Chapter 13
Rosings
Hunsford
“Anne, I understand you received a letter today. Who wrote you? I must have my share of the latest news!”
Miss Anne de Bourgh, only child of the widowed Lady Catherine de Bourgh, looked up from her book and suppressed a groan.
Lady Catherine, Anne, and her companion, Mrs. Jenkinson, were seated in the east parlor after dinner.
Anne was quite pleased with her book and was disinclined to exchange wearisome words with her mother.
“Yes, Mother,” Anne admitted warily. “I received a letter from my cousin Georgiana.”
Lady Catherine lifted imperious eyebrows, “Well, Anne, what did she say? Will Darcy and Georgiana be traveling to London this fall? If so, I believe we must meet them there, much as I dislike traveling to Town in cooler weather. But Darcy must be eager to wed you, and we should make it easier for him to make the arrangements. In London, we can more easily discuss the marriage settlements with the family lawyers.”
Anne de Bourgh stared in disbelief and suppressed a desire to roll her eyes.
If her cousin Darcy wished to marry her, he would have done so long ago.
Anne was quite certain that he did not wish to wed the heiress to Rosings but was somewhat constrained by family desire and thus had not voiced his absolute refusal.
Either that or Darcy knew quite well that Lady Catherine would not hear his protests. This letter from Georgiana was thus most welcome; one way or another, Darcy was no longer even a possible suitor, and Anne was exceedingly pleased.
“No, Mother,” she explained carefully. “Darcy is not at Pemberley and has not been for many weeks; Cousin Richard is overseeing the estate and Georgiana in Darcy’s absence.”
Lady Catherine turned a hideous scowl on her only child, “What? Darcy is not at Pemberley? Where is he, then? It’s not like him to avoid his responsibilities.
This is very disappointing news. It will not do to have my son-in-law gallivanting about.
I certainly never permitted such behavior in Sir Lewis. ”
Anne straightened in her chair and braced for the upcoming explosion, “Darcy is searching for Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Mama. He wishes to marry her.”
Lady Catherine stared at her for a full minute and then another. Her eyes went wide, her mouth falling open to reveal slightly yellowed teeth.
“What?” she sputtered eventually.
“Georgiana says that Darcy wishes to marry Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” Anne explained in a small voice. She hated her own meekness, but she was a compliant soul and entirely unable to stand up to her iron-willed parent.
Another minute went by before Lady Catherine managed another word, “Inconceivable!”
“That is what Georgiana told me ...”
Lady Catherine appeared to deflate somewhat and her features relaxed to a more typical state.
“Inconceivable, I say. Either you have misunderstood Georgiana, or Georgiana is confused. The latter is entirely understandable. Darcy is not likely to share his detailed plans with his much younger sister. No, I understand what has happened. Darcy wishes to please me by ensuring that Miss Bennet marries Sir Claude; I understand that the young lady has gone missing, no doubt due to her own foolish weakness. When your father died, I did not succumb to wailing and flight, but Miss Bennet is full young.”
Anne opened her mouth in protest and then closed it. Really, there absolutely no point in arguing and the sooner she could resume her book, the better.
“Indeed, it is very kind of Darcy and shows how much he values my wisdom,” the lady continued in a self-congratulatory voice.
“After all, Sir Claude is a distant relation, and his concerns are our concerns. Darcy is showing at least a modicum of intelligence as he ages, Anne. He will be a reasonably decent husband and with Rosings and Pemberley joined together, our family will be one of the most powerful in the land.”
Anne de Bourgh found her irritation slipping away into wry amusement.
Really, in the face of such determined blindness, what could one say?
She caught Mrs. Jenkinson’s eye and the older lady winked, causing Anne to stifle a gurgle of laughter.
Tonight, when they had retreated to their bedrooms, Anne and Mrs. Jenkinson would pull out their lovely stacks of blank paper and write down the details of this episode while their memories were still fresh.
For Miss Anne de Bourgh, the pale and sickly heiress of Rosings, was also a secret author.
Her life had been circumscribed by illness and a tyrant of a mother, but her mind had found freedom in the books of her father’s beloved library.
Many a night, Anne read into the wee hours with only a few flickering candles lighting the words on the pages.
She had, with the assistance of Mrs. Jenkinson and two loyal servants, published several short stories and one full length novel, authored by “A Lady”, and was working on her second novel even now; the villain of this particular piece was a thinly disguised rendering of her mother. Anne was having great fun writing it.
