Thread by @MaryRobinette

Inspired by this wonderful thread...

Join me for a Very Special Pemberly Forest Story in which a young forest animal of quality attends her first ball.

https://twitter.com/kirksays/status/1238983397097136128

Who should be the main character of my Very Special Pemberly Forest Story?

Please meet the protagonist of our Very Special Pemberly Forest Story, Miss Camellia Thornapple.

No one who had ever seen Miss Camellia Thornapple in her youth would ever have believed her to be a heroine. For though the Thornapples of Pemberly Forest had the respect of their neighbours, their youngest daughter had a penchant for...

Tucking her delicately pointed snout into the soft down of her middle, the young hedgehog rolled down the hill behind her family home. The world whirled about her, dizzying her senses.

Her tumble came to an abrupt stop when she fetched up against a foot. It belonged to...

"Miss Thornapple?" The dashing young owl stepped back, shaking his foot as if to dislodge a bit of mud. "This is most unexpected."

"Oh!" Camellia uncurled and jumped to her feet. "Mr. D'Aster, I beg your pardon."

He blinked slowly at her. "Not at all, I was on my way to..."

She could not help but note his hesitation before mentioning his aunt. Though he was known to be a favourite of Lady Amanita de Phalloides, that worthy was nevertheless feared throughout the forest.

Camellia dropped a curtsy. "Please give my regards to your aunt."

"I shall..."

Out of the corner of her eye, Camellia could see an oak leaf caught in her quills. "But will your aunt not be distressed?"

His feathers puffed with amusement. "Not if I explain that I rescued a young lady who had fallen down a hill."

Camellia faced a choice.

Should she...

She could not let Mr. D'Aster think she was distressed from a fall. Fighting the urge to curl into a sharp ball of embarrassment, Camellia drew herself up. "I...I rolled down the hill. For fun."

"For fun?"

"Yes. Is there not something you do for fun?"

"I have been known..."

Camellia smiled. "Truly? What sort of--"

"Aunt!" Mr. D'Aster's eyes widened as he looked past her shoulder. "I was just on my way to see you."

"You are late." At the top of the hill, Lady Amanita de Phalloides's feathers were fluffed with vexation. With her was...

"Miss Thornapple?" The vicar's black feathers gleamed in the shade. "Have you been rolling down hills? Again?"

She snatched the oak leaf out of her quills. "Oh. I was just..." He would tell her parents.

"Talking with me." Mr. D'Aster stepped between her & the vicar. "About..."

A small squeak emerged from Camellia as she knew nothing of a ball.

Lady Amanita raised a quizzing glass and regarded her keenly. "Indeed, nephew? We have yet to settle upon a guest list."

"Since the Thornapples are surely invited, it is not too soon to discuss..."

Mr. D'Aster and Camellia awaited his aunt's reply, taking care not to betray any conferences.

With a sigh, Lady Amanita turned the quizzing glass upon her nephew. "Basil. Have we not spoken of this?"

"Yet my hope persists." His head pivoted fully to peer down at Camellia. "Shall I see you at the ball?"

Before she could reply, Mr. Stonebrand emerged from the shadows...

Camellia found her voice. "Why is that, sir?"

"My patroness Lady Amanita has condescended to accompany me on an errand from your home." With a flutter of wings, the vicar skimmed to the foot of the hill. "It is kind of her to take notice of my burden."

"You begin to alarm me."

Camellia's quills stood out from her body in horror but she did not need to ask which sister. "Oh, Lily. What have you done?"

"I shall pray for your family."

Heedless of her quills, Mr. D-- put a wing around her back to steady her. "Do you know who?"

Lady A sneered in reply...

Now Camellia was confused about why her sister had eloped. "Mr. Foxington comes from a good family and has been nothing but kind."

Behind her Mr. D'Aster had stiffened. "I must go." Stepping away from her, he took flight.

"Perhaps." Lady Amanita beckoned the vicar, "But...

Why should anyone have declined marriage to that sweet owl? Besides a kind demeanor, he was in possession of a good fortune.

Lady Amanita stretched her wings. "I regret that we shall not see you at the ball."

The vicar cocked his head at Camellia. "Best return to your family."

Lady Amanita spun her head to the forest. "The hounds of Pemberley are out."

"This is what comes of cavorting with foxes." The vicar opened his wings and both took flight, leaving Camellia alone in a flurry of leaves.

From on high, the vicar cawed,

Looking up, Camellia studied the vicar to ascertain where he was looking. He circled, cawing with agitation, over the sound of barking dogs.

Lady Amanita flew counterpoint. "Nephew! You must fly."

Why did he not take flight? Camellia's heart nearly choked her as she watched.

Camellia dashed through the woods & crested a rise with a prospect overlooking a small clearing. Her blood chilled, for in the clearing were two large dogs from Pemberley, barking ferociously.

Protected on one side by Mr. D'Aster & on the other by Mr. Foxington, was her sister.

Tucked into a tight ball, quills out, she aimed her path directly into the tender paws of the nearest dog. With a yelp, the fiend leaped into the air.

Camellia uncurled enough to see Mr. D'Aster spring up and rake the dog with his talons. Whimpering, it fled. The other dog...

Mr. F- cried, "Lily!"

Her fashionable stays prevented her from curling fully into a tight ball, but her quills nonetheless gave the brute pause & he shifted his hold on her.

In his moment of distraction, Mr. D'Aster struck the dog with an outstretched wing. He staggered and...

Camellia caught her sister, pulling Lily to safety. She seemed unharmed.

The cur realized his companion had abandoned him & that he now faced two determined foes. He nervously wet his lips, looking between the two gentlemen, turned tail, & ran.

