Voices in the Dark

by Jaeza Rayleigh

  The summons to attend her came from a maid or message boy responding to one of the two bells linked to that room. The other bell summoned the housekeeper. The bank of bells outside the housekeeper's study was always tended by at least two members of the staff who did other work in that area while they waited for the bell to ring. One would listen for the bell, the other would bring the summons. Peeling or cutting vegetables, polishing silver, sewing and mending could all be done while waiting for the bell. Idleness was not allowed.

  The time of summons varied each day. Lizzy did not always miss a meal, but there was always something about the daily summons to cause frustration. The deeper her frustration, the darker the sense of the shadows in the corridor and the more exhausted Lizzy felt when she reached her room.

  She finally made the connection after being summoned during a visit from Lady Catherine's new parson. Lizzy entered, curtsied to Lady Catherine and her guest, then sat silently in her chair. She did not know what might be expected of her with another person in the room, but Lady Catherine had been clear she was not to speak unless directly questioned by her ladyship.

  The man, to whom she was not introduced, looked to be in his early thirties. Lizzy considered him of average height and build and noted his fair hair might have some natural curl, but it was pomaded and styled severely. He looked at Lizzy with some interest when she entered but had clearly already been trained not to question Lady Catherine.

  As Lizzy sat and listened, she gathered enough clues to determine the man was most likely the parson. He spoke with an obsequious air reminiscent of Mr. Collins, although this man had nowhere near her cousin's mastery of the art.

  "I expect you to visit each of the parishioners every week, Mr. Herbert. There will be no exceptions. Check to make sure their homes are free of vice and ensure any instructions I send them are followed. You will write down your findings and bring your report to me."

  "Of course, Lady Catherine," said the man, bobbing his head in a sort of seated bow. "I have prepared a schedule for my visits and will take down my findings as I go."

  "Do not visit at the same time each week. Vary your visits so they do not know when to expect you. It will be more difficult for them to hide problems from you if they do not know when you will arrive."

  "I will vary my visits and take careful notes, Lady Catherine," he said with a repeat of the head bob. "In all things I shall proceed as you wish.

  "Make sure you do," she said frostily.

  He bobbed his head again. "Yes, Lady Catherine."

  She proceeded to go over his previous report and give instructions regarding each of the tenant and village houses. Lizzy found Lady Catherine's instructions both officious and intrusive. What gave her the right to direct the private lives of the local people? Many were not even tenants, but inhabitants of the village of Hunsford. Why would she control their lives?

  Remaining silent, Lizzy sat in the approved position and kept her eyes lowered with the appearance of respect. It would hardly do to show her indignation. As she looked at the floor, she was almost convinced the darker veins in the marble were shifting and gathering near her seat and that of Mr. Herbert. She tried to concentrate on a particular pattern but was caught by a statement from Lady Catherine.

  "I forbid you from providing any assistance to the Mason family. Every member of the family is to be shunned by all until they cast that ruined girl from their home. See that all your parishioners take heed. Any who offer help are to be shunned as well."

  "The family insist the girl was attacked and therefore not culpable," Mr. Herbert ventured tentatively.

  "She is ruined and with child. That is the primary point. How it happened matters not. She must go." Lady Catherine spoke so heartlessly and in such an inflexible tone that Lizzy's anger flared along with a rush of sympathy for the poor girl and her family.

  She continued to watch the floor as she held herself silent. This time she was certain the shadows drew round her and not just on the floor. Lizzy felt her energy draining.

  One of her father's books discussed the detrimental effects of anger and hatred on the spirit. The author recommended measured deep breathing to calm the mind and release the emotions. Lizzy remembered the text. Somehow, she knew she needed to let go of her anger, so she quietly began to deepen her breathing. She concentrated on the movement of air, in and out. She continued to watch the movements on the floor and as she calmed the hungry darkness receded.

  Lady Catherine had continued directing her parson after the instructions regarding the Mason family, but she must have noticed some change in the flow of shadows. She held up a hand to stop Mr. Herbert mid-sentence. He almost swallowed his tongue in his haste to comply.

