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“Ah! I wondered why he wore brown on the night he proposed to me,” observed Jane. “I have to admit he looks better in black.”
Miss Bennet then attempted to read her younger sister a stern lecture on her managing ways, but this was as water off a duck’s back.
“Well, it is just as well you are not so shallow as to base your opinion entirely upon looks,” teased Elizabeth, “otherwise he might have defeated himself with brown!”
“Not at all!” replied Jane airily. “He proposed under moonlight. I just imagined he was wearing black!”
They both burst out laughing.
Just then Georgiana walked into the room and demanded to know what was so hilarious.
“Oh, Georgie! Jane is engaged to Mr Thorne!”
“Oh, congratulations! He is a very estimable man!”
“You know him too?” asked Jane in bewilderment.
“Oh, yes! He has done some business with Brother. He was the only trader in Bristol who would have nothing to do with slavery. Brother says he did well enough without it and has beaten them all to flinders since the slave trade was abolished.”
Jane discovered yet another aspect of Mr Thorne she had not previously appreciated.
Georgie wanted to immediately set out for Bond Street to order the wedding gown and was quite disappointed when Jane related her aunt’s plans.
“We shall have to content ourselves with purchasing the shoes and gloves, Georgie!” sighed Elizabeth with a roll of her eyes.
Discovering that Jane had to be back in Cheapside at noon, they abandoned even the purchase of these items, judging it would be better to wait until they had samples of the fabric. Instead, they took tea with some of Mrs Flowers shortbread biscuits during which Jane’s aquamarine ring was admired.
The trip to the Leadenhall dressmaker almost came to nought when Mrs Gardiner and her niece arrived to find the shop filled with ladies. When the sheep were finally sorted from the goats—the latter being ladies who were ‘just browsing’—they discovered there were three other ladies in for fittings ahead of them. Mrs Gardiner directed Jane to look at notions and patiently stood in line. Finally receiving the dressmaker’s attention, Mrs Gardiner opened her fashion journal and explained her request. The dressmaker exclaimed over the beautiful fabrics, particularly the chiffon. But when Mrs Gardiner revealed the timetable for her niece’s wedding, the dressmaker flatly declared it impossible.
“Oh!” said Mrs Gardiner, crestfallen, “Oh, Jane! Perhaps you will have to use Lizzy’s modiste after all!”
Jane turned and the dressmaker stared. Standing in a gown that had clearly come from Bond Street was one of the most beautiful damsels Madame Tasker had ever laid eyes on.
“No, it is quite impossible!” repeated the dressmaker, putting her finger to her lips and giving a meaningful stare at one of her other clients, who had dawdled with her companion over a rack of new ribbons near the entrance, before turning her gaze back to Mrs Gardiner.
Once the extraneous ladies had departed, the dressmaker explained herself: “My waiting list is six weeks long, but a wedding is such a special occasion! I will undertake the commission. The dress should be ready for fitting in ten days, but please keep that quiet. Where is the ceremony to be?”
“St Olave’s.”
“Have you checked with the rector? I believe the waiting list is quite long.”
“The groom was able to secure an earlier ceremony.”
“A fine gentleman?” asked the dressmaker conspiratorially.
“A trader from Bristol,” answered Mrs Gardiner with a confiding smile.
The dressmaker nodded; secure in the knowledge she was serving an important client. “I hope you will let anyone who asks know who made the dress.”
“Of course,” confirmed Mrs Gardiner.
Then turning to Jane, the dressmaker ushered her behind the curtain and meaningfully flexed her tape measure. “Please strip down to your stays, Miss Bennet.”
Dinner with Mr Thorne was very pleasant. The Gardiner children fussed over him greatly on his advent. Rather than withdrawing to the study with Mr Gardiner after dinner to drink and discuss business, he removed his coat and got down on the floor to play roughly with the children in his waistcoat and shirtsleeves. Upon his leave-taking, Mrs Gardiner produced a length of ivory silk brocade matching Jane’s dress, to be made into a waistcoat. He thanked her greatly before asking whether she thought his black or brown tailcoat would work best with it.
“Black!” said Mrs Gardiner and Jane together, a little too loudly.
Arriving at the Darcy townhouse at her usual time on the following day, Jane came prepared for shopping with the veil, samples of the chosen fabrics, and a sketch of the dress, all wrapped up in brown paper. Not two hours after walking out of the Leadenhall market on the previous day, Mick had delivered the calculated yardage requested by the dressmaker. When she walked into the parlour with Lizzy to take tea before they departed for Bond Street, Jane found Princess Brunhilda with Georgie, hoping to join the group. The ring and the veil were duly admired, with Georgie exclaiming over Jane’s fine stitches.
