Chapter 49
La Casa
“Look at this, Lizzy. We meant to hurry back to town for my business, but it appears we have an extra week. What say you to visiting Lambton? It would only add a day or two.”
Elizabeth gave hardly any thought to her answer. “Aunt would certainly like to visit old friends, I would surmise, and I am not averse to a visit myself. I call it a good plan, or, as Sir William would say, ‘Capital! Capital!’”
Mrs Gardiner concurred. “I remember Lambton fondly, and it would be nice to visit old friends. I favour the scheme, if you think Kitty and Lydia will not object to keeping the children another week.”
“In the first place, Kitty and Lydia are enjoying their time with the little ones, particularly as it gives them a respite from Mrs Jenkinson’s training regimen.
And even if Kitty, Lydia, and Anne were willing to let them out of their sight for long, the only difficulty on our return might be prising them from Mrs Hill.
She misses having young ones underfoot.”
“I imagine we are bound for Lambton, then. Do you suppose we should visit Pemberley? It is but 5 miles away.”
Both adults studied their niece.
Elizabeth laughed. “Of course, and you should stop looking at me as if I might swoon, though I am told it makes for good effect and abundant sympathy. We know Mr Darcy well enough that it would be impolite to be so close and not call if the family is at home. If they are not, he will not begrudge us a tour, as he certainly had no qualms about visiting Longbourn when I was absent.”
To her relatives, this seemed less Shakespeare’s the lady doth protest too much, and rather more like the lady doth appear more eager than expected. They appeared happy to see her ease, as they both dearly wished to see the house.
With a collection of random thoughts and deep musings, they departed for Lambton; though, to be fair, Mr Gardiner lay back and fell asleep, so his thoughts were unlikely to be all that profound.
~~~
The report from the inn said the family was not in residence but expected soon. They would miss them by a few days, which Elizabeth bore philosophically. She would meet him in October, and that was soon enough.
Pemberley was everything she thought it might be and more.
She deliberately did not try to distinguish whether she had thought or hoped it so.
She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by awkward taste.
They were all warm in their admiration, and it was exactly as she might have expected from Mr Darcy.
Some parts of the grounds were as cultivated as Rosings, but most remained much closer to nature’s intention.
His gardeners and groundsmen exerted a guiding hand rather than a bludgeon.
She very much approved of the entire enterprise.
Once inside, she found even more to delight the senses.
Much like Darcy House in London, every room was delicately and tastefully arranged, a testament to the most recent Mrs Darcy.
Every window looked out on a good prospect, a testament to skill and planning by more ancient ancestors, and good sense in their descendants not to fix what was not broken.
Mrs Reynolds was in all ways a delight. Not wishing to presume on the acquaintance, Mr Gardiner gave her his card, said he knew Mr Darcy slightly, and asked the housekeeper to pass his regards to the master.
Elizabeth did not give her name, since up to that point, every single person who knew both her and the master seemed aware that something had occurred between them.
It was possible Mrs Reynolds had never heard her name even once; but equally likely she could expound at length on the best ways to manage mirrors and statues, both within her province as housekeeper.
Elizabeth was wool-gathering and missed the beginning of what her uncle said, but considering his penchant for mischief, that was probably for the best.
She caught the housekeeper’s reply. “I say no more than the truth, and everybody will say that knows him. I have never known a cross word from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was 4 years old.”
Mrs Reynolds was obviously the perfect example of a smart and capable woman, so Elizabeth did not doubt her word. However, she could not quite resist the temptation to tease a little.
“Mrs Reynolds, I realise you have never heard a cross word from the master, but is it possible that others might have?”
“He is the best landlord, and the best master,” said she, “that ever lived; not like the wild young men nowadays, who think of nothing but themselves. There is not one of his tenants or servants but will give him a good name. Some people call him proud, but I am sure I never saw anything of it. To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle away like other young men.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I must believe you. He sounds like the best of men.”
“I can assure you he is.” Mrs Reynolds looked pensive. “Of course, certain company might make him nervous. He would never be ungentlemanly, or any more so than any other fox chased by hounds, but other than that—”
She trailed off, uncertain why she had said that last.