  "Miss Bennet, you are dismissed," she said coldly.

  With the usual deep curtsy to Lady Catherine and a more shallow one to the parson Lizzy left, still concentrating on breathing in and breathing out. The corridor felt brighter than usual. The weariness that had overtaken her after her burst of anger remained but did not increase as she returned to her room.

  Strange though the idea was, Lizzy was now certain something at Rosings fed on frustration, anger and similar emotions. Even more, she knew Lady Catherine was aware of the phenomenon and meant to deliberately provoke Lizzy into anger, perhaps to feed the shadows. Rational or not, Lizzy could find no other explanation for her experience.

  Chapter 5: Miss de Bourgh

  Lizzy's greatest challenge came from the lack of freedom in her new residence. At Longbourn she had walked daily, often several miles in a day. When she became frustrated with her mother or sisters, when the pages of a book could not hold her interest, when her courses caused headaches and that bloated feeling, Lizzy walked. On clear days she might walk well beyond the borders of the estate along paths through the woods and around the fields. Even in the most inclement weather she would walk, finding solace in the hilly area behind the house where a thick stand of trees gave some protection from the elements.

  Now, she was trapped in this strange house. For the inside staff, walking outside, or at least any further than the kitchen gardens was absolutely not permitted, Ellen had informed her. They did not even leave the house to go for services on Sunday, which is why Lizzy had not immediately recognized the parson. One of the upper footmen had studied and been ordained as a minister but could not find a living. He served as a curate of sorts, loosely tied to the Hunsford parsonage. The rest of the week he was Jonas, the footman, but on Sunday he was Mr. Jonas when he gave the sermon previously approved by Lady Catherine, using a large room in the central wing on the servant's floor of the house in place of a church. Attendance was, of course, mandatory. Lady Catherine attended at the church in Hunsford to make her presence felt among the people there, but there were plenty on the staff who would inform her if one of the servants chose not to attend their services.

  Even if Lizzy had been allowed to walk on the grounds she could not have gone often or far. Lady Catherine could send for her at any time. Just because she had only summoned Lizzy once a day so far did not mean she would not be called a second time. In fact, a second summons was inevitable if Lizzy behaved as if she counted on being sent for only once a day.

  Lizzy still walked. She had to walk. As she could not go outside, she walked the corridors of the servant's level of the house and up and down the backstairs in the women's and central wing of the house. The house was big enough she could easily get in her usual daily exercise, but she had to be careful of her frustration level. Lizzy wanted to be outside, in her familiar territory, able to ramble while letting her mind roam as freely as her feet. In the house she had to be careful and quiet. She must avoid getting in the way of any other servants or absently wandering into one of the forbidden areas. Above all, she needed to control her mind, staying firmly away from her frustrations. She had to concentrate on her steps and her breathing, light and quiet, in and out.

  It was on one of these walks taken after her daily summons to Lady Cat
herine that Lizzy met Miss de Bourgh. She did not encounter her in the hallways or on the servant stairs, of course. Despite her best intentions Lizzy had let her mind wander while on the stairs and ended up in the family wing instead of the servant's level. She realized it when she actually started paying attention again but kept walking for a while. It was someplace new, after all.

  Down the corridor she went, intending to work her way around to the backstairs on the central wing. Suddenly a door opened ahead of her and a maid she recognized as Clara, one of the two who tended Miss de Bourgh, stepped out, peering up and down the hall.

  "Oh, Miss Bennet," she said with a start. "What are you doing here? I was looking for Betty."

  Lizzy knew Betty was the other maid. Despite knowing anything she said was likely to get back to Lady Catherine, she answered quite honestly, "I was taking my exercise and did not pay enough attention on the stairs. While lost in thought I did not notice right away that I was on this floor instead of the one above. Once I realized I decided to walk to the other staircase. You seem concerned. Is there any way I can assist you since Betty is not here?"

