Chapter 19 What Is It About Thursdays? #2
“Darcy! And Richard! What a pleasant surprise.” She turned her cheek towards her son to receive a kiss and gestured for them to sit on the sofa directly across from her. “What has prompted this call, Darcy? Is Georgiana well?”
“Yes, she is, thank you. She is looking forward to returning next week.”
Lady Blackburn nodded as if she were completely unsurprised by this information. Who would not want to stay at her house? It was magnificent.
“I wished to speak to you on another matter.”
“Oh?”
Darcy shifted in his seat. “Yes. I have recently entered into a courtship with Miss Elizabeth Bennet.”
“Miss Bennet? Do I know her?” Lady Blackburn had heard a rumor that her nephew had been seen with a young lady, but she had refused to believe it.
“I do not believe so. Her father owns an estate in Hertfordshire. I met her last autumn when I was visiting my friend Bingley nearby.”
“I see.” Lady Blackburn was not a fan of the Bingleys.
Charles Bingley was a nice enough young man, but he was young and green still, and Miss Bingley was positively horrid.
He had another sister who had done relatively well for herself in marriage, but both she and her husband were such dreadful bores that any gains they had made in fortune or status were mitigated by their awful personalities.
“We attended dinner last evening at Hopewell House.”
Lady Blackburn’s chin tilted fractionally higher.
“The dinner was not a success.”
Now her brow raised to mirror her chin. Darcy gritted his teeth as he composed responses to all the statements his aunt was not speaking aloud.
“We had hoped that you might make a better emissary for Miss Elizabeth than Lady Hopewell,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam.
Darcy looked at his cousin gratefully, then turned back to his aunt.
“Just so, Aunt. If I may be frank,” she nodded her permission and he continued, “last night’s dinner did not show the family to advantage. I care very deeply for Miss Bennet, and I would not want to lose her over such a thing.”
Lady Blackburn’s eyebrows were near her hairline now, but still, she said nothing.
“If you can see your way to coming to know her and support her, I would be very grateful.”
“I can assure you, Mother, that Miss Elizabeth is an excellent choice for Darcy. She is witty, well-read, and lively by nature. She is also young and pretty and in excellent health.”
Darcy glared at his cousin. Elizabeth was not a mare at Tattersall’s!
“Most importantly,” continued Fitzwilliam, “she will keep Darcy interested and on his best behavior. Truly, she has worked wonders on him already.”
Darcy made a face at his cousin. It was true that Miss Elizabeth had had a softening effect on his nature and he certainly felt she was making him a better man, but he did not like to hear himself spoken of as if he were a dog being trained.
“I think if you came to know her, you would like her on her own merits,” added Darcy.
Lady Blackburn held up her hand to silence the gentlemen. “Boys, I think you had better tell me everything.”
Darcy and Fitzwilliam looked at each other, then they launched into the story of how they had come to this point.
Darcy told her how he had met Miss Bennet in Hertfordshire and rather inconveniently insulted her before falling in love with her.
He had tried to forget her, failed, and then met her again in Kent.
Fitzwilliam told his mother how Darcy had been stupidly silent in front of Miss Bennet for how nervous she made him, and then how he had come to respect the lady on his own and consider her a friend.
Darcy explained that his reasons for hesitating had been her unruly younger sisters, vulgar mother, and lack of connections, but now that he knew the Gardiners, he knew they were worthy, genteel people—and rather financially successful—and in comparison to his own family, Mrs. Bennet and Lydia seemed rather mild.
The eldest Miss Bennet was likely to be engaged to Bingley soon, and with improved connections, it was probable the other sisters would marry and not become a burden on Darcy’s coffers.
He held nothing back, explaining how Elizabeth had requested time during their courtship and how he was determined to give it to her, and how he was impressed by her integrity.
He told her how awful his family had behaved at dinner the night before, and how worried he was that it would make Elizabeth rethink the idea of marrying him altogether.
Lady Blackburn listened attentively throughout, silently shocked that Darcy—Darcy!
—would be so enamored of a woman he would risk his entire family for her.
She had to admit that she was impressed that Miss Bennet had not immediately encouraged her nephew to propose, and it showed wisdom that the young lady recognized that this life may not be the most likely to make her happy.
