Chapter Nineteen
An hour and a half later, Jane approached the banks of the River Lea with Lydia and Colonel Fitzwilliam, having left the younger girls behind to sketch.
“I simply cannot leave Amwell without walking the banks where Isaak Walton fished.” Colonel Fitzwilliam had been quite insistent on this point.
“That horrid man who wrote that boring book that you and my brother never stop talking about?” Georgiana objected. “I would rather stay here, and sketch the summerhouse with Kitty, rather than see another river. Everywhere we go, you and my brother must look at a river and discuss trout for hours.”
“The Compleat Angler is a most invaluable and informative text!” Fitzwilliam insisted. “There is not a sportsman in the country who will not agree!”
“Let them go,” Kitty advised her friend. “And let them take Lydia with them. Miss Jane wanted her to come so badly, she can manage whatever tantrum is surely coming.”
“Only if my guardian agrees.” Georgiana looked to Colonel Fitzwilliam hopefully.
“Of course you may stay with your friend and Mrs Annesley.” He smiled indulgently. “Mr Dean will be close, I am certain, and your footman James can be called from the carriage to attend you.”
“Of course, sir.” Mr Dean whistled to two young boys who were waiting for instructions nearby. One ran off to the stables to find the footman, the other was instructed to guide Colonel Fitzwilliam and the other two ladies to the river.
“I have not said anything disagreeable all day! Not once!” Lydia objected hotly.
Jane put a hand on her arm. “Then do not give in to her and begin now. Let her be the one to say disagreeable things. Then later, you can point out that if her day was ruined, she did it herself.”
Jane did not have very much patience or amusement for Kitty.
She had encouraged the girl to open up to Elizabeth and Mary, which had been successful for the young lady, and she had gained a friend in Georgiana too.
Then she had turned about and been ungenerous to her own younger sister.
Jane was reasonably certain that if she had sent Kitty to Brighton, the result would have been the same, or nearly.
Kitty had not been so innocent and was not giving Lydia a chance.
“Ladies, will you join me for a stroll along the river?” Colonel Fitzwilliam offered both arms, which were taken with alacrity.
“We shall, and we will even allot you three minutes in which to express your admiration for fishing, and Mr Isaak Walton,” Jane said cheekily.
Lydia had been in high spirits and on reasonable behavior all the way to the river, which was a walk of a few short minutes from the grotto.
“What can you and Mr Walton tell us about the River Lea, Colonel?” Jane asked the officer as they approached the banks.
“The River Lea is a major tributary of the River Thames, and a crucial trade route for London, Miss Jane. In the seventeenth century, the New River was built to bring fresh, clean water from the upstream waters of the River Lea to London.”
“They built the river?” Lydia asked. “I did not know that could be done.”
It did not take long for the colonel to warm up to the subject. “Yes, they certainly can, Miss Lydia, though it was a work of several years to complete. The writer and great fisherman, Isaak Walton, fished here, and I do wish it were spring or summer now, that I might try my hand at the rod!”
“Has it been three minutes yet?” Jane asked Lydia teasingly.
“No it has not, and just for that, I shall tell you the story of when my friend, Major Stephen Barnes fished the River Lea in the year six while on a visit to his friend here in Ware, and he caught a prize perch, more than twenty inches long, an-”
“Has it been three minutes, now?” Lydia looked around at Jane expressively.
“That’s a true story, that is,” the boy guiding them spoke up.
“My brother works at Ascot Cottage, and ‘e was attendin’ the gentlemen.
They was so ‘appy, they give him the rest of their catch to take home with ‘im. Ma was proper pleased, she traded some to Mrs Barnes for a share of the next pig they butchered, and some to Mrs Siple for a laying hen. Fed three famblies for near two days, that lot did.”
“Was it truly twenty inches long? Did you get a chance to see it?” Colonel Fitzwilliam asked excitedly. “I cannot believe I can get the story confirmed! How is the river stocked for trout?”
Jane and Lydia smiled at each other and walked on beside the riverbank, pointing out birds and other wildlife hidden among the reeds. Lydia began collecting reed grass with a small pen knife.
“Papa gave me this pen knife for my birthday because when I am out with Kitty I like to collect wildflowers.” Lydia took a seat on a bench near the water and began twisting the reeds into tiny rings, which she then collected in her lap.
“It belonged to my grandfather, and Papa said I might as well have it, since I had been the last chance for a son.”
“I take it that your sister did not respond as well as you hoped to the return of her belongings?” Jane asked the girl.
“I almost wish I had not given them back! I wanted to tear that yellow bonnet off her head when she put it on in the hall! She did not even say thank you.”
“They are her bonnets, my dear. Imagine being expected to thank someone for your own possessions.” Jane smiled at Lydia. “But she will come around. You have not ruined her day, so when you return home, she will have nothing to truly complain of.”
“May I visit you tomorrow to read and discuss Evelina?” the young lady asked.
“Of course you may, if Mrs Bingley and your mother approve,” Jane agreed. “I am certain Lizzy will join us as well, and I do not think Miss Darcy will be persuaded to exclude you for very long. She looked quite guilty this morning when Miss Kitty was making her taunts.”
“I miss Kitty.” Lydia finished a final reed ring and placed the small pile in her reticule sadly.
“I do understand, my dear.” Jane put an arm about her. “I miss my dear Cassandra dearly. I do wish I could get home.”
“I wish you would never leave,” Lydia said vehemently. “There will be no one left to be kind to me when you go.”
