Page 23 of What Change Entails

Mrs. Gardiner gathered the remaining ribbons into a small pile. “We shall not refuse respectable amusement, Lydia. But you must not expect Brighton in every town.”

“I shall expect very little,” Lydia replied with dignity. “Then I may be pleasantly surprised.”

Elizabeth glanced at Jane.

Jane’s eyes shone.

Mrs. Gardiner nodded solemnly. “An excellent philosophy.”

“It is also tragic,” Lydia added, unwilling to surrender too much ground.

“Very tragic,” Mr. Gardiner agreed. “Come, girls. Your aunt has conquered the trunk. Let us give her tea before she is required to conquer the bonnet box.”

Lydia clutched the bonnet protectively. “No one conquers the bonnet box.”

Mrs. Gardiner passed Elizabeth on the way to the door and touched her lightly on the arm. “You look tired, my dear.”

Elizabeth managed a smile. “Indeed, from counting gowns.”

Her aunt’s expression remained thoughtful. “Gowns rarely produce that expression.”

Elizabeth let the silence carry her to the window, where the sun had shifted westward and the leaves beyond the glass stirred in the warm air.

“No,” she admitted. “Perhaps not.”

Mrs. Gardiner did not press her there, with Lydia gathering ribbons and Kitty asking whether she might inherit anything left behind. She squeezed Elizabeth’s arm once before leaving the room.

Elizabeth turned back to the list before her aunt could read too much in her expression. She remained by the window after the others went out, listening to Lydia’s voice carry along the passage.

“There had better be dancing somewhere, Aunt. I do not demand much, but I cannot be expected to admire scenery every day.”

Mrs. Gardiner’s answer came back, calm and amused. “Then you had better learn to admire it very quickly.”

Elizabeth smiled despite herself. She stayed by the window a moment longer, the folded list loose in her hand.

Voices drifted up from below. Lydia complaining. Kitty laughing over something. Mrs. Gardiner answering with impossible patience.

Soon enough the house would empty a little. From downstairs came Lydia’s outraged cry. “No officers at all? Aunt, you cannot know that.”

Elizabeth snickered under her breath and went to join them.

Chapter Three

They had many stops on their journey to see sights and explore. Within the first days of travel, Lydia had determined three things with certainty.

First, inns improved considerably when they served hot chocolate before breakfast.

Second, her aunt possessed a terrifying ability to remain cheerful through inconveniences that ought to ruin an entire morning.

Third, Elizabeth Bennet became more unbearable with every mile northward.

Lydia sat wedged into the corner of the carriage with a shawl tangled around her knees and glared at the rain striking the windows.

“This weather is malicious,” she announced.

Across from her, Elizabeth continued reading with complete indifference to the weather, which Lydia found deeply unreasonable.

Mrs. Gardiner adjusted the cuff of her glove. “The clouds are unlikely to alter course because you disapprove of them, my dear.”