{"id":2134,"date":"2017-12-14T08:17:54","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T13:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elizabethannwest.com\/author\/?p=2134"},"modified":"2021-12-17T12:26:41","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T17:26:41","slug":"chapter-8-spring-sentiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elizabethannwest.com\/author\/readingroom\/chapter-8-spring-sentiment\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 8 A Spring Sentiment"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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And yet, nothing trumps the bond between sisters. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>

XOXOXO Elizabeth Ann West<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chapter 8 - A Spring Sentiment, a Pride and Prejudice Variation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Throbbing pain in Elizabeth\u2019s temples made her happy to retire for a rest on the fourth afternoon at Matlock. Her feet ascended the thirty carpeted steps up the main hall as she still couldn\u2019t stop the details swirling in her mind for Easter dinner. Lady Matlock had helped her go through all of the escorts and privileges, but was Lady Sefton to be escorted in by Lord Marlborough or the Viscount of Eaton? She shook her head and remembered that Darcy\u2019s aunt was not going to let her fail.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

The last room on the left in the visitor wing was hers, a completely separate hall from where Mr. Darcy roomed on the family side of the mansion. With great effort, she pushed the heavy, medieval-styled door and found Becky laying out her evening attire. Becky immediately curtsied, then seeing Elizabeth\u2019s color, she rushed forward to help her lady to her bed.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cA thousand thanks. Are there any powders left in my trunk?\u201d Becky nodded and rushed to Elizabeth\u2019s private toiletry case to find the last packet of powders given to her by the apothecary in London. Without her habitual morning walk, the headaches Elizabeth sustained as a child were returning in full force. She was adamant that in the morning she would find a way to walk in the elegant gardens even if it meant she needed to tie the bed sheets and scale the balcony to avoid Lady Matlock and her endless teachings of running an estate the size of Matlock. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cHere you are, Miss Elizabeth. I\u2019ll send young Robin around to the town to purchase more. Mr. Darcy surely won\u2019t want you to be without your remedy.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cPlease send a note to Mr. Darcy\u2019s valet that I intend to take a walk in the morning and would be so very pleased if his master would join me.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cAye, ma\u2019am.\u201d Becky curtsied and smiled. Knowing Miss Elizabeth since childhood had helped her tremendously in her transition from housemaid to lady\u2019s maid. Though the rest of the above-stairs staff at Matlock sniffed at her lack of credentials and formal training, she knew that Miss Elizabeth would never desire an unknown, snobby French maid, no how.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Elizabeth lay on the elegant, cool sheets, wishing she could disrobe to her chemise, but if it was one thing she\u2019d learned from her aunt before leaving, it was that house parties as large and elite as this one could quickly become dangerous grounds for maidens. She trusted Lady Matlock with her safety, but for the past two nights, she had not enjoyed the particular attentions of Lord Bergamote, a man of French ancestry staying with relations in Southern England, and she suspected that William had enjoyed those attentions even less so. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Rolling onto her side away from the door, she closed her eyes. Taking calming breaths, she willed the powders to begin working. After what felt like an eternity, she finally drifted off to sleep.


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When Elizabeth woke hours later, the room was dark, and she cried out from fear of not knowing where she was. Her head still ached, but it was mostly a dull pain. Rubbing her eyes, she adjusted her vision to the darkened room and began to panic. She remembered where she was and threw the bed curtains to the side. How they had become closed, she didn\u2019t know, because she hadn\u2019t closed them. Stumbling around to light a candle, she called for Becky, but no answer came. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Finally lighting a candle, Elizabeth realized she was in her chemise, and she hurriedly found her evening gown still laid out on the chair. Lady Matlock would be so furious with her if she missed such an important dinner due to an inept servant. The disapproval from everyone she could imagine made her flustered, and she knocked over the stack of books on her bureau while trying to reign in her unruly curls and wash her face off at the same time. She wasn\u2019t sure how she was going to secure the dress in the back and hoped Becky returned soon. The crash must have alerted others she was awake because her bedroom door opened a swift moment later and Mary rushed in. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cLizzie, what on earth are you doing?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cWhat does it appear that I am doing? I\u2019m trying to hurry and dress for dinner! I\u2019m so late!\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Mary clucked her tongue and gently pulled the hair brush from Elizabeth\u2019s hand. \u201cIt\u2019s eleven o\u2019clock in the evening. I was just retiring when I heard the crash, and I worried you had fallen out of bed.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cI missed dinner?\u201d Elizabeth cried, thoroughly panicked now. This was just like Netherfield all over again. She pressed her fingers to her head and cursed the plague of migraines that she inherited from Grandmother Bennet. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cSssh, ssssh, it\u2019s all been resolved. When your maid told Mr. Darcy\u2019s valet you were ill, he asked me to see to you. You were writhing in pain, even as you slept, so Becky and I helped you undress as you did not wake. I made my report to Mr. Darcy, and he decided that you were not to be disturbed.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cOh, that\u2019s far worse!\u201d Elizabeth began to pound her fists on her head, both to stop the buzzing and in complete frustration. Her first attempt and she had failed to be strong enough to play hostess. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Mary looked at Elizabeth with confusion. Her older sister was behaving most oddly, and Mary wasn\u2019t used to seeing the woman she looked up to so vulnerable. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cWould you stop that caterwauling?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Shocked by the most impressive imitation of her father\u2019s favorite refrain, Elizabeth opened her teary eyes to look at Mary. \u201cHave you completely lost your senses? Mr. Darcy was so caring and thoughtful to make sure you were attended and left to recover.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cYet I have failed him! I keep trying to learn it all, but every day I am more and more confused. Just trying to remember the names of the maids who maintain the fireplaces over the maids who clean the linens and then there\u2019s the footmen for each room, and the menus, and the activities planned for each day. . .\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cElizabeth Rose Bennet, you have gone over the moon. Get back into that bed this instant.\u201d Mary strong-armed her sister to guide her to the bed and helped her out of the partially donned evening gown. \u201cLady Matlock is merely exposing you to what you will undoubtedly experience at Pemberley. You are not expected to run Matlock after only three days of instruction, nor will you be expected to run Pemberley. Lord have mercy, but did it not occur to you that Mr. Darcy\u2019s estate has run just fine without you lo these many years?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Elizabeth blinked a few times and considered her sister\u2019s words. Of course, Mr. Darcy\u2019s homes had run without a hitch before he met her. When had she thought to place all of this pressure on herself? Sighing, Mary became more tender and began to stroke the sweaty, matted hair from Elizabeth\u2019s forehead. \u201cAre you hungry? I\u2019ll have Becky fetch a tray.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cWhere is she? I called for her.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cShe is downstairs with Molly and Sally learning from Lady Matlock\u2019s lady\u2019s maid. All of our maids Mr. Darcy hired are receiving instruction about the new expectations for our dress.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

\u201cDo not tax her then. I certainly don\u2019t want us both plagued with headaches. I shall simply eat a hearty breakfast.\u201d Mary nodded and found her way to the dressing room to remove her own gown. Elizabeth sat up in her bed on her elbows to see what Mary was doing. Mary shook her unpinned hair out and turned to look at Elizabeth as she placed it into a simple plait. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Shrugging, she looked down at her feet. \u201cI know I\u2019m not Jane. I just thought perhaps you\u2019d prefer not to sleep alone tonight?\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Feeling the younger sister, even though she was not, Elizabeth grinned and nodded. Mary shared the giggle and hopped into bed to snuggle down in the cool sheets. As Elizabeth drifted off to sleep for the second time, her less pained mind began to wonder just when had Mary become so rational and how had she missed the transition? <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

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