Chapter Text
It is a truth universily acknowledged that not all women are in want of a man. It has to be acknowledged, therefore, that some women want a relationship of a different sort. That was something that Ellie Bennnet would eventually come to learn for herself.
Ellie Bennet stared up in silent wonder at the turrits of the old castle in the distance. She had seen the old building before, but Netherfield Towers, with its granet grey structure, topped with three tall turrits, was a sight that she never grew tired of looking at. At this time of day it was lovelier than ever. As the car drove slowly up the gravel path towards the great grey castle, the sunset glinted off its walls, shining over Netherfield Towers as if it was a home for the gojds themselves. Behind and around the castle, Ellie could see the lush green fields and gardens that were home to the girls while they were at school. It was her home too.
Ellie loved her school. She had been a proud student of Netherfield Towers now for three years. She was now going to be entering the fourth year at this grand old establishment and with the rising in rank, would come the responsibility of exams. Ellie had known for months that this inevitable toil would come, but now that she was back at school, she was beginning to understand just how near she was to launching into the tedium of exam revision. The knowledge of her upcoming exams was the only thing that could dampen the joy of returning to Netherfield Towers. That was until the car drew to a halt and Ellie was met by her best friend in any case.
As soon as the car came to a halt in front of Netherfield Towers, an excited Ellie was pushing the door open and clambering out onto the gravel drive. Immediately, she was swamped by a crowd of excited girls, all of them clutching hockey sticks and pulling their suitcases along behind them, very much as if they were the heaviest things in the world. She could see a few tiny girls, obviously first years and in the distance, set quite apart from the rest of the girls, she could see the dignified sixth years. It seemed odd to Ellie to think that one day, she would be among those dignified girls. Sixth year seemed very far away indeed. And she was glad to know it.
Ellie looked around for the girls that she knew best. She could see stirdy Dorothy Roberts in the distance and beside her, she caught sight of Mandy Wilson’s blonde curls bobbing about as she chatted infatically with the girl who had quickly become her best friend. It took her a few seconds to locate her own best friend, but once she did succeed in finding her, Ellie’s eyes lit up with delight. It had been weeks since she had seen Heather Morris. Heather’s parents had taken their daughter off to France for the holidays and as a result, Ellie had been unable to invite her friend over to her own home for the Summer.
“Ellie, how are you?” Heather asked as she rushed across the gravel to fling her arms around Ellie Bennet’s neck. “I wish I had been able to see you during the hols. Did you have a good Summer?”
Ellie turned to the car and lifted the lid of the boot, grasping hold of her own suitcase and hockey stick and lifting them out of the car. She turned to Heather with a smile and said, “no, not really. I spent most of it being coached on my exams by Jane. I’m telling you this, she might be one of the kindest people I know, but she’s a stickler when it comes to revision. It was all I could do to get away from her for a few hours.”
Heather nodded, understanding entirely everything that Ellie was saying. But she quickly moved onto a piece of news that she was so desperate to share. “We’ve got some new girls,” she said in a loud voice as she and Ellie made their way into Netherfield Towers itself.
Ellie raised her eye brows at this. She hadn’t been at all sure that they would have any new girls so close to exam year. “Anyone we know?” She asked, thinking of quite a few girls who would get an awful lot out of a school like Netherfield Towers.
Heather shook her head. “I don’t know any of them,” she admitted, falling into step beside Ellie as the two of them made their way to the dorm room that was to be theirs for that year’s spent at boarding school. “They’re all coming from Pemberly School. It was shut down in the Summer when their head mistress died, and some of them are coming here. Some are going to Saint Bridgit’s in Scotland but we’re having about twenty, I think. A few of them are going to be in our form, but I don’t know who any of them are.”
“Great,¬” Ellie said, struggling to summon up any inthusiasm of any kind.
It was certainly far from great. Ellie was normally reserved about any new girl coming to Netherfield. The first day was spent sizing up said new girl and finding out what she was about. But she didn’t think that she was going to have to do much of that with these Pemberly girls. She had heard about Pemberly School, and the girls who attended that educational hell hole. It was a very select school indeed, was Pemberly School. Ellie had heard of the kinds of girls that the school accepted. They only accepted ‘the very best,’ and to Pemberly, the very best meant the girls who had money. Every girl who attended Pemberly had money in abundance and as she and Heather made their way into the dorm room, she took note of that fact. She didn’t think that she was going to like any of those girls and she hoped to God that none of those girls would have been put with herself and Heather in their dorm room.
