Blood and Fire - Thirty Nine

“Hey Louisa!  Henrietta!” runs Lydia across the room to two of her good friends giving them giant bear hugs “Thank you for coming!”

“Happy Birthday!” congratulates Louisa handing her a small rose package with curling ribbon in many different shades of pink.

“This is so beautiful!” exclaims Lydia holding the special heart shaped necklace up to the light “Can you help me put in on?”

“I’ll help you” states Henrietta putting the clasp around her neck “Who’s your date for tonight?  Are you still dating Wickham?”

“Yes, I am” confidently states Lydia “He should be here any minute! I don’t know what’s taking him so long … he promised to be on time”.

“It looks like our brother’s sister-in-law, Beth Elliot, has arrived with Lydia Russell” notices Louisa crestfallen to see the additional guest “Why did she come?”

“Probably as a chaperone to make sure we all behaved ourselves” disappointedly moans Henrietta “She likes to be in-charge and tell everybody else what to do”.

“Where’s your other aunt, Annie?  Did she come?” expectantly asks Lydia “She was the best counselor ever at Camp Long Branch each year.”

“Annie?  She’s in the kitchen helping with the hor’devours” informs Louisa “What made her such a great counselor?  She’s so quiet all the time!”

“She made up games as we went to the dining room like seeing how many times we could hop on one foot, say the pledge of allegiance backwards, spin until we’re dizzy all the way there, try to make a sentence starting with  the next letter of the alphabet with each word.  Every day she made a theme to wear such as our pajamas backwards, curlers in our hair, all in green, or we made matching ribbons for our hair to wear” shares Lydia with fond memories of someone who was important to her in her life “My favorite thing was to listen to her stories for devotions at night. Even though it seems like years ago,  I still remember some of them from Sunbeam camp”.

“That’s interesting … it’s difficult to imagine Annie doing anything fun like that now.  She’s boring” bluntly offers Henrietta “She mostly just takes care of my nephews.  However, it seems like they have a good time with her but I don’t pay much attention to them anyway.”

Just then Wickham walks in and gives Lydia a big hug which she cuddles into with a kiss that is a little extravagant for the occasion and atmosphere.  “I’ll see you later.  My man has arrived and all my attention is for him now!” giggles Lydia pulling him close to her for another kiss.

“Does mom know how Lydia hangs on Wickham?” cautiously asks Liz feeling somewhat uncomfortable with their rather obnoxious display of affection that is a bit over-the-top.

Sighing Jane replies “Mom is encouraging it.  She thinks Wickham is quite a catch for Lydia.  I don’t know that he is such a good match for her considering how young and inexperienced she is though”.

“How long have they been dating?” asks Liz feeling increasingly uncomfortable with Lydia’s extended behavior with Wickam in front of her friends from school and the rest of the division.

“Since Christmas, so it’s been about three months” replies Jane spreading out a plastic decorated fan to go with the southern belle theme to cool down.

Observing her younger sister for a few more minutes “Maybe you need to hand one of those to Lydia to take a hint” suggests Liz “He doesn’t seem to be aware she is just 18 today and still in high school for a few more months.”

“What are you two girls whispering about?” asks Darcy in an attempt to surprise them.

Stunned by the recognizable voice behind her, Liz reflexively throws back her hand and accidently smacks him in the face with her fan “Oh, I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know you were standing behind us!”

Darcy smiles as he wipes the top of his nose with his finger to make sure he isn’t bleeding “I guess that I should have told you I was there.  How is the party going? I see lots of girls in their prom dresses which sort-of fits the belle theme which I’m sure Lydia is pleased about.”

“It’s going well.  Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves some a little too much” observes Liz taking another snippet look at her younger sister alone in the corner flirtatiously chatting with Wickham. “I’m so glad you were able to make it! Where are you staying tonight?”

“Alice Hammer offered her guest room to me as long as I didn’t mind sharing it with Twinkles and Peaches, her friendly cats” shares Darcy with a warm smile “She’s treating me very well.  She already made me brownies as a snack when I get back”.

“She is the best baker I know” honestly evaluates Liz with a slight touch of envy “I wish that I could bake like she does. She made the marble cupcakes from scratch with whipped topping tonight”.

