Chapter Sixteen
This Little Brownie went to Ramsgate
Even though the assembly ran late, and Lizzy and Jane spent some time before bed discussing the night’s entertainment, Lizzy still rose early the next morning.
As Lizzy quietly dressed, she noticed the sun had not made an appearance, but the moon still hung above the horizon providing a little light.
As a result of the late night, Jane opted to sleep with her sister, so Lizzy chose not to put on her walking boots until after she quietly left the room.
As she moved towards the stairs, she could smell the aroma of newly baked bread.
When she reached to bottom of the stairs, she sat down and donned her boots before making her way to the kitchen to retrieve some rolls.
“Miss Lizzy walking?” Butterbell asked from the corner he considered his in the kitchen.
When Lizzy turned nine, her grandmother informed Butterbell it would no longer be proper for him to share a room with Lizzy since she was maturing into a young lady, and she would need her privacy.
Butterbell, at first, did not understand, but then one of the female brownies explained the situation to him.
That explanation helped him not only to comprehend the situation but also to accept it.
Since then, he had fixed up a corner in the kitchen where he would spend the night.
“Yes, Butterbell. Do you wish to come accompany me?”
“Yes, miss. Butterbell enjoys the outdoors, and he must protect you when you leave house.”
Lizzy smiled before saying, “Then you should ask cook for some breakfast to bring along on our walk.”
Butterbell did just that, and then the two departed for their walk.
As they walked outside, Ben joined them.
This did not surprise Lizzy since both men always monitored her moves and never left her unprotected.
As Ben neared, Lizzy handed him a hot roll.
During the first part of the walk, Butterbell remained silent as he ate the roll given to him and an apple he picked up.
The roll vanished quickly, but the apple he ate slowly.
Lizzy, long ago, noticed he savored each bite of any fruit or vegetable he ate.
She always wondered if it related to his affinity with nature, but she never asked him for an explanation.
As they neared the mount, Lizzy noticed the sun was already rising making it easy to see the top.
“Rowan be up on mount,” Butterbell suddenly declared. “Master William too,” he added.
“Why does Rowan refer to Mr. Darcy as Master William? I thought I heard him introduced as Fitzwilliam Darcy?” Lizzy inquired curiously.
“Rowan said when little, he called him Master Fitz. Fitzwilliam too long, he declared. The master did not like Fitz, but then he heard Fitzwilliam’s mother call him William. Rowan then changed to Master William.” Butterbell smiled broadly after rendering is explanation.
“It makes perfect sense,” Lizzy replied. “I like William. He looks like a William.”
“You call him William?”
“It would be inappropriate for me to refer to him so informally. I will address him as Mr. Darcy. You can address him as Master William, though, because it is considered appropriate for you.”
“Good.”
Just then, Lizzy and Butterbell began to climb the hill, so they stopped talking. Ben took his station at the bottom of the hill where he could monitor the approach of anyone.
Lizzy wondered what just what Mr. Darcy wanted to share with her about his sister.
He seemed driven to speak to her as soon as he saw her.
Of course, anything he might say about brownies or wards could not be spoken about in public.
Although a few of her neighbors knew about her ability, it was only the masters of the local estates, which limited it to five.
At one time it was six, but the old master of Netherfield had died, and his heir never visited the estate.
She continued to ward Netherfield only because of a bequest in the Lord Martindale’s will leaving a fund to have the estate rewarded every fifteen years.
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy greeted her as she reached the top of the mount.
Since the ground was slightly uneven, Lizzy choose not to curtsy, but she did reply, “Good morning to you as well, Mr. Darcy.”
Lizzy noticed the gentleman still gave her a slight bow before he suggested, “I noticed a bench over near the eastern edge of the hill. Might you join me there?”
Lizzy smiled remembering the placement of the bench. “Yes.”
“Someone must have gone to the trouble of place it up here,” Darcy commented.
“Yes. My father had Joseph and Ben bring it up here after he had it constructed for me. Papa said it was better than having me sit on the ground or a wet fallen tree trunk,” Lizzy explained. “In fact, this bench was made from that fallen tree trunk he mentioned.”
“Do you spend much time up here?”
“Nearly every morning when I am home,” Lizzy replied.
“I must say, the sunrise is beautiful from this vantage point.” Darcy wanted to add that she too was extremely lovely with the first rays of the sun shining on her.
“I have always thought so, but while visiting the lake district this past year, I found some spots where the sunrise was just a beautiful, and a few places where the sunset was even more exquisite.”
“I agree. The mountains in the Lake District provide many excellent places to enjoy the landscape of the area,” Darcy replied.
Darcy, while staring at the lady beside him, was enjoying what he saw to the extent that he had forgot the reason for requesting to speak to her until she said, “Mr. Darcy, what did you wish to share with me about your sister?”
“Yes,” Darcy said coming back to the present situation and looking away from Miss Elizabeth’s lovely countenance.
“This past spring, I hired a companion for my sister. She had excellent references, but Featherleaf expressed concern about the lady. I thought Featherleaf might feel jealous that another person would be interacting with my sister, so I did not think much more about it.”
Lizzy watched as Mr. Darcy rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. She had seen her father do this a few times when he was agitated about something.
“I generally visit my aunt, who lives in Kent, during the month of April; a visit Georgiana dislikes. Mrs. Young, my sister’s new companion, suggested spending the month in Ramsgate.
She mentioned my sister might find the sea air enjoyable.
