The Lectrice is being prepared for publication. It should be available in the second half of 2018.

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Cheers,

Fredrica.

Chapter 1 The turning point

Elizabeth always remembered the Netherfield Ball as the turning point in her life. The day had started so well, full of promise, and ended so badly.

Granted there was that one sour note early on when she had turned down her cousin's pompous marriage proposal. Mr Collins' speech left no doubt that he was planning to display her as his betrothed at the ball. It had felt so good to prick his bubble, but she'd kept herself well in hand and been as kind as possible. Had it not been for his own self-consequence, Elizabeth thought they might have got past the incident with grace, but he'd gone off in high dudgeon to the Lucases for lunch. Thank God, dear Charlotte had been around to distract him.

Of course, Mama had not been happy. Mrs Bennet spent a good fifteen minutes screaming at Lizzy after Mr Collins' departure. Now they would all be out in the hedgerows once their father died! How could Lizzy be so selfish? Because of the entail, Mr Collins would be the next Master of Longbourn and they must bind him to them! She should go and apologize! Explain she was nervous and mistook her feelings!

But then Papa intervened, no doubt because the noise was disturbing him in his study. He staunchly defended Lizzy's decision to decline her cousin's offer: "He could not see his Lizzy married to such a silly wigeon. Let one of the stupider younger Bennets marry him."

Mama had gone off to coach Mary on how to capture Mr Collins' heart at the ball.

The other four Bennet sisters were then free to indulge in their preparations for the ball, unhindered by their mother's oversight. They spent hours dressing, with Kitty and Lydia racing around the house like wild animals, alternatively twittering and braying as they boasted of the inroads they had made on the hearts of several militia officers and planning their final conquest of those hearts at the ball. Mrs Bennet, ensconced with Mary, had drafted both Hill and Sarah, leaving Lizzy and Jane to prepare in peace as they might. Of course, Mrs Bennet had high hopes that her eldest daughter, Jane, would finally snare Mr Bingley at the ball and dreamed of an announcement of their engagement over supper. Their mother trusted Jane to present herself well in her golden silk without parental intervention. Staid Mary, the middle Bennet sister, was quite another matter.

Indeed, Jane's romance with Mr Charles Bingley seemed to be progressing nicely, although Elizabeth privately thought her mother's ideas of such a speedy resolution ridiculous. Nonetheless, Lizzy had never seen such a promising affair. They were both clearly smitten with each other, and Elizabeth hoped that Mr Bingley might openly declare his intentions by requesting to court Jane at the ball.

But Lizzy, too, was paying more than ordinary attention to her appearance as she dressed for the ball. She was intrigued by Mr Bingley's friend, Mr Darcy, who had begun to show more than a passing interest in herself. She had started off hating him, dismissing him as a pompous ass after the Meryton assembly where he'd insulted her as being 'not comely enough to tempt him'. Lizzy had not been disabused of her opinion at subsequent meetings with him at the Lucases' and Mrs Long's, though why Mr Darcy should choose to stare at her if he found her appearance distasteful was more than she could explain. She had worried that the closure of her gown might have failed; even asked Jane if there was a spot on the back of her dress. In the end, she concluded Mr Darcy was merely trying to find fault, and had stuck her nose in the air in defiance.

Then she'd gone to Netherfield to nurse Jane after her sister's disastrous lunch invitation, and her perspective had begun to change. A note had arrived at Longbourn from Mr Bingley's two sisters soliciting only Jane's company. Mrs Bennet's glee at the particularity of the invitation was short lived when the text of Caroline's letter revealed that the gentlemen would be dining out with the militia officers in Meryton. Nonetheless, Mama seemed confident that the lunch would give Jane the perfect opportunity to fix her interest with Charles. Mrs Bennet had insisted that Jane go to Netherfield on horseback, even though it looked sure to rain. When Elizabeth noticed her mother smirking when it started pelting down not half an hour after her sister's departure, she realised it was another of Mrs Bennet's desperate stratagems to marry off one of her five daughters.

It had been no surprise when Jane stayed overnight, unable to return on her horse because of the rain. But when the eldest Miss Bennet sent a letter the next morning disclosing her consequent illness, Elizabeth had been so concerned for her sister that she was unwise enough to condemn her mother's predatory practices at the breakfast table. Mrs Bennet demanded Elizabeth go to her room as punishment. Of course, as a twenty-year old, Lizzy had thought this ridiculous, but she did not demur.

After stopping by the kitchens to request some barley water from their housekeeper, Hill, Lizzy marched straight up to the bedchamber she shared with Jane to put on her walking clothes. Without a word to her mother, she slipped out of the house once Hill had prepared the barley water and headed for Netherfield. For Jane, she would brave the odious Mr Darcy.

