Chapter 23
Elizabeth was knee-deep in fabrics, carpets and bedding.
She had never seen so many of them outside a draper’s shop.
Mrs. Ashcombe had entrusted her with the solemn business of furnishing the front parlour and drawing room at the dower house.
She was still not sure how the lady had succeeded in getting her to agree.
She had been worried about her aunt’s concerns regarding Mr. Darcy, and when Mrs. Ashcombe had complained about her age and the work being much more than she could alone handle, it had been enough to persuade Elizabeth to help.
Though she suspected that once the planning was done, the lady could not be bothered about the details and had been sly enough to enlist her for that purpose.
She was pushing through piles of curtains when Mr. Darcy walked into the room.
“Miss Bennet, I hope you will not hesitate to let me know if the vendors my aunt has arranged are not to your liking. We may send to London for materials.”
“Sir, the problem is of too many choices, not too little,” Elizabeth tried to wade through the sea of fabrics.
Mr. Darcy was quick to offer his hand and help her out of the parlour before accompanying her to the drawing room.
He signalled the housekeeper for some refreshment as they sat down in the drawing room where Mrs. Ashcombe was dozing, with a sewing basket lying in disarray next to her.
“I hope there are no needles to poke her if she moves in her sleep,” Elizabeth commented with a frown.
“I am sure it is only for effect. I doubt my aunt has sewn anything in the past decade,” Darcy replied, taking a seat.
Elizabeth laughed at this unexpected comment. “You know, sir, I have come to understand that I am not so offended by your dismissive comments when they are directed towards your own family. Indeed, I may even come to relish them now that I understand that nobody is exempt from it.”
“You, Miss Bennet, are always exempt from any dismissive remarks I make. I would like to make it very clear that I consider you the paragon of perfect behaviour,” Darcy responded with a straight face.
Elizabeth could hardly help the laugh that escaped her. “Mr. Darcy, I do not even know how to reply to that. You think that a lady who responds with impertinence at every opportunity is a model of perfect behaviour.”
“I am sure that if you were to attend a London season, impertinence would soon be a fashionable trait.”
Elizabeth blushed at this unexpected compliment from Mr. Darcy.
Deciding that being forward would be the best way to understand the gentleman, she finally spoke, “I hope you will not take offence when I say that I have long been confused by your preference for me. I had considered that you held me in contempt, which I now know to be entirely false, but how could you have developed such an attachment? I am sure you were not so enamoured with me in Hertfordshire.”
“Miss Bennet, I assure you that my attachment to you is not the work of a moment. It was only a few days after that reprehensible comment I made at the assembly that I realised, to my own shame, that you were much more than tempting. I hope you remember that you once called me out for listening to your conversation with Colonel Forster at Sir William’s soiree. ”
“But that was nearly the beginning of our acquaintance!” Elizabeth exclaimed with genuine surprise.
“Exactly, and then you came to Netherfield with your hair wind-blown and your hems six inches in mud, and all I could think of was that the exercise brightened your eyes and made you even more charming.”
Elizabeth, feeling quite unequal to the gentleman’s forthrightness, blushed deeply, and hearing some noise from the parlour, excused herself from the drawing room on the pretext of speaking to the workers.
As soon as Elizabeth had departed, Mrs. Ashcombe sat up alert and was peering at her nephew. Darcy, knowing his aunt’s meddling nature, asked suspiciously, “Were you awake the whole time?”
“Of course I was. You came without any warning, and feigning sleep was the only way I could have assured your privacy. But I must say, nephew, you are not so stuck up as I had assumed; that was quite a romantic speech. I am sure Miss Bennet left only out of maidenly embarrassment. Continue on the path, and you will soon have the lady’s regard. ”
A smile spread across Darcy’s face. He got up and kissed his aunt on the cheek as he walked outside, humming.
Mrs. Ashcombe could not contain the astonishment that her nephew’s actions brought on.
Fitzwilliam had become too buried under the responsibility of Pemberley and Georgiana.
She rejoiced that Miss Bennet seemed to bring out a rather carefree side of him.
Thinking that she should probably go and help the girl, she got up and made her way to the parlour.
******
Mrs. Hardwicke was confused. She did not want to assign any nefarious motives to her husband’s family, knowing that Frederick had held them in high regard, yet she was not sure what to make of Mr. Darcy.
Mrs. Ashcombe’s desire for Elizabeth’s help with the dower house had made her wonder if she had overreacted. Maybe her niece had the right of it.
She had been out in the fields when she had come across Mr. Harrison again.
The gentleman had accompanied her for the rest of her visits and was perfectly polite and solicitous.
She knew that he was not just a steward but a relation of Lady Greystone’s and was regarded respectfully in the area; thus, she had been surprised when he had related that Mr. Darcy had been quite brusque with him after he had offered to help with the estate.
That he had brought down some young man from Derbyshire to serve as steward so soon after refusing local help was even more concerning.
‘What did Mr. Darcy wish to hide, that he would disdain the help of a man who knew the local lay of the land? Would it not have been better to heed someone in Mr. Harrison’s position?
’ were some of the thoughts that kept circling her mind.
Unfortunately the problem with Willowmere accounts at the local market town had never made it to Mrs. Hardwicke.
She had been sick, and the housekeeper had refrained from bothering her and then the problem was resolved in short order.
Therefore, she never knew the service Mr. Darcy had performed or the duplicity of Mr. Harrison.
Mr. Davis, the solicitor, had also been told not to mention anything to Mrs. Hardwicke regarding her annuity till she was out of mourning, as Mr. Darcy had considered it indelicate to discuss either money or the possibility of her remarrying so soon after her loss.