Chapter 3 #3
Jane giggled and clapped her hands as he fought the weight on the end of his line.
She then had to cover her smile with her hands as he pulled out not a large fish but a long moss-covered branch which he proceeded to curse and throw into the woods.
It did not help that the footman behind her could be heard sniggering into his hand.
The disappointment of the false fish soured his enjoyment, and he tossed aside his rod and flopped down on the blanket beside his wife with a fierce scowl.
“The fish are not biting.” he pouted.
“I am sorry, my love. Do you wish to return to the house?”
“There is nothing to do there either.”
“We could order tea and some of those lovely seed cakes you like?”
Bingley lit up with pleasure and popped to his feet. “Yes, let us have some of those tasty cakes. Perhaps you can convince Lizzy to give us the recipe.”
“I am certain she would be pleased to do so.” Jane accepted his hand and stood, brushing the wrinkles from her skirts.
They left the footman to gather their things and began the walk back to the house as Bingley listed all of his favorite treats and which he enjoyed most. Jane listened attentively, making note of those she was unaware of and determined to search out the recipes to please him.
When they entered the house, Jane made the request of Mrs. Reynolds and asked after Caroline.
“Miss Bingley is in the formal receiving room, Mrs. Bingley,” Mrs. Reynolds replied. “She attempted to order tea but I received instructions that you are to oversee your family until my dear Mrs. Darcy can once again take up the reins.”
“Of course,” Jane smiled serenely, praying silently that Caroline would behave when she was informed. “I suppose we shall join her there, thank you.”
Mrs. Reynolds curtsied in farewell and Bingley led the way to the room as Jane had yet to see it.
It was not a room which Elizabeth preferred to use except for people she wished to put in their place, such as a rather snobbish neighbor who had attempted to belittle Elizabeth when she had attended her first entertainment in the area.
Jane thought it must have worked rather well, for the room, when she entered it, spoke of generations of fabulously wealthy women with impeccable taste.
She imagined it was what the royal palaces looked like, all white velvet and gold silk with gilt accents and irreplaceable objet de art and oriental vases that were likely several centuries old.
“It is about time that you two appeared,” Caroline pouted from the central chair which was obviously meant for the mistress of the house to be able to entertain a large group of visitors with ease. “It is highly irregular to have been abandoned by not only my family but by dear Darcy as well.”
“I was sitting alone in the library this morning,” Bingley reminded her. “You could have joined me at any time.”
“I wished for Jane’s companionship.” Caroline sent a flat smile in her direction. “You are little recompense for the affections of a sister, Charles.”
Jane returned her smile with a hopeful one of her own. “My brother was otherwise occupied this morning, unfortunately, and has decided to spend the day with his new…”
“Daughters are of little use to their fathers.” Caroline scoffed “I am sure he would much rather have spent his time with his friends.”
“Daughters? Whatever can you mean Caroline?” Bingley asked, attempting to find a better position on the very fashionable but not so comfortable chair.
“Well, I assume Miss Eliza produced a useless female as her mother did before her. It was rather ill-conceived of Darcy to marry into such an unfortunately fecund family that leans to the feminine. What shall he do for an heir?”
“You need not worry over that,” Jane assured her earnestly. “Pemberley is unentailed, though that is hardly likely to matter at this point as Elizabeth brought two lovely gentlemen into the world this morning. They have named them Bennet and Tommy, and they are the sweetest things.”
“Two?” Caroline sputtered. “How… efficient of her.”
“An heir and a spare in one go,” Bingley laughed uproariously at his own tepid joke.
“It is a pity you have been unable to do the same, dear sister,” Caroline gave her a commiserative look.
Jane once again felt that uneasy feeling that Caroline had not at all meant what she said and returned her look with a strained smile of her own. “It is early days yet. I am certain that you shall be blessed with your first niece or nephew in time.”
She hummed doubtfully in reply and changed the subject. “I have ordered the most sumptuous tea. You shall be enraptured when you discover the true capabilities of the Pemberley kitchens.”
Jane refrained from correcting her misapprehension and Bingley acted as if he had no idea that his wife had ordered a tea of her own, the only tea which would be presented.
When the maid appeared with the tea cart, she pushed it between the two women, as close as she could to Jane and hurried from the room before Caroline could comment or berate her.
Apparently abusing the servants was a favored pastime as she had spent her whole morning doing exactly that.