“You look very pretty tonight, Liz” offers Darcy “I like the curls in your hair with the ribbons.  You do look like someone from a southern plantation many years ago”.

“Thank you, kind sir” Liz curtsies taking his arm and snapping open her fan with dramatic flair “It is such a lovely evening tonight that I can hear the bluebonnets blowing in the wind.”

In return, Darcy leans down and gives her a quick kiss on the cheek, “I’ve missed you”.

Responding, Liz’s eyes glow as she looks up at him “I’ve missed you too” but fumbles the moment as her foot finds a random slice of icing that has regretfully fallen from a cupcake as she ungracefully slides recklessly from his arm and eventually coming to an unnatural halt on the floor. 

“I miss this too” states Darcy offering a hand to help her back up as Liz tries to gain her balance in the large hoop skirt but fails and falls back again to the ground.

“I’m glad that I was born in this century” quips Liz “They wouldn’t know what to do with me then. I don’t think I’ve quite mastered the art of being graceful and delicate yet.”

“I think you’re perfect just the way you are” honestly retorts Darcy “You have many other things that make you outstanding to me”.

Acknowledging his compliment, Liz blushes and squeezes his arm a bit tighter looking forward to the time they will have together this evening after the party is over.

While making more punch, Jane observes Lydia Russell determinedly head over to where Wickham and Lydia are standing close together while provocatively flirting with each other. Looking over to Mary standing next to her holding the empty soda bottles, “Fortunately, it looks like I don’t have to intercede, Lydia Russell has already decided to do it for me.”

“Is everything okay?  Lydia Russell doesn’t look to happy and it appears Wickham is arguing with her” accurately watches Mary “I don’t think she likes him much and he doesn’t appear to like what she is saying.”

“Where is Wickham taking Lydia?  Are they leaving?” rhetorically asks Jane “It’s her party.  She shouldn’t be leaving her guests.”

“She’ll be back.  She won’t want to miss being the center of attention tonight” Frankly replies Mary use to her sister being the focal point in any event that they attend “Wickham seems awfully mad though. I wonder if he’s leaving the party”.

“What are you talking about?” asks Liz noticing that her sisters are whispering just loud enough to hear the hum and mumble of words linked together.

“Nothing really … Lydia and Wickham just left for a moment.  They’ll be right back” States Mary taste testing the punch for a cohesive blend of tanginess and sweetness “Neither one of them can stand to be alone without an audience for very long”.

“It looks like Beth Elliott and Lydia Russell are now leaving too.  They don’t look very happy” carefully observes Jane “I wonder what happened. I hope that whatever it is will be soon forgotten.”

Coming back with a plate of spiral sandwiches and quiche bites, Darcy finds a comfortable place to sit down next to Liz and talk.

“Will you be able to stay long?” hopefully asks Liz taking a bite of a warm decorated cookie.

“No, I’m just in town for tonight and tomorrow” offers Darcy and then regretfully adding “I wish that I could stay longer but I have a business meeting on Monday that I can’t miss.”

“I’m glad that you came anyway even if it is only for a day” gratefully responds Liz touching his arm and moving closer to him “Are you free to do something tomorrow? I could take you to see the sites of Longbourne even though there are not many.  We do have a history museum.”

“Sounds like fun” agrees Darcy not entirely sure that a museum is how he would have chosen to spend a day but being with Liz makes the effort worth it “I’ll pick you up about 9 am and we can go to breakfast first.”

“That would be great!” agrees Liz very excited for another day together “It looks like the party is finally clearing out.  I don’t see Lydia anywhere.  She must be with some of her friends that she hasn’t seen in awhile. I’ll find her later.”

As others file into the kitchen with plates, leftover tablecloths, and empty dishes, Darcy gives Liz a kiss goodnight “I’ll see you in the morning”.

“I guess that I’ll have to rise with the chickens and get all gussied up” smiles Liz playfully batting her fan in front of her eyes “I might have a yearning for a biscuit or two if you’re willing to share” winking as she sashays with her arms flowing off to the kitchen to help her sisters “I’ll see you later!"