Page 16 of Till Death Us Do Part: Book 2
Looking slightly embarrassed, Bates replied, “Not often, madam. You need not fear intemperance.”
Elizabeth’s muddled mind did not know whether her reaction was fear or annoyance, but she supposed it did notmatter that much. Her husband would eventually return or he would not. He did not seem likely to grace her presence that day, for which she was eternally grateful.
“I thank you for scaring me to death,” she whispered, but removed the sting with a smile. “I appreciate your foresight and consideration. How exactly do you propose getting me into bed with none the wiser?”
“I will lead you up a set of hidden and rarely used back stairs that are nearly always empty. If you can tell me the name of your lady’s maid, I could fetch her to go ahead and be certain we are unobserved, but I did not want to ask the question when I stumbled upon you without your permission.”
Thoroughly embarrassed to be making the revelation, she said, “I do not have a lady’s maid. I have co-opted a scullery maid to serve in her stead, but I told her to spend the day with her family because I wanted to spend the first day of the year alone.”
Bates frowned slightly. “In that case, I am sorry for disturbing you, madam.”
“Do not be! You did the right thing. I was not exactly thinking clearly last night. I appreciate your efforts, and if you could direct me, I would consider it a great kindness.”
“It will be my pleasure.”
Elizabeth sighed. “I am awake now, so the bed is no longer attractive, but a bath would not be amiss.”
“I shall see to it quietly, madam. And the concoction?”
“I will follow your wise counsel.”
Bates came to his feet, spry for his age, then helped Elizabeth to her own. “This way, madam. This route is one you might wish to learn. It is convenient for moving about unobtrusively, which is useful from time to time.”
“I thank you.”
With that, they walked to the rear of the library, then through a cleverly hidden door to a small, cramped hall that led to a stairway, apparently leading to the family wing. Elizabeth was grateful to know about the stairs, and she thought she might even consider moving into the halls permanently when her dour excuse for a husband returned.
As predicted by Mr Bates, his concoction made Elizabeth regret that it had not killed her for the first twenty minutes of her bath, but she emerged feeling almost human. It turned out Molly had taken her seriously when Elizabeth suggested she visit her family, but she returned to Pemberley before luncheon after only a brief visit. Another upstairs maid named Martha helped with the bath, and Elizabeth felt she might have pulled it off credibly.
The mistress reflected that the holidays had been quite a disappointment. The Bennets did not go to extraordinary lengths to celebrate Christmas, but they did exchange small gifts and did a bit of holiday decoration. Many people in England did nothing, and many deferred celebrations to Twelfth Night. Elizabeth had arrived the day after Christmas to find some servants were given brief holidays, but by New Year’s they were all back to doing whatever it was they did. Mrs Darcy frankly had no idea, nor at that moment any real desire to find out. She supposed if anything happened on Twelfth Night, she might accidentally stumble on it but otherwise gave it no thought.
After her bath, she dressed in her second black dress. She had asked the laundry maid to dye another day dress and thought the two she had might last her until her husband returned, or until she had to start mourninghiminstead of just her innocence and naivete, which she was presently grieving. With an allowance of forty pounds per annum, she was in no mood to dye a third dress unless she grew desperate, since forall she knew, she might never get another. She wondered if she would have to return to Longbourn to retrieve those she left for her sisters, but eventually decided she was indulging in entirely too much sour grapes. Even the stingiest man in the worldmusthave settledsomethingon her, though apparently neither her husband nor her father saw fit to enlighten her, and she had not had the good sense to ask.
A while later, she heard a knock on the door, and found Mr Bates with a tray of food, that surprisingly also held a small purse. Her eyes rose in surprise at that, but she did not ask right away.
“There are certain foods that are more beneficial than others after a night of… ah—” he said, but being unable to add a word like ‘indulgence,’ or the more accurate but less acceptable ‘stupidity,’ he just left the middle of the sentence out and continued, “I have chosen a selection of things that are easy on the stomach.”
“I thank you. That is very thoughtful of you.”
“I am just doing my duty, madam.”
“On the contrary, unless you somehow acquired the title of lady’s maid, you have been going above and beyond. I certainly appreciate it.”
Looking embarrassed by the praise, he suggested, “Perhaps I should put this on the table, and you may partake.”
“I thank you,” she said demurely.
Once she sat down, she was surprised when Bates poured out her tea and prepared it just the way she liked it.
The elder gentleman winked. “You are not surprised that I have rudimentary knowledge of how to do my job, I presume.”
Elizabeth liked the older man. “I would not dream of it. My father’s man could not serve my mother tea if you gave him a week to work it out and provided him detailed notes.”
Bates chuckled a bit. “You do have a sense of humour, madam.”
“Oh no, that was just a statement of fact.”
Bates bowed. “Anything else I may do for you? Otherwise, I will leave you to break your fast. I asked Alice to come for the tray in half an hour.”
