Chapter Five
Mr. Darcy departed shortly after breakfast the next morning. Georgiana went outside with him when the coach was ready. “Do not forget,” he said. “You need not stay here if it becomes unpleasant.” He hugged her closely. “And do write to me! I expect at least two letters every week!”
“And will you write back?” she asked.
“I will, I promise,” he said. He hugged her one last time, kissed her on the forehead, and climbed into the carriage. She watched as the carriage disappeared around a bend, feeling suddenly forlorn.
A cold, thin hand crept into hers. “It will be all right,” Anne whispered. “We will be together.”
“With Mrs. Jenkinson watching our every move,” Georgiana whispered back.
Anne sighed. “I know; it is ever so wearisome.”
“Are there any neighbours? Does anyone ever come visiting?” Georgiana asked.
“Yes; Mother receives a good many calls from nearby ladies. And there is a parson, who visits Mother at least three times a week, but he is the dullest person on earth!”
“Has he a wife?”
“No. I cannot imagine who would have him, truly.”
“Who else?”
“My doctor, of course, Doctor Fleming. He comes to Rosings to do dreary medical things to me. He bleeds me, and gives me laudanum so that I sleep all day.”
“That sounds terrible,” Georgiana said, her brow wrinkled in concern.
“It is terrible,” Anne agreed. “But it is supposed to be good for me, so Mother makes certain that I do everything he suggests.”
“What do they say is wrong with you?”
Anne shrugged. “I am quite weak. I cannot walk far, or do anything for very long before becoming tired. The doctor listens to my chest and shakes his head.”
“Are there any plans for you to go to London?” Georgiana asked. “I mean, you will have to have a Season, will you not?”
“I do not know,” Anne said, shrugging again. “I do not think Mother will permit it.”
“What do you do all day, Anne?”
“I take little walks in the rose garden. I work on my French with Mrs. Jenkinson. I take naps. I am sorry, Georgiana; I know it does not sound very exciting. But with you here, perhaps we will think of more things that we can do.”
“Perhaps I might join you when you work on your French? I speak it fairly well, but I know that practice is essential if one is to retain one’s fluency.”
***
Georgiana’s suggestion that she participate in the French lessons was an inspired one.
Mrs. Jenkinson had been quite concerned about the arrival of this cousin.
Indeed, she had begun to fear losing her employment as a result of this Miss Darcy’s arrival, for what need had Miss de Bourgh for a companion if she had a cousin in residence?
But Georgiana made it clear to her that she would be here only for the summer, and that she was eager to be part of the French lessons.
“And Italian?” Georgiana asked.
“I do not speak Italian,” Mrs. Jenkinson said.
“I do; may I not instruct both of you?”
Anne was eager to learn Italian, and Mrs. Jenkinson saw no harm in it, so the three of them agreed to study languages together. Anne then whispered to Georgiana that she very much wished to play the pianoforte; might Georgiana not teach her?
Georgiana now felt that her decision to stay at Rosings had been entirely right. If naught else, Anne might learn to play!