Chapter 2. Mr Darcy’s Family
In the afternoon William ventured to the nursery to take tea with his sister who was almost ten years to his two and twenty.
With her grown brother present, the child pretended to be hostess and Nanny Brice allowed her charge to pour the tea and serve her brother biscuits, but the woman cut and served the cake herself before leaving the siblings in the bright afternoon sunshine in the room.
“William, shall we drive into Lambton tomorrow?” asked his sister.
“Lambton?” he asked. “Have you seen a doll in Barnes Mercantile that must join your choir?”
His sister grinned, her eyes growing wide as she described the doll that had caught her eye. “She is a lovely dark-haired lady in green muslin with a smart bonnet and satin dancing slippers. She would be quite at home with my other dollies, brother.”
“I have heard good things from Nanny Brice regarding your lessons and music.” He pretended to be in deep thought for a moment as his sister waited.
“If you play or read for me tonight, then we shall make a trip to Lambton tomorrow at noon to see if the lady can be persuaded to join your family of dolls.”
Clapping her hands with glee, Georgiana’s smile reminded William of his mother at the few happy moments in their lives in the great house.
**++**
Leaving Georgiana and returning to his chambers, William found his valet unpacking his trunks.
“Shall we venture to the tailor in Lambton sir?” Harris asked.
Darcy stood at the window for a long minute, staring at the lawn clipped by sheep and the distant wood lots before answering.
“We shall not be in Derbyshire many days, Harris. My father has gifted me with an estate in Hertfordshire where I shall make my home for the next few years.”
He turned to the servant and asked, “Before I make any further plans, would you be so good as to take the measure of the servant’s gossip below stairs for me?”
“Certainly sir,” the valet replied. “Once we are resident at the new estate, I shall inquire about a local tailor. In Hertfordshire, we shall be close to London…”
“Yes, we shall be close to town, and we shall procure clothing from the appropriate tailors and shops in town.”
“Excellent, sir! You will cut a fine figure among the ton!”
“I shall spend my time on the estate Harris, not attending balls or dinners in town,” William replied. “Except when my father requires my presence at the house in London, I shall work the estate.”
“Very good sir,” Harris replied continuing with his unpacking though he would not have the trunks moved to the attics.
**++**
The next morning as William left his father’s study to take Georgiana into Lambton for their shopping expedition, he encountered George Wickham entering the front door of Pemberley. The son bowed politely to his father’s guest, but his face was stiff and cold.
“Fitzwilliam, it is pleasant to see you once more,” the visitor called, knowing the only persons who called the man ‘Fitzwilliam’ were his snobbish noble relatives.
Nodding his head, William returned the greeting, “Wickham, I hope your travels have been uneventful.”
George smirked, knowing William would abhor the parties he had attended following the end of the term when he travelled to town with other graduates.
He spent two weeks visiting different clubs on the tab of various sons with rich fathers, but all good things come to an end.
Because he was short of funds, he came to visit his sister in Lambton for a few days of free food and lodging.
During such visits, George always called on Mr Darcy who would slip him a full purse at the end of his visit.
“What duties has your father assigned to you, Darcy?” Wickham asked. “Or shall I call you ‘Master William’ again?”
“I shall manage an estate,” Darcy replied, not wanting to share more information. George pretended interest for a moment but then grinned; Darcy knew him too well to dissemble.
“And what are your plans?” Darcy asked.
“I shall follow your father’s wishes and take orders. The village of Kympton will be my parish.”
“You are not suited for a life as a clergyman, George. You know this! And I am certain Father could help you with any number of livings that would be more satisfying to your nature.”
“My patron guides my hand ‘Master William’. Make your case to him,” George said dismissing his former friend’s suggestion.
“I shall hope for the best,” William concluded as he decided to remain informed of all of George Wickham’s future ventures through his father’s secretary.
**++**
Continuing through the house, William found his sister waiting in the nursery, dressed in one of her best dresses, with a bonnet and a shawl as though she were going to London, but rather than being excited, Georgiana appeared almost subdued.
Once they were in the carriage, William pulled her onto his lap and asked, “Georgie, what is the matter? Yesterday you were so pleased at this excursion into Lambton. Has Nanny Brice scolded you this morning for some reason?”
