A strange peace at Pemberley

Friday, October 17 08

There was a kind of hush in the Bennet household but it wasn't the sound of lovers in love. Quite the contrary. The little Twin Bennets were distraught. The Darcys in the dirt had disappeared. Their tools had gone, their digger had gone, and so had their smiling faces. Miss Kezia Bennet was most confused. Having had a week of entertainment watching the grown-up boys playing happily in their giant sandpit, she was now looking at an empty muddy back garden. Its only inhabitant was a neighbour's cat, which made her tremble in fright and reach up to her mother for a reassuring cuddle. The Darcys made her squeal in delight and point in their direction, encouraging Mrs Bennet to share the moment, which of course she couldn't because Mr Bennet might get jealous. But after much activity and sweat, this week there had been an eerie silence. Not one muscle or mound of earth moved. And the bite-size Pemberley was not even a morsel. To start with Mrs Bennet was relieved. With drills pounding at full pelt and daughters droning and demanding with equal force, the noise levels had hurt Mrs Bennet's poor ears. But the non-activity was bugging her now. The builders weren't at fault. It was the soil. It apparently wasn't very good and on looking at it, building regulation inspectors had ruled that foundations for the extension would have be of the most expensive variety which needed specialists in to do the job. It meant sadly for the moment the Darcys in the dirt were surplus to requirement. Trying to explain that to a 17-month-old twin was not an easy matter. All week Mrs Bennet lived with a fear that the cost would be so staggeringly high, that she and the rest of the Bennets would be left in a pile of rubble with a demolished garage and conservatory. In a calmer moment, she did think that if plans all went to pot, Mr Bennet could always turn the turned up soil and concrete in the back garden into an allotment. But in the stressed moments - which were unfortunately more common - Mrs Bennet felt she was living in a mess. There was something reassuring about activity. At least something was happening. And today, even she was missing the Darcys in the dirt. She had not yet got round to admitting that fact to Mr Bennet. He wanted to be the only Mr Darcy in her life. But thankfully he knew his wife well enough to know she wouldn't trade him in for another.