But she could not like that her family would be what cost Darcy his greatest desire, nor that Miss Bennet might decide against him, rather than the other way around.
She liked to consider herself a modern woman with a broad view of the world, but she was still a product of her environment, and the idea of a young country miss throwing over her nephew did not sit well.
On the other hand, she knew the Darcy family enough to know that Lord Hopewell was a snob of the first water, and his son was utterly useless.
She and Lady Hopewell had been friendly when they were younger, and they were social acquaintances often included on one another’s guest lists, but she would not have called her a friend.
No, she was too much in competition with Lady Hopewell to be her friend, though her nephew and son did not know that.
They likely only saw two women who spoke to each other with smiles and compliments and assumed they must be friends.
Lady Blackburn shook her head. Men would never understand how female friendships worked.
“I must meet this Miss Bennet for myself,” she declared.
Darcy sat up, anxiety writ on his features. “Are you certain, Aunt?”
“I am. Do you think she is available today?”
Darcy turned to his cousin, then back towards his aunt, opening and closing his mouth twice before saying, “I will ask her, my lady.”
“Very good. Find out if she can receive me at two o’clock today and we will make the call.”
“Aunt, I mean no disrespect, but I can only introduce you to Elizabeth if you are planning to be kind to her. I cannot have a repeat of last night’s performance. I simply cannot.”
“Of course, Darcy. What do you take me for?” She smiled and rose, signaling an end to their interview. “When you have your answer, send me an address and I will meet you at Miss Bennet’s uncle’s home.”
“I would be happy to escort you, Mother.”
“Very well, but you must leave with Darcy for I will attend Lady Mayberry afterward.”
Darcy and Fitzwilliam thanked her and bowed, then swiftly walked back to Darcy House.
“Well that was unusual,” said Fitzwilliam.
“I am surprised she agreed to it. Do you think it will work?”
“Do you mean will she convince Miss Bennet your entire family is not determined to chase her off?”
Darcy nodded.
“I can only hope so.”
There was a note awaiting Darcy when he stepped into his house. “Thank you, Parker. Were the flowers well received?”
“I believe so, sir. The maids were going on about how happy the ladies were.”
“Wonderful. Thank you, that will be all.”
Darcy led the way to his favorite sitting room overlooking the garden and opened his note.
Fitzwilliam,
It is sweet of you to offer to stay away while I regain my equilibrium, and likely wise as well, but I find that I am already missing you.
It is terribly ungentlemanly of you to cause such feelings in a lady and not assuage them, so I must ask you to wait on me at your earliest convenience.
I have offered to walk in the park with my cousins.
I would be happy for you to join us if you like.
Thank you for the flowers—they are lovely and smell delightful. My aunt and sister send their thanks as well. The shawl is particularly pretty. If you join me at the park today, you shall see me wearing it.
I hope to see you soon.
Yours,
Elizabeth
Darcy folded the letter and put it in his breast pocket with a smile. “Care for a walk in the park, Fitz?”
Elizabeth was hiding behind a large oak tree, one hand over her eyes as she counted aloud. The breeze caught on her shawl and raised the fringe up to tickle her skin. She raised her voice as she came to the last three numbers, then shouted, “Here I come!”
The Gardiners’ nurse sat on a nearby bench with eighteen-month-old Sarah Gardiner on her lap, but the three older children were nowhere to be seen.
The nurse gestured towards a copse of trees a few yards away and Elizabeth nodded and made her way thither.
She studied the trees, looking for the flutter of a skirt or the bright blue of her cousin’s jacket.
Seeing something behind a small tree, she picked her way to it and was nearly close enough to reach out and tag young John when she stepped on a twig and the snap echoed off the trees.
John took off like a shot, running for the oak they had deemed as home base, and Elizabeth tore after him.
He ran across the small meadow, darting around his nurse on the bench, and up the short hill toward the tree.
Elizabeth knew his destination and cut him off just before he reached the tree, grabbing his arm in her outstretched hand.
The motion made young John spin around until he smacked into Elizabeth and the two of them fell to the ground in a heap.
They panted for breath between gasping laughs, until John yelled for his brother and sister to come out of hiding, for he had been caught.
Elizabeth smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the grass along her back and the sunshine on her face.
“You certainly look comfortable.”