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The morning after the Meryton Assembly, there were many conversations concerning the event.

At Longbourn, Mrs Bennet spoke to her daughters as they broke their fasts and encouraged them to prepare for gentleman callers.

But Mr Bennet told his daughters, “No. There will not be any callers this afternoon–except for Martha Lucas, who will come to gossip with your mother about the gentleman who paid excessive attention to her daughters.”

Mrs Bennett frowned. “Mr Bennet, surely Mr Bingley will call this afternoon. He did so admire Jane above every other lady in the hall.”

Shaking his head, Thomas explained, “No. The gentleman will sleep until noon and then lay about his parlour the whole of today.”

“How shall we forward the match between Mr Bingley and our girl if he hides in his parlour?” asked Mrs Bennet, concerned for her plans to be thwarted immediately by her husband.

“Mrs Bennet, Mr Bingley will adapt to life in the country after a few more evenings. Even you know not to call the day after an assembly. Martha Lucas has never learned the finer points of polite ladies.

“She knows,” Frannie told her husband, “But she thinks being ‘Lady Lucas’ gives her license to ignore them.”

To change the direction of the conversation, Elizabeth spoke and said, “The music and atmosphere at the assembly were marvellous, with everyone dancing.”

Jane smiled and added, “Mr Bingley graciously danced with every young lady.”

“He is an excellent dancer,” Elizabeth acknowledged.

Mrs Bennet preened, “And danced with our Jane twice.”

“He danced with most of the young ladies twice,” Jane replied.

“I enjoyed the dancing,” Mary said, agreeing with her sister.

Of course, Lydia contributed, “I thought Mary would not be asked to dance. I was asked to dance many times…I think.”

“Before we drank too much punch,” Kitty teased her closest sister. That morning, both Lydia and Kitty overslept and complained of headaches.

“And Mr Wickham was very handsome,” Mrs Bennet continued. “I thought him very friendly and pleasant.”

She turned to her husband and asked, “What did Wickham say was his occupation? Did the gentleman say that he had money?”

Elizabeth watched her father’s face after her mother’s question about Mr Wickham as he thought about his conversations with the new gentleman the previous evening.

In revising the topics, Thomas Bennet realised Mr Wickham had been too interested in the size of Longbourn’s corn crop this past summer and the collection of rents from his tenants.

‘And I told him I was poorer for the winter,’ Thomas remembered.

‘ He did not dance with my daughters but once, while he paid all his attention to Charlotte and Maria Lucas, Deborah Golding, Miss Rushing, and Saunders’s three daughters.

I believe that Lucas, Golding, Rushing and Saunders revealed they had larger harvests than my estate. ’

Sitting at the table, Thomas Bennet remained silent in the face of his wife’s questions while he wondered at Wickham’s purpose with those questions.

~~~

At Lucas Lodge and several other homes that morning, there were pleasant remembrances of dances with Mr Wickham and Mr Bingley that lifted the spirits of many young ladies.

Their parents imagined future marriage proposals for their daughters–the best vocation available for daughters was as a wife to a man who could support her in better circumstances than her parents.

Otherwise, the daughters would marry tradesmen and shopkeepers or find employment as companions for elderly ladies or nannies.

There were old maids in every family–unmarried sisters and aunts who lived in small rooms in the house and often worked in the role of some sort of servant without pay except for room and board. When talented with her needles, such a family member provided value that was sometimes rewarded.

Every family dreaded a daughter going on the shelf–such as Charlotte Lucas at Lucas Lodge.

When Charlotte was fifteen, her father had been elevated to knighthood after giving an impassioned speech before the king.

George III rewarded the merchant by making him ‘Sir William Lucas’ and gave him a small money purse.

Upon his elevation, Lucas decided to sell his shop in Meryton and become a member of the gentry in Meryton.

Fortunately, at the same time, his wife’s father died without any other children, and his six farms were inherited by his son-in-law, who used the proceeds from the sale of his store and the purse from the king to purchase four other farms. The ten farms became known as Lucas Lodge, and with the expansion of the house on the largest farm, the Lucas family became members of the gentry.

The transition from being the daughter of a shopkeeper to a daughter of a landowner was difficult for Charlotte, and none of the young men her age approached her about marriage.

At seven-and-twenty, she was securely affixed to the shelf of spinsters.

She could not inherit her father’s estate–her eldest brother would inherit the entire estate.

The second son, Freddie, already spoke of heading to London to work as an apprentice–he had no wish to become a labourer on the farms.

However, last night, Charlotte danced with several young men, two of whom were handsome with bright smiles and kind words.

This morning, she allowed herself to imagine a different future for herself than as a maiden aunt, relegated to sewing curtains and shirts in the background while everyone else lived their lives.