“I am quite certain Mrs Bingley at the very least would be generosity itself if you were to prove yourself with good behavior and throw yourself upon her goodwill.”
“I suppose.” Lydia sighed. “Say, what is this?”
Jane watched as the girl pulled a large, loose stone from a nearby clump of grass. “Let us go and ask our guide.”
The two ladies rose and returned to Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was speaking animatedly with the boy about trout, carp, chub, pike, and other species of fish that had been pulled from the river over the years.
Lydia showed the boy the stone, which was larger than even Colonel Fitzwilliam’s fist. It was the most interesting rock Jane had ever seen. It appeared to be one large rock made up of hundreds, if not more, of small little rocks and pebbles.
“That’s puddingstone, that is,” answered the boy. “It’s everywhere near the river. You may take that one if you like, miss. The master won’t mind, visitors often take a piece of puddingstone ‘ome. We won’t ever run short of it ‘ereabouts.”
When they returned to the house, the other ladies were finishing their sketches in the gardens. “How lovely, Georgie!” Colonel Fitzwilliam exclaimed as he examined her drawing.
“It is the Consultation Room.” Georgiana told him. “I shall fill in the walls later, but I wished to also have time to sketch the view from the summer room.”
“It is a lovely picture, I hope you will make one for me to keep as well.” Her cousin returned the drawing to her.
“Miss Kitty, that is a marvellous piece of work, however did you complete it so quickly? I confess, I had some small skill as a youth, but I drew rather slowly, and had not the patience for such still work.”
“Did you enjoy your walk to the river?” Georgiana asked.
“We did, and if you ever visit again in the summer, it might be well worth a visit from you too. I think you would like to employ your pencils to depict the banks.”
“Lydia, I do hope you behaved,” Kitty said disapprovingly to her younger sister.
Lydia stamped her foot. “I have been pleasant all day! It is you making everyone feel discomfort!”
Kitty looked unimpressed, while Georgiana looked quite mortified by her new friend’s behaviour, and uncertain about her open unkindness to her own sister.
“Let us return to the house.” Colonel Fitzwilliam held out an arm each to Georgiana and Mrs Annesley. “I do fear we have gone without sustenance for far too long. I simply must find a spot of tea and a sandwich. Do you think there will be scones, Miss Kitty?
The party retired to the house, and they were found a half hour later enjoying tea sandwiches, and cakes by Mr Bennet and Mr Hooper.
“I fear Mrs Hooper was detained on her estate visits today.” Their host popped a jam penny into his mouth. “One of our tenants has entered her child bed, and Maria has stayed to help with the other children for the day; the message came not an hour ago.”
“How kind of Mrs Hooper. I do hope your tenant and her child fare well.” Georgiana said.
“Now, you are George Darcy’s daughter, are you not? I believe I met your brother some twelve years or more back,” Mr Hooper inquired.
“Yes! My brother told me that he visited the grotto with my father before he passed.” Georgiana nodded.
“My condolences to both you and your brother on the loss of your father,” Hooper said to Georgiana. Then, in an aside to Bennet, “A better chess player never lived than George Darcy.”
“I believe I saw his name on the wall at Cambridge.” Mr Bennet reached out and took a biscuit. “He was several years ahead of me, so we never played against one another.”
“I wish I could play chess,” Lydia announced.
Kitty snorted.
“Can you not learn?” Georgiana asked tentatively.
“Possibly, if anyone would teach me, but Papa prefers Lizzy’s company,” Lydia muttered.
Mr Bennet was entirely unmortified. “Do you believe that you have the capacity to learn such a game?”
Lydia glared at him mutinously.
“Have you learned anything today?” Mr Bennet asked pointedly.
“Yes! I learned that a river can be built, and that a prize perch can be twenty inches long, and I learned that Mr Scott built the grotto alongside his workers, and many other facts!” Lydia answered hotly, pulling the large rock from her pocket.
“And, I learned that this rock is a puddingstone, and that I want to find a book in the library to learn more about it when we return home. The boy who guided us said I could keep it.”
Jane wondered again how Lydia fit the large stone in her pockets. I must ask her how large her pockets are.
“Of course you may!” Mr Hooper exclaimed. “I am certain your father’s library cannot be deficient in the geology of Hertfordshire!”
“Thank you, sir.” Lydia glowed.
“I can play chess. My brother taught me. She does not look unintelligent. I am certain Miss Lydia could learn!” Miss Darcy seemed timidly outraged on behalf of Lydia.
Kitty did not care for this. “She could, but it is unlikely she would spare any real effort. If she were willing to be taught anything, she would have done so by now.”
Mr Hooper seemed uncomfortable by this display of sibling rivalry.
The last time Bennet brought two daughters at once, it had been his two eldest, who were devoted to each other.
“So, tell me about your impressions of the grotto, Miss Jane! Bennet told me all about your appearance on his lands, and your injuries. What an interesting condition! Do you believe that your adventure today helped your memory at all? Any recollections of having visited Amwell before?”
A half hour later, the party was gathering their belongings as they waited for the carriages.
Lydia opened her reticule and pulled out the rings she had made by the river. “Reed grass is considered to be good luck; I collected some by the River Lea, and made you all a souvenir.” She passed them all out to the others, and Jane found that hers fit her middle finger perfectly.
Lydia offered two to their host. “For you and Mrs Hooper, sir. In thanks for your hospitality.”
“Why thank you Miss Lydia. It is not often that visitors to the grotto display their appreciation so kindly.”
Jane observed Kitty steaming, and Mr Bennet looking at Lydia in perplexity as they boarded their carriages for home.