Her mind drifted happily to the possibilities. With Darcy safely wed, and to such a lovely and vibrant lady as Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Anne would be free to make her own way as a spinster authoress. It was a delightful prospect.
/
“Miss Bennet,” Mr. Kendall said, looking up from a letter in his hand.
“Yes, Mr. Kendall?” Elizabeth inquired, looking up from her breakfast plate of mango and bread.
“This is a note from Mr. Darcy. He tells me that he has found a young woman who might be able to assist in the kitchen.”
Elizabeth felt stress leak out of her weary body at these words, “That is wonderful, sir.”
Kendall chuckled ruefully, “I confess to feeling rather inept. I have been on this island for weeks now, and in a few days Mr. Darcy has succeeded in doing what I could not.”
“He is very well connected,” Elizabeth pointed out. “I daresay there are many at Government House who are falling over themselves to please Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.”
“He seems a fine man, Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth blushed at this, “He is, sir. I am honored by his attentions but also worry that I am not the woman to whom he was originally attracted. Much has happened to me in the last months.”
“I know,” the parson agreed with compassion in his eyes. “I will pray for God’s wisdom for both you and Mr. Darcy.”
“Thank you.”
“Mr. Darcy says he will bring the young woman for an interview this morning at ten o’clock, and I will be working in my office here in the parsonage. Would you be kind enough to bring her to me when she arrives?”
“Certainly, Mr. Kendall.”
Elizabeth turned her attention back to her meal, intent on eating quickly so that she could bring Helena Kendall her breakfast. After that, she would make up her own bed and tidy her bedroom, and then help Sarah in the kitchen.
/
The knocker sounded at exactly ten o’clock and Elizabeth hurried to the parsonage door, ran a quick hand over her hair to smooth it, and opened the door with a smile.
“Good morning, Mr. Darcy!” Elizabeth exclaimed with a slight blush. “Mr. Kendall is waiting for you and ...”
Darcy smiled and gestured to the girl at his side, “Rebekah Wright.”
Rebekah, a pale-skinned girl who looked to be only fourteen or fifteen years of age, bobbed a nervous curtsey.
Elizabeth, who had been vaguely aware that many of the servants at Longbourn were young, felt an odd twinge of concern for the girl.
Was she truly strong enough to manage the heavier work around the parsonage?
At least Rebekah was tall and appeared strong and well fed.
“This way, please,” Elizabeth requested, and guided Darcy and the girl to the parsonage office.
/
“Do you have a preference where we should walk today, Miss Bennet?” Darcy asked.
It was mid-afternoon and the sun was blazing, though the buildings cast comforting shadows on the street and large trees reared up here and there to provide additional protection from the intense rays.
Elizabeth was dressed very simply in gray muslin, and she looked adorable in her white bonnet.
“Let us walk the streets of Christiansted today,” Elizabeth suggested. “We can stay in the shade of the covered sidewalks so we do not melt.”
“An excellent plan,” Darcy replied in relief. They walked quickly to a nearby street, turned right, and found themselves hidden from the sun by the protected walkway next to the stucco walls.
Darcy heaved a sigh of relief and Elizabeth chuckled.
“Yes, this is much better. I must tell you, Mr. Darcy, that Rebekah is marvelous. Not only has she worked with her own mother in the kitchen at Government House, but she and her family arrived here from England in 1808 when she was but a child, and she speaks the local Creole language quite well. She and Sarah are able to converse easily, and Rebekah can translate between us. What a gift!”
“I am glad she seems a good addition to the staff,” Darcy replied sedately. In truth, his heart sung with relief that Elizabeth would not be quite so harried by domestic concerns.
“We are all very grateful. I confess to being pleased that Rebekah will be returning to her family each evening, however. Back at Longbourn, I never thought about how hard it must have been for the young maids to leave their homes and families.”
“At Pemberley, some of the young maids are, I believe, quite relieved to be gone from home. Many of them are from large families where money, and sometimes food, is scarce. Mrs. Reynolds, our housekeeper, ensures that all staff at Pemberley are properly fed and clothed.”
Elizabeth tightened her grip on his arm slightly, “My mother too ensured that our servants were well cared for. I never really thought about it, I confess – how difficult or exhausting a job was, for example.”