The right of way to Netherfield was so muddy and wet that Elizabeth had almost slipped over more than once on the three-mile walk. She'd muddied one of her palms getting over the stiles and despite her attempts to hold up her skirts, her petticoats were besmirched; especially at the back where her shoes had flicked up mud as she walked.

Of course, who should she encounter on nearing the house? but the odious man himself. She'd rounded an oak tree and nearly run slap bang into him.

"Miss Elizabeth!" he had said as he surveyed her from top to toe.

She really would have liked to have slapped him then, but Mr Darcy had gone on to offer his escort back to the house, and she managed to get her temper under control. Elizabeth had time to survey his attire as they walked towards the manor - sideways, through sloe eyes. He was wearing gaiters to protect his breeches from the damp grass but no gloves. She realised she had never seen him in anything so informal. When he periodically threw a stick for his dog to retrieve, she noticed how large his hands were, with long tapering fingers. They carried on an inconsequential conversation on the weather and, once when she'd glanced sideways at him as he spoke, she saw that he hadn't shaved. Nor was his hair pomaded. He looked far more approachable and less haughty in this more rustic state.

Elizabeth didn't see Mr Darcy again until that evening when she came down to take tea with the Bingley sisters after Jane had fallen asleep. The sisters were pleasant enough until the men walked into the room. Subsequently Louisa had asked Elizabeth if she'd finished with her teacup, and Caroline made several other pointed remarks suggesting she should return to nurse Jane, but this Elizabeth was not inclined to do - Jane was sleeping and the maid would call if Lizzy was needed. Observing that Mr Darcy had shaved and was once more in formal rig, Elizabeth immediately resolved to observe his behaviour in his own habitat.

Mr Bingley's brother-in-law, Mr Hurst, quickly laid down on the sofa to sleep off his potations while Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley warmed their coat tails in front of the fire. When Caroline suggested a game of whist, Charles had demurred, suggesting they play loo instead so Miss Elizabeth could participate. Elizabeth immediately declined, picking up a book instead.

Once the rest of the Netherfield party sat down to cards, they became quite merry. The ladies talked of the latest on dits and occasionally teased their brother for making silly moves, while Mr Darcy added a few cutting remarks of his own in a light-hearted manner. Elizabeth was interested to see that Mr Darcy had a sense of humour and was far more intelligent than his friend, or indeed anyone else at the table. Lizzy became so engrossed in listening to Mr Darcy that when he very wittily insulted Mr Bingley in Latin with "Cuilibet fatuo placet sua calva"*; she so far forgot herself as to give the riposte "Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare"**. As no one at the card table had understood in the least what Mr Darcy had said, or Elizabeth's defence of Mr Bingley in kind, she had felt it necessary to excuse herself for her faux pas afterwards. But she'd seen Mr Darcy looking at her curiously as she left.

She avoided Mr Darcy after that. Caroline made it clear Elizabeth was unwelcome at Netherfield, and it was obviously unwise to rile a potential sister-in-law only for the sake of a little entertainment. Unfortunately, Lizzy kept running into him: once in the library when she went down to change her book; another time near the kitchens where he'd been removing his boots; and a third time, Oh, the mortification! in an encounter in the hallway, when he was dressed only in his banyan. Mr Darcy's hair was wet, and it was not clear if he was wearing anything underneath the dressing gown beyond his slippers. Each time they met he launched a smart remark at her, and every time Elizabeth could not resist topping it with one of her own. Fortunately Caroline had not been present on any of these occasions and Elizabeth took herself off quickly afterwards.

Elizabeth's attempt to leave Netherfield with Jane two days after her imprudence at the whist game was thwarted by their mother, who arrived at Netherfield in the Bennet carriage only to insist that Jane not be moved until she was completely well.

Mrs Bennets's behaviour in singing Jane's praises during the ensuing morning tea had been bad enough. Although Mr Bingley had taken it well, Elizabeth could tell that Caroline and Mr Darcy were disgusted. But her mother made things infinitely worse on taking her leave when she had glanced at Mr Darcy and said in a coquettish voice: "Lizzy has been very sly in going off to nurse her sister without a word to anyone, but I can see that Netherfield has other attractions besides Mr Bingley."

Mr Darcy turned immediately on his heel and stomped off down the hallway. Elizabeth also took herself off quickly, citing a need to tend Jane, and hoping that her mother would depart likewise. On retreating to the upstairs hall, she felt too agitated to immediately return to her sister, lest she blurt the whole incident into Jane's ears. After surreptitiously watching the Bennet carriage depart from an upstairs window, Lizzy grabbed her coat and bonnet and fled down the servants' stairs to run off into the long grass.

Elizabeth had run for some time, possibly half a mile, before stopping to catch her breath when she heard the frightened squeal of a horse some distance away. She looked round then, trying to spot the animal and saw how far she'd come from the house.

