Pomp and Circumstance: A Pride and Prejudice Continuation

Chapter 6: The Art of Scientific Discourse

A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who is reading! I update weekly, either Thursday/Friday, so look out for updates around that time! Hope you all enjoy the new chapter! :D

~~~~~~

The time which Mary did not spend in Georgiana's company – those mornings or afternoons when her friend was claimed by the Miss Bensons, or when she was applied to her studies – this time Mary spent unfailingly in exploring the Pemberley library.

New friendships are often wont to be exciting and all-consuming; and certainly, Mary derived much gratification from it; but indeed, it would have been a foolhardy endeavor for any person, even one as amiable as Georgiana, to attempt to supplant, in such short time, the sacred vestibule of Mary's heart which had been so long devoted to her reading.

The Pemberley library to her was equal parts safe refuge and paragon. Unlike the library at Longbourn, which was as a whole outdated and leaned heavily towards the reading preferences of Mr. Bennet, the library at Pemberley was a collection which was being always fastidiously and expertly expanded, no doubt through the careful guide of Mr. Darcy and, now, the newly minted Mrs. Darcy. Mary would marvel to see books which had been published only months before, spines uncreased, stood already at home on the shelves – but clearly, it was no arbitrary fickleness which haphazardly steered the choice of new additions - there were no cheap, bawdy novels here, nor any obscure, unqualified academic texts - those books that were chosen were of only the highest quality and taste, in keeping with a balanced selection of subjects, and meant clearly to complement rather than substitute those volumes which were already in possession.

To Mary, this was testament to its great virtue enough – but even greater virtue was to be had in that unlike the Longbourn library, that favorite place of retreat and evasion for Mr. Bennet, the Pemberley library was often uninhabited – Mr. Darcy conducted his business mainly in his study; if there was a book he wished to peruse, he would retrieve it and return to his desk; and similarly Georgiana and Lizzy, who both much preferred to read in the parlour or the sitting room. Therefore, when Mary took to the Pemberley library, it was often with the freedom to roam its confines unobserved and unrestrained, to survey the various and innumerable titles at her leisure, without giving anyone disturbance, and to sink into an unearthly quietude to enjoy her reading, which had so often been absent in Longbourn, from the presence of either her sisters or Mrs. Bennet.

And it was to this which Mary looked forward this morning, Georgiana having gone out with Lizzy for shopping at Lambton, and indeed, as usual, she found the library uninhabited – but not, in fact, entirely undisturbed, for upon the writing desk which was usually bare were strewn some papers, left behind by someone, perhaps in haste – or perhaps absently.

She came closer to the desk, and found them to be sketches of flowers, hastily done, and all at varying stages of completion; no signature or notes marked any of them, but with their singular subject laid before her thus, she could well enough guess at the identity of their owner nevertheless.

Despite their encounter being some weeks ago, Mr. Crawford still remained for Mary a somewhat sensitive point. She was not particularly keen to run into him once more, but it was not so much from embarrassment that she sought avoidance, nor so much from affront; but rather from the combination of the two, which was the disquiet of being unsure of whether or not she had wronged, and whether she need express contrition or indignance.

Admittedly, she was curious to learn more about him, but pride and discomfiture prevented her from making any direct inquiries regarding the subject; so all information that she gleaned was that which was provided of its own accord, by Georgiana, or by Lizzy, and not much of it; for he had already been at Pemberley some time, and was no longer the matter of interest he had been upon his first arrival.