The Zephyr

CHAPTER FORTY

CERBERUS AND ORTHRUS

J ust as I anticipated she would, my mother had sent Mrs Gardiner on a mission of excess in the shops, and I had even briefly gone to London for the purpose of having my wedding dress sewn expressly for me by Miss Darcy’s own modiste. On this occasion, Georgiana, with whom I was now on far more familiar terms, had taken me all around the city for my various errands, and I had stayed with her at Mr Darcy’s tastefully opulent London address.

There, I met her companion, Mrs Annesley. I also met the butler, the housekeeper, footmen, maids, and even a candidate who had been selected to serve as my personal maid, and I strove mightily not to appear too amazed by a situation so much more lavish than I expected. Georgiana, in turn, accompanied me to Cheapside and took tea with the Gardiners. She met Lydia on that occasion, and thus, we began to slowly interweave the disparate threads of our families into whole cloth .