AU Pride and Prejudice

Reminder In this AU ALL ESTATES except Pemberly, are within either walking distance, or no further than a day's drive.

Unbreakable Bonds

However, the idea of not having to repeat that part of his first marriage was quite appealing. Maybe, just maybe, a talk with this Miss Perry was not such a bad idea.

Talk with Bennet

Ch. 9

Adelia now wore a high-waisted empire white dress with a pattern of purple flowers on its material. She stood in front of a mirror in the guest room of the Philips' home and picked up a brush to take care of her hair. She put it in a simple braid, having attempted to learn different hairstyles to no avail. Once that was done, she put on high heeled pumps made of leather, fastened with a large silver buckle.

"This is the best as it is going to get." As Adelia went to pick up her shawl, a knock came on the door; it was Mrs. Philips. She had come to let her know Mr. Bennet had come calling. Her eyes said more, though her mouth did not. Miss Perry, the formal title, was something she was -surprisingly- having a hard time connecting with. It did not matter how much she had prepared. The actual act of hearing it spoken from others outside of any reenactment group was still an adjustment.

"I will be right there." She made herself think of herself in connection with the more formal usage of her surname and the title of Miss. Then she exited the room and made her way into the parlor. The Philips' parlor was quite a cozy room. Miss Perry was sure it was where the family often gathered for breakfast, reading, or conversation. She did not mind that the walls were painted a soft yellow, and the windows were draped with white lace curtains that let in the sunlight. The color had been used quite a bit in the regency plays she had helped out with. However, she hoped the Bennet home had a different color.

She tried not to focus on what the Bennet home might look like as she admired the fact that Mrs. Philips' furniture was made of mahogany, upholstered with floral fabrics in shades of blue and green. A large oval table, covered with a white tablecloth and set with china, silverware, and a vase of fresh flowers, had been placed in the center of the room. Miss Perry noticed a clock and a pair of candle sticks on the mantelpiece, and that they flanked a framed portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Philips. The fireplace was empty, as the weather was mild and pleasant. She had to keep her admiration of the room short, for Mr. Bennet was ready to go and she had no desire to have their conversation in front of his relations.

"Miss Perry," Mr. Bennet spoke once he had helped her into a chaise lent to him by Jane. Mary had come along to be a chaperone, something she could not have done if they were in London as she was not married. However, since the ride was to be strictly in the countryside where the rules were more lax, and not far from the Philips', Mr. Bennet saw no problem with it being his third daughter as she was twenty.

"Where do you hail from?" Mr. Bennet noticed that while her English was excellent, her thick accent suggested England was not her country of birth.

"I was born on Jefferson Island…it is a very small island in the Pacific Ocean. Last time I checked, we have not even been put on the map though larger -more populated ones have, much to my father's dismay." Adelia knew what they heard out of her mouth appeared to be strange. Her thick accent was not normal even for where she had really been born. It was in all reality a speech issue. She put emphasis on the wrong parts of words. When the stress should go on the first half of the word, her speech put it on the last half. When it was meant to be on the last, it went on the first. There were times her tongue struggled to speak English at all. Thankfully, Mary had assumed English was not her first language and, when Adelia had -instinctively- pulled back from speaking her 'mother' tongue, Mr. Bennet's daughter had thought it was due to some horribly tragic event and passed that onto her father. Wrong, or right, Adelia let it stand.

"Are your parents alive? Do you have any siblings?" Mr. Bennet cautiously asked, wondering if the event Mary spoke of had involved Miss Perry's family.

"My mother was killed in an accident." Adelia found herself twisting her hands unconsciously. "My brother was in…" She stopped for a brief moment as she had almost said car. "in the carriage with her." The lady gathered her wits and continued on. "My sister got caught up in the wrong crowd. My father quit speaking to her, and Laurel was found dead in the wrong part of town a year later. I was too young to really remember much about her, just what my relations told me. My mother lost the rest all before they were a year old. My father remarried and for some odd reason, I cannot fathom why, his new wife turned my father against me though I did no wrong. I did everything I had been taught by my mother; if I erred, -it was honest mistakes; I did nothing intentionally to hurt her."

Mr. Bennet saw Miss Perry fight back tears and his heart went out to her. He ventured, even if they had just met, to ask the lady her age. "I normally would not ask you such a thing, but considering…" He looked over at his daughter. "Everything…I hope you would not mind."

"I will tell you two, but I see no reason for anyone else to know; it is not like I am under twenty-one; therefore, I would fail to see how anything was being done wrong. However, I have found people…odd?... when it comes to that subject. So, when I tell you, please promise you will not repeat it?" Only after the two gave their word, did she inform them of her exact number of years on earth.

"There is no doubt, you are old enough to know your own mind." Mr. Bennet then ventured to ask if she had been born into the upper class of her society and why had she felt the need to leave if that were the case.

Adelia was - for only a second- thrown for a loop. What would make him ask such a thing? But then she saw Mary looking at her hands. Oh, crumb, she had not stopped to think about what hands used to physical work would look like compared to ones who had never touched a plow, or extremely hot water such as making homemade soap and washing clothes.

"At one point, yes." Miss Perry thought of her stepmother and how her father's business had been moved to a smaller building; her face could not help but darken. "I could have lived with my father's diminished income without complaint. I even began learning things to adjust to life without the luxuries I had been accustomed to; I never really enjoyed all the parties my mother had me attend anyway. But the way he lost it makes my blood boil. I am sorry, Mr. Bennet, you deserve to know my family's history, it is just that I still struggle to think of all that my father's second wife did and is still doing, well, it makes me want to act in a way no lady ought." She then told Mr. Bennet that when she met his late wife and daughters in Brighton, a story Mary had confessed to the trio telling their father, she would have come back to Meryton right there and then, only she still felt obligated to return to her father. "My family outings were okay, though my father and new mother never attended. And when it was clear that things were not going to work out? I returned to England." So caught up was Adelia in answering his questions any suspicions as to money disappeared as if they had never been there in the first place.