Page 98 of I Thee Wed (Pride And Prejudice Variation #2)
Lydia stepped into the shop and let the colors and scents envelop her.
The haberdashery was bright, with bolts of fabric, ribbons, and displays of a myriad of items, including gloves, stockings, and handkerchiefs.
Memories came over her, and she thought of her five sisters, now scattered in various parts of England.
“Lydia, I have finished my purchases, but there is no need for you to hurry. I am going to my sister Phillips. Wait for me here.”
Lydia moved to the lace and studied each pattern. She needed a fichu and hoped to begin work on it that evening. The bell above the door chimed, and she heard her name.
“Lydia, you are home!”
It was Maria Lucas who ran forward at once. The two young women embraced warmly.
“Maria, how well you look! How are you?” Lydia held her hands and examined her friend.
“I am very well, Liddie,” Maria replied. “I am to be married next month to Christopher Goulding. He was away at school, but now he has returned, and we met and fell in love. It has been so romantic!”
Lydia smiled as she looked at her friend, who had grown tall and whose figure had filled out. She was no longer the thin, freckled girl she had once been. “I am very happy for you, Maria.” She drew her into another embrace. “I have missed you so. And how is Charlotte?”
Maria laughed. “Charlotte was on the point of inviting me to Derbyshire to see if she might find me a husband, but I met Mr. Goulding in the meantime, and so there was no need. She had begun to fear I should never find a match here in Meryton.”
“Charlotte lives in Derbyshire? Does she live anywhere near Elizabeth?” Lydia asked quickly.
“Why, yes. Lizzy found her a husband. Did she not write to you?”
Lydia bit her tongue. None of her family had been permitted to write.
At school, isolation had been the headmistress’s chosen weapon, cutting off pupils from all contact, impressing upon them that they would be forever abandoned should they fall.
Most of the girls had learned the lesson swiftly.
Lydia had not. She had raged and rebelled, and only yielded to discipline after four long years.
Her mother had been permitted to write only two months earlier, in preparation for her return home.
She answered carefully. “Lizzy is a busy married woman and has little time to write to her sister. So tell me all about Charlotte.”
The bell chimed again. A tall young man stood on the threshold, his eyes fixed on the two women who stood before him.
He whispered her name. “Elizabeth?”
Maria looked up. “Alexander, this is Lydia. You remember Lydia Bennet. She is my age, but perhaps you do not. Lydia, you remember my brother?”
Lydia looked him over from the crown of his fair head to his fine shoes and grinned. “Of course I do. Who could forget a man with such handsome features, fair hair, and blue eyes?”
Alexander flushed at her boldness, proof enough that she was not Elizabeth Bennet, whose manners were sweet and proper.
Lydia saw his flush and the pucker of his brow.
She laughed lightly. “I beg your pardon, Mr. Lucas. I imagine my frank remark was discomfiting. Let me begin again, this time as befits a lady.” She dipped into a graceful curtsey.
“Mr. Lucas, it is a pleasure to see you again, sir, after so many years.”
Alexander bowed. “Miss Lydia. I have come to collect Maria. May we escort you home? I do not see a companion with you.”
“There is no need, Mr. Lucas,” Lydia replied. “Mamma has stepped over to my Aunt Phillips’s house. She instructed me to remain here until her return.”
Alexander chuckled. “We both know that may be hours, given the pleasure those two sisters take in each other’s company. Allow us to escort you to your aunt’s door.” He turned to his sister. “Mother sent me to say that Christopher and his parents are expected for dinner.”
Maria brightened. “Yes, I am ready, Lydia, as soon as you are.”
Lydia gathered her selection, a bolt of lace, and smiled. “Let me settle for this, and I shall be ready.”
While the clerk measured and cut the lace, Lydia’s eyes strayed to Alexander, where he stood beside his sister.
He was tall and well-formed, a fine-looking man.
She realized she felt a stirring of excitement in his presence.
Then her eyes narrowed. He had abandoned her sweet Lizzy for Mary King, a short, freckled little thing, all for her dowry.
He had proven himself capable of dismissing a lifelong attachment for the love of money.
She clenched her jaw. How dare he throw aside her sister?
Her eyes returned to his face as he spoke to Maria. How old was he now? She remembered that he was two years older than Elizabeth, six and twenty. A man of years and experience might prove steadier, knowing his own mind and able to remain constant to the woman he loved.
Time and experience had altered her. Perhaps they had altered him as well. She drew on her gloves with deliberate care. I shall see how he has turned out. If he has improved and his character has settled into something honorable, then perhaps he is worth my notice.