Chapter 4
Elizabeth
Still surprised at the colonel’s plan, and especially at her own agreement to the plan, Elizabeth carefully dressed for tea and dinner with an earl and his family.
She put on a beautiful new gown made of viscose batiste.
It was yellow, and its cut was as modest as it was fashionable. She felt she looked very well in it.
“I wish I had more skill with your type of hair, Lizzy,” Aunt Maddie said. “Or that Suzanne—or any of the maids—did.”
“My type of hair? You mean the untameable and unruly type?” Elizabeth laughed as she saw her aunt ruefully accept her negative descriptions. “Never fear, Aunt. We only need to apply a thousand or so hairpins to the task, and my hair will remain up.”
Elizabeth’s hair was difficult to manage, but at least she had natural curls that could be left to frame her face. She felt very sorry for her sisters, who had to sleep in rag curls or risk hot curling tongs—especially since England’s frequent rain could spoil the results within a moment.
“There, that will do.” Aunt Maddie draped one long curl over her shoulder. “You look very lovely, Lizzy.”
“And you look beautiful as well, Aunt.”
The two donned their outer layers and climbed into the Gardiners’ carriage. They knew the area where the Matlock mansion was located, although they did not realise until they reached it that their goal was the most enormous edifice in a neighbourhood full of large buildings.
After they alighted from their conveyance, and as they looked up the sweeping staircase towards the grand double doors, Elizabeth whispered to Aunt Maddie, “As Shakespeare said, screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.”
Her aunt chuckled as they mounted the stairs and presented themselves to the butler. He led them through a rather ostentatious entrance hall and into an ornate drawing room. “Mrs Edward Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” the servant announced, and he bowed and left.
The Countess of Matlock was quite tall, still slim, and extremely elegant. Colonel Fitzwilliam was there and performed the introductions, but then he turned to Elizabeth and said, “My mother wishes me to leave you during tea time, but I will see you again before dinner.”
“Please be seated,” Lady Matlock said.
When all three ladies were seated, the countess studied Elizabeth carefully.
Elizabeth maintained a respectful smile and did not shy away from continued eye contact.
Finally, Lady Matlock said, “You are everything lovely, as my son said. Quite bold, I think, considering your age. But perhaps that is a good thing.”
Elizabeth asked, “Bold? I sit here silently whilst under inspection, and this is considered bold? I fear that ladies of the ton must be expected to be very reticent indeed.”
The countess’s eyebrows shot up, and Elizabeth felt her aunt stiffen slightly, but then the countess laughed.
“Well, I should most definitely count your little speech as bold, my dear.” She shook her head and continued, “I see now why my son considers you so special. I wish to say that ladies of the ton are not expected to be reticent. That said, most girls of eighteen would not withstand an inspection from a countess they have just met without fidgeting or even trembling, and most would drop their eyes to the floor. I admire that you did neither.”
Elizabeth flashed a brighter smile towards the countess, who nodded and murmured, “Quite, quite lovely.”
Then the countess became more serious. After allowing a servant to pour out tea and distribute it along with the cakes, the countess began a series of questions about Elizabeth’s family, upbringing, education, and accomplishments.
She seemed to disapprove of “no governess” but approve of Elizabeth’s grasp of literature, history, and music.
She asked Elizabeth to exhibit her singing and playing of the pianoforte, and she critiqued the pianoforte performance as “middling technique but wonderful musical expression” and gave the highest praise for her voice: “I have rarely heard the like. Beautiful!”
Finally, the countess led Elizabeth to a parlour where four men—one of them the colonel—sat. The colonel rose even more quickly than the other men, as if he had been impatiently watching for the ladies, and he performed the introductions.
“Mrs Edward Gardiner and Miss Elizabeth Bennet, allow me to present Lord Matlock, Lord Grantham, and Mr Darcy to you.”
Elizabeth bobbed a curtsy as the men bowed.
She looked at the earl first, knowing he was the colonel’s father, and she easily saw the resemblance.
Lord Grantham looked very much like the others and must have been, she was almost certain, the colonel’s brother and therefore the viscount.
Then Elizabeth turned her eyes to the third man.
—Well! Whoever Mr Darcy was, he was singularly attractive!
His dark eyes held hers in an intense gaze. She often read emotions in people’s eyes, and she hoped that she did so accurately, but this man’s eyes were so very dark, she was not certain what he was feeling.
Mr Darcy had very dark curly hair that reminded her of her own because it seemed to defy order. It curled at his collar and fell over his brow a bit, but it looked soft and….
And why on earth was she even thinking about Mr Darcy’s hair?
Elizabeth knew that of course she was motivated to assess the man’s character, his personality, his emotions, rather than his person.
She could immediately guess, from his clothing, that he was wealthy and sober and fastidious, for his frock coat and waistcoat were black and dark grey, and made of the finest materials, his shirt and cravat were spotless and snowy white, and his Hessian boots were perfectly polished. But the more important things…
Mr Darcy’s handsome—noble, even—face had been carefully held to a neutral expression, but when she smiled at him, he smiled in return, and it was as if the sun had come out during a gloomy day. Her breath literally caught, and her heart may have skipped a beat, as well.
