Chapter 6
For three days Elizabeth was able to walk out without encountering the objectionable Mr Darcy.
Unfortunately, on the fourth day the insufferable man was waiting for her again.
Her wish not to have to endure him when all she sought in the morning was solitude and to commune with nature had not been answered.
As she had done before, she accepted his request to walk with her and placed her hand on his forearm as lightly as was possible.
She did not have to wait long for him to speak this day.
“Are you comfortable at the parsonage?” Darcy asked. He tried his best to calm himself in Miss Elizabeth’s—no he only thought of her as Elizabeth now—company so he would not sound like a blathering fool. A Darcy could never be a fool!
“It is a cosy house. Since Sir William’s departure on Friday last, Maria—Miss Lucas—and I are no longer sharing a bedchamber which adds to our ease.” Elizabeth paused. “You were aware that Sir William Lucas, a man you met in Meryton, was in residence until Friday morning, were you not?”
“Indeed, my aunt mentioned that Mrs Collins’s father had escorted you and Miss Lucas to the parsonage and had remained for a few days,” Darcy replied. “In the future if you visit here, I think you will be a guest at the manor house.”
As she could not understand what Mr Darcy meant and had no desire to delve into the significance of it, Elizabeth ignored his last statement, and instead asked a question of her own, one meant to needle him. “Are you free to walk out again because your noble relatives have departed?”
“No, they are yet here. You will meet them on the morrow. I believe that Lady Catherine has sent an invitation to the parsonage inviting the residents to dinner on that day,” Darcy responded.
“My cousin, Andrew, Viscount Hilldale, Colonel Fitzwilliam’s older brother, is also present.
Unfortunately, my cousin, Anne de Bourgh will not be able to attend us. ”
Elizabeth knew not what to make of his response.
She had no expectation of seeing Miss de Bourgh after what she had witnessed the one and only time she had been in the woman’s company.
She did not understand how one so sickly could marry anyone, but that was not her concern.
Her thoughts returned to the new guests at the mansion.
While his noble family was in residence she had expected—no perhaps hoped—that Mr Darcy would be too busy with the family she thought too proud to notice those at the parsonage.
But now, not only was Mr Darcy out and about again, but she would meet the earl, the countess, and the viscount on the morrow.
She had to smile to herself when she imagined the paeans of praise which would flow from her cousin’s mouth when he met a Peer of the Realm, his wife, and titled son.
It would be interesting to see if they accepted the unwarranted worship of their persons as their due in the same manner Lady Catherine did.
For once, she was looking forward to dinner.
When they reached the clearing where the various paths converged, Darcy bowed and took his leave. He walked down the path which Elizabeth had assumed led to the great house. She took the path through the field of wildflowers up the hill to the folly.
The gaudy structure was an affront to nature, but it was a comfortable place to sit and contemplate things. Elizabeth wondered if Jane had read her latest letter yet.
She felt rather guilty about some of the words she had written about Colonel Fitzwilliam’s parents and brother without ever meeting them. She told herself that just because they agreed to have dinner with those from the parsonage did not necessarily mean she was wrong.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Without knowing it, and at almost the same moment that Jane’s younger sister was wondering if she had read her letter, which had only been delivered that morning, Jane was about to break the seal.
Her hand was arrested in the air, and she smiled widely as she thought about how pleasant a time she enjoyed each time Lord Hadlock called.
They spoke about so many things, and in so doing had discovered, they had quite a few interests in common.
One thing the viscount never did was hold discourse on her beauty as if that was all she was.
When she had been in Mr Bingley’s company her beauty was almost the only thing he had wanted to discuss.
Even when she had attempted to direct them to another subject, he would always return to her looks within a few moments.
It was only a few days, and the last thing Jane wanted to do was rush and force feelings like she had with Mr Bingley.
She realised there was one big difference.
Mamma was not here to push her and extol her attributes, mainly her looks, which allowed the forming relationship to take its natural course.
For years Jane had worn blinders about her family’s faults, but now that the scales had fallen from her eyes, she saw each of them for who they were.
