Chapter 19
Mary paced up and down the hall. The exercise was beginning to make her uncomfortably warm, for she was dressed for a drive on a cold November day, not for pacing in the relative warmth of the house.
She knew her discomfort was of her own making. Alan had promised to arrive at two in the afternoon, and he had yet to be more than a couple minutes late for any of their outings. She was the one who had been ready fifteen minutes early, and she was the one who had chosen to pace rather than sit patiently in the parlor with Mama.
The reason for her nervousness was not entirely clear to Mary, but it was a feeling that had grown stronger with each of Alan’s visits.
The closest she could come to giving a name to such a feeling was to call it anticipation. She looked forward to being in Alan’s company without the distractions of her family or neighbors. She looked forward to being the only recipient of his attention.
She looked forward to the lighter feeling she always had in his presence.
Mary was naturally serious. Though both her father and Elizabeth often spoke of their neighbors’ foibles with humor, Mary had never found such comments remotely funny.
Alan, however, did not mock people or poke fun at human nature. His good humor took the form of simply being naturally happy. He did not require jokes or cleverness to make him smile or even to laugh. He just did.
And his pleasant, good nature rubbed off on Mary. When she was with him, the world seemed less serious and far more enjoyable than when she was at home.
She had to admit that, today, her nervousness was compounded by the fact that Jane had been gone for three days now, and Elizabeth had been gone for two. Without her two calmer sisters, Longbourn was somehow more chaotic even with fewer people.
At dinner the last few nights, there wasn’t a single word spoken that wasn’t about either clothing or gossip. The same held true any time Mary had joined her sisters and mother in the drawing room or parlor.
Fortunately, she had a ready excuse to leave such gatherings any time she wished. Her piano practice and her studies often kept her away from the others for most of the day.
Still, escaping Longbourn was a significant part of what Mary was looking forward to in going for a drive with Alan.
Mary was just beginning to think that she should settle down and wait in the parlor like any sensible lady would have done all along, when she heard the sound of carriage wheels on the gravel drive.
She dashed out the front door and watched Alan Goulding approach in his curricle. She had never seen a more pleasant sight. Alan was as handsome and eye-catching as ever, and he seemed to have dressed with a little more care than usual.
He was wearing her favorite dark green waistcoat with a cream-colored coat. His black overcoat, with its multiple capesflapping slightly behind him, contrasted and enhanced the ensemble.
He pulled the horses to a stop directly in front of her and said, “Good afternoon, Mary.”
It was such a simple thing, a greeting that was uttered millions of times a day all across England. Still, Mary could not help but feel warm and comforted by the gentle expression in his eyes as he said it.
She knew she should return his greeting, but even that simple phrase was beyond her at the moment, so she simply smiled.
Once the stable boy was holding the horses, Alan hopped down from the carriage. “Are you ready for a drive? I have somewhere special I would like to take you, today, if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” she said. “I am ready to go wherever you take me,” said Mary.
As she heard the words come out of her mouth, she was certain she meant them on a far deeper level than they seemed. The very idea caused her to blush. Fortunately, Alan didn’t seem to hear any deeper meaning in her words. He just smiled and helped her into the curricle.
Once they were in motion, Mary asked, “Where are we going today?”
The corner of Alan’s mouth tipped up in a half-smile. “You’ll see,” he said. “In the meantime, will you tell me of your studies? Have you learned anything interesting?”
She told him the story of how Archimedes had figured out how to measure the volume of a crown by submerging it in water and measuring the displaced water. She then went on to describesome of the other things the ancient Greek philosopher had discovered or invented.
Alan didn’t respond much, just enough to keep her talking. Still, it was nice to have someone listen to her talk about her studies. While Elizabeth and Jane did so with more patience than anyone else at home, they were not interested in the slightest, which tended to repress the conversation.
Alan, however, had some knowledge of what she was learning from his time at school, so he was able to keep the discussion going far longer than anyone at home had done.
After about twenty minutes, Mary realized they were approaching Haye Park. “Are we to visit your mother, today?”
“I hope not,” said Alan quickly, which made Mary smile a bit. “We are, however, visiting a place on the grounds of Haye Park.”
He wouldn’t tell her more, but in just a few minutes, he pulled the carriage to a stop just outside the dower house.
