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then added as an afterthought,
“Only do tell Hill to bring my tray up as usual and… and that I especially
asked for scones… with strawberry preserves, of course. I do believe that if
anything can revive me, it must be scones and strawberry preserves.”
    Mrs. Hill,
having already anticipated her mistress’s instructions down to the last detail,
entered the room at that moment carrying a tray set with, amongst other things,
the very items wished for.
    Jane and
Elizabeth did as their mother bade them. They joined their sisters in the
parlor, where Lydia and Kitty were already settled and Mary had taken charge of
pouring the tea.
    “Jane, you sit
here,” said Mary, indicating the chair to her right. “And Lizzy, on my other
side, if you please.”
    Elizabeth received her instructions and her tea from her younger sister with composure, and
with a spark of amusement. “Thank you, Mary,” she said wryly. “I see that, as
usual, you have everything well in hand. How efficient you are.”
    Mary nodded,
acknowledging the compliment. “I believe it is a gift of nature, one which is
of particular use in the current situation.”
    “Yes,” agreed Elizabeth. “Mama could hardly have done without you these many days, I am sure. How good of
the family at Netherfield to spare you so long.”
    “No doubt they
are quite impatient for my return; they have come to depend on me so. Despite
the inconvenience, however, Mr. Farnsworth cannot deny the higher claims of
blood at such a time.”
    “How do the
Netherfield children do?” asked Jane. “Is the younger girl still your
favorite?”
    Before Mary
could respond, Lydia declared, “ I should not hurry back to Netherfield
for all its grandeur, not wearing your shoes at least, Mary. I think I should
much rather suffer anything than be a servant, even in one of the finest houses
in England.”
    With a decided
glare, Mary rejoined, “A governess is not a common servant, whatever you
may say. It is a perfectly genteel occupation and a position that commands
respect, even esteem. Mr. Farnsworth has entrusted me with his children’s
education. That is proof of his good opinion.”
    “I see!” Lydia laughed mischievously and went on. “And I suppose he has the same high opinion of the
gamekeeper’s wife, whom he hired as wet nurse to his infants.”
    “Lydia!” cried Jane.
    Elizabeth lifted up her eyes in amazement, but was too much oppressed to make any reply.
    Kitty looked
from face to face round the table and then offered in a conciliatory tone, “I daresay
she meant no offense.”
    “Lord, no!” Lydia confirmed. “I am happy to allow that Mary is far more accomplished and quick witted
than any old gamekeeper’s wife. I only meant that it is all one to me – the
office of governess no more tolerable than that of wet nurse. Do not pretend to
be so shocked, Lizzy. You, of all people, should know how I feel about small
children.”
    “I had depended
on your opinion of them being improved over these five years by your own
daughter!” said Elizabeth.
    “Well, as these
things go, I suppose Isabella is not really a bad sort of girl. Only, in so far
as it is preventable, I certainly do not mean to have any more.
    “Your husband
may have something to say about that,” advised Elizabeth.
    “Lizzy is
right,” agreed Jane. “Surely Mr. Denny wishes to have a son. All men do, you
know.”
    “That may well
be,” Lydia responded, “but it does not signify in the least, for Denny always
gives me my own way in the end. And his mother is just as obliging, especially
as regards the child. The woman fairly dotes on her, and she cannot tell me
often enough how she looks on Isabella the same as her own grandchildren,
though the girl is every inch her father’s daughter. That is my one consolation
– and my greatest sorrow – that I am, through Isabella, every day reminded of
poor Wickham.”
    Mary held her
tongue through the last, still feeling the cut of Lydia’s belittling