Breathing heavily, Mr. D'Aster...

"Foxington."

"D'Aster. Thank you for your aid." The fox nodded stiffly & turned to Camellia's sister. "Lily, my dear, are you hurt?"

"Not a bit." She fussed at a tear in her dress.

Camellia hugged Lily. "I feared you halfway to Gretna Green by now."

She laughed, "La!

Glancing up to where the vicar and Lady Amanita still circled, Camellia said, "Mr. Stonebrand said you had... eloped."

"Eloped?" Mr. Foxington nearly dropped his hat. "Heaven forfend."

"Oh no!" Lily tossed her head. "We had ENVELOPES."

"Envelopes?" Camellia asked, "To what?"

"I am not certain I take your meaning." Camellia could not imagine how her sister had come by an invitation to the Assembly. Their family was respectable, to be sure, but had no connection to grand society.

"La! Reynard's sist--"

Mr. Foxington cleared his throat, glancing at...

Mr. D'Aster's face was closed & feather smooth.  "I trust Mag--Lady Twisthay is well?"

"She is."

Uncomfortable silence held the forest. Lady Twisthay must be the sister who had jilted Mr. D'Aster.

Camellia stepped forward to break that silence. "If all are well, might I..."

The request was dreadfully forward but Camelia had been so desperate to ease the moment that she had taken its awkwardness upon herself.

Mr. D'Aster's golden eyes widened. "I should be delighted."

"A--at your leisure."

"Perhaps," he eyed his aunt circling above, "you might..."

Chapter 2

Our heroine found herself in a grand drawing room, seated next to Lady Amanita de Phalloides. It was impossible for Camellia to be unaware of the mud upon her hem from her earlier tumble down a hill.

Her cup rattled in its saucer as she held it out to be filled by....

The mechanical wonder had been crafted by Mr. D'Aster in the guise of an enormous silver grasshopper. With a tick of gears, it bowed to fill her cup with steaming tea.

At her side, Lady A- clicked her beak in annoyance while
Lily & Mr. F-- sat with heads together.

Camellia...

Setting down her cup, Camellia studied the automaton. Had the sound come from it?

"Is something awry, Miss Thornapple?" Mr. D'Aster left his tea to stand beside the polished grasshopper.

Lady Amanita sighed, "What is awry is this horror in the drawing-room."

Camellia saw...

Camellia said, "I might be mistook."

Mr. Foxington whispered in the ear of Camellia's sister, who sat with perfect posture to avoid allowing her quills to touch the delicate silk of Mr. D'Aster's settee.

He withdrew his hand from his pocket and _________ tumbled out.

As the key clattered to the parquet floor, Mr. D'Aster's head spun clean around. Mr. Foxington bent down to pick it up without apparent consciousness.

Mr. D'Aster's eyes widened and then narrowed. "What have you there?"

Lily hopped off the settee & fairly snatched the key from Mr. F-. "It is naught. I mean to say it is mine."

A chill ran through Camilla, for she thought recognized the key's shape. Setting down her cup, she also stood. "We ought to return home."

Why should Mr. F-- have a key...

And why, too, would Lily claim an automaton's key as her own? Frowning, Camellia crossed the room to her sister. Mr. Foxington stood at Lily's side, whispering to her in a very forward manner.

Behind her, the rustle of feathers spoke before Lady Amanita did, "I warned you..."

"I am glad of it, Aunt." Mr. D'Aster crossed the room to join Camellia.

She turned to face him, her back prickling with alarm. His sharp eyes clearly saw that Lily had secreted something away.

Camellia smiled, "Thank you for the lovely afternoon."

"Of course." He held out...

The book's title was set in gilt on the leather spine. "The Artificial Clock-Maker."

Mr. D'Aster cleared his throat. "I do not know if you have an interest in the cr--"

"Psh." Lady Amanita snapped her wing open like a fan. "Of course she does not."

Camellia said, "I do but..."

As they took their farewells, Camellia's agitation kept making her quills flare and she had to concentrate to smooth them again. The note fairly burned inside the book, but she was not yet able to open it.

Outside Hazeldown House, Lily clutched her arm. "Is it not exciting! ...

The shank of the gilt key was quite short with a broad bow clearly intended to wind an automaton.

Camellia gasped, "Lily!"

"It was my sister's." Mr. Foxington took the key from Lily and pocketed it.

The sister who had jilted Mr. D'Aster, she supposed. "A key to what?"

Lily sighed, "The key to his heart! So romantic!"

"But why do you have it?" Camellia looked back at the manor, horrified that her sister had stolen something. Was it the influence of the fox?

Mr. F- cleared his throat. "Mr. D'Astor gifted my sister with a cunning heart...

"He was going to give her the key on their wedding night!" L- bounced on her toes.

C- was more horrified than she had been. Surely the lady no longer deserved the key, especially since she had married another.

Mr. F- said, "It contains a ring, but my sister cannot reach it."

Having wrested the key from Mr. Foxington, Camellia gaped breathlessly at Mr. D'Aster. The book lay open on the ground between them, the note fluttering across the grass.

The owl looked at the key in her hand with grave concern. "I hope I am mistook"

She wanted to perish but...

She saw only the words, "most intriguing" & "reserve a dance" before recalling herself to the present moment. Camellia put her slipper on the note to keep it from blowing away again.

"Mr. D'Aster," she extended the key. "I believe this is yours."

Still studying her, the owl...

What could Mr. D'Aster mean by that? Camellia's heart seemed to belong to a rabbit more than a hedgehog. She wet her lips and said, "Still, I think it's dispossession is for you to decide."

"Perhaps you are correct." He blinked slowly and accepted the key. "Ask me again..."