Chapter 5
The next morning, as soon as it was an acceptable hour for making calls, both Darcy and Bingley mounted their horses and rode toward Longbourn, only three miles distant.
As they approached the house, which was larger than Netherfield Park’s manor house, Darcy knew it housed a family of considerable means.
The house was in excellent repair, and he could see there had been extensive, well-built additions to the original house.
The park was well-maintained, and nothing seemed to counteract nature or be ostentatious, unlike the estate of a certain aunt of his from Kent and its gaudy and vulgar displays of wealth.
Darcy noticed an extensive stable on one side of the house, at least as large as his stables at Pemberley.
Beyond that stood a number of very fine horses sunning themselves or grazing in paddocks.
As he looked, he recalled his uncle and cousins had spoken about the famed Longbourn stables and the quality of the horses bred there.
They told him the demand for Longbourn’s horses were so great among the ton there was a waiting list for them.
Darcy could not have known that Bennet had more than tripled the size of Longbourn by adding two wings to it.
He also had no idea that Bennet had recovered land gambled away in the past by dissolute members of his family, quadrupling the size of the park.
He could see many signs of wealth but, like most in the area, had no idea of just how wealthy the Bennets were.
They were met in front of the house by two smartly-dressed grooms. Once the gentlemen dismounted, the grooms led their horses toward the stables. One nodded to the gentlemen, vowing to care for their horses as they did the Bennets’. Darcy noticed their gentle touch with his mount and was impressed.
When the two friends offered coins to them in thanks, their astonishment deepened when both grooms politely refused them, saying they were merely just doing their duty and they were more than well compensated by the master.
Just as they reached the oak front door it was opened by the butler, Mr. Hill. Both men handed him their cards and requested to meet with the master of the house. Hill took their outerwear and left them standing in the entrance hall, admiring the quality of what they saw.
Hill walked down a hall and they heard him knocking on a door.
When bade enter, he complied with an easy manner, one Darcy knew only occurred when the master and mistress of a household respected their servants and treated them with fairness.
“The master will see you now. Follow me, please,” Hill stated as he returned to the visitors after but a moment’s delay.
As they walked toward the study, they could hear the dulcet tones of female voices in one of the drawing rooms. Normally, Darcy would be far less eager to pay his respects to the ladies of the house than Bingley.
However, having heard of the Bennet ladies almost all of their lives, he was even more eager than Bingley to be introduced.
They followed Hill into Bennet’s study. As they entered, he announced them to his master, who was standing in front of his desk. The gentlemen bowed to each other. A moment later, they heard the door click behind them as it closed almost silently.
Darcy surveyed the room. It was a well-used study with a substantial number of books, many of which he knew he had in Pemberley’s library. Mr. Bennet looked to be an intelligent man in his late forties or early fifties.
“Welcome, gentlemen,” Bennet offered with an affable smile, “I have long wanted to meet Reggie’s nephew. Please be seated.”
“And I have wished to meet you, Sir. I am sorry we have not met before now,” Darcy said, inclining his head.
Once they were seated, Bennet asked if they would like refreshments. The two visitors declined gracefully, having broken their fasts before leaving Netherfield Park.
“Mr. Bennet, please allow me to apologise again for the behaviour of my sister Caroline when you called on me yesterday,” Bingley addressed the topic which was causing him unease directly.
It caught him by surprise that Darcy had relaxed; apparently, the closeness of the Fitzwilliams and the Bennets had not been exaggerated if Darcy was this comfortable meeting someone for the first time.
Bennet assured Bingley that he did not hold him accountable for his sister’s actions.
After this welcome statement, Bingley breathed a sigh of relief.
Bennet asked Darcy if all was well with his best friend, his wife, and his family.
Darcy assured him the family was all well when he saw them in town the day before he travelled into Hertfordshire.
