Chapter Five #6
Elizabeth’s eyes were immediately drawn to the centre of the room.
Directly under the largest chandelier, a half-dozen blankets were arrayed on the floor.
Two were nearly covered with food laid out on silver trays—biscuits, meat pies, strawberries with cream, cakes, sandwiches, candies and more.
The other blankets had pillows grouped on their corners.
It was a delightful and picturesque display.
It was all arranged under a large archway adorned with ribbons and flowers—in every shade of pink and purple.
“How lovely!” Mrs. Gardiner exclaimed. “And games, too!”
After taking in all the food and drink displayed on the blankets, Elizabeth noticed that on the far side of the room, there was a colourful set of bowling pins set up at the end of a thick carpet.
Two black balls sat at the other end. There was a table with cards and another with what appeared to be various accoutrements that could be combined to play any number of table games.
“We were not quite able to accommodate all the outdoor games, but we did our best,” Mr. Darcy said.
“I would say your best is quite good,” Mr. Gardiner said, turning to take in the entirety of the space.
“Yes, it is,” Georgiana agreed. “Father, how did you do all this without my noticing?”
“I had a great deal of help with all of this, of course,” he declared, clearly enjoying the surprise and delight of all his guests and, most especially, the birthday girls. “Miss Baxter was crucial when it came to distracting Miss Darcy.”
“I now understand your sudden passion for complex embroidery.”
“Indeed, but in the end, the project, though initially intended as a distraction, is turning out quite well. Your aunt will love it.”
“And it must be noted the idea to persist with a picnic despite moving indoors” came from Fitzwilliam.
At this acknowledgement, the gentleman in question looked almost shy as he explained, “I knew how much both Georgiana and Miss Elizabeth enjoyed the event last year and thought it possible to replicate, given a large enough space.”
“It appears you were quite right,” Elizabeth said. “I would never have thought of it, but it is perfect, really perfect.” She held his gaze for as long as she dared, wanting to convey her appreciation, but fearful of showing too much, she looked away after a moment.
“Let’s serve ourselves some of this delicious fare, and then we can begin the games,” Mr. Darcy said, moving towards the food-covered blankets.
Miss Baxter moved in between Georgiana and Elizabeth, taking their arms. Mary walked alongside Elizabeth. “Mr. Darcy insisted we have rewards for the winners this year. Wait until you see.”
“Prizes!” Georgiana’s excitement was shared by the entire party.
“He is so certain of his victory, I think the family jewels may be among the prizes,” Darcy said.
Everyone laughed at this and teased Mr. Darcy as they took seats amid the blankets and pillows and began to fill plates and cups. Mr. Barlow and Mr. Darcy sat at a small table set up next to the blankets.
They spent nearly an hour sampling the sumptuous fare Pemberley’s kitchens had prepared. It included Elizabeth’s favourite treat, chocolate mousse, as well as Georgiana’s—lemon squares.
“I still do not understand how you can prefer something lemon-flavoured over chocolate,” Elizabeth said as Georgiana popped another bite of the aforementioned treat into her mouth.
“They are delicious,” she answered, mouth full.
One admonishing look from Miss Baxter had the young girl offering an apology, though she still had not quite finished chewing. Lizzy and Mary laughed, and Miss Baxter simply shook her head.
“I must agree with Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said. He held a nearly empty bowl of mousse, which had been his second.
“I would appreciate your concurrence more if it did not mean less chocolate for me,” Elizabeth told him.
Darcy responded by plucking the last mousse from the tray beside him.
Elizabeth knew she should look indignant and argue to be allowed the final treat as it was her birthday, but she could do nothing but stare at the look of mischief he gave her as he raised the spoon towards his mouth.
At the last moment, he placed it back down.
“You must, of course, have the last one.” He bowed his head slightly and held it out to her.
When he raised his eyes, they were bright with mischief, so Lizzy did not chide herself for her inability to respond and instead congratulated herself when she saw her hand reach up to take the offered bowl.
It was even steady until her fingers closed around it and encountered his.
Both had removed their gloves to eat, so as their fingertips overlapped, she felt as if all the heat in the room was concentrated on the places they met.
