Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Though the titillating rumours about Elizabeth and the Goulding estate had been disproved, the gossips of Meryton soon found other subjects for their discourse.
Mr Darcy had returned to Netherfield! Not four days later, two of the grandest coaches ever seen—with crests on the doors!
—trundled through the town, along with coachmen and outriders in livery.
A brightly painted, very dashing phaeton soon followed; all travelled towards Netherfield Park.
The town buzzed with conjecture. Some were certain that Mr Bingley’s sisters had joined him.
It was now general knowledge that he and Jane Bennet were indeed betrothed.
Surely there would be an extravagant wedding with wealthy guests from town!
Maybe even a lord! They might hold a ball to celebrate!
Mothers of single daughters began making over their gowns and bonnets in preparation for any possible ball or assembly that Bingley’s rich single friends might attend.
Darcy and Elizabeth spent their days together quietly.
Wishing to evade attention and ensure their privacy, they avoided the town and took long walks, accompanied by his sister or one or more of hers, or the two couples chaperoned each other.
They flew down lanes and roads in Darcy’s phaeton.
On rainy days they stayed indoors, reading together or playing games.
Through it all they talked. They spoke on important subjects, like their families and their childhoods, and small things, like their favourite colours, foods, and books.
“What were the hopes and dreams of young master Darcy?” Elizabeth asked as they sat huddled together on a bench in the small glasshouse at the rear of Longbourn’s kitchen garden. Their conversation had been interrupted by a sudden rain shower, and they had not wanted to return to the house.
“Hopes and dreams?” He seemed puzzled.
“Yes. Was there anything you dreamt of? Did you want to be a natural philosopher or an adventurer? Did you wish to travel to distant lands and make discoveries? Did you want to sail across oceans or ascend to the sky in a hot air balloon?”
“I was intended to go on the Grand Tour with some of my colleagues from Cambridge, but my father’s last illness prevented me from travelling.
” Darcy’s brow furrowed. “I cannot say I enjoyed any flights of fancy such as you mention. From my earliest childhood, as far back as I can remember, I was conscious of my future as Master of Pemberley and upholder of the Darcy name. My parents were my earliest educators, then I had a governess. I attended school and during vacations I had masters, and my father began my training in estate management. From thence, I was at Cambridge. Shortly after I completed my education there, I was required to take over the business of running Pemberley and the guardianship of my sister.”
Oh dear, Elizabeth thought. The poor man had had any childish imagination trained completely away. Sadly, he had no idea of what had been lost to him.
“What were your hopes and dreams?” Darcy asked, smirking, as if the whole idea was ridiculous.
“Up until the age of four, I was convinced that if I tried hard enough, I could fly. Our farmhands were forever fetching me down from the roof of the barn. It took a broken arm and collarbone to change my mind. Then I wanted to be a highwayman, but I received a scolding from Mr Jones when I stood in the road shouting ‘Stand and deliver!’ while he was hurrying to treat Mr Long’s gout.
Then I wanted to be a pirate but only succeeded in swamping my father’s little fishing boat in the pond.
Once I gained the habit of reading, I wished to find the secret entrance to fairyland and spent hours in the woods searching, dragging my poor sisters with me.
As I grew up, I wanted to be a witch, a good witch mind you, and finally, a librarian. ”
Darcy regarded her open-mouthed. “What have I got myself into?” he muttered under his breath. “You had no governess? You roamed and played freely all day? My mother would have been unhappy with me if I had even suggested such freedoms. She would have seen it as a failure of my duty to my heritage.”
“As I told your aunt, such of us as wished to learn never wanted the means.
We were encouraged to read and had the masters that were necessary.
Those who chose to be idle, meaning especially Lydia, certainly were.
I spent perhaps the most time with our father, and he directed my reading and answered my many questions.
Jane is a great reader. Our mother fretted over that.
She did not want Jane to become an unmarriageable bluestocking.
“I have renewed hope for my younger sisters. Spending time with Georgiana and Mrs Annesley has made quite an impression on Mary and Kitty. They are now more often pestering our father for books and masters.”
Darcy was thoughtful. “Perhaps there is a middle way, combining schoolroom instruction, including masters, and some freedom to spend more time outdoors learning and playing with other children.”
Elizabeth was pleased to hear his thoughts. Though she knew the Bennets’ educations had been neglectful and haphazard, her heart broke for the lonely little boy who had been forced to adhere to such strictures.
Darcy made a point of furthering his acquaintance with Mr and Mrs Bennet.
Once Mrs Bennet understood that he had not come to take Mr Bingley away, she found him tolerable and was able to treat him with courtesy.
She took a great interest in Georgiana, a motherless girl, and immediately fussed over her, doing her best to spoil her.
Georgiana, at first overcome by the onslaught, was encouraged by Elizabeth’s sisters to relax and enjoy it.
Unused to the noise, Darcy sometimes made himself comfortable in Mr Bennet’s library, bent over a chess board or cribbage board, often just reading in companionable silence.
The first of many dinner invitations to the inmates of Netherfield was issued by Mrs Bennet, at Jane’s behest. While Darcy had assured Georgiana that she was not expected to act as hostess during her stay, Mrs Annesley gently suggested that she invite the ladies of Longbourn to tea. It was a great success.
“It was unlike any other tea I have been to, Brother. Kitty told a story about a lady they had to tea earlier this summer, who wanted more sugar and reached all the way across the table to get it herself!” She laughed heartily.
“They are well-mannered, but they talk so much! They say the most amusing things. Even Mrs Bennet told us how she and her sister sneaked into the kitchen when they were little and ate the entire bowl of frosting that was supposed to go on the tea cakes! Their cook was very upset, and their mother made them do chores in the kitchen for a week! Mrs Annesley says I might have them to tea more often.”
“Your mother has changed. She is more…composed,” Darcy remarked one bright morning as they strolled in Longbourn’s garden.
Elizabeth chuckled. “I would perhaps not use the word ‘composed’. She will always be excitable. The difference is that she is no longer terrified.”
“Terrified?”
“Of the entail. The entail is of course still in effect, but now we have a house to live in should my father die and Mr Collins turn us out, which he undoubtedly will. That prospect was ever on her mind; she was in a state of continuous anxiety. My mother is still herself, fluttery and nervous, but I would say she is happy. Her smelling salts are much less in evidence of late.”
“Miss Bennet’s betrothal has no doubt calmed her nerves,” he said drily.
Elizabeth gave him a gimlet eye. “Oh, it has, but more so because Jane is so happy and Mama genuinely likes Mr Bingley. My mother’s mercenary impulses were always more concerned with keeping her daughters fed and sheltered.”
Darcy was silent as he seemed to consider her words. “I had not understood the situation to be so desperate.”
“Mama felt a sense of desperation, even though our uncles always assured her that they would not see us go hungry or homeless. Jane and Mary and I did not consider it so hopeless, but decided long ago that should the worst happen, we three would go into service to help support her and our younger sisters. We are not afraid of work, though the lowering of our station in life might have stung a little.”
Darcy stopped short and turned her to face him, his hands on her shoulders. “Never. I would never have let that happen,” he said urgently.
“How would you even have known?” She shrugged. “It happens to ladies of gentle birth every day. It is commonplace. We were simply being realistic. All is well now.”
They walked on, her hand tucked into his elbow, but Darcy drew her closer to his side as if to protect her.
“Where is this house of yours?” he asked after a while.
“Mr Goulding left me the dower house at Haye-Park. It is located near the rear entrance to the park, so it was not difficult to separate the house and its surrounds from the rest of the estate. I have not yet taken the time to tour it.”