Changeling Child - Part 4

Prologue

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Even if she tried, Mary doubted that she woulld ever be able to adaquately describe the wonder that was an Underhill revel.

It was everything she had imagined while composing, of course, and even more. Her warrior had been right; Mary’s composition suited the Fair Folk well. They had danced to it, a dance that seemed to have no set steps, yet everyone moved in harmony. The Lords and Ladies applauded once she was done, and requested that she play it again to close the night. It was a far cry from the ususal reactions to her playing.

Returning to Longbourn had left Mary feeling melencholic, and fillled with a yearning to return to the world she had only a brief taste of.

That yearning was dangerous, Mary knew. Were there not countless tales of those who spent a night Underhill, and allowed the yearning to consume them, their every moment consumed with the desire to return, until they wasted to nothingness and died? Mary was a Changeling, and one who had the notice of a Fae warrior, and perhaps even of the Summer Court. She might not know when, but she would return one day.

That knowledge would have to be enough.

Mary’s etiquette books talked of marriage as a woman’s duty, and her surest path to economic security, especially for a gentlewoman.

That was certainly true, and especially so for a gentlewoman with no brothers and an entailed estate, but it seemed that everyone had different ideas of what made the ideal husband and how to go about securing him!

Mama and Lydia talked endlessly of Officers in red coats, Kitty their faithful follower. Elizabeth joked about being a spinster, for she would marry only a man she loved and esteemed, and who respected her in turn. Given Lizzy’s razor wit, and tendency to scare off any serious contendors who might otherwise be willing or able to overlook their family circumstances, Mary did not find the jest as funny as Papa did.

Jane was quiet on the matter, despite Mama’s endless proclamations that she was beautiful enough to attract a Peer of the Realm, and would doubtless marry the best of them all. Mary’s room shared a wall with the one shared by Elizabeth and Jane, and their late-night conversations were not always as quiet as they should be. Jane wanted to marry for love, but she would settle for someone who was kind, if Papa died before his daughters were settled.

Mary was less sure what she wanted, and largely considered it a moot point, since no-one appeared to want her. Not a social butterfly; Mary was not so tolerant of Society as to want to attend a different ball every night, but not the kind of recluse that never left their bookroom, either. Someone kind and thoughtful and polite, but also someone who understood and accepted Mary’s quirks.

Another Changeling might be ideal, but might also be so similar that the union would be a disaster. Perhaps a Gentleman and a Scholar, or a husband who travelled often so they did not have to be constantly in one another’s company.

There was a fourth option, of course, but it was not one that Mary would yet let herself think of.

It did not do to raise her hopes when she had no inclination of them coming true.

Mary’s eighteenth birthday was a quiet one, overshadowed by preparations for Lydia and Kitty’s coming out.

Mary had no objections to this, for it allowed her to spend most of her birthday with a book, aside from the hour or so that Papa spent with her at the tea shop, talking quietly over chocolate and queen cakes. Mary might make a study of Fordyce to navigate social situations, but it was not the only thing she read, no matter what Lizzy thought. Besides, it allowed her to ease herself into the appropriate mindset to accompany Mama and her younger sisters to the dressmaker.

Jane and Elizabeth had received new gowns when they visited Uncle Gardiner and his new wife in London, so Mary was to receive a new gown as a birthday gift, while Kitty and Lydia were fitted for dresses more suited to a young Gentlewoman out in Society, than girls still in the Nursery.

In the end, Mary received two dresses; one from her family, and one from the warrior, who brought her Underhill for another revel, claiming that it was only proper to celebrate her birthday so.

That dress, Mary vowed to keep for only the most special of occasions. It put her in mind of the clear night sky, hints of silver threat woven into the midnight blue fabric. There was a set of moonstone hairpins to go with them, too, and matching earrings and necklace.

Doubtless, it was not the grand expense it would have been for Papa, but it must have required some effort on the warrior’s part, for which Mary was appropriately thankful.

She wore it for the revel, and aside from playing the new composition she had only recently finished, she danced several sets! It was a most diverting experience; Mary was rarely asked to dance more than one, and that mostly out of politeness. Even her warrior requested a set, which Mary deemed the highlight of the evening.

Not even returning home to the discovery that Lydia had ‘borrowed’ her favourite bonnet to remake could dampen Mary’s mood, though she did take care to lock her new finery away, and keep the key firmly on her chatalaine.

It was a pity Mama and Papa had not been persuaded to delay Lydia’s coming out until the youngest Bennet sister could be prevailed upon to show respect and common sense. Mary had no wish to borrow trouble, but she was convinced that it was only a matter of time before Lydia's impulsive actions caused greater trouble than a ruined bonnet. Some Changelings had hints of foresight; Mary prayed that she was not one of them.

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