Again the pace slowed until a cry went up from the back of the line. As they came to a stop, Mary was passed by a white Mr Bingley as he felt his way down the line in search of the reason for halting. Within a few seconds, he passed by her to the front of the line again, and Mary could hear an unintelligible shouted conversation up ahead. Mr Bingley passed back one more time, and then she heard Mr Darcy’s voice shout, “Onward!”
Mary tried to look behind her and saw Kitty endeavouring to do the same.
“Ladies, keep your eyes forward. We have to keep moving.” The reverend was right. Mary knew it. But all the same, she felt inside that her mother was not doing so well behind them.
It did not take many more minutes before they rounded the corner and entered the Longbourn drive. Mary’s muscles ached from the exertion and she did not know if she could make it another step. Once the house was in view, Walter moved to her side, placed his hand around her waist and fairly hauled her towards her home. As soon as they had stepped over the threshold, she noticed that the reverend had done the same with Kitty.
Mary spun around, grabbed hold of the door, and stared into the dark storm. “Where are the rest of them?” she cried out.
Mr Darcy brushed past her. She twisted her head and saw young William Collins still asleep but now in her father’s arms as he sat by the fireside in the entrance hallway.
“Do you need assistance?” Walter called after the retreating form of Mr Darcy, who waved him on with a sharp nod, and together with the reverend they went back out into the night.
Mary stood motionless as she watched the three men disappear in a swirl of snowflakes. Her heart thumped heavily against her ribcage. She knew instinctively that her mother was in trouble. She spun around and spied Dorcas standing with Hill, laying out Mr Bennet’s wet things before the fire to dry. “Hill, I fear for Mama.” Mary was surprised at how quiet her voice was.
“What was that, Miss Mary?” The portly servant turned to look at her.
Mary cleared her throat. “I fear for Mama.” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “We are going to need blankets.”
“Lots of them,” Kitty added.
“Something hot to drink and eat,” Mary’s mind began to work without her willing it to.
“Brandy. Warm some brandy,” Kitty nodded quickly beside her.
Mary thought of something, looked out to the storm beyond the house, to her sister, then back at Hill. “Fetch the medicine box too.”
“Yes, miss.” Hill turned on her heel and moved faster than her size suggested she could. Dorcas followed her.
“How will we know what to administer?” Kitty’s brow was creased with worry lines.
“We won’t.” Mary set her jaw. “Walter will.”
Kitty stared at her, but now was not the time for explanations. “We need to make certain there are enough beds and there is sufficient wood for all the fires.”
Two servants from Lucas Lodge heard her as they came out of the drawing room after attending to her father. “We can see to that, Miss Bennet, if someone will show us where everything is kept.”
“I can do that.” Kitty reached out and squeezed Mary’s hands. “You keep watch here. Don’t get too cold, and let me know the moment they all arrive back.”
Mary nodded, folded her arms across her chest, and returned to staring off into the storm. “I will.”
Chapter Thirty
Kitty did not know how long her sister had stood at the door, immobile as a statue, but she knew it was too long when she touched her hand and it was as cold as ice. “Mary, you need to move towards the fire. You’ll catch a cold getting so icy like that.”
Mary shook her head.
“And you still have your wet cloak on.” Still Mary was unmoving. “Please, Mary!” Kitty’s tone was enough to attract her older sister’s attention.
“Yes, you are right, Kitty. I should take this wet cloak off and warm up a little.” Kitty led her to the high wingback chairs that flanked the fireplace. “I can move a chair and keep up my vigil from here.”
Kitty nodded. “Hill is warming some brandy. She will have a little glass for you in while, I am certain.”
The two sisters sat in silence, one in the chair, the other perched upon the arm, until a cry went up from outside. “What-ho!”
“That’s the reverend,” Kitty cried. She flung herself off the arm of the chair and towards the door. “Here! Over here!” she cried into the wind. Her pulse raced. There was not a person among them she would wish any ill, despite their detached unkindness towards her in the past few months. They were her family, friends, and neighbours. She wanted nothing but for them all to be safe and sound in the house, with the doors tightly closed against the storm.
