Courtyard
George Wythe felt every one of his forty-five years as he stepped down from the carriage after a long and unpleasant ride through the rain. The journey had proved longer and more arduous than expected, though a reasonable man assumed most things would be.
As he helped his even older companion down, Elizabeth Bennet ran out of a large side door in the manor house, followed by his Margaret and another girl of about her age.
Close behind that trio came a man of five-and-twenty with a look of authority—perhaps the stablemaster or head gardener.
He was followed by a half-dozen stable hands or gardeners, and a similar number of footmen carrying umbrellas.
The two groups quickly converged, and the unknown young lady stepped forward, speaking animatedly.
“Mr Selkirk, welcome to Pemberley, though I could wish for better circumstances for your visit.”
“I thank you, Miss Darcy. It has been many years, and I see you are all grown.”
“Might I presume this is your father, Margie?”
The three ladies had been driven to distraction the past four hours trying to be certain everything was ready, and had adopted Christian names by mutual consent the first time Lizzy and Margie spoke to each other.
“Papa, may I introduce Miss Georgiana Darcy. She is Mr Darcy’s sister. Georgie, may I make you known to my father, Mr George Wythe.”
“Welcome to Pemberley, Mr Wythe. We are happy to have you here, and you shall always be welcome. Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Miss Margaret Wythe, might I introduce you to Mr Selkirk. Mr Selkirk, Miss Bennet and Miss Wythe. Miss Bennet is a trusted friend of my brother. Lizzy, Margie, Mr Selkirk is the mayor of Sudbury.”
Elizabeth laughed at herself. She had feared she overstepped her bounds presuming to invite the inhabitants to Pemberley, but as she had told Miss Darcy, they would have ended up here anyway—though if Mr Selkirk had not seen them in years, perhaps they were not so very well known.
Two footmen stepped forward with umbrellas and stood close to the gentlemen, sheltering them from the rain while awaiting instruction.
“Is your brother at home?” Selkirk asked.
“No sir, but do not fret. Miss Bennet has aided me, and we are well prepared for however many people you choose to bring. We should get out of the rain, so let us be quick about it. There are a few things you should be aware of.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“First, we have several cases of measles, including most of the senior staff. We isolated them in the guest wing and believe we can keep everyone separated, but you must be absolutely certain everyone that enters the house understands they are not under any conditions to enter any corridors blocked by sheets. I will have your word on this.”
Selkirk nodded. “Where do you plan to place us?”
“The ill and injured in the family wing, the rest in the ballroom. I am sorry we cannot offer the guest wing.”
“The ballroom will do splendidly. I need to send men to Lambton for bedding and the like.”
“Already done! Just get everyone inside out of the rain.”
“Understood. Are there other rules?”
“Just two. The first is that we expect proper behaviour. We understand life is difficult for the villagers, but we will not accept that as an excuse for theft or anything else disagreeable.”
Selkirk sighed. “That should not need to be said, but you are correct to do so. There are always a few hotheads who need it stated explicitly, and occasionally with fists. We will see to it.”
Georgiana nodded. “One last thing. We ladies are sharing responsibilities, and between the three of us, we make one fair mistress. However, there must be one true leader, so I ask you to impress upon everyone that Miss Bennet’s word is law.”
Elizabeth barely managed to suppress a gasp and stared at Georgiana in consternation—sheepishly admitting she had been outplayed.
She could not countermand the first order from the true mistress of the manor, nor could she force the job on a sixteen-year-old girl who did not seem up to the task; so apparently for the duration she was to play the mistress more than she cared to.
Elizabeth stared at Georgiana, promising discussion and possible retribution later; but then an idea struck her that made her gasp.
The thought of later retribution flowed right into her mind without the slightest twinge.
It was as if she were planning to thump one of her sisters later.
She had as much as tacitly admitted to herself that her relationship with Miss Georgiana Darcy would have a later.
Perhaps, she might have to think on that—later.
She looked at the men; it was disconcerting to see two men of her father’s generation, one a mayor and the other a prosperous businessman, looking to her for instruction. Yes, she was definitely going to thrash Georgiana Darcy, but for the moment, there was work and responsibility to be dealt with.
“Who do we have in the carriage, Mr Selkirk?”
“Two adults and five children who are quite ill, ma’am. Two have nasty burns, and the others are all done in from smoke. Our wives patched them up, but it will not hold forever.”
“Their families?”
“Following behind. One young boy is alone in the world. Both his parents perished, and he has no siblings.”
“How old is he, and what is wrong with him?”
“Smoke, mostly. I believe he will recover well enough. He is twelve.”
“Does he have any friends coming?”
“Yes, in about an hour or two.”
“Mr Breton, the boy should be with his friends, but might you assign one of your hands to look in on him from time to time? Maybe take him to see the horses or put him to work when he feels up to it. It might make him brood less.”
“Even better, ma’am. I have a man of two and twenty who is newly married. I believe his wife would not be averse to taking him in until we find a better situation.”
“For the rest of the injured, distribute them in the family wing,” Elizabeth said, and signalled two footmen.
Mr Wythe spoke quietly. “Those burned most severely were taken into other houses in the village, Miss Bennet. The apothecary will stay there to tend them, but for those with smoke, he judged the clean air worth the ride in the rain.”
