Chapter 2
“How does your sister fare, Mrs Annesley?” asked young Georgiana Darcy, her dark blue eyes filled with deep concern as she addressed the older lady who had been part governess and part companion to her since the previous holder of the post had been dismissed in disgrace.
“Not well at all,” Mrs Annesley conceded reluctantly, her usually firm lips trembling slightly as she laid down a letter on the table in the drawing room at Darcy House. “Lucinda’s physician writes that she must be nursed around the clock if she is to recover fully from her fever.”
“Your poor sister!” Georgiana exclaimed, tears springing easily into her eyes. “She lives far away in the north, does she not?”
“Berwick-upon-Tweed,” Mrs Annesley confirmed, her voice choking slightly.
“How I wish I were closer to her right now! Our parents are long dead, and our only brother lives in Devon and has six children. He and his wife cannot go to her, and there is no one else. Lucinda cannot afford to employ a nurse.”
Usually a very solid and reliable presence in Darcy House, it was highly unusual to see such a display of emotion in Mrs Annesley. Her employer could not help but respect it, for it spoke of a strong bond with her sister and an equally keen sense of duty.
“You must go to your sister, Mrs Annesley,” Fitzwilliam Darcy therefore said, closing the book he had ostensibly been reading on the sofa at the other side of the living room, although actually attending to the ladies’ conversation as much as the printed text.
“I will recruit a temporary companion for Georgiana, and your position here will be waiting for you as soon as you can return.”
“Leave Miss Darcy?” said Mrs Annesley, beginning to shake her head at the idea. “I could not think of that, Mr Darcy. I am only so very worried for Lucinda. You must excuse my mood this afternoon. The last few days have brought one bad piece of family news after another.”
“My brother is right, Mrs Annesley,” Georgiana spoke up staunchly. “You must go and nurse your sister. We will miss you, but we will do well enough for the time you are away. If Fitzwilliam were ever ill, I should certainly want to be able to nurse him.”
“Then it is settled,” Darcy declared, getting to his feet. “I shall let the housekeeper know, and Soames will send ahead for your passage. The carriage will be ready to take you to the post when your things are packed. You need not join us for supper tonight unless you wish to, Mrs Annesley.”
“I shall have the kitchen pack some of the jam and damson wine from Pemberley for you too,” added Georgiana. “I am sure they will do your sister good.”
Presented with this determined and united front insisting upon the outcome that she herself wished, Mrs Annesley could not argue further with her employer.
“Then I can only thank you, Mr Darcy, for your kindness and understanding,” she said, folding up her letter and storing it in the pocket of her skirt.
“I shall leave as soon as matters can be arranged. Shall I write to the London agencies before I go and arrange for a suitable lady to keep Miss Darcy company?”
“I shall deal with that personally,” Darcy assured her. “All will be well here until you return.”
Expressing her gratitude once more, Mrs Annesley went to the door. After first giving her older brother an unexpected hug, Georgiana followed her companion out of the room.
Once he was alone, Darcy sighed to himself and then rang for the housekeeper.
In truth, while he was sorry for the troubles of Mrs Annesley and her sister, he was also presently glad to have some greater occupation than his own life.
Arranging Mrs Annesley’s journey and her temporary replacement should divert his attention from certain uncomfortable personal reflections.
Darcy had not really been in good humour since leaving Hertfordshire in late November, a break that he had expected to put an end to his unwilling fascination with a certain young woman of hazel eyes and quick wit.
It had not done so. Equally, distancing Charles Bingley from the eldest Bennet sister seemed so far only to have rendered his friend unhappy.
The flight to London seemed to have satisfied no one but Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst, whose views were of limited interest to Darcy.
From time to time, if only briefly, Darcy considered a return to Hertfordshire, but always caught such wishes in time to restrain them.
If he could not subdue his interest, even now, it was well that Darcy remained far from Elizabeth Bennet…
The approaching footsteps of a lady in sensible shoes thankfully quelled these thoughts. A moment later, the brisk and iron-haired housekeeper, Mrs Stark, came into the room.
“You wished to speak with me, Mr Darcy.”
“Yes, we will need your assistance, Mrs Stark,” Darcy said, turning his mind to practical matters.
“Mrs Annesley will be going to nurse her invalid sister for some weeks, perhaps months, and her packing and travel must be arranged. Please see to that and have Mr Soames organise travel to Berwick-on-Tweed.”
“Of course, Mr Darcy. Will Mrs Annesley be joining you for supper this evening, or will it only be the Bingleys and the Hursts?”
Darcy frowned, having forgotten that they were expecting company tonight.
“No, I believe Mrs Annesley wishes to be ready to leave as soon as possible. Whether she leaves tonight or tomorrow morning, do make sure she has a good meal to take on the coach north.”
“Yes, indeed, Mr Darcy. I shall go and speak to Mr Soames now and have one of the maids go upstairs to help Mrs Annesley with her packing.”
“Very good,” Darcy said with a nod and watched the door close behind Mrs Stark as her feet tapped away down the corridor again.