That included Lizzy who was too quick to make judgements, take them as facts, and far too slow to revise her opinions.
She loved Lizzy dearly, but now she also knew that loving her did not mean she should be blind to her dearest sister’s foibles.
Thinking of Lizzy reminded Jane of the yet unopened letter in her hand.
She broke the seal and smoothed the paper before reading what her sister wrote.
28 March 1812
The Parsonage
Hunsford
Kent
My dearest sister, Jane,
Please pardon the delay in writing this reply to your letter. I have no excuse other than being distracted by the nature hereabouts.
You know how much I love you so please know that you do not need to be brave for me. Only you would try and absolve Mr Bingley’s sisters and his hateful friend of their part in keeping Mr Bingley, who I am convinced loves you as much as he ever did, from you.
You heard from me how dishonourable Mr Darcy is after Lieutenant Wickham told me all. Why would you doubt him incapable of engineering your heartbreak out of malice and spite? All those times he looked at me to find fault have been used to keep you apart from Mr Bingley.
“Oh, Lizzy. You call Mr Darcy proud, but you are very similar with your pride and in your prejudices. You are so determined to paint Mr Darcy a villain that you ignore what I saw. You only heard Mr Wickham’s side.
At the time, I told you that it must have been some great misunderstanding and tried to make them both good.
Now that I am seeing more clearly, the fact that Mr Wickham related all to you the day you met is suspect.
Recall that when he saw Mr Darcy he was at first frightened and Mr Darcy angry.
That insult at the assembly, while badly done by Mr Darcy, has coloured all your interactions with him.
It did not help that his words reinforced the untruths Mamma repeats about our relative beauty to each other, or the value thereof,” Jane mused aloud. Her eyes slid back to the epistle.
You will not believe how ill my luck is!
The insufferable Mr Darcy arrived at Rosings Park on the Friday after I joined Charlotte.
He is here to visit his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Mr Darcy was not alone, he was accompanied by his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, who thankfully is not anything like his proud and arrogant cousin.
The colonel speaks to us all, and even though he is the son of an earl (a second son) he never looks down on us and is a very pleasant man.
I made a point of telling Mr Darcy where I ramble so he would avoid the area, but no! He is determined to discompose me and has, until recently, waited for me each morning. He still stares at me to find fault when we are in company together.
“Lizzy, how can you be so blind! The man has a tendre for you! No man stares at a woman looking for faults, and I dare say you are wrong about his motivations for walking with you in the mornings. Thanks to Aunt Maddie, my eyes are open now. You need to open yours!” Jane shook her head at her younger sister’s obstinacy and continued to read.
On Monday past, Colonel Fitzwilliam’s parents and possibly his brother (earl, countess, and viscount) arrived at Rosings Park.
I am sure they will be as proud and dismissive as Mr Darcy, if they lower themselves to be in our company, that is.
However, I seriously doubt that will come to pass.
I am certain they are as bad as Lady Catherine and Mr Darcy.
After Mr Darcy tells them how vulgar we are and about our ties to trade, any chance of being in their company will be lost, if there was ever one in the first place.
“Your prejudices run so deep that now you are judging people you have not even met by the perceived ills of their relatives. You are better than that, Lizzy.” Jane shook her head again. She put the missive down as all that remained was Lizzy’s salutation.
Jane thought about the Carringtons. They were an old, ennobled family with the same rank as the one Lizzy mentioned.
They did not act above their company, were pleasant, welcoming, and never flaunted their rank.
She wondered what Lizzy would say when confronted with solid, irrefutable proof of her mistaken assumptions.
She had not mentioned Mr Bingley to Viscount Hadlock yet, but she would on his next call. She wanted to be open and honest with the man for whom she was slowly developing tender feelings.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Hadlock arrived at the Gardiners’ house just after two that afternoon. He had four nosegays with him. The largest one was presented to Jane, one was for the lady of the house, and the other two for Lilly and May who were smitten with the man who took the trouble to give them flowers.
To Jane, it showed how Viscount Hadlock considered others and it only raised him in her estimation.