Chapter 5 #2
Once Mr and Mrs Gardiner were seated, he took a place next to Elizabeth.
Distracted from Mr Darcy’s injuries by his question regarding her children, Mrs Langford replied with enthusiasm, “Robert and James are in fine health. Robert took a frigate off the coast of Portugal, and my darling boy sent me a very fine gold necklace, bought with his prize money. What tears fall from my eyes whenever I put it upon my neck! And James passed his lieutenant exam with ease, just as you predicted. I could not be prouder or more content.”
“That is welcome news.” Mr Darcy sounded genuinely pleased at this disclosure.
Mrs Langford rewarded her former charge with a broad smile. “None of our good fortune would have happened without your intervention, so you must eat up everything, as all this is my way of thanking you. My husband and I are indebted to you sir, for your assistance in our sons’ careers.”
Mrs Langford’s words caught Elizabeth’s attention.
She glanced around at the modest dining room, so different from the oft-described grandeur she had always heard in relation to Pemberley.
Never would she have imagined Mr Darcy would condescend to step over the threshold of such a humble establishment—but he was clearly no stranger to this table.
And to learn that he helped the sons of his former nursemaid!
She wondered what new insight of Mr Darcy’s character she was yet to discover.
Mrs Langford was still extolling Mr Darcy’s virtues when she was interrupted by the man in question clearing his throat. “You overestimate my involvement, Mrs Langford. I am certain that your sons would have excelled no matter the circumstances.”
“That is as may be, Master Fitzwilliam—” This time she caught herself. “Mr Darcy, as I should say now, we have company. However, I cannot mention my beloved boys without paying my respects for all you have done for them.”
It was abundantly clear to Elizabeth that Mr Darcy was desperate for the attention to be taken away from his previous charitable behaviour. Although she longed to hear more, she took pity on him and asked Mrs Langford if she had any other children.
“Why yes, my daughter Anne, who is lately married, and another, Rachel, who has settled in Lambton.”
“How wonderful!” said Mrs Gardiner, with a smile. “I was born at the rectory—my father was the curate there until Mr Jenson’s death.”
“I thought you had the air of a Derbyshire lass, if you forgive my plain speaking. There’s a woman with a friendly face, I said to myself as soon as I saw you.
” Mrs Langford appraised Mrs Gardiner with warmth before settling into an amiable conversation regarding their mutual preferences and dislikes for all the various towns and landmarks in the area.
With Mr Gardiner happily distracted by his third bread roll and blackberry jam, Elizabeth leant closer to Mr Darcy. “Our new acquaintance is wonderful—for how long was Mrs Langford your nursemaid?”
“She was with my family until I was six, before she left to marry Mr Langford, who owns this house and all the farmland around it. My mother adored her, and we would often make a deviation on our way back to Pemberley from London to pay Mrs Langford a visit. Sometimes we would stay here for an entire afternoon.” A wistful look clouded his eyes briefly, and he seemed momentarily lost in a memory.
“My mother’s constitution was always delicate, but I never knew her to look better than after time spent in Mrs Langford’s company. ”
“I can well believe it,” said Elizabeth gently.
Compassion swelled in her chest as she pictured Mr Darcy as a young boy with his mother in the same room they were in now.
“Mrs Langford inspires an enormous sense of familiarity. It is as though I have known her forever, although we have only just met.”
Mr Darcy caught Elizabeth’s eye and smiled, his expression completely unguarded. “You have it exactly right, Miss Bennet. Your sentiments are identical to my own.”
His manner of address was so open and sincere—and so far removed from his haughty reticence of their previous interactions—it was as though she were speaking to an entirely different person.
Here is a man who might have stolen my heart.
The thought crept up on Elizabeth before she knew it.
Heat flooded her body, and her heart fluttered to an unsteady beat.
Struggling to appear unaffected, she hid her discomposure behind a playful question.
“May I ask why she persists in calling you Master Fitzwilliam?”
This was a mistake, for Mr Darcy’s mouth widened into a disarming grin, lighting up his face with a boyish enthusiasm that did nothing whatsoever to calm Elizabeth’s racing pulse.
“I suspect to tease me,” he said, before adding, “Mrs Langford has always maintained that I am like a son to her, and in her mind I shall forever be Master Fitzwilliam. Many years have passed since she was Pemberley’s nursemaid, but she still regards me as that little boy. ”
“There is a great deal of affection between you.”
Mr Darcy’s eyes softened. “I will never forget her kindness towards me after my mother died.”
Moved by his speech, Elizabeth nodded in sympathy. “I must thank you for arranging our stay here. I already feel at home—and I am grateful to you, for sharing an aspect of your life which is clearly deeply personal.”
Mr Darcy looked deep into Elizabeth’s eyes, his expression serious, and said in a voice so low that only she could hear. “It was the very least I could do, after all that has happened between us.”
Elizabeth knew at once that he was not referring to the accident, but to his proposal in Kent.
Gratitude swelled within her chest. He who, she had persuaded herself, would have every right to avoid her as his greatest enemy, seemed, during this strange turn of events, most eager to make amends.
An uncomfortable feeling, not unlike regret, burnt in the pit of her stomach.
If only she had truly known the man she was refusing!
“You have already done so much,” she murmured, with sincerity. “Truly, I am honoured.”
Delight passed over his handsome features. He gestured towards her plate. “Once you have eaten, I wish to show you the farmland. There are a great many places which I am sure you will appreciate.”
She laughed, leaning a little closer to him. “Nothing would please me more. As you know, I am never happier than when traipsing about in the mud.”
His mouth twitched, and he said with a hint of mischief, “How fortunate! As you may be aware, Derbyshire has mud in abundance.”
Elizabeth giggled, thinking that of all the new sides to Mr Darcy’s character she had discovered, it was this understated playfulness she liked the best. “Be careful with all that you show me of your home county, or I shall not want to leave!”
Mr Darcy paused, his gaze lingering on her face, then his lips pulled into a handsome grin. “Is that in the nature of a challenge, Miss Bennet?”