Elizabeth was contrite. “Do not be uneasy. Any gentleman who relished being in that position could not be rational, and I for one, could never esteem a man who was not sensible.”
Both nodded, out of sorts at how far the conversation had veered from the usual—or at least the usual for anyone but Elizabeth.
“Do you know the master?” Mrs Reynolds asked. “I do not believe I have your name.”
“A little. He visited his friend near my father’s estate last autumn, and I saw him again at Easter in Kent.”
That gained the housekeeper’s full attention. For a few moments they regarded each other warily.
“You must be Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”
Elizabeth curtseyed. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I am curious how you know my name.”
Mrs Reynolds glanced at the Gardiners to ensure they were out of hearing. The other servants did not trouble her. “I do know of you. Very few ladies gain the esteem and admiration of both the master and his sister, as you have. Did you know they return in a few days?”
“I heard that in the village. I hoped our visits might coincide, but alas, our plans changed at the last moment, so I could not have my uncle write. We will only be in Lambton a few days.”
“I hope you get a chance to meet. The master knows the value of a young lady’s reputation, so he would never speak out of turn, but—let us just say that he would be very happy to see you, and Miss Darcy even more so.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I would be happy with that as well. We will both attend an assembly in October, so I will see him in good time.”
They walked together for some time, talking of the house and the neighbourhood while her aunt and uncle trailed suspiciously slowly behind. No doubt they inspected parts of the house not included in the tour, but at least no one showed them the family wing.
At long last, Mrs Reynolds said, “Mr Gardiner, Mrs Gardiner, Miss Bennet, it has been a pleasure. Might you send a note when you leave Lambton, so I may let the master know, should he miss you?”
Mr Gardiner bowed. “It would be our pleasure. The house has been a delight, as has its housekeeper.”
They parted in the entrance hall, where Mrs Reynolds gave them into the head gardener’s care for a tour.
Based on the length of time the housekeeper and the gardener kept their heads together, Elizabeth suspected they were unlikely to receive the same route as other tourists.
She was prepared for anything—up to and including having the gardener lock her in a shed until the master came home; though she rated the chances of that happening at <25%.
~~~
As they descended the front steps, which Elizabeth sheepishly admitted she liked very much, a carriage rattled into the drive.
Her ears pricked up like a dog’s and her aunt asked, “Is that Mr Darcy’s carriage?”
She smiled brightly towards the drive, but her face fell. “No. Perhaps he uses a hired carriage?”
“More likely he walked here in bare feet, I should think,” her uncle replied, a sentiment she sadly could not dispute.
“We shall learn soon enough.”
They waited patiently at the foot of the stairs, as it would not have been safe to cross the drive. A minute later the coach stopped, and Elizabeth smiled from ear to ear and moved towards it with barely restrained alacrity.
As the coachman secured the reins and a footman came forward with the step, she dispensed with the usual courtesies. “Mr Newton! Mr Kepler! How wonderful it is to see you again!”
Elizabeth’s favourite coachman in the world answered with his own smile. “Ah, Miss Bennet! I cannot express the rate at which my happiness has increased over the last half-minute without using a logarithmic scale!”
Elizabeth laughed gaily. “Mine as well, my good man. Kep, were you that handsome when we met?”
The younger man looked abashed. “You were slightly busy at the time, Miss Bennet, not to mention the… ah… impediments to your vision.”
Elizabeth laughed as the very person she expected emerged. The new arrivals made for a significant delta in the measure of her pleasure, but unfortunately, it ran in the opposite direction from Mr Newton’s.
Common politeness demanded she say the disagreeable name for the first time in months, so she curtseyed with less than her customary grace. “Mr Bingley, good day.”
That was all she could manage, though her indifference to the man was so complete she would have difficulty expressing it mathematically.
Plainly unaware of her thoughts, he smiled in his usual affable, over-eager manner, and bowed. “Miss Elizabeth, what a surprise! I cannot tell you how wonderful it is to see you.”