Another cry went up. “What-ho!”
“This way!” Kitty and Mary cried together.
Slowly, so painfully slowly, figures emerged through the snowy haze.
“I cannot make it out,” Kitty whimpered.
“They are carrying someone.” Mary covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh, dear Lord!”
“Who is it? Can you see?”
“No, not yet.”
Kitty stepped out of the doors and immediately wished she had not. The wind hit her face so hard that she almost lost her footing and fell.
“Kitty!” Mary called out coming to her aid.
Kitty clung onto her sister for dear life and pointed through the snow. “There! It is a woman they are carrying.”
“It is Mama!”
Sure enough, Walter, Reverend Summers, Mr Darcy, and Mr Bingley carried Mrs Bennet between them.
“Quickly, get her into the drawing room,” Mary shouted to them as they neared.
Kitty turned on her heel and ran into the house. “Hill! Hill! They have returned! Bring the blankets!” Kitty felt the hot fingers of panic grip her, and she took a few deep breaths to steady herself as their servant arrived. “We need them in front of the fire. Mama needs to be warmed through immediately.”
As the menfolk brought Mrs Bennet into Longbourn and were directed to the drawing room, Kitty stayed with Mary to see how the Collinses and Lucases were. She was amazed to see that it was Jane and Lizzy who had taken care of them, not Mr Collins or Sir Lucas. Once again, the fortitude and strength of character her sisters showed overawed her. She could not have been prouder of them than she was in that moment.
Kitty and Mary locked and bolted the front doors to keep out the frigid night air, and together they ran into the drawing room to see how their mother was.
“Ought she not be in bed?” Mr Bingley asked as Mrs Bennet’s feet were propped up on a footstool before the fire.
“Ideally, yes. But, you are all suffering from fatigue, and I want her to be treated immediately.” Kitty didn’t recognize the voice. She peered around her father’s form as he bustled about placing cushions behind Mrs Bennet and was amazed to see it was Walter who spoke. She looked at Mary and found her rapt by the scene before them.
“Ladies,” Walter called out, “Mrs Bennet requires warm, dry clothing. Can you see to it?”
Immediately there was a tussle as Lizzy, Jane, Mary, and Kitty all made to go to Mrs Bennet’s bed chamber at the same time. “Mary, Kitty, you remain here. It is your place. Jane and I will go to Mama’s room and bring some dry clothes and sheets.” Lizzy barely looked at her younger sisters as she delivered her orders. Kitty and Mary obeyed in silence.
Kitty looked at Mary once again. She was frozen to the spot, not knowing what to do for the best. “How about you go and help Hill with the hot brandy?” Kitty’s voice was soft, and Mary jumped when she placed her hand upon her arm.
“No,” Mary shook her head. “I cannot leave Mama.” Her eyes welled up with tears, and Kitty could plainly see the fear in them.
“Very well,” she nodded once. “I shall assist Hill. Perhaps you can be of some use to Mr Hodgson.”
Mary looked at the man beside the fire, and Kitty waited until she nodded in agree
ment before she departed. At the door she turned back. “Perhaps you three gentlemen would like a change of clothes.” She looked pointedly at Mr Darcy.
She watched him mentally shake himself and agree. “Yes, yes, Kitty, we would.” He tapped Mr Bingley and Mr Bennet on the shoulders, and all three of them reluctantly left the drawing room in search of something dry to wear.
Reverend Summers caught up with Kitty as she made her way towards the kitchen. “Kitty!” he called out in a mock whisper. “How is she?”
“Oh, Reverend. Do forgive me, but I forgot about you all in the entrance hall.” She closed her eyes and calmed her breathing. “I cannot tell as to how Mama is, but Mr Hodgson is with her.”
The reverend nodded.
“If you would go upstairs with Mr Darcy, he will make certain you, Sir Lucas, and Mr Collins have something dry to wear.”
Again the reverend nodded, studying her face. “Are you all right?”
“As well as can be expected, I think.” Her smile was wan and lacked her usual vivacity. “When I have been to see how it all fares in the kitchen, I shall return and can take the ladies upstairs to change into dry clothing. We perhaps will be attired in ill-fitting clothing, but what does that really signify?”
