Revelations an adaption of Pride and Prejudice

Chapter 17

Whenthey enter the house they once again run into Mrs Reynolds, who verypolitely requests Mrs Darcy to come with her for a few moments.Fitzwilliam kisses Elizabeth again, a bit less passionate under MrsReynold's direct eye, but not exactly chaste either. Then he says:'Meet you in the library in half an hour, for our big search?'

Hiseyes twinkle, he is looking forward to what they may find, and thoughElizabeth doesn't want to read any more of those demeaning stories,she does like the information her beloved manages to distil fromthem.

MrsReynolds takes her to the servants' part of the house, to the largestorage space Elizabeth visited days earlier. Going straight for oneof the shelves, the housekeeper removes a package wrapped in paper,puts it on a narrow table in the middle of the room and unwraps it.There is fabric in it, pristine white, a whole stack of it, and thehousekeeper takes one piece from the stack, unfolding it forElizabeth and saying: 'I don't know how Mr Darcy convinced you tostraddle a horse, but it is clear he is over the moon and youcertainly don't seem to mind. You might want to wear this untilyou've had some nice blouses made.'

Andshe holds up a beautiful blouse with frills and tucks that looksvaguely familiar somehow. It will do much better than Fitzwilliam'sshirts, though Elizabeth indeed wants to have some blouses with alittle more colour made as soon as she can have a seamstress over.Without hesitation she takes off the oversized shirt and puts on theblouse, it is a perfect fit and probably looks very good on her.

'It'spart of the livery the servants wear,' Mrs Reynolds observes, 'butno-one will notice with your posture and the rest of your attire. Youlook surprisingly regal in those whatchamacallits, like the old MrsDarcy, she could wear anything and look like a queen.'

Sheis clearly lost for words over the skirt, no, trousers, that her newmistress is wearing, though Elizabeth finds them very comfortable.

MrsReynolds takes out two more blouses and puts them on the table,probably the same size, then re-wraps the rest and lays the packageback on the shelf. And she is not done, she takes out anotherpackage, even larger, and heavy, Elizabeth helps her to lift it tothe table. As Mrs Reynolds unwraps it, she says: 'This is myemergency store of fabrics, usually we order fabrics from theseamstress along with taking measurements and choosing a pattern, butI'm guessing that whoever developed that riding attire will not sharethe pattern with our regular seamstress. Am I right in supposing itto be Peter's missus?'

AtElizabeth's fond nod, the housekeeper observes: 'I thought so, he'salways telling us about her exploits on her father's horses, I didn'tthink she was doing that ladies' style, for her father has areputation for breeding the best hunters within a day's ride. Theydon't usually teach those to bear a lady's saddle, you know, huntersare pretty high-strung.

Ishe any good teaching?'

MrsReynolds likes Peter too!

Elizabethhonestly replies: 'He is very good, he can explain things so clearly.Even Fitzwilliam was impressed, he merely stood back and watched. Heasked to join the lesson tomorrow.'

'Didhe now, our master? Good, I did think that Peter fellow had a waywith horses. And with ladies, the maids all adore him, though hismissus has him well-trained.' Suddenly realising how funny thatsounds, considering the lady in question's profession, Mrs Reynoldslaughs merrily, showing a very pleasant human side, and she adds:'And since Peter's missus is sitting at home without anything to do,waiting for her baby to be born, I beg you to choose several suitablepieces from this stack to have her make you some of these skirts ofyour own. The fabric of this one undoubtedly wears well and is verysturdy, but she will be back on a horse as soon as the babe is born,so she will need it back, and you ride for leisure, not forprofession, so you can wear a more lady-like quality and colour.'