Elizabeth regretted the return to ‘Miss Bennet’ for Mr Wythe, but she understood the necessity. Georgiana Darcy had ceded the responsibility, and it was up to her to carry it until one of the Matlocks or Mr Darcy returned.
“We sent riders for apothecaries from Lambton and Kympton. One or both should show up soon. Are there more injured coming?”
“One more carriage full. Then about an hour back, should be the rest of the villagers.”
“Very well. The men know what to do. Let us get you inside.”
She turned to another footman. “Nathaniel, this is Miss Wythe’s father. Take his trunks to the green suite. I hope you know where it is because I have no idea.”
Georgiana giggled, and the young footman could not stifle a small laugh, with Elizabeth and Margaret joining in. “Off with you, young man.”
The next eight hours dragged by like two full days. It had seemed so simple! ‘Open the ballroom! Get out of the way! All will be well! So Simple!’
Perhaps matters would have resolved had they simply opened the doors and done nothing; but once everyone understood she was the effective mistress, their ability to make decisions seemed to vanish.
In fairness, everybody knew they were uninvited guests, and nobody wanted to displease Mr Darcy.
When an important decision arose, almost nobody seemed comfortable simply making and implementing them.
She occasionally forced Georgiana, Margaret, or Mr Breton to deal with something, but usually, it was simplest to just decide, assign a responsible person, and move to the next crisis.
By dark, with the help of everyone who would have done the same without her, they managed to get the fires lit in the kitchen and food cooking in prodigious quantities.
True to her earlier instructions, they had beef broth, porridge, meat, and vegetables a few hours later.
She sent men to Lambton and Kympton to buy all the local baker could spare and ordered the same each day for a week.
She even reached a point where she did not flinch at the cost, after the fifth time Georgiana chided her for dwelling on trivialities.
Finally, well after midnight, she had all the guests asleep, or at least lying somewhere.
All injuries were tended. She had personally spoken with every adult for at least a couple of minutes, and most of the children had received sweetmeats.
Elizabeth wondered why on earth Georgiana thought it essential for Elizabeth to distribute them, but she lacked the energy to argue with all the villagers and Miss Darcy’s intransigence—and truth be told, the children were sweet and it was more pleasure than chore.
Georgiana spent as much time on similar tasks, but in most cases, she made it clear Elizabeth was in charge. Elizabeth eventually lost her temper and asked about it. She drew her nemesis aside where they could speak privately.
“Georgie, that was an underhanded trick, assigning me responsibility like that. I do not terribly mind, but I wish you had at least warned me.”
Miss Darcy at least had the good grace to blush but stood her ground.
“Lizzy, have you ever felt like someone from your past was standing right before you, talking to you?”
Elizabeth grew uncomfortable with that line of questioning, particularly since her adventure had started with taking her mother’s advice.
She glanced around to ensure nobody listened.
“I do. I would not ordinarily tell anyone this, but I sometimes see people standing before me dispensing advice. I realise it is only a trick of the mind, but it works, and I tend to listen; though like anything, the advice is not always good. Perhaps I will tell you one day of the time I took my mother’s…
well, enough of that for now. I do know what you mean, but I would not tell many people if I were you. It is best not to be thought mad.”
Georgiana whispered, “My father came to me just as I walked to the coach in the courtyard. It is as if he stood there before me. Do you wish to know what he said?”
With some trepidation, Elizabeth replied, “Go on.”
Someday you will be the mistress. You will be a leader, so you should think about what makes one.
Sometimes, people will follow just because the mistress is followed regardless of her qualifications.
However—this is important—a leader is mostly someone that people will follow.
When you are grown, I hope you have learned to lead and not just use your position as a crutch.
People will follow you with their minds as the mistress, but they will follow you with their hearts if you are a person worthy of being followed.
“I do not see how that applies,” said Elizabeth vexedly.
“Can you not see? I will be someone that people will follow someday. You gave me the best beginning for that earlier today, and I have complete confidence in my ability to do that later. However, according to my father, we needed a leader now. I just looked around and found the one person I was willing to follow.”
Elizabeth had no idea whether to feel honoured or annoyed, but the die was cast so it was time to quit whining.
“I suspect your brother will be seriously displeased, but I will do my best.”
“On the contrary, my brother will be inordinately pleased. He will be angry with himself for not being here, but very well pleased to be redundant.”
Elizabeth had to laugh at that, and the conversation ended as a maid came to them with two problems to solve.
Elizabeth very pointedly crossed her arms in a stern fashion, and Georgiana made the decisions without complaint.
Elizabeth was happy the younger girl was beginning to reclaim the role of mistress, but Georgiana just thought she was following orders as was right and proper.
Finally, well into the early hours of the morning, Elizabeth found a maid to show her to her chamber. She had sent Margaret and Georgiana to bed hours earlier, but she was not quite ready to sleep until satisfied that everything was as it should be.
Twenty minutes later, she was washed and asleep scarcely before her head touched the pillow.
The maid had asked if she could endure five minutes to pin a dress for preparation for the morrow.
Elizabeth had little enthusiasm for the scheme but thought it her duty to allow the staff to present their de facto mistress in her best light.