The Trouble With Horses: A Pride & Prejudice Novella Variation (6 page)

CHAPTER 5

"No, try this one. The wine ribbon will make the cream really stand out."

"But it's a white ball! Caroline Bingley will be impossible to endure under the circumstances already, I'm not giving her more reasons to lift that pointy nose of hers." Elizabeth shook the cream colored gown in frustration and rejected it to lay on her bed. She again picked up her white gown from three seasons ago, and frowned that it was just two inches too short.

Jane pursed her lips and twisted them to the side. With three days to go until the ball, she was at a loss to solve the problem. Why hadn't her mother bought both of them new white gowns last year instead of just her? Remembering her vow to help her sister, Jane made a brave decision.

"Wear mine."

Elizabeth turned around and gasped. "I can't, Jane. Not yours. You must be luminant."

Jane laughed. "Nonsense and poppycock." She wagged her head at her younger sister, and held up her own gown over Elizabeth's frame in front of the glass. "I'll be
luminant in pale blue. Besides, Charles mentioned how much he liked that gown when I wore it to tea a few weeks ago so Momma will let it go. I'll embellish it with your pearls."

The mention of sharing the necklace her father gave her on her eighteenth birthday mollified Elizabeth a great deal. Jane would look positively ethereal in blue as her pale skin and fair features were washed out in white.

"I believe we have an accord." Elizabeth grinned, but it was short lived.

A door slammed below and all they could hear was wailing. Jane looked at Elizabeth, who looked back, and both girls tossed the garments to the side and rushed out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

They appeared breathless behind their father who was standing in the doorway to the parlor. Kitty was flopped on the sofa, sobbing, while Lydia was screaming at their mother in the middle of the room.

"And then Lady Lucas said her daughters would not be permitted to socialize with women
that men find convenient!" Lydia finally noticed Elizabeth standing behind their father and turned her rage on her. "You! This is all YOUR fault!"

Mr. Bennet calmly stepped a little to the right and intercepted his youngest daughter lunging in the general direction of his two eldest.

"Lydia Marie, so help me I will turn you over my knee. Cease this caterwauling this instant! Same goes for you Kitty!

Catherine Bennet lifted her head from the sofa and looked at her father with red-rimmed eyes and a wet nose. Disgracefully wiping her face with her sleeve, she moved to sit up on the sofa as Lydia plopped down next to her still white hot with anger.

"Girls! Girls! What is this? I shall go talk to that puffed up woman this instant!"

"No, you shall not. You too shall sit down, Mrs. Bennet." Mr. Bennet looked back at his oldest daughters. "Ladies?"

Elizabeth and Jane shrugged at one another and entered the room to find their own seats.

"Now, we are just missing--" he took a few step backwards and called up the stairs. "Mary! Your presences is requested!" Then Mr. Bennet disappeared to the dining room to retrieve a chair for himself. Returning to the parlor at nearly the same time as Mary, he placed the chair near the window and found his seat. With no seats left, Mary simply stood next to her mother seated on the sofa.

"Let's begin with Catherine. What happened today? You must not start crying again or I will ask Lydia, understood?" Mr. Bennet appeared to be serious, but Elizabeth was mortified at the mock trial her father was making out of all of them, and only she could see it.

Kitty related how she and Lydia walked into town and stopped at the Lucas Farm to collect Maria and shop for trinkets and baubles for the ball. When they arrived, the housekeeper refused to let them in and fetched Lady Lucas. Despite hearing Maria come to the door just behind her mother, Lady Lucas told both Kitty and Lydia that Maria was not at home.

"And that's when Lydia said “we can see her you old bat” and Lady Lucas became very angry and shouted a bunch of things at us about Lizzie accepting gifts from Mr. Darcy and everyone knows she and he meet in secret, and that's when the door was slammed in our faces." Relating the last bit, Kitty again was overcome with emotion and began to cry.

"See, it's all her fault, Papa!" Lydia moved to stand up from the sofa, but Mr. Bennet held his hand out.

"Is all of this true, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth's stomach felt like it had fallen to somewhere by her knees. She gulped and answered her father. "I can explain."

Mr. Bennet scowled and stood up to face the window. Elizabeth held her breath as she had never seen her father so angry, and waited to be asked to speak again.

