Page 28 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“Not the cat!” Jill shouted.

“The terrible kitty!” Dash, the house mouse squeaked. He rushed about his cage, diving beneath this bit of bedding and then another bit, seemingly unable to find reassurance in any of his hiding places. “Beware! Beware!”

“Terrible kitty!” the birds repeated. “Hide!”

“We’re hiding!” the two red squirrels announced together before they scampered into the tree hollow at the top of their log.

“I am not afraid,” Jeffry claimed. He felt his tiny heart race, and he hoped their terror would not infect him.

“Wait until Harry comes back,” Jill said, nodding so vigorously her ears flopped back and forth. “He’ll protect you.”

“We-ell,” Jeffry mused. “That might not be a bad idea.”

Mrs. Annie tsked. “Horrible idea, horrible.”

“Dogs hate cats,” Clive said knowledgeably. In his anxiety, he turned around and around in his enclosure. “As a fox, I know this. Cats hate dogs. And foxes. The feeling is mutual.”

“Not so, not so,” Jeffry replied, shaking his head. “Not always. And I do not think Harry is a dog who hates cats.”

Clive yipped. “But Miss Bingley’s cat might hate dogs.”

“I do not believe Harry will chase Miss Bingley’s cat,” Jeffry reiterated. “The cat will be glad of that courtesy.”

“The cat might jump on the dog. Believe me, I have seen this,” Clive avowed.

“Harry is a calm dog,” Jeffry stated firmly.

“No one likes to be jumped on,” Jack said. “I have been jumped on—that’s how I ended up living in here. I was dreadfully injured.”

The rabbit buck turned around and around in his hutch, clearly agitated. Other animals caught his emotions and became equally disturbed, racing and flitting about.

“Be calm,” Jeffry said in his authoritative voice. Silence suffused the orangery. He made several circles of his own, scampering about the enclosure. Finally, calming himself, he said, “I mean to ask Harry about your concerns, and when I do, I would prefer you to remain quiet. If you wish to make a suggestion or to voice your worries, kindly do so in gentle voices.”

“Ask Harry,” one of the birds twittered.

“Good idea,” another one said.

“Ask Harry,” everyone else whispered together, and then silence fell once more.

That’s not creepy at all, Jeffry thought, shivering a little. Putting power behind his mental suggestion, he thought a command. Take a nap.

Chapter Five

When Lizzy arrived home an hour later, she discovered all her animals asleep except for Jeffry.

“Odd,” she whispered, closing the outside door softly. After she checked on her animals, she said, “Come Harry. Let me brush you. Everyone is sleeping so we must be quiet. I will just put off my outer things.”

Her extremely hairy dog sat on the mat next to the stool where Lizzy settled, a basket of grooming tools on the floor beside her. She picked out a fine wire brush. Carefully, and gently, she divided his hair into hanks and began the laborious task of brushing his hair. She brushed him thoroughly twice a week. If she waited too long before brushing him, poor Harry’s hair became matted and full of debris.

Harry turned his head and licked her face.

“Thank you,” Lizzy whispered. “You know, Harry, I rather like that Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley, too, of course—I imagine everyone must love him on sight.” She hummed a few bars of no song in particular before she softly added, “I do not imagine it is the same with his friend. He has the look of someone who is difficult to get to know. Prideful, perhaps? Though I have seen no evidence of that trait as yet.” Lizzy tapped his front foot and Harry lifted it for her ministrations. “He did not have to tell me his idea about the tin cup—he could have kept it to himself.”

Harry sneezed.

“Indeed, Conny likes him, too,” Lizzy said quietly as though her dog had made a remark. “I wish I had asked him some questions about his family. I do not even know if he has any siblings.” She tapped the next paw. When he placed it on her lap, she added, “How odd would that be, hmm? To have no siblings, I mean.”

Squeaky climbed out of her apron pocket and found himself a place to sit on Harry’s back, his long tail wrapped around himself.