~~~

At the Running Pig, the tavern and inn in the centre of Meryton, George Wickham rose late and ate a meal in the common room with a few townsfolk.

He would make his way to the militia camp that afternoon to speak with Denny and other officers he had met recently.

His ideas for gaining Caroline Bingley’s dowry by seduction fell apart the previous evening when the woman’s prejudices against tradesmen were expressed so plainly.

After paying for the food and drink, George walked toward the militia camp, his mind considering different ideas and rejecting each one.

‘I must discover what she truly wants and make it seem that George Wickham has the means to help her achieve that goal. Yes, my hands might be dirty with trade but so are all the hands in the Bingley family. If there is something she thinks I can help her achieve…I must speak with the family and others around her.’

~~~

At Netherfield, Miss Bingley finally roused herself just before the hour of noon.

She pulled on the bell, summoning the maid with a tray of tea and hot water for washing.

After only a few minutes, a footman opened the door to Miss Bingley’s chamber to allow the maid to enter with the tray bearing the expected teapot and an urn of hot water.

“You are late! I rang the bell five minutes ago!” shouted Caroline seated at the vanity; her dressing gown pulled tight around her slender figure.

“I’m sorry, miss. Cook had to wait for th’ water to boil,” explained the maid as she set the tray beside a basin on a sturdy table and stood back.

“Well, what are you standing there for?” Caroline asked the girl. Her lady’s maid quit just before they were to leave for Netherfield, and she had not had time to hire a new maid.

“What other service can I do for you, miss?” asked the girl in a mismatched uniform.

“Leave!” commanded the unpleasant woman.

The maid fled the room, and only then did Caroline realise she would have to mix the water herself.

A large pitcher of cold water sat on the table, and she poured some into the large basin before adding hot water until the liquid was a suitable temperature for washing.

Her morning routine included washing her face and body.

‘I can only bathe in the evening,’ she complained. ‘The housekeeper claims there. Are not enough pots to heat water on the fire in the morning. This is the wilderness!’

The first morning here, Caroline complained about insufficient hot water, but unfortunately, Charles sided with the housekeeper. Caroline sighed and asked herself, ‘What is the housekeeper’s name? Mrs Hide or Mrs Hodd or something equally strange.’

After washing and leaving the washcloths and dirty water to grow cold on the table, Caroline poured herself a cup and found the tea weak this morning.

‘Fresh leaves! I told Mrs Hobbit to ensure my tea was brewed with fresh leaves in the morning!’

Her mood sour, Caroline pulled the cord ringing for the maid once again.

She finished the cup of tea and selected a dress for the morning.

Then realising that it was afternoon, she selected a different dress.

When the same maid appeared through the servant’s door at the back of the room, Caroline was caught off guard but then set the girl to helping her dress.

The maid fastened the four-and-twenty buttons on the back of the gown quickly.

Then Caroline arranged her hair with the maid’s help, and finally, the girl helped the gentlewoman into her shoes.

“Why did you come through that small door this time?” she asked the maid while the girl returned the other pairs of shoes to the trunk where Caroline stored them.

“Mrs Hobbes says to use the regular door when carrying trays with pots and urns. But when I come to help with buttons or other things, I should use the back stairs. They’re narrow steps, but I can be here faster miss,” the maid explained.

Without acknowledging the girl’s explanation, Caroline left the room to descend the stairs to join her family in the dining room.

Alice Hill, the maid, used the bell to summon another maid to help put the room to rights–the bed had to be made, and nightclothes hung on hooks or folded and placed in drawers.

She would remove the dirty water and washcloths before Miss Bingley returned.

Alice moved to the nightclothes first–hopeful nothing had to be washed today.