Work Text
“Why, what a charming shawl!” Jane exclaimed, advancing over to Caroline to clasp her hands in greeting. “It is so becoming.”“It is so kind in you to say so,” Caroline said complacently. She looked around the room with the pronounced air of someone searching for a compliment to give. “I never tire of how wonderfully this room catches the light,” she said at last. “I am so glad I advised you upon taking this property! You could not have done better.”It was only then that Lizzie came over from where she had been standing beside the windows, attempting to contain her puzzled expression. It was on such occasions that she envied Jane her unshakeable complaisance."Caroline," she said. “You’re looking rather suffrutescent this morning.”Caroline favoured her with a gracious smile. “I did not expect to see you here, Lizzie,” she said. “Are you not accompanying your husband?”“I wished to see how Jane was settling in here first,” Lizzie replied. It required some force of mind to keep her eyes from straying down to Caroline’s feet, though they were now mostly hidden beneath the folds of her dress. “I shall rejoin him by the end of the week.”“Come,” Jane said, smiling at them both, “I shall ring for tea.”They all settled themselves on the sofas, Lizzie positioning herself opposite Caroline. Jane called in the housekeeper and directed her to bring enough for all of them, “and for Charles too, for there is no saying he might not return soon.”“On such a fine day as this?” Caroline interjected. She had crossed her ankles neatly, and the movement shifted the fabric of her dress aside for a moment more. That was more than enough for Lizzie; the change was unmistakeable.“It is a fine day,” Lizzie added. “Have you no wish for a stroll outside, Caroline? Through the little woodland beyond the lake, perhaps?”Caroline trilled a little laugh. “Oh, no! I have not your passion for walking, Lizzie. But do not let us keep you, should you wish to take the air; I am simply here to see Jane, and of course Charles, should he return promptly.”Lizzie disclaimed any interest in an immediate walk, and Caroline turned the conversation to the new curtains that Jane had lately installed in some of the guest bedrooms.Lizzie’s hopes rose when Mr Bingley did return early, as Jane had expected; but they rose in vain. Lizzie was not sure he noticed any alteration in his sister at all as he settled himself beside Jane, exclaiming about how delighted he was to see them all gathered there together.“I am pleased to see you looking so well, Charles,” Caroline said. As she sat down again, Lizzie got another clear glimpse of her feet. And it was her feet, or as close thereto as made no odds; shoes would not fit her now. “You must have been getting plenty of fresh air, as I recommended. It does not do for a gentleman to be always indoors.”“I find it beneficial for ladies to also have their share of fresh air,” Lizzie said. “Though one would not wish to be spending all one’s time outdoors, either.” She could not help the look she gave Caroline with those words.“Indeed not,” Caroline replied, her composure unshaken. “Our dear father always said that married ladies in particular are made to grace the home, and I would never venture to disagree with his wise advice.”“Yes,” Bingley said, “but you cannot be saying that now, Caroline.” Lizzie’s hopes rose again as he cast a laughing glance at his sister; only then he continued, “You sit with two married women, after all, and we must defer to their opinion on the matter.”“Of course,” Caroline said. “But my dear Jane has been only proving my point – just see how delightful she has made things here! I quite used to despair of your furnishings, Charles, but now I may rest easy. Jane has such an eye for detail.”“I would hope,” Lizzie said a little desperately, placing some emphasis on the second word, “that we all have any number of interests to occupy ourselves; how dull I find it to be always about the same task! Have you any particular interests at this time, Caroline? Any new directions in life, perhaps?”And yet even this almost-direct attack failed her.“Why thank you, yes,” Caroline said, smiling at her without the slightest hint of consciousness. “I am quite enraptured by the new soprano who was performing just lately in London; her Desdemona was exquisite. I am not ashamed to say I went twice in one week. It is a pity you have been away from town, Lizzie, or I should have been very happy to invite you.”“How wonderful,” Lizzie said, and gave it up as an impossible cause. She did not even comment as Caroline rose later to take her leave and the sound of her steps, wood on wood, rapped out through the room. She herself had to depart later the same day, and so she had no opportunity to discuss the matter more frankly with Jane. She perforce had to wait until she rejoined her husband three days later, after several easy stages in the barouche. And then there were the greetings, and she had to go and change, and the servants were all bustling about; Lizzie had to wait impatiently for their private supper, until the servants had removed the covers and departed again, before she could spill the matter in its entirety.“It is not to be borne!” she exclaimed. “One cannot simply start turning into a dryad without it being commented upon.”Fitzwilliam shook his head. “I am afraid it is entirely possible. I remember you scolding Kitty most severely when she spoke too loudly on the subject in the case of Mrs Tilney – entirely properly, of course.”“Yes, but that was a slight acquaintance,” Lizzie replied. “This is a woman who is now family – one must allow a little more license.”“And did you press the matter?” Fitzwilliam asked.Lizzie sighed. “I did my best, though of course one cannot be direct; but Caroline was armoured against all suggestion. I am afraid we will find in a month or two that she has transformed entirely and still has not mentioned the subject.” It would not be unwarranted; the Mrs Tilney in question had also never acknowledged the fact she had become more tree than woman, and without that acknowledgement, it was only the most vulgar in society who would comment upon it.“It is so tiresome,” Lizzie continued. “I have never been intimately acquainted with a dryad before, and I have any number of questions. But I suppose it is really too much to hope of Caroline that she would oblige me in such a way.”“You must do her the justice of recognising that as an unmarried woman, it is much harder to make a figure in society if it is acknowledged,” Fitzwilliam said. “If the progression is slow enough, she may be able to contract an entirely eligible match this season.”“It is unkind in you to be so thoughtful!” Lizzie cried. “For you must know I had every intention of complaining without cease until the end of the meal. But now, I suppose, I must accept the justness of your words and wish her well, and that is more tiresome than ever.”“I apologise,” Fitzwilliam said, reaching over to press her hand lightly for a moment.“I must find a way to bring Caroline back into society with Mr Collins,” Lizzie said thoughtfully. “If we are very lucky, he will decide upon the transformation also – and then I shall have more information than I can bear.”Fitzwilliam appeared a little alarmed at the prospect, and so Lizzie relented. “We need not invite them anywhere,” she said, and was rewarded by an unmistakeable look of relief. “I shall restrain my curiosity – somehow! But you must provide some other, more approachable topic of conversation.”“I had been thinking of effecting some changes in the grounds below the lake, at Pemberley,” Fitzwilliam said.“Oh? Now that is a promising topic, though I am sure I have not the slightest idea how you could improve upon its current appearance.”“The wilderness is a little small at present,” Fitzwilliam said, too gravely, “and I had thought of expanding it by planting more trees along what is now the bottom of the lower lawn.”Lizzie started to smile.“Elms, perhaps,” Fitzwilliam continued, “and beech,” exactly the trees that British dryads were said to prefer.“You are the best of husbands,” Lizzie exclaimed, and that was when Fitzwilliam’s grave look broke and he returned her smile with a warm look of his own.“I confess I have also been curious about the subject,” he said. “We may not mention it, but there is no reason we cannot encourage such persons to visit the estate.”“Indeed not,” Lizzie said, “and it will be wonderful to have new additions to complement all the beautiful woods there already,” and did not add that she was sure it would annoy Caroline to find such a welcome prospect when she next visited – new-grown trees, all unattached and in easy reach of the house. “It would be a very good thing indeed,” she said.