  "Miss de Bourgh is not feeling very well and needs her tonic. I just discovered we are out of the supply we keep up here. Betty has gone on another errand and might be a while. I am not allowed to leave Miss de Bourgh alone while I go get more of the tonic."

  "I would be happy to stay with her while you go, if that would help. I can keep her company and promise not to leave her alone until either you or Betty come back."

  Clara took another long look down the hall. She seemed undecided, but a soft call from inside the room helped her.

  "Come in. We will see if Miss de Bourgh minds having you stay with her. You would not know where to find her tonic if I sent you after it."

  Lizzy followed Clara into the room, which was a very fancy sitting room. Lizzy noticed the shadows lay thickly in the corners and seemed to gather towards the inner door. Clara motioned for Lizzy to stay in the sitting room while she went into the bedroom. Lizzy heard her speak.

  "Miss de Bourgh, Betty has not come back yet. Your mother's companion, Miss Bennet, has offered to sit with you while I go fetch more of your tonic. Would that be acceptable?"

  Lizzy listened, but could not hear the response. It must have been favorable, because Clara returned to the sitting room and motioned for Lizzy to enter. She stepped into an expensively decorated bedchamber. White and gold predominated in the decorations, but on the floor was a rich soft green carpet with a thick, velvety look to it. Lizzy wondered how it would feel under bare feet. Of course, even if it had been appropriate to try, she would not have done so just then. She could sense the shadows gathering on the floor under the carpet and all around the bed.

  The huge four poster bed looked like something from a medieval painting. The frame was white, but that did not reduce the heavy feel of the thick columns on each corner of a mattress so high the top was on a level with Lizzy's waist. A set of broad, shallow stairs stood toward the foot of one side. A necessary item, Lizzy thought. Thick curtains of white brocade decorated with gold embroidery hung from the frame on all sides, although they had been looped back to the posts to allow light and air to reach the tiny, pale, occupant.

  Clara motioned Lizzy to the bedside where the young woman on the bed could view her without straining herself. Miss de Bourgh smiled slightly. It was a sweet smile, quite unexpected for the daughter of Lady Catherine in Lizzy's opinion. At the same time it was clear to Lizzy the young woman was weary and in pain.

  "You are Miss Bennet?" the pale young lady asked in a soft voice.

  Lizzy dropped a curtsy. "I am Elizabeth Bennet," she confirmed, also speaking softly.

  "I thank you for offering your assistance so Clara may fetch my tonic. I need it." She nodded to Clara, who quickly left the room after giving Lizzy a stern look as if to remind her of the need to remain in attendance. Lizzy knew she would return swiftly.

  "Is there anything I may do for you, Miss de Bourgh?" Lizzy asked. "I am pleased to entertain or distract you in whatever manner you wish."

  "Please take Clara's seat so I may talk with you and keep my mind occupied while I wait for her return."

  "Of course," Lizzy said, seating herself in the chair facing the head of the bed.

  "Pray tell me how you came to be here at Rosings as my mother's companion, Miss Bennet," Miss de Bourgh asked.

  Lizzy briefly explained the situation, telling Miss de Bourgh of the entail, her father's death, Mr. Collins' marriage to her younger sister and his insistence that she take a place at Rosings as companion. Knowing anything she said might get back to Lady Catherine, Lizzy kept the story simple and made the narrative as positive as possible.

  Miss de Bourgh listened quietly with a look of great interest. When Lizzy finished her recitation the young woman asked, "Were you close to your father?"

  "I was closer to him than any other member of my family save my elder sister, Jane," Lizzy answered truthfully, ignoring her feelings of disillusionment with both her father and sister. Those feelings were dangerous to remember or express in this household. The shadows hung thickly enough in this room as it was.

  "I miss my father," Miss de Bourgh said sadly. "Rosings Park seemed a more pleasant place when he was alive."

  The shadows seemed to be listening, although they drew no more thickly around the two young women. Lizzy noticed but did not know how or even if was wise to bring up the subject of the shadows.

