Chapter 8
As if on cue, the housekeeper entered, followed by two footmen carrying trays of pink ices served in goblets from Darcy’s house. Mercifully, the ices were still intact, with no signs of melting.
“What is this?” said Mrs. Gardiner, in surprise.
“Strawberry ices,” said Mr. Darcy, in a loud voice.
Margaret jumped up. “Strawberry ices!!! Oh, you remembered, Mr. Darcy! I thought you had forgotten. Lizzy said—”
“Never mind what Lizzy said,” interrupted Mr. Gardiner. “You had better thank Mr. Darcy and eat your ice before it melts, which would be a pity, since Mr. Darcy has brought it all the way.”
Darcy cast a glance towards Miss Bennet.
She was regarding him with an expression of pleasant surprise.
Their gazes met. She sent him a conspiring look, and his lips moved up of their own volition in a mixture of laughter and relief.
The young lady he had met was still there.
He had not imagined her. She had not disappeared.
“Well, Mr. Darcy, I see you were paying attention to Maggie’s preferences after all,” she said, in a playful tone.
Her aunt and uncle looked puzzled.
“When we were trying to help Maggie in the water,” said Elizabeth, by way of explanation, “she was afraid of the eels. Mr. Darcy promised Maggie her favorite ices if she stayed still.”
“It was your idea, Miss Bennet,” said Mr. Darcy, his lips curling upwards. “I cannot claim all the credit.”
“Mr. Darcy,” exclaimed Mr. Gardiner. “You have already done so much for Maggie. You should not have gone to so much extra trouble.”
“It was no trouble at all.”
Just then, the boys came up and asked for their portion of the ices, and the Gardiners were distracted as they tried to make sure they did not drop anything on the floor.
“There was really no need for you to bring ices, Mr. Darcy,” said Elizabeth softly, a smile on her lips. “We offered it as an incentive to bring her out of the water. But as you are very aware, there are no ices at Gunter's this time of the year, so we could not have fulfilled that promise to her.”
“I believe we as adults should set a good example to children, Miss Bennet,” he said gravely.
“If we wish to raise them as honorable human beings, we cannot lie to them and have them learn that lying and falsehoods are acceptable.” He grinned.
“And there may not be ices at Gunter's, but there are ices right here, and that is all that matters.”
The delight on Miss Bennet’s face was its own reward. Georgiana was right. He had done the right thing.
They had just finished the ices, when the door opened again and the rocking horse was brought in.
“I promised I would give you a rocking horse,” said Darcy, as Maggie gasped in disbelief. “As you see, I have kept my promise.”
Maggie squealed, ran over, and tried to climb up, but it was too high for her.
Mrs. Gardiner came to her aid, setting her on the back of the horse and showing her what to do.
Maggie began to rock it back and forth, her face alight.
Darcy felt his heart expand. He was glad he had come to witness the effect of his gift on Elizabeth’s cousin.
Darcy turned towards Elizabeth.
“I hope she will be able to make good use of it. It has been passed down from one generation to another in our family. The paint has come off in parts, but it is still fully functional.”
“Is that gold leaf paint on the corners of the saddle?”
“I suppose so,” said Darcy dismissively.
“Are you certain you wish to give it to Margaret as a gift and not as a loan?”
“Absolutely.”
Mrs. Gardiner ruffled Margaret’s hair.
“It is too bad you had to fall into a freezing pond to receive such a gift! But you must not make a habit of it.”
It was only now that it occurred to him that Margaret might think of the horse as a reward for falling in the lake.
Making sure Margaret was too distracted to pay attention to what he was saying, he hastened to explain himself.
“I am sorry,” he said, addressing the adults in the room, genuinely chagrined. He should have framed this differently to the little girl. “I did not intend to make it sound like the toy was a reward.”
“Of course you did not,” said Mrs. Gardiner, tut-tutting. “You have given her a wonderful gift.”
“It is a very generous one,” said Elizabeth. “I only hope she realizes how precious it is.” She turned to her aunt. “Mr. Darcy told me it has been passed down for generations.”
“Goodness,” said Mrs. Gardiner, looking a bit pale. “What if she breaks it? Surely you do not wish her to keep such an heirloom? You must want it back.”
Mrs. Gardiner was looking nervous. Darcy wished he had not said anything about it to Miss Bennet. He did not want Mrs. Gardiner to prevent Margaret from playing on it.