She had started walking back towards the manor, conscious she had gone too far. Soon after, Mr Darcy's dog appeared in front of her and gave a sharp yap. When Lizzy tried to walk round him, he growled, and after a stand-off during which he blocked her every attempt to return to the house, it occurred to Lizzy that the dog wanted her to follow it. Rather than get bitten, she decided to humour the animal. A couple of subsequent attempts to slope off towards the house resulted in her being herded back in the correct direction, and only the fact that she was getting no further from the manor house gave her any comfort. It had just occurred to her, with wry amusement, that if the dog continued to keep to their current path they might eventually circumnavigate house, when she perceived a riderless horse grazing, its reins trailing in the grass. The next moment, the dog ran over to a man laid flat on his back on the ground, and Elizabeth realised with horror that it was Mr Darcy.

Running up to him she dropped to her knees beside him and pushed the dog away, who was licking his master's face. Mr Darcy was either out cold or dead, and it was with some trepidation that Elizabeth grabbed his wrist to investigate. His hand was still warm, and sliding her finger under his glove, Lizzy was considerably relieved to feel a pulse.

"Mr Darcy! Mr Darcy!" she called, but there was no response.

She looked round in desperation, thinking she might ride the horse back to get help before noticing it was lame. Perhaps it had put its hoof in a rabbit hole and stumbled, dislodging its owner. The horse seemed completely unconcerned that it had sent its rider to grass.

"Mr Darcy! Mr Darcy!" Elizabeth pleaded, and began chafing his gloves.

Suddenly, remembering how the local apothecary, Mr Jones, had attended a fallen rider once before, Elizabeth leaned over and carefully opened one of Mr Darcy's eyelids. It looked vacant, the pupil unnaturally enlarged. The other eye was similar, although the pupil was not as large.

"Oh dear!" she exclaimed, before getting up. She had just decided to run to the house for help when the dog made it clear that this was not a option.

"You stupid dog!" she railed. "How am I to get help for your master if you will not let me go anywhere?"

Then Elizabeth had an idea. "Go get the groom!" she ordered, pointing in what she hoped was the direction of the stables.

The dog tipped its head sideways, considering; but did not move.

She thought again. "Go get Mr Bingley!" she said, pointing again.

That got more of a response. The dog gave a yap and took off through the grass.

Elizabeth turned back to Mr Darcy and began to chafe his gloves again. Then thinking better of it, she pulled off his perfectly glove, one finger at a time, and chafed his bare hand.

"Please wake up!" she moaned.

She took the other glove off and chaffed each of his hands alternately for several minutes at a time but still there was no response.

Leaning over him again, she opened his eyelids once more. Still skew-whiff, but were they better or worse?

Frustrated, she almost considered leaving him there, now that she'd sent that damned dog off, and running back to the house herself, when Mr Darcy spoke.

"Mother?"

Elizabeth jumped.

"Mr Darcy! You're awake! Oh, I can't tell you how relieved I am!"

"Kiss me, Mother, and I promise to go to sleep."

"I'm not your mother!" she retorted. "And I'd prefer if you stayed awake!"

"Pleeease," he wheedled in a childlike voice, and before she could escape, he had captured her hands, puckered up and pulled her towards him.

Elizabeth struggled, but Mr Darcy was too strong and as he pulled her down and levered himself up, she thought she would not escape being kissed, when he promptly fainted away again.

"Oh, dear! Now look what you've done!" Lizzy remonstrated as she extracted herself from his grasp. Secretly, she was relieved: firstly, to escape; but also, because Mr Darcy couldn't be injured too badly if he'd regained consciousness, even if he wasn't exactly compos mentis. Or so she comforted herself.

Then she heard Mr Darcy's dog bark again, and with considerable relief, saw Mr Bingley's top hat appear above the grass.

Elizabeth jumped up and waved. "Over here! Mr Darcy is injured!"

Bingley yelled out to someone behind him and ran towards Elizabeth. Darcy woke once more soon after, but fortunately did not confuse Elizabeth with his mother again; and she insisted he stay horizontal until he could be carried back to the house. Obviously pleased with the care she had taken of his master, Darcy's dog gave Lizzy a big lick then, which she managed to fend off with her hands. Soon after, further help arrived, and Mr Darcy was eventually transported back to the house on a hurdle retrieved from the stables.

Caroline made an incredible fuss when they reached the house, allowing Elizabeth to gratefully retire.

An hour later, the local physician arrived at Netherfield to tend Mr Darcy. After he'd gone off, assuring everyone that Mr Darcy would likely be right after a couple of days' bed rest, Elizabeth petitioned Caroline for the use of the Bingley carriage to take the Bennet sisters home, a move taken in consultation with Jane.

"I'm sure you cannot want two invalids in your house," offered Elizabeth, "and Jane must cede her place to Mr Darcy's greater need."

Caroline most graciously agreed.

*Cuilibet fatuo placet sua calva - Every fool is pleased with his folly

**Cuiusvis hominis est errare, nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare - Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one.