“Precisely.” His smile was warm and inviting. “It matters not. We are here, dry and warming through. Our only concern now is for Mrs Bennet’s health.”
“Yes.” Kitty was relieved to have his steadiness of mind. “I shall return forthwith.” She turned on her heel and went to the kitchens. She had not realised how many servants were in their party. The range had been lit and the place was quite hot in comparison to the rest of the house. Kitty noted that the servants’ clothing was already mostly dried out. “Hill,” Kitty called. “Hill?”
“Over here, my lovely!” Crowding around Hill was a group of women decanting the warmed brandy into serving jugs. Everything to Kitty’s eye was ready to be taken upstairs to the awaiting guests—if that was what they could be termed.
“We are going to need every item of clothing we possess, I should think.”
“Right you are, Miss Kitty!”
“Do we have anything clean in the laundry baskets?”
“You’ll have to go and look yourself, miss,” came the reply, and Kitty noticed that more than one servant was shocked and stared open-mouthed at how Hill had spoken to Kitty. She did not mind in the least. Hill had been there from the moment each of the girls was born and was more like a beloved aunt than a servant. She was cherished and deeply loved. The other servants would have to learn what it was like to live in a household for such a long time—you all become family.
Kitty quickly found the laundry basket and was relieved that there was indeed an amount of clean dresses within it. None of them, unfortunately, had been pressed with the iron, but that did not matter in her mind. The important thing was that everyone had something clean and dry to wear.
With her arms full of clothes, Kitty quickly trotted out of the kitchen, through the hall passageways, and into the entrance hall. “Ladies, I have some clean, dry clothing for us all. If you would like to follow me, I believe we can find somewhere for you all to change.” Kitty was surprised at the sound of her voice. It sounded strange and unfamiliar, yet Lady Lucas and Mrs Collins followed her as soon as she finished speaking. She led them up the stairs and into her own bedroom. In the blink of an eye, Kitty decided she would spend the night in Mary’s room. “I believe it would be the best solution for me to sleep in Mary’s room. Either you, Lady Lucas, and Sir Lucas can have my room tonight or Mr and Mrs Collins. I shall leave that decision to you.”
“Where is William?” Charlotte asked.
It had been a very long time since Kitty had seen Charlotte. She was the very best friend of her sister, Lizzy, and Charlotte had once been a frequent visitor to Longbourn. That was until she married their cousin, Mr Collins, and moved away to Kent. Now they lived in Derbyshire on Lizzy and Mr Darcy’s estate. “He has been taken to the nursery. He is sleeping in there, I suppose, with my nephews.”
Charlotte smiled. “I should like to see him.”
“Of course, once you are changed. The stairs to the nursery are at the far end of the landing.” Kitty pointed in the general direction. “Is there anything else you require?”
“Hot water to wash in would be very nice, my dear,” Lady Lucas whimpered, her eyes surveying Kitty’s room and evidently not liking what she found.
“Of course. I shall send for some immediately.” Kitty left the room before she could see any more disgust in Lady Lucas’ expression. She did not like the haughtiness that family had adopted after Sir Lucas, the mayor and a mere shopkeeper, had been elevated to the knighthood. Nevertheless, Maria and Charlotte, their daughters, were dear friends and she was determined to be civil for their sakes.
She met Lizzy and Jane on the stairs. “Kitty, we have need of you,” Jane puffed, her arms full of bed sheets. “Can you hold up these sheets so we can change Mama?”
“Mr Hodgson is the only man in the room. We can ask him to leave for a moment.” Kitty frowned. “I must fetch water for Lady Lucas, and then I shall be with you to assist in changing Mama.” She ran quickly, knowing that under any other circumstances, she would have been scolded; ladies do not run.
When she returned to the drawing room, it was to find Walter stationed outside. She stifled a giggle and slipped into the room. She was relieved to find her mother awake.
“Oh, my dear Kitty!” she called out and reached out for her.
