Page 29 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“Did you like Mr. Darcy?” she asked her field mouse. He seemed to shrug. “You are right, I suppose. We have only met him twice. Perhaps I will meet him again at Miss Bingley’s afternoon party. Thank the good Lord another invitation came for Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.”

To Lizzy’s fanciful mind Squeaky appeared to nod.

“Are you talking to your animals again?” Jane asked.

Lizzy smiled and looked up as her sister walked toward Lizzy through the orangery.

“Just to Harry and Squeaky,” Lizzy admitted. “The others appear to be asleep.”

Jane glanced around, her eyebrows high. “All of them? Even the birds and the squirrels?”

“Not Jeffry, though. It is quite astounding.”

“Are you almost finished brushing Harry?” Jane asked, looking back down at the dog. “He is looking fine.”

“I am.”

“How is Mr. Bingley’s lamb?”

“Exceedingly well. He treats Gerty like she has always been his mother.”

“Mr. Bingley will be so pleased.”

Lizzy patted Harry, and he wandered off the mat, accepted a pat from Jane, and found a place looking down into Jeffry’s enclosure. He sat back on his haunches, seemingly waiting for something.

“Are you going for another drive with Mr. Bingley today?” Lizzy asked, rising from the stool and collecting all the hair, leaves, sticks, and mud she had combed out of Harry’s coat.

“We made no plans,” Jane admitted. “Are you ready to come and eat? I thought Mama might have had a fit when she entered the breakfast room and you were not waiting there.”

“I wish they would not wait,” Lizzy said, sighing. “I could always get something in the kitchen.” She dumped the debris into a barrel.

“‘In civilized households…’” Jane began, quoting their mother. “In truth, Mama came down early, so you are not that late.”

“Hoping to catch me out, I suppose,” Lizzy said. She clicked her tongue, removed her dirty outdoor shoes, and slipped on a pair of sturdy indoor slippers. “I am ahead of her today.” She waved at her day gown. “I dressed appropriately ahead of time, and I did not run at all.”

“You look perfectly fine for a family meal,” Jane praised. “But I suggest you remove that apron and wash your hands so you do not smell like Harry when you come to the table.”

“I will,” Lizzy said, untying her apron, hanging it up, and moving to the washstand. She scrubbed her hands, dried them, and followed Jane.

Once they entered the front hall, Lizzy watched Dorcus, the scullery maid assigned to the orangery, hurry into the space to collect Lizzy’s pelisse, bonnet, and gloves. By the time Lizzy needed to go outside again, the boot boy would have cleaned her sturdy walking shoes and replaced them next to the boots she wore in the farmyard.

*

Jeffry looked up from his nest of forest floor debris and observed the huge hairy dog. As soon as the humans left the orangery, he cocked his head at Harry.

“Will you walk with me to Netherfield so I can meet the cat?”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up. In a slow, ponderous voice, he replied, “Do you mean Basile? Or one of the barn cats?”

“Is Basile the name of Caroline Bingley’s cat?” Jeffry asked.

“Yes.” Harry chuffed.

“That is who I must meet.”

“I will take you,” Harry said. He put his head over the enclosure barrier, opening his mouth to take the guinea pig in his mouth.

Jeffry backed up. “No, not in the mouth again. I will ride on your back.”