Chapter Eleven
“If she does not help him on …”
DARCY BEGAN, “THE CLUB WILL BE A NICE DIVERSION THIS EVENING; do you not think?”
“If you say so, Darcy,” Bingley said half-heartedly.
“You do not seem to find pleasure in it though.”
“The club will be,” Bingley paused, “amusing enough.”
“What is amiss, Bingley? Let me be of service to you.”
Bingley sighed, “It is nothing. It is just … I cannot explain it.”
Darcy watched as his best friend turned away and was lost in his own reverie.
He knew what Bingley experienced: he felt it himself at least once per day since that fateful autumn night in Meryton.
The empathy Darcy held for Bingley increased his own pain.
He had done Bingley a disservice, one he would rectify.
“Your sisters will arrive in London tomorrow?” Darcy said without much enthusiasm. “When do you anticipate leaving for Pemberley?”
“My sisters have expressed an interest to be at my brother Hurst’s estate by late-August. Obviously, Caroline would hear nothing less than spending a fortnight at Pemberley.
” Bingley left his chair and walked about the room distractedly.
“I suppose the first part of next week would be the most logical time. However, as our host, we wait upon your happiness.”
“Monday next would serve Georgiana and I well,” Darcy said. “Is that acceptable to your travel schedule?”
“I will instruct my sisters to be prepared for early Monday morning. It will be good to be removed from London; the weather is becoming sultry.”
“As for me,” Darcy said wistfully, “I look forward to leaving London. I would be content to spend the rest of my days at Pemberley.”
“I had hoped …” Bingley hesitated. “Netherfield was to instill such longing in me, yet …” Darcy waited for his companion to finish his thoughts, but there was no more. He looked away to avoid the pain evident in Bingley’s eyes.
Again, Darcy reflected on the last ten months.
Before Elizabeth, he thought his life was perfect.
He lived well by the standard of the day, but he had known so little about what was important in life.
Now he understood how to love, but it was too late for him and Elizabeth.
However, his revelations would provide him the opportunity to love again.
He had spent his whole life replicating his father, but Darcy had lost himself along the way.
His father, unknowingly, formed his son in his own image, but his father had lived in another lifetime.
Therefore, Darcy remained a shadow of his father’s greatness, for he had forgotten that giving service to someone did not mean the person was one’s servant.
From his mother, Darcy learned of tradition and duty to family.
His name “Fitzwilliam” came from a line of noble earls, and his father’s name of Darcy had come from a respectable, honorable, and ancient family.
From Georgiana, he had learned courage, as well as humility, and even though she had doubts at times, his sister had achieved a sense of independence, a palatable truth hidden behind a facade of shyness.
Her gentle chastisement of him forced Darcy to examine the society to which he was born with the same discerning eye he often used on others.
Elizabeth had shown him that his ideas on the state of marriage were insignificant ramblings.
It was not man’s inevitable fate; instead, marriage was a complex blend of spirits, each requiring respect and acceptance to flourish.
Elizabeth had challenged him. Unlike other women, she never flattered his ego, and, with Elizabeth, he learned not to assume anything.
Protecting and loving her would have been a privilege.
When Elizabeth had first refused him, Darcy blamed everyone but himself.
Mr. Wickham had poisoned her mind; the Bennets’ inferior society had created obstacles to his acquiescence; his honest report had offended her; his cousin had misspoken.
All these and many more served as excuses for her behavior, but, at length, he faced the deficiencies in his character, those which she had enumerated at Hunsford.
Elizabeth had given him a more equal relationship with his sister; her words had brought him to an understanding of what he should value in his life.
He had been too proud; he had been too confident; Darcy had been too concerned with his own reputation truly to love anyone, as real love requires.
Although memories of his loss shaped these revelations, they no longer frightened or confused him.
Righting the disorder of his mind brought the advantage of intimately knowing his own nature.