“I am here, Mama.” Kitty took hold of her hand and was surprised at how cold it was. Mary, Jane, and Lizzy had already stripped her down to her undergarments and were in the process of helping her to stand and removing them.
“Oh,” Mrs Bennet whimpered at the exertion. She looked so very pale to Kitty. She bit her lower lip, took the wet clothing from her sisters, and handed them dry ones. “It is all well, Mama. You shall be dry and warmed through in no time.” Her voice was calm and reassuring, despite the knot of fear that had taken up a permanent position in the pit of her stomach since seeing her mother carried into the house.
Once Mrs Bennet was dressed, Walter was called back in and was encouraged by the rise of colour in her cheeks. “I think that is a good sign.”
“Can that not be from the exertion of changing her clothing?” Jane asked, her brow knotted in concern.
“Let us remain positive, Mrs Bingley,” he replied. He reached into the medicine chest and retrieved a vile. “Can you empty the contents of this when you go to the kitchen with the clothes?” he asked holding out the bottle. “It has gone off.”
“I wasn’t aware that remedies went off.” The scoff was out of Kitty’s mouth before she realised it.
“Oh, yes. Once a preparation has been made it deteriorates, very much like if you cut an apple, it will go brown in minutes.”
Kitty nodded at his logic.
Mary reached out and took the vial from him. “I’ll do it. I want to keep active.”
He smiled at her and Kitty did not miss the twinkle in his eye. “When you have done that, I would appreciate your assistance, if you would.”
Mary’s smile lit up her face. “I should like that very much indeed, Walter.” She reddened, and Kitty watched as Mary led Jane and Lizzy out of the room.
“What is your prognosis, Doctor?” Kitty grinned at him.
“Oh, I am no doctor,” Mr Hodgson looked up at her from the medicine case, “but I have studied enough to know what I am doing.”
They were interrupted by the arrival of Mr Darcy, Mr Bingley, and Mr Bennet, who immediately sat beside Mrs Bennet and held her hand. They silently watched Mr Hodgson minister to her.
“Mr Hodgson was just telling me about his medical studies,” Kitty grinned. She wanted to know how an ordinary attorney’s clerk could know anything about medicine. Walter blushed, and she felt cruel for pointing out his skill, but her curiosity had always got the better of her and she wanted t
o know.
“Really?” Mr Bingley asked as he observed the younger man about his task. “You are a doctor?” His face was all amazement.
Slowly the room filled up, and Kitty watched Walter shift uncomfortably. “I am not a doctor, Mr Bingley. I am just a clerk.” He dripped a few drops of a colourless liquid into a glass of water and handed it to his patient. “Drink this, please, Mrs Bennet.”
“And yet, it appears to me, you have an intimate knowledge of the contents of the medicine cabinet.” Mr Darcy’s eyebrows rose.
Walter closed the chest and took one last look at Mrs Bennet before speaking. “I believe that is all we can do for now. We shall repeat the dose in an hour. For now, a little hot brandy will do her some good, I believe.” He took the proffered seat at the end of the settee that Mr Darcy indicated.
“Very well done,” Mr Bennet croaked. “I am grateful to you.”
Walter nodded. “I have done all I can. We shall monitor Mrs Bennet now, but I believe she shall recover.”
“Thank you.” Relief washed over Mr Bennet’s face.
Kitty helped Mary, who had returned, place more chairs from the dining room for everyone to be seated as the hot brandy was brought in and everyone was handed a large glassful.
Before Hill departed, she curtseyed and informed them all, “There’s hot soup and warm bread in the dining room. Help yourselves.”
“Oh, indeed I shall,” Mr Collins was on his feet instantly. “Charlotte, my dear, shall I bring you a bowl?”
“Yes, please, William.”
Kitty was pleased to see him so attentive. Her impression of him was he thought of himself alone.
“So do tell,” Sir Lucas spoke up, swallowing a large mouthful of brandy and smacking his lips. Kitty noticed he was wearing a rather too small pair of her father’s breeches and stifled a chuckle. “Do tell us how you came to be so knowledgeable, young man.”
Christmas at Longbourn Page 13