Ellie’s new dorm room was in her opinion, one of the finest in the school. It was a long room, brightly lit with blue curtains at the large window, a window through which evening sunlight was streaming through. Ellie took a cursery glance out of the window and smiled at the view. She could see the green fields that surrounded Netherfield Towers, lush greenery that seemed to stretch on for miles. Two rows of beds ran along each side of the room, five beds in each long row. Ellie strode up the rows of beds, searching for the one that she was meant to sleep in. In short order, she found it, nestled in the middle of the row on the left, the row that ran along the window wall. She smiled. Ellie liked it best when she was given a bed by the window. She gratefully let the handle of her suitcase drop to the ground as she came to stand by her bed. This was a low bed, soft and comfortable looking with a blue bed spread and a tag upon the head board that read, ‘Elizabeth Bennet.’ Yes. This was to be her bed. She sat down upon the bed, smoothing out the blue duvet with her fingers. The mattress was soft as every bed at the school was, and only then was Ellie made aware of just how tired she was. It had been a long journey from her home to this grand old school. She was tired. She glanced down at her watch and smiled. It would not be long before the dinner bell rang and then, once supper was finished, she and the rest of the girls who were struggling to keep their eyes open could go to bed if they wanted. Ellie thought that in all likelihood, she would be one of those girls.
She sat upon her bed, watching as the girls stepped in, all of them bright eyed and very happy indeed to be back at Netherfield. Heather came in behind Ellie and to the girl’s delight, took the bed next to Elllie’s. Ellie was about to settle down to the task of sizing up some of the girls, before Heather spoke up and broke into her thoughts.
“I’ve seen one of the new girls,” she said brightly.
“Oh?” Ellie asked, not much interested. She didn’t care very much about any of the new girls. She didn’t think that she was going to get on with any of them.
Heather nodded. “Oh yes. Her name is Willow Darcy and I’m telling you, a more stuck up creature I have never seen. She’s a pretty thing, though. I’m sure she knows it too. She certainly looks as if she does.”
Ellie groaned inwardly. She had suspected as much and though she chose to say nothing to Heather about what she was thinking, she wasn’t at all sure whether she would like Willow Darcy at all. Willow Darcy seemed to her to fit the image of the kinds of girls who attended Pemberly School. “I hope she’s not going to be in our dorm then,” she said simply.
If Ellie had been hoping for reassurance, she was to be proved wrong a second or two later when Heather shook her head, heaving a heavy sigh. “I’m AFRAID THAT SHE IS,” SHE SAID SADLY. “Miss Kennedy just told me. I’m afraid that we’re not going to be able to escape her so easily.”
That, Ellie thought, was not good news. She sighed in her own turn, not at all looking forward to the moment at which she was going to have to come face to face with Willow Darcy. She knew that it would not be long. They would have to go to bed fairly soon after tea and Miss Darcy would surely come up and join them once the bedtime bell rang. She knew that she couldn’t put that inevitable meeting off for much longer. But she could put it off for a while at least. That was better than nothing.
“Buck up Ellie,” Heather said brightly. “Come on or we won’t get much of a chance to see our new common room. I want to get a good look at it before tea.”
Ellie nodded, staring fixedly down at the suitcase at her feet. She hated the process of unpacking, but she knew that it had to be done. And so she rose from her place on her bed, bent low and opened her suitcase, beginning at once to take her things out.
She took out her books first, finding the perfect place for them on a shelf above her bed. Ellie had wanted to bring more books, but alas, there had not been room. So she had taken with her only her favourites, placing them in a long and neat line above her bed, where they would be easily within reach. She smiled at the row of books and then set to placing her personal belongings on her bedside table, a photo of herself and her sisters being in pride of place of course.
She smiled at the picture that now stood on her bedside table. They all looked lovely, she thought. Lovely and happy. Jane looked very grown up indeed as she stood beside Ellie, with Mary, Kitty and Lydia standing to Ellie’s left. They all had bright smiles and with a pang, Ellie thought of each of them now, and what they might be doing at that moment.
Jane was too old for boarding school. She had left Netherfield Towers only the year before with many credits to her name. All had been very proud indeed of Jane and the accomplishments that she had achieved. Music being one of her finest ones. Mary, Kitty and Lydia were at day schools closer to home, all of them preferring to remain nearbye to their father. Only Ellie was attending Netherfield Towers this year. She had hoped that she would have been able to convince Mary to come along, but Mary had been very reluctant indeed to do so. Ellie sighed, wishing that she was not the only one at Netherfield this year. But alas, she could do nothing about that. She was alone here, and alone here she would stay. At Least she had Heather to go about with. That was a blessing indeed.
Heather was becoming impatient. She was now standing beside Ellie’s own bed, urging her friend to hurry up. Ellie sighed, pulling herself free from the roiling ocean of her racing thoughts, moving to do as Heather had bid. They might as well go and spend some time in the common room before tea. That would be more useful than hanging around in here, getting lost in her thoughts. So Ellie turned away and accompanied her best friend out of the dorm room, hoping to God that she wouldn’t come across Willow Darcy on the way.