"Mary, Jane, what do you know about this? Have you helped Elizabeth in her secret assignations with Mr. Darcy?"

"No, Papa! I've never, that is--"

"Bite your tongue, Elizabeth Rose. I will hear your pleas in a moment." Her father's eyes were like stone as he stared his favorite daughter down into silence. "Mary?"

Mary Bennet looked around the room, trying to seek assistance from any of her family members. Finding no one would speak up for her, Mary took a deep breath.

"No, I would not and have not assisted Lizzie in meeting Mr. Darcy. But I did hear Mrs. Cummings and Mrs. White gossip about Lizzie in church. They said some very dreadful things."

"I see."

"Please, Papa." Elizabeth whimpered, looking down at the floor. Her father ignored her.

"And Jane?"

"Mr. Bennet, we're all ruined! You see what your girl has done to us?" Mrs. Bennet shrieked, her face red with the effort she had made thus far to keep quiet. "Are you happy now, missy? When your father's gone and the entail takes over, we'll all be thrown out! We'll have nowhere to live!"

"That is enough! Lydia, Kitty, please take your mother upstairs and help her calm her nerves."

"But!"

"Lydia, I will not repeat myself."

Slowly the two youngest daughters helped their mother up the stairs as she continued to cry and whine about the family's ruination. Once they were behind her parents' bedroom door, the cries became a soft muffling and Mr. Bennet could hear the  sound of Elizabeth crying. Sighing, the man seemed to deflate under the stress of the afternoon and returned to his chair.

"Papa?"

Mr. Bennet rubbed his eyes with his thumb and center finger on one hand, attempting to relieve the pressure in his head. "Yes, Jane. Go ahead."

"Lizzie is in love with Mr. Darcy. But he doesn't know it and she's never had a romantic liaison with him, sir."

Mr. Bennet laughed and muttered to himself. Jane looked over at Elizabeth who was no longer crying and instead glaring at her older sister with shock over her disloyalty. Feeling pity, Jane offered her a warm smile because in her heart, she just knew everything would work out for the best.

"I said that I hate him, Jane. I HATE HIM!" She clenched her fists in frustration, beyond crazy with the whirlwind of speculation and lies that were being slung at her.

"Jane, Mary, please excuse us." Mr. Bennet rose and helped Elizabeth up. "I think it's time I speak with your sister in private." The two remaining daughters nodded obediently and Elizabeth had no choice but to be steered to her father's study. Depositing her in the chair across from his desk, Mr. Bennet kept his back to her and turned around with two glasses of port, albeit one of them with very little drink in it.

"Drink this."

Her hands shaking, Elizabeth swallowed the shot and coughed at the burn. Wiping her mouth, she accepted a handkerchief from her father and worked to restore her sensibilities.

Leaning back in his chair, the wood creaked and Mr. Bennet responded by leaning forward and taking another swallow of his own drink. "Now, let's see if we can't solve this problem together, shall we my dear?"

"Please, Papa, I didn't intend to--"

"Ssssh, ssssh, that's all worthless worry my daughter. Your mother's gossiping and the lack of manners of your youngest sisters had their own hands in getting us all into this mess, and I failed to stop you from your curiosity." Mr. Bennet's face remained grim and once again Elizabeth struggled to find the words to respond her father's sudden dose of hubris.

As if reading her mind, he suddenly cleared his throat. "Don't be surprised, I know my own failings and live them well."

She shook her head in disbelief and found her hands still shaking, so she clasped them and rested them on her lap.

"I believe its past time for me to request an audience with this young man. Did he truly purchase you a book from Hopkins?"

"A fashion magazine."

"What? A fashion?" Mr. Bennet couldn't stop howling with laughter. He had kept a keen eye on his daughter for the last few weeks and noticed she was not at all indifferent to Mr. Darcy since the day she saved him. The fact that she had chosen one of those silly style guides from the London clinched it for him. Catching his breath, Mr. Bennet managed to regain a serious tone. "I will ride out today and tell him he must marry you."

"No, you can't! Please Papa, he doesn't like me. It would be a marriage of the cruelest kind." Fresh tears began to develop on the edge of Elizabeth's eyes, and she defiantly refused to blink and allow them to fall.

The wretched state of his daughter before him made his heart break. He turned around to purposely take longer to find parchment and ink so she could regain control. Returning to the desk, he began scribbling furiously.

