Chapter 29 Concession #2
“Thank you, sir. And if I discover that Georgiana is no more an outdoorswoman than Anna, we will remain here and play the pianoforte. She could teach me a thing or two that might improve my skill upon the instrument.”
After that, she was left to herself. Would Mr. and Miss Darcy come as arranged? Surely, he would have sent word by now if he meant to cry off.
When she finished eating, she excused herself and returned to her books. Better to employ her mind in searching for answers than to brood over the loss of a man she could not have under any circumstances.
* * *
Elizabeth was so engrossed in her reading that she did not hear Mr. and Miss Darcy enter the room. She remained oblivious to her guests until Georgiana laughed and hurried toward her.
Elizabeth looked up, laid down her quill, and rose. “Have I been quite oblivious to you, Georgiana?”
The girl reached her and threw her arms around her in an affectionate embrace. “I could hardly wait to come to you, Lizzy. I woke early and dressed and had my breakfast, and still it was not time to leave, so I sat at the pianoforte and worked on my scales to help pass the time.”
“And now we are here together, finally,” Elizabeth said, laughing.
Mr. Darcy had approached by then. Elizabeth raised her eyes to his, her manner tentative.
He was smiling.
Then his expression changed. His brow furrowed, but she saw neither anger nor judgment there. He appeared concerned for her.
But he could not ask after her, nor could she offer any reassurance. Neither could acknowledge before his sister that they had been alone together upon the moor at daybreak.
“I trust you are well, Miss Elizabeth.”
He was concerned. She heard it in his voice, in his tone and in the particular emphasis he placed upon the words.
“Yes, sir. I am well. Perfectly so.”
His eyes lingered upon hers. She realized then that her eyelids must still be swollen, for she had wept all the way back from the henge.
She offered him a reassuring smile but could say no more in his sister’s presence.
Turning to Georgiana, she said, “My uncle has invited us to join the fishing party after we have finished our studies. He has agreed to take my rod and flies with him if you wish to go. I can teach you to cast a line if you have never done so before.”
Georgiana turned to her brother. “May I go, Fitzwilliam?”
“What time would you join us, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Mr. Radcliff said I might secure the services of a footman to accompany us whenever we are ready to abandon our studies and join the fishing party.”
“I shall come for you myself. You need only tell me what time you wish for me to come.”
His offer surprised her. “Thank you, sir.” She consulted her watch. “It is nine o’clock now. How long do you mean to attend to your book, Georgiana? Would an hour and a half prove too taxing?”
The girl laughed. “I am very attentive to my books, Lizzy. I can easily study for an hour and a half, unless you find that too trying.”
Elizabeth returned her watch to the table. “Not at all, my girl. I can easily sit over my books for five hours at a time.”
“Mr. Darcy, you may return for us at one, if you would be so kind. That will give you a good stretch of time to fish before you must leave your sport and return to fetch us.”
He inclined his head. “I shall be here, ma’am.” He turned to his sister. “Comport yourself well, Georgiana.” Then Mr. Darcy left them.
* * *
Elizabeth bit the inside of her lip and resolved to be cheerful.
“Georgiana, I am more than halfway through this book by Brand. As you can see, I have three others in this stack, and I mean to go through every one of them. I wish to discover any interesting lore concerning Arbor Low that may be recorded in these volumes.”
“I understand you, Lizzy. You are warning that the reading itself may be dry, though we are searching for folklore that may prove quite captivating.”
“Yes, dear. Exactly.”
“I am very excited, Lizzy. I hope I find additional lore concerning persons who have gone missing. I asked my brother about it on the way home yesterday, and he said they most likely died alone upon the moor from exposure.”
“Did he?” Elizabeth asked, disappointed. Did the man possess no imagination?
“Yes. That is what he said after I asked whether they might have disappeared into an enchantment. You know, like Thomas the Rhymer. He met the Queen of Elfland beneath the Eildon Tree and went away with her into Fairyland. Or like Tam Lin. He told Janet he was a mortal man seized by the Queen of Fairies and taken into her power. To those who knew him, he would simply have disappeared at Carterhaugh, just as the disappearances in your accounts are connected with Arbor Low.”
Elizabeth grinned. “You are the perfect student and precisely whom I needed to help me this morning. We are kindred spirits, Georgiana, for your imagination is every bit as active as mine.”
They both laughed.
Elizabeth settled into her chair, and Georgiana took the one beside her. As Georgiana leafed through the volume in search of the section on Derbyshire, Elizabeth entered the two fairy tales upon a separate page of her notebook.
When she had finished, she said, “I have added the tales of Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin to my page devoted to fairy tales. I had only one listed before, Sir Orfeo.”
Georgiana looked interested. “I am not familiar with that one.”
“That does not surprise me. It is not among the usual fairy tales read to children. I know of it only because I studied Virgil and Ovid with my Papa. We also studied the medieval English romance of the Orpheus story because my father said it would be disrespectful to study the ancient tale and neglect its place in our own British fairy tradition. I did not object, for I enjoyed the story very much.” Elizabeth stroked the feather of her quill.
“Papa also believed that every tradition, legend, or tale contains some kernel of truth. He said that over time, particularly when stories are handed down through the oral tradition, they take on lives of their own and may appear very different to us from what they were when first told. He believed it was our task to search out whatever truth remained, or whatever principle might still be useful to us.”
“Lizzy, I should have liked to have your Papa for a master. The ones I have had were not nearly so interesting. Everything was learned by rote, with scarcely a thought given to guiding principles or anything beyond the lesson itself.”
“Yes, I understand. I was very fortunate to have studied under my father’s tutelage for ten years.
” Elizabeth’s eyes grew moist. She drew a handkerchief from her sleeve and dabbed at them.
Then, with a smile, she said, “Do not mind me, Georgiana. I lost my father but five months ago, and the loss is still very fresh. Come, let us begin.”
Both young women were hard at work when Mr. Darcy arrived. They heard him announced, and Elizabeth looked up from her book.
“Georgiana, use this slip of paper to mark your place, and note upon your sheet the page where you stopped. You have saved me a great deal of time since I need not begin that section again from the beginning.”
Elizabeth did the same with her own volume, then rose and joined Georgiana as she went to her brother. Georgiana embraced him briefly and kissed his cheek.
“Fitzwilliam, I have been ever so good and accomplished a great deal of reading, though I fear I discovered nothing mystical or enchanted in Camden’s writings.”
Darcy raised a brow.
“William Camden, sir,” Elizabeth explained. “He was a distinguished scholar and headmaster of Westminster School. Georgiana is reading through the section on Derbyshire in his Britannia.”
“Ah, I see.” He turned to his sister. “And how did you fare, my dear? Was it slow going?”
She laughed. “No, Brother. I found it interesting. I have learned a great deal about the various henges, stone circles, barrows, and other ancient monuments found here in Derbyshire.”
Elizabeth glanced over her friend’s gown. “Your dress is very fine, Georgiana. I fear it may not remain so if you venture anywhere near a fishing rod.”
Georgiana looked down at her gown. “It is one of my newer day dresses, but I shall take care, Lizzy, not to damage it.”
Elizabeth raised her eyes to Mr. Darcy. He was grinning.
“Miss Elizabeth, are you suggesting that you might catch my sister’s gown should she venture too near?”
She laughed. “No, sir, but I had intended to teach her how to cast a line, and now I am afraid to do so. I once caught a neighbor boy by the scalp when I was learning to cast.”
The siblings laughed.
“Well, we shall at least have a very entertaining time of it, even should her gown not survive the excursion.”