“I do not need it. I have no children yet, and when I do, I would rather give them something new with better springs,” he said, with a laugh.
“Besides, I have given it to Margaret. I hope it does not break, for her sake, but if it does, the reason will be because it is very old and has seen good use.”
Darcy had expected Mr. Gardiner to fawn over him, but to his surprise, he showed no inclination to do so. He sat back instead and observed. Darcy had the feeling he was being judged. Well, Mr. Gardiner could hardly find fault with his behavior.
Darcy checked his thoughts, surprised at their direction.
He had told Georgiana they had no intention of pursuing the acquaintance any further.
And yet here he was, hoping to win Mr. Gardiner’s good opinion!
How perfectly ridiculous! Mr. Gardiner was not even Miss Bennet’s father.
Though Darcy had to admit he was more impressed with Mr. Gardiner than he had expected to be.
He seemed to be a fashionable and cultured gentleman.
Mrs. Gardiner, as well. There was no hint of trade in their manners, and their home was tasteful and well-decorated in the Neo-Classical style.
There was wealth here without any signs of vulgarity.
His curiosity was aroused. Why was Miss Bennet living with her uncle? Was she an orphan? If that was the case, she and Georgiana had something important in common.
He looked in Georgiana’s direction. She seemed to be happy here. She was watching the children playing, and talking to Mrs. Gardiner, who had kindly taken her under her wing and was doing her best to put her at ease.
His gaze returned to Miss Bennet. Like her uncle, she was making no effort to draw his attention.
She was quietly working on an item of embroidery.
He examined it more closely. It was a new piece, with barely half a dozen stitches.
He could have sworn she was working on something more advanced when he had entered.
He shrugged mentally. He must have mistaken the matter.
Still, it gave him an opening to talk.
“Do you enjoy embroidery, Miss Bennet?”
She gave a little snort. “I was afraid you would ask me that question, Mr. Darcy. I would dearly like to declare that I am accomplished in every type of needlework, but sadly, I am not. Despise me as you will.”
He smiled. “I cannot despise you, Miss Bennet, when you have been so candid. I admire your honesty.”
She laughed. “Faint praise, indeed, when you have nothing better to admire than my honesty! Particularly when you know very well that I am capable of falsehood.”
“Those were mitigating circumstances,” he replied. “I will not hold you accountable when you were working under duress.”
“You are determined to come to my defence, I see.”
He thought of how it felt to carry her to the bank and he was annoyed with himself. Why must this memory constantly intrude on his thoughts?
“I hope as a gentleman I will always come to the defence of a young lady,” he replied. “However, I sense that you do not need it very often, and I certainly hope you will never need it in the future.”
“So do I.”
He could tell she was thinking of that moment in the lake as well. Their gazes met and she looked away hastily, her cheeks stained in pink.
They fell into another awkward silence. He should not have brought up the scene in the lake. He strove valiantly to change the direction of the conversation. He wanted to satisfy his curiosity about her parents, in any case, though he needed to be tactful in the way he asked it.
“Miss Bennet, have you always resided in town?” There, that was a very good way to phrase it.
“Not at all, sir,” she replied. “My uncle was so good as to invite me to stay here over the winter months, and I was very happy to accept. I love spending time with my cousins, and I am very fond of my aunt and uncle.”
She was probably from somewhere in the north, like Bingley. Judging by her manner of speech, her father, like her uncle, was well educated.
“And is your father a solicitor?” It was a clumsy guess, but it was better than asking outright if he was in trade.
Elizabeth blinked. “Papa? Oh no, sir. My father is a gentleman.”
Darcy stared. Whatever he had expected, it was not this.
“A gentleman?” he said, faintly.
“From a very old family,” added Mr. Gardiner, joining in the conversation unexpectedly. “The Bennets have been at Longbourn for generations.”
“Longbourn?” he echoed.
“It is an estate in Hertfordshire,” said Elizabeth.
“Hertfordshire,” he repeated, rather stupidly. It seemed all he was capable of at the moment. His mind was struggling to absorb this extraordinary piece of information.
She was a gentleman’s daughter. Her father was in possession of an estate. In his prejudice, he had assumed she was too far beneath his social position to merit consideration. How could he have leapt to so many wrong conclusions in such a short period of time?
All because he had not wanted to seek an introduction!