After a few moments, Elizabeth began to become agitated at his silence. "Surely you're not writing Mr. Darcy a letter?"

"Mr. Darcy? Heavens, no. I'm sending an express to your Uncle for him to expect you and Mary to arrive tomorrow. You should go upstairs and pack your trunks."

"London?"

Mr. Bennet continued to write and waited until he finished his thought. "Yes, Elizabeth. Despite what we'd like for the situation to be, you presence here is eliciting gossip of the worst kind."

"But the ball!" Elizabeth remembered Mr. Darcy approaching her after church and never getting to say what he meant to speak. She was convinced now that he was going to ask for her hand for a dance. Maybe even the first one like Mr. Bingley asked of Jane.

"I'm sorry, but my cousin is to arrive in two day’s time and even your mother does not know. If your Mr. Darcy doesn't realize his idiotic behavior during the ball and ask for your hand in marriage, then I'm afraid the entire situation might travel beyond our small hamlet full of neighbors with nothing better to do than to discuss one another's dirty linens."

Elizabeth shook her head. She was being banished to London, and with Mary? It couldn't be true!

"But why not Jane? Why must Mary come with me?" With so many of her plans crumbling in her mind, Elizabeth grew frantic in her calculations. Mary hated any socializing and she would be stuck listening to her sermonize all afternoon in Aunt Gardiner's sitting room.

"Don't be selfish, Lizzie. Jane must stay here and you know why. I cannot send you by yourself without confirming that I am sending you away for wanton behavior. If a sister accompanies you, it is merely a visit. Would you prefer Kitty or Lydia?"

She frowned and lowered her shoulders. "No thank you, Papa.” She took a breath and realized he made complete sense. His plan was the only chance at saving the family's reputation. “I'm truly sorry." She stood up and walked around the desk to hug her father with the small fear in the back of her mind that she might not see him again for a long while.

"I'm sorry, too, my dear. I'm sorry, too." He pressed a kiss to her hand as he shooed her away to the door. He didn't know the intricacies of packing that women must do, but he knew it always seemed to take them an inordinate amount of time and he was set on placing both of his daughters on the post first thing in the morning. He had just finished his letter with a clear note to his brother to allow both Lizzie and Mary extra money for a dress or two.

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CHAPTER 6

Elizabeth rose extra early to get a short walk in before spending most of the day jostled about in a carriage. She left without a bonnet despite the morning's crisp chill and scurried to her favorite prospect, the one that began this entire mess. Coming to the crest of the hill, she was surprised to see Mr. Darcy holding the reins of his horse and looking out over the countryside with his back to her. The horse, whether by scent or sight, noticed Elizabeth and began to move his head in her direction, attracting Mr. Darcy's attention.

“Miss Elizabeth!”

“Mr. Darcy” she replied cooly, with a curtsy. Turning and looking behind her, she contemplated simply returning down the hill without another word to him, the man now responsible for her banishment to London. If anyone should see them here the gossip would become ten times worse. Elizabeth remained to satisfy her own curiosity.

“Why did you purchase my magazine, sir?”

Mr. Darcy was shocked out of his admiring glance of Elizabeth, with her wild hair and bright cheeks from her morning exercise. The woman didn't dally with niceties and it was a newness that still baffled him.

“How are you this morning?”

“Perfectly fine, now an answer if you please?”

Darcy walked a few steps closer to her, making his horse happier. He stopped close enough that the horse's muzzle could once again reach Elizabeth and she politely held out her hand to greet the animal.

“I am, that is, I did not mean
—” he struggled to come up with an answer and it was infuriating. Never was Fitzwilliam Darcy so tongue-tied as when he was in the presence of this woman. How could he tell her he was remorseful for how he treated her when he was ill and surprised to hear how she had loved the book he had read and planned to give it to his sister? The explanation didn't make much sense to him and he was the one who knew it to be true.

“Was it out of gratitude?” she offered, after feeling unable to endure his stare.

He nodded. Simplified, it was the easiest explanation and he thought she might be happy until she scowled and turned away.

“Good day, Mr. Darcy,” she said as she began to walk back down the hill.