“My family was excited to hear Richard will join you at Netherfield Park soon. He is a favourite of ours, especially with my fifteen-year-old sons who love to listen to his battle tales from when he was serving King and Country in the army on the Peninsula. They will listen to those, and his other yarns, for as long as he is willing to tell them. He is careful to not share too many details with them, although Tom and James would not object if he did,” Bennet chuckled.
“Now that I think back, Richard did say something about knowing people in Hertfordshire, but I was not paying attention,” Darcy said. “There was a near disaster that affected my sister this summer past and I was distracted by thoughts of that when we spoke last.
“My sister Georgiana is almost sixteen and Richard is her co-guardian with me.” Darcy had a faraway look as he continued. “I blame myself for what happened, even though by the grace of God I arrived in time to stop the disaster from happening. Uncle Reggie says I take too much on myself.”
Bingley’s jaw dropped at this most unexpected turn of events. Fitzwilliam Darcy was sharing personal details of his life with someone he had never before met. Not only that, he was sharing details he had not yet related to himself, his best friend.
Darcy settled in the chair across from Bennet, a huge exhale of emotion finally escaping. For some reason he felt comfortable talking to Bennet, a closeness he never had with someone not an intimate acquaintance or close family like the Fitzwilliams.
“Reggie was correct,” Bennet opined with conviction, “He has shared his worries with me that you take too much on yourself and you think you can control things that are beyond anyone’s control.
Only God can control all, Son, not mortals.
” Bennet offered quietly. His eyes locked on Darcy so Darcy could see the truth a man can find only when addressed by another man.
Bennet had to check his chuckle when Darcy looked chagrined.
‘He has my measure and we have only just met!’ he thought, but aloud he offered words he had thus far been unable to say. “Maybe you have the right of it, but I would never have forgiven myself if something had happened to Georgie.”
Darcy had never shared any of what had been troubling him for so long with Bingley, and the latter could see his friend was sinking into a dark mood again, so he intervened to change the subject, telling Bennet that Caroline had not learned her lesson and the things she had said before dinner.
“As I told Darcy, I am afraid the only way she will learn is the hard way.
I love my sister, but I no longer like her, and I abhor her behaviour as it reflects badly on all of us.
Even after Darce here told her as clearly as he could that she is nothing to him, her delusions persist, and she tells all she will soon be Mistress of Pemberley.
“She also had a monstrous tantrum last night and broke all the bric-a-brac in her chambers. She does not know it yet, but the money for the replacement will come from her allowance. I will no longer foot the bill for her bad behaviour.” Bingley understood Darcy’s sceptical look he was not hiding.
“Just you wait and see, I am resolved that she will have to live with the consequences of her appalling behaviour.”
“I was going to acquaint you with some facts before her outburst, but now, especially after what you just told me Mr. Bingley, I feel I should tell you all.” Bennet settled back in his chair, also at ease with the company as he imagined he would one day talk as such with his sons.
Bennet proceeded to tell them everything, from the birth of the twins onward.
By the end of the tale, Darcy and Bingley were equally dumbfounded.
‘I could see they had wealth,’ Darcy thought to himself, ‘but this is far beyond anything I imagined. Their wealth rivals my own.’
“You are my landlord?” Bingley blurted out once he had regained his equanimity. “I must apologise once again; Caroline disrespected you in your own house.” Bennet nodded. “My sister is in for a much bigger shock than she expects.”
“As I told you a few minutes ago, there is nothing for you to apologise for, so please do not make yourself uneasy. You do not control the words or actions of your sister.” Bennet’s reply helped Bingley to relax knowing for sure he was not being held accountable for the actions of his ill-bred sister.
After Bennet’s disclosure and knowing at some point he would have shared the whole sordid story with Bingley anyway, Darcy swore both men to secrecy and proceeded to tell Bennet and Bingley his story.
He started with the early facts regarding his nemesis George Wickham, then when after his father died how he had refused the living, stating he would never take orders, been compensated for it, and then wasted four thousand pounds.