Chapter 29 Life At Pemberley
Darcy stood at the bottom of the old oak, looking up. Elizabeth and Georgiana stood above him, gazing down from the little tree house.
“Would you ladies like to join us for luncheon?” he called. “Georgiana, Mary says she needs your help with a difficult passage in her music. I tried to assist with the fingering, but she is still struggling.”
His sister hopped down from the lowest step and said, “Fitzwilliam, I will join you at luncheon when I have finished with Mary.” Then she ran off.
He offered his hand to Elizabeth, helping her down. “So tell me, why did Georgiana drag you up to her tree house?”
Elizabeth took his offered arm. “She knows I have spent years reading in my favorite oak tree, and she wished to share hers with me. I love the little bench, Fitzwilliam. If you ever lose sight of me, you may find me there, reading.”
His brows rose. “The library does not provide sufficient attraction to tempt you?”
Amusement sparkled in her eyes. “In the mornings, when I most enjoy reading, the servants are busy dusting and sweeping. I do not wish to be in their way, for they are not permitted to keep to their accustomed schedule if I enter the room. Georgiana found me sitting under a yew tree with my book and brought me here. She has given me permission to use her tree house whenever I wish.”
A smile flickered across his mouth. “It pleases me that my sister is willing to share. She has never invited me into her little nest.”
Elizabeth laughed again. “You are far too large for that house, sir. There would be no room left for her to move.”
He chuckled. “Very well, you win. Come, let us eat. Are you hungry?”
“I am,” she admitted. “I am going to gain weight living here at Pemberley. At home, I often missed breakfast. I would take a boiled egg and a scone with me to Oakham Mount and enjoy the sunrise.”
“Ah, was that how you kept out from under your mother’s feet?”
“Yes. I spent the early hours reading in the old oak. Then at ten, Papa and I studied together. We had a schedule.”
He turned his head toward her. “Truly? What did you study?”
“Everything. We discussed the passages in the poem I found difficult, and at other times we reviewed the ledgers, the newspapers, the Bible prophecies, or such scientific articles as he discovered for me.”
“Really? What of the ledgers?”
“We tracked improvements or failings in our farming strategies. We usually followed those recommended in the Annals of Agriculture. I remember when we abandoned the three-field system and adopted the four-course method. Our neighbors thought Papa had gone mad, but when they saw our yields, they stopped ridiculing what they did not understand and followed suit. Once they realized the value of adding fodder and grazing crops, they came to him asking to be taught more.”
She looked out toward the hills. “That is the drawback of living in a small, uneducated corner of the countryside. We get left behind. My father was the key to innovation in our little corner of Hertfordshire. These days, agricultural practices tend to occupy more time at our local dance assemblies than dancing or flirtations.”
Darcy had been watching her closely. “Elizabeth, I am concerned you may find Pemberley dull by comparison. I have two stewards who assist me, and unless you join us at our weekly meetings, you will have little to occupy your mind. I only hope you do not come to feel shut away from the world. Pemberley can be a lonely place.”
She walked silently for several minutes before she replied. “You have many tenants here, sir, far more than at Longbourn. I can visit them and serve in that way. Does Pemberley have a working stillroom?”
“It does. A servant is trained to oversee it.”
“Do you provide tinctures and extracts to the apothecary or to the physician to assist with the needs of the indigent?”
His brows rose. “No, but we could begin.”
“Then I shall have no cause to repine,” she said lightly. “I believe I can keep myself quite busy.”
As they neared the house, she asked, “Do any women of my age and station reside in the neighborhood, sir? I shall be in need of friends when my sisters return to Longbourn.”
A smile played about his lips, and her gaze lingered there.
His lower lip was full and shapely, with a small crease midway that drew her eye.
A thrill of pleasure coursed down her spine.
He looked, she thought, like one of the Greek gods she had so often read about.
And he had kissed her; those lips had pressed upon her own. His voice drew her back to the present.
“I hope your sister will marry Bingley, and that they purchase an estate near us. You may write to my solicitor, on my behalf, and have him look for suitable estates within twenty miles of Pemberley.”
Elizabeth grinned. “I will, sir.”
He said, “I will bring my solicitor’s written direction when we sit down to read together.
We should have a short list of estates by the time Charles advances in his courtship.
I must caution you, my dear. At times, he is slow to act.
When faced with important decisions, he struggles to resolve them, wavering back and forth until I am nearly driven to distraction and sorely tempted to decide the matter for him.
He has been that way since I first met him at Cambridge.
It is part of his nature, so we must be patient with him. ”
“Or,” she said teasingly, “we might help him along.”
He gave her a sidelong look. “Perhaps.”
She asked again, “Are there any women of my age in the neighborhood?”
He considered. “Miss Isabella Lewis. Her father has passed, and her brother has inherited. Their estate is smaller than Pemberley, but respectable. She is a little older than you, but I believe you would like her.”
“Is her brother married? Is he amiable?”
Darcy grimaced. “Lewis is…” He cleared his throat. “A man of strong opinions. We were rivals at Cambridge, but he is respectable enough.”
“Could we invite them? If Jane and Mr. Bingley do marry and come north, she too would be glad of a friend. We could both get to know Miss Lewis if she visited.”
He hesitated, then said, “I do not much like Lewis, but perhaps he has improved. I have not seen him in years. I will provide you with his direction, and you may send the invitation. After all, there will be other gentlemen here, so I need not spend much time in his company.”
Elizabeth placed her hand on his wrist in gratitude. “Thank you, sir. I look forward to having a house full of guests.”
Darcy remained perfectly still, lest he startle her like the little birds in the field. He looked down at her hand resting lightly against his bare wrist. It was the first time she had touched him of her own accord. Little by little, he thought, he was winning her trust, and, he hoped, her regard.
That afternoon, Elizabeth tapped on her husband’s study door.
“Come in,” he called.
She entered, finding Richard there as well. He stood. “Colonel, you need not leave. I only need a moment of Mr. Darcy’s time.”
She turned to her husband. “Sir, you said you would give me my pin money when we arrived. I would like to order the carriage and travel to Kimpton. I have very few suitable gowns, and now that I will have a guest at Pemberley, I must prepare. The hems of Georgiana’s evening gowns have already been let down.
She will soon be showing her ankles, so she will need new gowns as well. ”
Darcy rose, unlocked a cabinet, and drew out a metal box.
He counted out several pounds and handed them to her.
“I have accounts at most of the shops, including the haberdasher’s and with the modiste.
Charge your purchases and those of my sister to my account, and my steward will settle them on accounting day. ”
Elizabeth blushed faintly. “Sir, may I spend this money as I wish?”
“Yes,” he said, meeting her gaze. “It is yours, Elizabeth.”
“Then I shall buy some gowns for my sisters, sir, if you approve.”
“As I said,” he replied evenly, “your pin money is yours. Spend it as you like.”
“Thank you, sir.” She curtsied to the two men and departed in high spirits, eager to find her sisters and tell them of the shopping trip.
Darcy looked at his cousin. “She never fails to surprise me. Have you ever seen a woman offer to purchase new gowns for her beautiful, rival sister?”
Richard grinned. “Never. You have married one of a kind Darcy.”