Thoroughly confused, Darcy stood there for another moment, wondering what he had said that was wrong? He indeed was grateful she had tended to him while he was sick. If she hadn't run off, he would have asked how gratitude was a black mark on his character, but alas, he was too slow to enjoy a witty tête-à-tête.

His horse let out a loud whinny and Mr. Darcy absently patted the animal's neck. Admitting he agreed with the beast's sentiments, though why his steed was so acutely keen on Miss Elizabeth, he couldn't say.

Darcy mounted and began riding in the opposite direction. The thrill of the gallop down the hill made him forget completely about asking Miss Elizabeth to a dance set. It wasn't until he was halfway back to Netherfield and contemplating plans to avoid Miss Bingley that he groaned in exasperation at himself.

The long march home in time to catch the post stung Elizabeth's heels as she purposely ground each step down as hard as she could. So he now knew what she had done for him and all he could feel was gratitude? Had nothing that she and he shared meant anything at all?

The feelings of tending to Mr. Darcy flooded her memories and she stopped for a moment to take one final appreciative view of her home county. The pain of unrequited admiration was a new sentiment for her, and she now understood why the poets wrote so dramatically about the heart. Bitterness at being so wrong in her affections and now suffering a trip for who knew how long to her relations in London was more despair than she thought possible to endure.

Wiping the small threat of tears from her eyes at the edge of her family's property, she resolved there would not be another tear shed for Mr. Darcy. A firm countenance set, she reminded herself that in any other circumstance she would be overjoyed to visit her favorite aunt and uncle. And it was with this attitude that Elizabeth later boarded the carriage to her uncertain future happiness.

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Odors of an unbathed man and a screaming child made most of the trip to London an uncomfortable excursion for both Elizabeth and Mary. As the carriage neared the final post stop, Elizabeth leaned out the window to see if their uncle was waiting for them. To her dismay, there was no sign of him and a tightness of fear began to grip her heart. Steeling her gaze, she looked to Mary next to her and gave a slight nod in the negative, and watched her sister pale.

Disembarking from the coach, Elizabeth stepped closely to Mary as the two entered the inn. The main room was loud and rambunctious as the late afternoon sun was beginning its reign over the sky. Elizabeth's eyes adjusted to the dimness and she spied a table near the main bar where she hoped the proprietor would be vigilant. Dragging Mary over to the table, she ignored the sneers and glances their way from various men already in their cups.

The table was mostly clean, except for a few dried food bits on the edges. Elizabeth sat facing the door with Mary sitting across from her. This was a mistake. A man approached their table and helped himself by sitting next to Mary.

"What's a couple of nice ladies like youse doing traveling alone?" The man's breath was most foul and Mary leaned away. She stood up and quickly moved to the other side of the table to sit next to Elizabeth.

"Don't talk to him." Elizabeth whispered under her breath, praying fervently her uncle would arrive. Mary shook her head in agreement.

"What, you're too good to talk to the likes of me?" The man's speech continued to slur as he became belligerent. "Oy, gents, look at these two lost birdies." As his companions cheered when he turned around, Elizabeth could feel Mary edge even closer.

Emboldened by his mates, the man stood up from his chair and walked behind the women. Both cringed as he lifted an arm to place it on Mary's shoulder and Elizabeth decided to act. With a swift movement, she jerked her elbow back and connected with the man's most private area.

He howled in pain and reached up to grab Elizabeth by the hair. She screamed and the entire situation seemed lost when a man's voice suddenly broke through the din.

"Unhand that woman or lose it! Your choice friend." Mary looked up from where she sat next to Elizabeth and followed the cold steel pressed against the drunk man's arm up to a handsome, chiseled face belonging to a man wearing His Majesty's crimson red.

She gasped and protectively hugged her sister as the drunk man removed his grip and Elizabeth collapsed forward. The drunk
slowly tried to rise as the sword remained fixed on him.

"Don't want no trouble, no trouble at all."

"I should run you through on principle alone, but you're lucky I've killed more than enough for a lifetime." The unfamiliar army colonel stared the man down as he backed away to rejoin the table of his friends. Satisfied, the hero sheathed his sword and bowed to the ladies. "Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, at your service."

Mary implored Elizabeth to speak for them as she was far less traveled than her sister and the entire ordeal was overwhelming to say the least. Instead, Elizabeth took a number of deep breaths in and out trying to gather herself.