  "I miss my father," she said instead. "Even more, I miss the security my mother, sisters and I had when he was alive. I had no concept of what his mere presence in our lives shielded us from."

  "You knew of the entail?"

  Lizzy chuckled humorlessly. "I have known of the entail all my life. My mother brought it up often. So often that we all ceased listening to her wails of fear, especially when she seemed unwilling to do more than complain about it. My father laughed at her and when I thought about it at all I assumed he had made provisions he was keeping secret as a joke. The joke was on all of us. He made no provisions although it would have been simple enough to do. Much as I loved him, I have come to realize it was a one-sided relationship. He did not care enough about any of us to be bothered with providing even minimal protection for us after his death."

  Lizzy kept her words and thoughts to as neutral a tone as possible. She had already mourned the relationships she thought she had with her various family members. What she had revealed were simply facts, nothing to excite the interest of the shadows beyond a slight thickening nearby. Somehow Lizzy felt she could trust Miss de Bourgh. That feeling increased as the young lady spoke again.

  "My father did his best to protect me," Miss de Bourgh said, "This estate is mine now, although my mother has a lifetime interest in it. I have a large dowry which will be released to me in full in three years, when I reach the age of twenty-five, but until then I have access to the interest if I wish it. Currently that money simply sits in the account. I never go anywhere or need anything that is not provided for me. One day soon, though, I hope to leave here and then I will need those funds."

  "I had heard you are soon to be engaged to one of your cousins," Lizzy ventured.

  "No," said Anne firmly. "That is my mother's desire. It is not mine and not my cousin's. He is a good man and I care for him, but I have no wish to marry him. I would not marry him even as a means to escape from here."

  Before Lizzy could respond they heard the sound of the sitting room door. Either Clara or Betty had returned. The conversation was at an end. Lizzy knew to remain silent on the topic of their discussion, although neither had said much beyond what might normally be said when two young women first became acquainted.

  The maid Lizzy recognized as Betty entered the room. She was understandably surprised to see Lizzy sitting in the chair by the bed.

  "Miss Bennet! What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

  Before Lizzy could answer Miss de Bourgh spoke up. "She
was keeping me company until either you or Clara returned. We ran out of my tonic and Miss Bennet was kind enough to stay so Clara could go quickly."

  "But what was Miss Bennet doing here in the first place?" Betty persisted.

  "I ended up in this corridor by mistake," Lizzy responded calmly. "Clara saw me as she was looking out for you. I could tell she was disturbed that Miss de Bourgh might need to wait for her tonic, so I offered to help if I could."

  "And she has," Miss de Bourgh added. "She has kept me company while also giving me confidence that Clara should return at any time with my tonic."

  "She should still have not been in this corridor," Betty said doggedly. Lizzy sensed the shadows swirling towards the frowning woman.

  "It was a mistake," Lizzy repeated calmly, standing. "It will not happen again."

  "It will happen again," Miss de Bourgh contradicted her gently. "I enjoyed our talk and would appreciate your company on occasion. When my mother does not need you, of course."

  Lizzy dropped a curtsy. "It would be my pleasure, Miss de Bourgh. As you say, my duty to your mother must come first, but I am at your service any other time."

  "Thank you, Miss Bennet," the young woman said. "Now that Betty is here to look after me, I will let you continue on your way. I do hope you will return for a time tomorrow or the next day."

  Lizzy dropped another curtsy to Miss de Bourgh. Turning to leave, she nodded courteously to Betty. As she walked out Lizzy thought about her brief visit. Miss de Bourgh defied everything Lizzy would have expected of a daughter to Lady Catherine, especially one confined to her bed by illness. Far from being haughty, demanding, querulous or any other adjectives used for those who take illness as an excuse to make others miserable, Miss de Bourgh, while clearly ill and in pain, seemed to genuinely appreciate those who tended to her. That included accidental visitors like Lizzy.

  As she stepped into the corridor Lizzy saw Clara approaching quickly from the direction of the stairs carrying a large bottle. Lizzy waited for her at the door.