Jane made to rise but Caroline pushed her down with a shocking amount of force, “Do relax, Jane. I shall manage serving tea. I ordered it after all.”
Caroline preened as she looked over the tray of comestibles.
Jane’s serene smile did not falter as the woman began to screech.
“What is this? I specifically ordered several fine French pastries and a delicate watercress sandwiches! Is that seed cake? Of all the plebeian— no one in London would be caught dead serving this— this travesty in their salons!”
“I do not mind the seed cakes,” Bingley attempted to placate her.
She gave him a vicious glare and huffed.
“No one of taste and discernment does, Charles!” She snarled, completely ignoring the perfectly prepared tea, leaving it to over-steep as she begrudgingly made up plates of the plain, but delicious food.
Jane blinked at the large plate of seed cake which Caroline almost dropped into her lap before she finally poured the tea without care for the couple’s preferences.
She added several large spoonfuls of sugar to each cup to cover the bitter taste of the now tepid tea and handed off the cups to their recipients.
Bingley, used to his sister’s negligence and demands, quickly tossed back the entire cup without comment, but Jane, after a valiant attempt to swallow a sip of the sickly-sweet brew, set it aside and nibbled on a seed cake.
They really were delicious, she thought as she slipped a few of the cakes onto her husband’s plate while they listened to Caroline’s rambling monologue on the many superior things which ought to have been provided for a truly inspiring tea.
“I suppose it is understandable as neither you nor your sister received proper training in such things, but I shall ensure that our cook is well versed in proper service when we find an estate.”
Jane hummed noncommittally in reply, though Caroline took it as acceptance for she spoke without ceasing until they had finished their repast. Jane eventually excused herself to check on Elizabeth and the twins though assured the siblings that she would return quickly to spend time with Caroline when she pouted.
“Fetch my embroidery while you are abovestairs,” Caroline declared, just short of a demand. “I should like for you to assist me with a pattern I have been thinking of.”
Jane agreed with pleasure and hurried away.
At the door to the Darcy’s chamber, her knock was answered by Elizabeth’s maid who cautioned her that the family was still resting.
Jane informed her where she would be if her sister asked for her before trekking across the many halls to the far wing where Caroline’s room was located.
The maid was quite disrespectful, shoving the basket and a lovely teal gown into her hands before shutting the door in her face with a snap.
Jane was frozen in surprise at the woman’s reception but told herself that she must have had a bad day, as surely she would not normally act in such a manner.
When she arrived back in the receiving room, her husband had taken himself off and Jane smiled sweetly as she set the basket on the settee beside its owner. Caroline removed a paper from the basket with an intricate pattern of roses drawn out upon it.
Caroline herself was rather uninspiring in her fine work and Jane inspected the pattern with some reservation. “Perhaps if you did fewer of the smaller flowers,” she attempted delicately.
“I am sure that it will not be difficult,” Caroline interrupted her with a wave. “As you are so skilled at the art, I thought that you might show me how to begin.”
Jane easily agreed and they went through her threads to choose colors. As Jane began the stitches, Caroline watched for a short time before growing bored and declaring that she would fetch her most recent letters from her friends in town so that she could share all the latest on-dits with Jane.
“Continue, do!” she declared with simper. “I shall only be a moment.”
It was nearly three quarters of an hour later when Caroline sauntered back into the room empty-handed but with an entirely new hairstyle. “Isn’t it lovely? Nadíne insisted that we try it as she had just had the idea and did not want to forget. Have you finished much?”
Jane held up the bodice of the dress where several beautiful roses had been painstakingly brought to life with tiny, perfect stitches. “There are only two more and then you can begin the filler flowers.”
“Oh, I do not believe that I shall have the time. And besides, would it not be obvious that it was not completed by the same person as our skills are so disparate? No, you are doing well enough. I shall need it by Saturday as I wish to wear it to dinner that evening. I am sure that you will finish it by then if you spend today and tomorrow working on it.”
“I—” Jane did not know what she even meant to say as she opened her mouth, but in the end, it did not matter for after ordering her to embellish the gown, Caroline flitted from the room once more.
Jane felt a bubble of— something, begin to swell in her breast but tamped it down.
Caroline surely meant to compliment her skills, even though her tone was hardly complementary, but in the smallest act of defiance, she gathered up the dress and basket and retreated to the family sitting room where she could be much more comfortable as she continued the pattern.