She could do nothing but stare at their fingers, certain she would soon see evidence of the fire that seemed to be ignited in those points of contact.
Though it seemed an eternity later when she considered it, Elizabeth was sure Darcy pulled his hand back almost immediately.
He looked at her in concern for a moment before standing. “Once Miss Lizzy has consumed all of the chocolate on the premises, shall we move on to the games?”
The others declared their readiness and finished their various plates. The servants, who had entered several minutes earlier, came forwards to begin clearing the dishes as everyone stood and made their way to the end of the room where the games awaited.
An hour later, it was Lizzy and Darcy who had most often claimed victory.
Darcy won blindman’s buff. Though generally a children’s game, the adults threw themselves into it with gusto. Elizabeth beat them all at conkers. Only Mr. Darcy came close to knocking out as many of the others as she.
Mr. Barlow and Mrs. Gardiner won their respective tables at whist, but Elizabeth won at Hazard quite handily.
Darcy tied up the winning tally with her in the unique version of charades Miss Baxter had created for them.
Though he was a hopeless actor, he made up for it by being far and away the best guesser.
And so it was that as they began their final game—Skittles—everyone was eager to see if Darcy or Elizabeth would best them all and claim the prize.
By the time they had played through two elimination rounds, Mary, Elizabeth, Darcy and Georgiana were the ones left competing.
With Miss Baxter in charge of resetting the pins and Mr. Darcy keeping score, the foursome competed over a final round.
“Well done, Miss Darcy,” Mrs. Gardiner declared, clapping her hands in her enthusiasm.
Five pins were down with four remaining.
Unfortunately for Georgiana, on her second roll, she only added one more pin to her count.
Mary knocked down seven between her two rolls.
When Darcy stepped up for his turn, the entire party seemed intent on distracting him.
“Are you sure you want to stand that way?” asked his father, and Mr. Barlow agreed, “He does look rather unsteady. He’s also too far to the left.”
“No, he is too far to the right for sure,” Mr. Gardiner disagreed.
Darcy ignored them all and moved to roll the ball. Mr. Darcy coughed loudly as he did so. The ball didn’t even make it to the end of the carpet, instead rolling off midway onto the floor and then hitting the wall. The second ball was better—no distractions presented themselves—and six pins fell.
Everyone laughed and Georgiana declared, “At least I have company in last place.”
Although Darcy did not look put out and laughed with the rest, Elizabeth spoke up.
“He should be permitted another turn.”
“If he cannot concentrate amid some distraction, he does not deserve the win,” Mr. Darcy said. He was smiling at his son, who looked back at him, shaking his head and seemingly trying to contain a laugh.
“But sir, is it fair for him to have to contend with distractions other players are not subject to?” Elizabeth insisted.
“A fair point,” Mr. Darcy conceded. “Shall you be content if I time my next commotion during your turn?”
“I suppose,” she said, quite seriously, even though the others, including Darcy, seemed to find only humour in the situation. “It is not exactly the same as I will know it is coming, but it seems the best we can do.”
“Lizzy is always very concerned with fair play,” her uncle offered.
“Indeed, the first time she beat me at chess, she refused to check me,” Mr. Barlow added. “I had nodded off several times during the match, and she concluded our facilities were not equally prepared, so we had to wait until the following night for her to claim her victory.”
“Well then, on with it, Lizzy,” Mr. Gardiner urged. “Darcy and Miss Darcy have six and Mary seven.”
The pins were reset. It seemed that in an effort to ensure Elizabeth’s distraction be equal to Darcy’s, every member of the party excepting that gentleman had a sudden convulsion of some sort—there were coughs, sneezes and stomps.
Still, Elizabeth was able to knock down four pins with her first bowl and three with her second, meaning she and Mary would bowl the final round against one another.
The sisters waited while Miss Baxter reset the pins.
Mary knocked down eight. Mrs. Gardiner congratulated her, and Georgiana cheered her efforts loudly.
The others clapped and predicted her victory.
Mary thanked them but appeared mostly unconcerned by any of it.
Elizabeth knew better. She could tell by the way her sister shyly tilted her head and pressed her lips together that she was pleased to be the subject of praise and attention.