice dripping with feigned concern. "You know how deeply my wife and I regard your welfare." The phrase "your welfare" slid off his tongue like a serpent who had gotten hold of too much honey, and to Aurelia, it tasted of deceit and manipulation. The urge to wring the scoundrel's throat and then toss him into the nearest body of water sprang up within her, threatening to shatter the facade of civility that his cousin was managing to present.

Ambrose continued, seemingly oblivious to the tension between the two relatives. "I am aware that you have informed us—Fanny and I—that you await a reply regarding your stay at a friend's residence. However, we simply cannot have you lodging within our home. There is scarcely enough room for our own offspring."

Aurelia's jaw clenched; her kin's dwelling had ample space—an unspoken truth that weighed heavily in the air. She did not dare to express her true feelings to her relation; a woman who lost her husband sooner than expected, with no parents, and no siblings, around had no room for such resistance. "It shall suffice," she replied politely, but with no real warmth, a fact that escaped Ambrose's notice, before his cousin went inside without looking back.

One couch and a lone chair were the only things in the parlor. A barren table and a couple of chairs were by themselves in the kitchen, along with a few pots, pans, and barely enough utensils to cook and clean. She then went into the bedroom; it was an eyesore.

The bed held only one pathetic-looking pillow, if the item could really be called a pillow. Its blanket would not be much use for warmth in winter, should she have to stay that long. And an old coat rack from the servants' quarters had been hauled down from the attic and the better one taken up to the main house.

"Good heavens, cousin!" Aurelia exclaimed, even though Mr. Preston was now out of sight and earshot. "It is bad enough that I am not allowed to stay in the main house—not even as I await a reply from Lydia—but did you have to allow your wife to strip a newly acquired cottage meant for guests? I am willing and prepared to live on far less than you make, for father was always cautious in regard to money with good cause even before hard times hit, but I was expecting better out of you, for you claimed you would take care of me when father died, and I had no employment." Looking down at Dash, the lady gave a small smile. "Let us count it a blessing that Mara did not get it into her head that she had a right to dispose of you. We will simply ignore her and her activities. They will not be allowed to bother our state of mind. We shall remember what mother always told me." Aurelia's inner ear whispered her mother's voice: "A house is a home only if you make it so, and, my darling child, clothes do not make a lady; the lady makes the clothes. Whether a person is born into wealth, marries into wealth, loses wealth or whatever the case may be— it should not be the deciding factor upon how they act." She shook her head. "Personally, I think my parent should have given my cousins that same advice." The little dog barked, jumped up on the bed, and curled up, facing away from the main house and appearing to be smiling, willing to focus on the cottage and not on her cousin's bigger home—as if showing his agreement not only in vocalization, but in actions as well.

Setting a fairly large carpet bag down on the bed Aurelia hung her cloak on the rack and went back into the kitchen. "I shall count it a blessing Mr. Preston's wife left any cheese and bread in the house, for I have not had any time to bake." Aurelia, if she were the type to hold grudges would have told anyone willing listen Ambrose's wife's name fit her very well for, in spite of her wealth, the lady was one very bitter woman all over 'having' to share as little as a small guest house set far enough away from the main one no one need be bothered.

Aurelia paid little attention to who was or was not in a sullen mood as they were eating their meal, as she sat down herself east. She then looked through her own letters and began to consider what she would be omitting from her usual pursuits. Parties? That would be no great sacrifice; they were too expensive and had ceased to amuse her long ago. 'Too many men ogling me as if I were a choice cut of meat at the market when my mother and I would go shopping, even when I was in company with my husband. It was utterly disgraceful.' Aurelia was not conceited, never had been, but she had been, and still was, a great beauty. Her fair hair would have reached her waist—had she ever let it down. She had no blemishes to conceal with paint and, even if she had, Aurelia would have resigned herself to what could not be altered; therefore, she would have held her head high and borne it without fear. She would reduce her skin care to the essentials; fortunately, she had her grandmother's diary in which a simple, yet effective, method of preserving one's complexion was recorded.

"Well, that is finally done." Aurelia set the pen down and looked at Dash, who had come in looking for a bite to eat. "I am sorry, my dear, what few treats I had for you will be even more scarce. Fear not though, you shall not starve." Standing up, the lady stepped out the back door and looked over at the main house.

"I do not miss Brighton for the reasons Mara might think." Aurelia glanced down at her spaniel when the dog came trotting out of the same door. "I miss the young ladies I was able to give aid to, though, for the most part, it was not much, I fear. A biscuit here and there, a few were able to sleep on the couch if their fathers or husbands got too drunk and it was unsafe to go home and, sometimes, when I was fortunate, I was even able to spare a bit of cash, though I dared not tell my husband that. Lydia's aid was the biggest I had ever given; thank heavens, I was out that night or she would have been ruined and there would have been nothing I could have done about it." Aurelia let out another sigh. "We did so bond, the dear girl reminds me so much..." Her voice trailed off sounding weary as she glanced up and then back down at her dog. "I am tired of this society; I did not lie to Lydia Bennet, and I do want a change of scenery. I hope I can be forgiven for not confessing that I dared not wait to seek employment, for once those cousins of mine lose this place, I will be shocked if they do not, I would have nowhere to go and no way to visit my son's grave. Though I suppose I should care about my deceased mate's too, but how does one do that when he was unfaithful to his vows from day one? Maybe someday, I shall be fortunate enough to find a man who values family just as much—if not more—than money. Though I do hope he has learned to handle what he has."