I readily agreed, thinking it a nice idea to give my sister a holiday. ”
Again, Lizzy watched as he rubbed the back of his neck, and then he ran his hand through his hair. She thought, ‘This must be a hard memory for him.’ In that, she would soon discover she was correct.
“During the second week of my visit with my aunt, Rowan received information that I was needed in Ramsgate as soon as possible. Somehow, Featherleaf had sent him a message.”
“Yes, brownies have an interesting method of communicating,” Lizzy commented.
“I would be interested in learning about it,” Darcy observed, but then continued his story.
“Although my aunt was upset about my interrupted visit, I left as soon as I received the message. My cousin, a Colonel in His Majesty’s calvary, was on the visit with me, so he accompanied me to Ramsgate.
Fortunately, the distance to Ramsgate made it an easy journey. ”
Lizzy watched as Darcy ran his hand though his hair once again.
“When we arrived in Ramsgate, we discovered my father’s godson was attempting to woo my sister into agreeing to elope with him.
Worse, Mrs. Young was a part of his plan.
With that man’s help, she presented me with false references.
Featherleaf, because of her abilities and presence, was able to protect my sister from the two conspirators, and my cousin routed them so they would not bother my sister again or mention anything of what happened in Ramsgate.
Although, if they did try to spread any rumors, it would look worse for them since my sister never allowed herself to be a position where someone might question her respectability. ”
“The man sounds like a snake who slithers across the field looking for unwary prey,” Lizzy observed. “I am glad to hear she was kept safe.”
“A snake is an apt description. My sister would not have been safe from their plan if it had not been for Featherleaf. Her brownie would never have been able to travel with my sister except for the ward you placed around her. I cannot thank you enough for that particular service, for it saved my sister from facing a horrendous future.”
“I was happy to be of assistance. That year, I placed wards around a number of individual brownies.”
“Still, the fact you agreed to place one around Featherleaf was a true blessing to my sister and myself. Have you continued providing that particular service?”
“Not near home, unless it is for someone who already knows what I can provide.” Seeing his puzzled look, Lizzy explained, “You see, only the owners of an estate know me by appearance, but those in our small neighborhood also know me as a Bennet daughter. They, however, do not share that information with anyone else.”
“How can you be sure they will not speak of it to others?”
“Their brownies will not allow it.” Lizzy paused and chuckled into her hand at Mr. Darcy’s confused look.
It was Rowan who answered the question his Master William did not ask.
“No brownie allows Miss to be harmed. None want secret revealed, or that baddest of men will find her. We her protected. She protects us, and we all,” — Rowen swept his hand around him to include everything beyond him — “protect her.”
Darcy nodded his head in understanding as Rowan spoke.
“Rowan be right,” Butterbell added. “Miss worth protecting. All brownies count on her protection.”
Still curious, Darcy asked, “How will the brownies stop anyone from revealing your identity?”
Lizzy smiled. “Mr. Darcy, have you ever been in the process of saying something and suddenly found the words would not come out?”
“No . . .” Before saying more, Darcy paused in thought. He quickly remembered just such a time. “Yes. There was time when I was going to deny culpability in something my cousin and I did, but the words would not come out.”
“That were me,” Rowan declared. “Could not allow Master William lie to father.”
Darcy stared at Rowan in disbelief. Lizzy nearly laughed at his look but then clarified the situation for him.
“Mr. Darcy, most brownies have the ability to stop anyone from speaking, especially if it is something they know should not be said.”
Darcy chuckled. “I will remember that in the future,” he said as he looked from Rowan to Butterbell who were both nodding in agreement with the lady’s comment.
“Mr. Darcy, would you consider sharing my breakfast with me?” Lizzy pulled the rolls from her pocket and showed him what she had to offer.
“If you are willing to share, yes, I would. I did not think to bring anything along with me, and I did leave before breaking my fast,” Darcy replied with a broad smile.
Lizzy held the napkin that had been wrapped around her rolls so Mr. Darcy could choose one. She then noticed Rowan looking hungerly at the offering.
“Would you like one, Rowan?”
“Yes, Miss.” Taking one, Rowan added, “Rowan much thankful.” He then proceeded to eat his roll as both Lizzy and Darcy chuckled.
Darcy and Lizzy spent the rest of the time on Oakham Mount talking about their shared interests. Book discussions consumed most of the time, but family and home were also covered.
The two might have remained up on Oakham Mount until noon if Joseph had not coming looking for Lizzy.
“Miss,” Joseph called out as he reached to top of the mount, “your father is looking for you. Cook mentioned you had gone for a walk. I came looking hoping to find you.”
“Thank you, Joseph. Mr. Darcy and I were just sharing our opinions about books we have read.” Lizzy rose from the bench with Mr. Darcy also rising.
“Sir, I enjoyed this time together. Maybe you might pay a visit later today, and we can speak more about our opinions concerning Shakespeare's different plays.”
Darcy reached out, took Lizzy’s hand, and kissed it. “I would be more than pleased to hear your opinions about some of his tragedies.”
“Until later, Mr. Darcy.” This time, Lizzy did give the gentleman a curtsey, and he returned the compliment with a sweeping bow.
“Until later,” Darcy reiterated.
Lizzy left with a contented smile upon her lips. Had she looked back, she would have seen the gentleman smiling as well. At the bottom of the hill, she and Joseph joined Ben to walk toward Longbourn.