Darcy, Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley, and Bingley traveled to Pemberley under the Darcy livery while the Bingley sisters and Mr. Hurst made the journey in an accompanying carriage.
Darcy would have preferred to travel on horseback or alone in his own carriage.
He absolutely despised stopping every few hours for Caroline to “stretch her legs.” Since his return from Hunsford, he had avoided interacting with Caroline.
If it were not for his regard for Bingley, Caroline would be relegated to a bowing only acquaintance.
The distance between Darcy’s Town house and Pemberley in Derbyshire could comfortably be covered in three days, even with the coaches laden with multiple trunks, which were principally owned by the Bingley sisters.
Mr. Hurst had used his largest coach while Darcy made use of a slightly smaller one, which would seat four.
The hours crawled by in cordial civilities.
Bingley’s sonsy nature appealed to all, and the conversations had centered on music and literature and occasionally on the politics of the day.
The party had broken for a midday meal at one of Darcy’s favorite inns before proceeding on to where they would rest for the evening, an establishment some miles more than equidistant between London and their destination.
Between some of the villages, the road conditions were deplorable, and they were five miles from their evening’s quarters when Mr. Hurst’s coach came to an abrupt halt.
Darcy’s driver noted the problem and pulled up the horses.
Everyone disembarked to discover the crank neck of Hurst’s coach had broken into two pieces.
If Darcy had brought his larger coach, the problem would have been easier to resolve, but the party could squeeze together to reach the next village, where the crank neck would be addressed.
Hurst’s coach still operated without the crank neck, but it would not carry passengers comfortably.
Mrs. Hurst and Caroline shuffled into Darcy’s coach, and Mr. Hurst crawled into the seat of the driver’s box.
Darcy and Bingley moved as many trunks as possible to the benches inside the Hurst’s coach to avoid losing any of them.
Darcy climbed into the driver’s box with Hurst’s man; the remainder of the day’s journey would be slow and uncomfortable.
Upon their arrival, Bingley and Darcy made arrangements for the repair; however, the journey would be delayed until it was finished.
Over the evening meal, Darcy explained he would leave them the next day, taking a horse from the local stable for the journey.
The group protested. “Bingley, when we discussed our leaving London on Monday, it was because of pressing business I had to address with my steward,” he explained.
“By taking my leave early, I may be rid of the business before you arrive, providing me more time to be a congenial host.”
“I understand,” Bingley began. “We are being selfish by wishing you to remain with us.”
Darcy simply nodded, indicating their fraternity.
He knew Bingley loved his sisters but often found their company to be trying.
Darcy took sympathy on both his friend and on Georgiana when he said, “Bingley, I charge you with delivering my sister safely to Pemberley. As my friend, I trust you with her care.”
Both Bingley and Georgiana issued an apparent sigh of relief.
Darcy’s charge to Bingley before the remainder of the party provided Bingley and Georgiana a reason to spend their time in each other’s company and as traveling companions.
No one would question their choosing to do so; it relieved them of sharing Caroline’s company.
Bingley’s response was almost too enthusiastic, and Georgiana mouthed “Thank you” to him when no one else looked her way.
Georgiana joined Darcy for a light breakfast before his departure. “I envy your ride this morning, brother,” she teased. “I wish my escape was so easily achieved.”
“At least,” he grinned, “Bingley will be devoted to you today.”
“I thank you again for that, William.”
“I will see you at Pemberley tomorrow, my dearest.” He embraced Georgiana and gently kissed her forehead. “By addressing my business with Mr. Howard today, I can be at your disposal tomorrow.”
“Be safe, sir.” She pushed the hair from his eyes. “It is just we two left to oversee Pemberley’s future and each other’s. I will plan our time at Pemberley carefully,” she laughed.
Darcy gave her one last embrace and left the inn. The sun had burned off the morning dew as he mounted the horse he had secured from the stable. He would have preferred Cerberus, but to be alone in the saddle always delighted him. He turned the animal towards Pemberley and rode away.