So, the Bingleys and the Hursts would be with them tonight.
Charles Bingley was a man whose company was never objectionable, but the rest of the party had a lamentable tendency to get on Darcy’s nerves, from Caroline Bingley’s incessant manoeuvring and hinting to Hurst’s regrettable tendency towards crude behaviour and excessive drinking.
At least Louisa Hurst was a competent piano player and could perform duets with Georgiana.
Though Darcy would be glad to give his sister some amusement, he nonetheless found himself hoping his guests would not stay too late.
∞∞∞
“What bad luck, Mr Darcy. Mrs Annesley going away like this creates so much work for you,” Caroline Bingley remarked after Darcy and Georgiana had finished explaining Mrs Annesley’s absence from supper.
“I would be very happy to keep Miss Darcy company whenever you wish, as I’m sure Louisa would be. ”
Georgiana did not greet this offer with any great enthusiasm, making Darcy wonder if Miss Bingley irritated his sister as she irritated him. She had never invited Miss Bingley to call her by her first name, but that might only be due to the age difference between them.
Thankfully, Georgiana was too well-mannered to express any negative sentiments if she felt them.
“Fitzwilliam and I are both very worried for Mrs Annesley and her sister,” she said earnestly.
“It must be hard to be far from your family when you are ill. I hope that Mrs Annesley’s journey will be a speedy one and her sister recovers quickly under her care. ”
“I quite agree,” added Charles Bingley, his own natural compassion as activated by the story as Georgiana’s had been.
“Do you remember when Miss Jane Bennet was ill at Netherfield Park, Darcy? Her sister, Miss Elizabeth, could barely stay away a day before she came to nurse her, and her presence did Miss Bennet a world of good.”
“That was only a cold, Charles,” Caroline Bingley said somewhat witheringly, casting her eyes towards Darcy in an appeal that he ignored. “Mrs Annesley’s sister has had a rheumatic fever that has affected her heart.”
“You need not bring the Bennets into everything, Charles,” Louisa Hurst added in support of her younger sister.
Bingley frowned and looked away from the table, his sisters’ words evidently stinging. A long moment of uncomfortable silence then followed.
“Of course you are worried, Miss Darcy,” Mrs Hurst broke in eventually, with somewhat overstated sympathy for Georgiana. “What gentle-hearted young lady would not be touched by such a story?”
The moving effect she likely sought with this comment was spoiled somewhat by the loud burp emitted by Mr Hurst, the only one who had remained far more focused on his food than the conversation at the table. Darcy saw Mrs Hurst wince but deliberately stop herself from looking at her husband.
“Thank you for your kind offer, Miss Bingley,” Darcy said.
“I am sure that Georgiana always welcomes your company and that of your sister. However, there should be no need for our friends to exert themselves unduly on our behalf while Mrs Annesley is away. I am visiting an agency tomorrow morning and will be recruiting a temporary companion until Mrs Annesley returns.”
“An agency?” remarked Mrs Hurst, raising her eyebrows slightly and pursing her lips as though there was something not quite right in this idea. “Are you sure that is the way to proceed, Mr Darcy?”
“Quite sure. This agency was recommended to me by Mrs Annesley herself and is run by an old acquaintance of hers. I believe they are the best in the ton for providing educated governesses and companions.”
Louisa Hurst smiled and nodded acknowledgement, her expression one of sympathy that was almost patronising.
“I only wondered if it might be better to recruit someone through personal connections rather than anything so public as an agency. It is all very well for the middle classes, but… well, if you wish, Mr Darcy, I could make enquiries among my friends and seek recommendations for a lady of suitable age and class to be Miss Darcy’s companion —”
“I would not trouble you, Mrs Hurst,” Darcy said firmly, cutting her off before she could expand on this matter. “I have very particular ideas about suitable companions for my sister.”
“Anyway, I don’t know why anyone should object to agencies, Louisa,” Charles Bingley pointed out, perhaps still rankling a little over his sisters’ earlier dismissal of his remarks. “I distinctly remember Father recruiting Caroline’s governess through an agency in Bath many years ago.”
“Charles,” Caroline admonished him, her cheeks colouring just as much as those of Louisa Hurst across the table from her. “Mr Darcy does not need to hear about the details of domestic family history.”
“Actually, I should like to hear whatever you know of recruiting governesses or companions, Bingley,” Darcy contradicted this assertion. “Although it can wait for the port, once the ladies have gone to the drawing room, since they do not wish to hear it.”
This matter now settled, the party fell silent again, except for another burp from Mr Hurst that made his wife wince even more than the last.
“Tell me, Miss Darcy, how are you getting on with Mozart’s piano duet in C major?” Louisa Hurst asked in an artificially bright and brittle voice. “We could play it together after supper, if you wish.”
“Yes, I should like that,” Georgiana said eagerly. “I have almost mastered the first part but not quite the second yet, so you had better play that, Mrs Hurst.”
The table peacefully devolved into musical discussion for the rest of the meal.