Page 140 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“Thankee fer lookin’ after this rascal,” the woman said.

“Jeffry is your guinea pig?” Lizzy called out, incredulous. “We have been asking everyone if they knew whom he belonged to. We had no news.”

“I’ve been ill,” she explained.

“I would like to get down,” Lizzy said to Mr. Darcy. He set the brake, tied off the reins, and leapt down. As soon as he reached her, she permitted him to place his hands on her waist and lift her out of the gig. His strong touch thrilled her. She sounded flustered to her own ears when she said, “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

Does he also sound flustered? Goodness. These feelings are so…so remarkable. I have felt nothing like them before. Do they mean that I love Mr. Darcy?

“Come closer, children,” the woman said, gesturing them toward her wagon. “Let me take a look at y’both.”

Lizzy took Mr. Darcy’s arm and they approached her. She wore a colorful kerchief over her white hair. Her skin appeared weathered and softened by experience, rather than made harsher by them.

“People call me, Aunty,” she said, petting her guinea pig. “Has Jeffry been a good boy?”

Lizzy paused, making Mr. Darcy stop. “His name is truly Jeffry?”

“It is,” Aunty said, grinning.

“Pardon me, but I am Elizabeth Bennet, and this is Mr. Darcy.”

“I knows it,” Aunty said, nodding.

“You know it?” Mr. Darcy repeated, puzzlement in his voice.

“That’s right enough,” Aunty said.

“How do you know who we are?” he asked, sounding a little suspicious now.

“Everyone knows you two.”

“That may be,” Lizzy said. “I am well known in this region, but Mr. Darcy is newly come into our society. How can you know of him?”

Instead of answering her, Aunty’s dark eyes suddenly narrowed. She straightened in her seat, and she gazed in the direction of Meryton.

“Y’must go to yer sister,” Aunty directed. “He’s there, that bastard.”

“What is this?” Mr. Darcy demanded, halting their advancement. “Georgiana?”

“Do y’have another sister?” Aunty snapped. She fixed Lizzy with a stare. “They are at yer aunt’s house.”

“Who are?” Lizzy asked as she tugged on Mr. Darcy’s arm and backed away from the wagon, absolutely certain Aunty knew something they did not. “Georgiana and Lieutenant Wickham?”

“Yer sisters are there, too, Lizzy-girl. Go, now. Georgiana will be frightened.”

Mr. Darcy grasped Lizzy’s arm, turned them around, and hurried her toward the gig. “Is it faster if we continue on this lane?”

“It is,” Lizzy said. Georgiana will be frightened? What does she mean by that? If we hurry, can we arrive before Georgiana becomes frightened? How is that possible? But, then, how is Jeffry’s mobility possible?

“Magic?” Mr. Darcy muttered as though he read her mind. He lifted her into her seat, hurried around to his side of the carriage, climbed in, took up the reins, and released the brake. “Hold on.”

*

Mary, with Georgiana beside her, and Elliot standing nearby, lifted her hand to knock on her aunt’s door. However, before she could do so, Elliot stepped forward and pounded his fist on the door hard enough so that the door vibrated.

“Uh, thank you, Elliot,” Mary said, nodding to the servant.