Sensing their distress, the Colonel waved back at his own table and a young woman with perfectly pinned blonde hair and a lavender silk gown hastened to his side.

"You poor dears! Are you unharmed"

Finally Elizabeth looked up and was startled to see a set of chestnut eyes she recognized, but shook her head to erase her mind's aggravating memory. The young lady smiled at her and Elizabeth tried to return the smile, though it was feeble.

"Oh where are my manners? I'm Georgiana Darcy and this is my cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam. We saw you in trouble and hoped you wouldn't mind the intrusion."

"Certainly not!" Elizabeth burst out, with a laugh, finally returning to her old self now that she felt safe again. And the woman's name was an irony she couldn't escape. "I'm Elizabeth Bennet and this is my sister, Mary Bennet. We are from Hertfordshire to visit our relatives in London."

The young girl squealed and stamped her foot, spinning around to share her glee with her cousin before remembering herself and composing her behavior. "Richard, can you believe our luck?"

Mary and Elizabeth exchanged looks and shrugged.

"May we join you?" Georgiana asked, still bubbly with excitement.

The Bennet sisters could hardly refuse and Elizabeth certainly didn't wish to do so. Without missing a beat, she immediately asked if the woman was a relation of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

"Indeed, he is my brother! We are on our way to see how he fares after his accident. It was your family, was it not, that saved him? Pray, how is he?"

Elizabeth's mind immediately flashed back to the moment she spied Darcy's handsome face, unconscious in the ravine below. Her momentary pause allowed Mary to speak up for the first time.

"It was my sister Elizabeth who discovered Mr. Darcy shortly after his accident. She even threw a snake to save him!"

His interest piqued, Colonel Fitzwilliam finally took a seat and motioned for a bottle of wine to be brought to the table. Now with three ladies under his protection, he was adamant to hear a good story out of the ordeal.

Elizabeth sat there dumbstruck as Mary continued to talk and talk with Georgiana Darcy, telling her all about how Elizabeth had charged his horse down the hill and taken care of her brother when he was feverish and that she had challenged that vile Caroline Bingley woman. It was clear for all the times that Mary sat quietly, almost unnoticed by all, she was taking plenty of observations around her!

"Mary, please!" Elizabeth finally interjected as she noticed the Colonel giving her more and more pointed stares.

Mary took a sip of wine from the glass so graciously poured by the Colonel. "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another."
 

The door to the inn suddenly opened and a man in fine clothing hustled inside to look around him. Elizabeth immediately recognized him and waved her petite hand in the air.

"Thank the Lord you girls are safet! My horse threw a shoe and I had to hire a hackney cab. Please accept my apologies."

"We were perfectly entertained, Uncle Edward. May I introduce you to our new acquaintances, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam and his cousin, Georgiana Darcy? Miss Darcy's brother is an acquaintance of ours from home."

Uncle Edward removed his card from his pocket and handed it to Colonel Fitzwilliam. The typeface was bold and clearly stated Edward Gardiner, Fine Goods Importer, Gracechurch Street, London. Edward Gardiner raised his eyebrow at the name Darcy, remembering that was the young gentleman mentioned in the express from his brother Bennet.

"Pray, how singular that you should meet in an inn on the outskirts of London," he mused.

The colonel coughed and looked at Mr. Gardiner. "There was some untoward behavior by a few of the patrons towards your nieces and I felt obliged to step in."

Paling at the revelation his nieces were in danger, Elizabeth stood up causing Colonel Fitzwilliam to rise as well. "Fear not, Uncle, it was mere words and Mary and I are fine. Thank you Colonel, Miss Darcy for the wonderful repast. We wish you a safe journey onward."

The trio heading to London left to hurry home before dark and the two cousins similarly entered their own carriage to seek their destination. After a few minutes, Georgiana finally broke the quiet.

"It is too bad the Miss Bennets are to London, I should have dearly liked to enjoy their company again."

His mind reeling, the colonel was quickly connecting the pieces of information in his possession from Darcy's letters about Miss Elizabeth and witnessing the woman's spirit first hand. He couldn't help the mischievous grin from softening his battle-scarred face.

"I have a feeling we will find ourselves in the company of Miss Bennet and Miss Mary before we know it. Yes," he said as he winked at his younger cousin, "before we know it."

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