Suddenly, trite phrases from novels became comprehensible, and Elizabeth had to work to tear her eyes away from his.
Luckily, her manners had not abandoned her, and she heard herself say all the expected things.
Elizabeth realised that the colonel was staring from Mr Darcy to her and back again. He said, “I assume you know that these are my father and elder brother, but Fitzwilliam Darcy is my first cousin and, truth be told, my best friend.”
“Your first cousin? There is not much family resemblance,” she murmured.
“Oof, that is quite an insult, madam,” the colonel joked.
She shot him a puzzled look, and then she chuckled. “You should behave, sir.”
She dared to address Mr Darcy, who had not yet looked away, as far as she could tell. “And where do you live, sir?”
The man’s smile brightened at her question, and he said, “Currently I am residing at my town house, which is but two houses away from Matlock House, but home is my estate in Derbyshire. I live in the Peak District, and I think it the most beautiful place I have ever seen, even over the islands of Greece and the Swiss Alps.”
Elizabeth gasped in pleasure. “I should love to see the Peaks, and the Lake District, someday. But I cannot believe you have been to Greece and Switzerland! How have you managed to do so, given the state of the continent?”
“I was very lucky; my father took me and my young sister on a wonderful tour of the continent when I was but fourteen years of age. When it was time for my Grand Tour, I had to bypass the Batavian Republic, Spain, and northern Italy—and France, naturally. But I was still able to enjoy many sights.”
“Could we just take some seats so that I could interrogate you at length?” Elizabeth laughed and said, “Of course, I should not be so rude to everyone else, but I long to hear of your travels.”
Mr Darcy’s smile became even more brilliant, and his gaze became even warmer. He turned to the countess and asked, “Would it be rude, Aunt, if I accede to Miss Bennet’s wishes before dinner?”
Elizabeth looked to her own aunt for her reaction, and saw her smiling nod.
The countess said, “I encourage you to slake her curiosity, William. Far be it for me to curtail any pleasure of yours, Miss Bennet.”
So Elizabeth took a seat close to where Mr Darcy sat, and the others sat down again, as well. But both Mr Darcy and Elizabeth involved the others in their talk of travel, everyone chiming in with their own experiences and opinions.
Elizabeth learnt a great deal about everyone, including discovering for the first time that her own beloved aunt once spent three months in Ireland.
But she was most impressed with Mr Darcy.
For in the telling of his tales, he utilised occasional quotes from Wordsworth and Shakespeare and Virgil, he demonstrated empathy for people of other cultures and a nuanced understanding of world history, and he exhibited more dry wit than even her father.
She found herself laughing quite often, and she dearly loved to laugh.
The conversation at dinner swung to current events—politics and especially the war—and although the earl and the colonel spoke more on these topics, Elizabeth still found Mr Darcy well informed and even more well spoken.
She had no idea how wealthy he might be, although she did eventually realise that both of his parents had died, and he had already inherited the estate he so loved.
Nonetheless, she soon came to feel that he had a very good character.
The countess boasted on behalf of her nephew, “William is described by everyone, from his own servants and tenants to the residents of Derbyshire towns, as being the best landlord and master in the county.”
Mr Darcy actually blushed at his aunt’s praise, and protested when it seemed she meant to say more, but it was the colonel who swept in to save him further embarrassment by telling Elizabeth about Matlock and Grantham.
On the carriage ride back to Gracechurch Street, Elizabeth and her Aunt Maddie processed all that they had experienced.
The earl’s residence was quite beautiful, but it bordered on gaudy.
The queen cakes were exceptional, and dinner was delicious.
While the earl and countess seemed surprisingly liberal about the Gardiners being in trade, Lord Grantham seemed less sanguine about the matter.
Finally, Aunt Maddie said, “Until you informed me otherwise, I believed that the colonel was intent on courting you, despite his being a second son. But I have never seen someone so immediately smitten as Mr Darcy.”
“I am so embarrassed that you noticed, Aunt. Do you think everyone noticed?”
“I am positive they did.”
“Oh, dear, I was trying so hard not to stare.”
Aunt Maddie looked at her, seemingly puzzled. “I did not notice you staring. I noticed him staring at you.”
Elizabeth’s brow wrinkled, and her eyebrows rose in question..
“Mr Darcy was just so immediately and intensely interested in you, Lizzy. You saw that, did you not?”
“Wait, Mr Darcy was smitten? I thought you were speaking of me being smitten with him!!”
They both laughed, even though Elizabeth still felt confused and embarrassed.
“Well,” Aunt Maddie said, “if you were both equally smitten with each other, I suppose that might work out well! Although I believe you will need some rigorous supervision!”
When she went to bed that night, Elizabeth tossed and turned quite a bit at first, but when she finally did get to sleep, she enjoyed some very sweet dreams.