“No brother,” the child replied. “My maid told me this morning that you will leave Pemberley again in just days.”
She looked up at her brother and her words rushed out with a few tears, “I miss you so much when you are gone. You just returned home and now you are leaving for a new home far, far away and I shall never see you again.”
Darcy embraced his sister tightly, dried her tears and assured her, “I shall see you again and very soon too. Father will establish me with an estate of my own in the south, near London. I leave in just a few days to take possession and begin to set it to rights. In a few weeks, I shall send for you, and you will come to stay with me whole of the summer and fall.”
“Yes! Oh yes, William! I should like that very much!” his sister declared.
“Shall we talk to Father tonight and make all the arrangements?”
**++**
Lambton was but a few miles from the great house and the road to the town cut through Darcy farmlands and woods.
The entire village was surrounded by Darcy lands and the folk all earned their livings from some connection to the estate in farming, timber, service, portage or livestock.
William and Georgiana were known to everyone, and they received bows from every man and boy, and curtseys from every woman and girl.
When their carriage stopped in front of Barnes Mercantile, the footman opened the door and William helped his sister to descend to the cobblestone street and offered her his arm as though she were grown and escorted her inside the shop.
Mrs Barnes, wife of the proprietor of the store, smiled as two of her favourite customers came into her husband’s establishment. The clerk went into the back room to inform Mr Barnes of their visitor while Mrs Barnes approached the future master of Pemberley and his sister.
“Good day Master William,” Mrs Barnes greeted the gentleman. She curtseyed to both and turned to the sister saying, “It is good to see you, Miss Darcy. I hope you are well.”
“I am very well, thank you,” Georgiana replied in a timid voice.
But Mrs Barnes knew the child’s shyness and her voice remained gentle as she asked, “How can I be of assistance today?”
Glancing at her brother for confirmation, Georgiana smiled. “May I see your dolls, Mrs Barnes?”
“Why certainly Miss,” the lady replied. “Step this way please.”
William watched his sister, and the woman slip around the tables and counters toward the shelf where toys were displayed.
He turned his attention to the shop; it was well supplied with cloth, leather goods, jars, pots, rugs, spices.
As a child, he had come to this shop to purchase presents for his mother and father for their birthdays and cherished his memories of those adventures.
As he surveyed the shop, he saw Mr Barnes appear from the back with the clerk in tow.
The young man, their son he imaged for he looked like his father in every detail, returned to his desk and the proprietor approached.
“Master William, we are glad to see you back at Pemberley, sir.”
“Thank you, Barnes, it is good to be home.”
“How may we assist you today?”
William glanced toward his sister and said, “I believe there is a doll that my sister must add to her collection.”
“Very good sir,” Barnes said. “And I have some very good port from Portugal. Wellington and his men have driven the French out and trade with the faraway kingdom has begun again.”
“Thank you but not today. I should like a bottle of ink, however. There are a great many letters that I must write, and I shall empty my inkwell for certain.”
“And paper sir?”
“Yes, a small weight of paper as well with a few fingers of your best sealing wax.”
“Very good sir,” Mr Barnes said as he stepped away to gather William’s requested items. The young man joined his sister at the counter where she held the new doll, a beautiful lady with dark brown hair in a green gown though her bonnet was off and in Mrs Barnes’ hand.
“Brother, she is ever so lovely! May I take her home please?”
William bent over to examine the doll, but he also grinned and said, “I am certain she will be welcomed among your choir in the nursery this afternoon.”
He turned to the shelves of toys and noticed a child’s tea set. “Georgiana, since you have so many dollies and they grow jealous, perhaps they will welcome this new friend if she comes with a gift for everyone. Shall we also purchase the tea set for her to present to the other dolls?”
“Oh yes, brother! Thank you! Now all the dollies will be glad to have their new friend.”
**++**
With their purchases wrapped in paper, and the doll sitting beside Georgiana on the carriage seat, his sister told the doll about their rooms and the other dolls that waited to meet her. William smiled indulgently as the driver turned the carriage back toward the estate.
During the ride home, his thoughts turned toward business and the matters of the estate though eventually, he remembered his short and uncomfortable conversation with Wickham.