Chapter 52 The Castle #2
The conversation moved easily after that.
Kitty wanted to know what remained of the castle, and Darcy told her what little he had learned.
Mary supplied what she knew of the Black Prince, which led Bingley to confess that his own knowledge of medieval history would probably disgrace the entire party.
“You may walk beside Mary,” Jane said. “She will instruct you.”
Bingley looked toward Mary. “I should be grateful, provided you do not expect me to remember everything.”
Mr. Bennet looked over at Darcy. “And what service do you intend to provide upon this expedition, Mr. Darcy?”
“I had thought to enjoy myself, sir.”
“A bold ambition.”
“I am fairly certain of succeeding, sir.”
Elizabeth lowered her eyes, but not before Darcy saw her smile.
The gentlemen stayed another half hour. When Bingley finally rose to leave, the sisters accompanied him into the hall, and waited with them while their hats and gloves were retrieved.
Darcy lingered long enough to offer Elizabeth his hand as she descended the shallow step before the front door.
“I hope you will enjoy the excursion, Miss Elizabeth.”
“Sir, as long as you are present, there is no chance of my not enjoying it. If I were toiling in the fields beside you, I should be contented.”
She heard his low, resonant chuckle and laughed with him.
Her hand rested in his only long enough for her to step down, and he released it before following Bingley toward the carriage.
Elizabeth watched them depart with the first real anticipation she had felt in many days.
* * *
The castle came into view late in the morning.
Kitty leaned forward in the first carriage, trying to see past Bingley. “There it is.”
Georgiana looked in the same direction. “I have been longing to explore it and discover its secrets.”
The remains of the castle rose beyond the road, the great mound and broken walls standing above the surrounding ground. There were no towers or battlements such as Elizabeth had imagined, but the earthworks alone showed the size of what had once occupied the site.
The carriages drew up near the entrance, where a middle-aged man waited to receive them. Rogers, the Netherfield footman Caroline had sent ahead, stood with him.
Caroline descended and went to speak with Rogers about the luncheon.
Darcy offered Elizabeth his hand.
“Well?” he asked.
She looked toward the ruins. “I believe you may safely continue to enjoy yourself, sir.”
He smiled and released her hand.
Their guide introduced himself as Mr. Wilkes and led them toward the great defensive banks and ditches surrounding the castle. When he explained that a Norman fortress had occupied the site soon after the Conquest, Kitty looked toward the mound.
“William the Conqueror was here?”
“He was, Miss.”
Kitty looked at Georgiana. “Impressive.”
They continued toward the inner enclosure. Enough remained for Mr. Wilkes to point out where walls and buildings had once stood.
Mary moved nearer when he began speaking of the Black Prince, who had once made the castle one of his residences.
Bingley fell back beside Jane. “I believe I have lost my instructor. Though I suspect your sister is grateful for the reprieve.”
Jane laughed and took the arm he offered her.
The climb toward the mound proved more demanding than it had appeared from below. Kitty and Georgiana went ahead together. When Georgiana caught her shoe upon the uneven ground, Kitty took her arm, and they continued.
Elizabeth followed at a more measured pace, with Darcy beside her.
“You doubt that I shall reach the top, sir?” she asked.
“Never. I have seen you undertake rather greater exertions upon the moors of Derbyshire.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I do miss those days, sir.”
“As do I. But I mean to have them again.”
At the summit, the countryside spread before them, the town below and cultivated fields reaching beyond it. A breeze moved across the exposed ground.
“This alone was worth the journey,” Elizabeth said.
Darcy did not answer.
She glanced at him and found that he was looking at her rather than the countryside. Her hand moved toward his, then stopped.
“Soon, Elizabeth.”
Kitty called to Georgiana farther along the mound, and Elizabeth went to join them.
They spent the remainder of the morning among the ruins before returning to the lower ground, where the servants had laid luncheon beneath a stand of trees.
White cloths covered the grass. Cold chicken and ham had been set out with bread, cheese, fruit and cakes, and bottles of wine and water stood ready beside the plates and glasses.
Hurst surveyed the arrangements.
“I may survive this excursion after all.”
Caroline smiled and handed him the bottle of cognac.
He grinned. “Better and better.”
Elizabeth accepted a plate from Mr. Darcy and sat beneath the trees. Kitty and Georgiana dropped down beside her.
“I had expected more castle,” Kitty said.
“There was considerably more of it once,” Georgiana replied.
Elizabeth laughed. “I should have loved to see it at its zenith.”
Darcy returned with two glasses and offered one to Elizabeth before taking a place nearby.
When Rogers came to Caroline with a minor problem, she gave him the necessary instructions and resumed her seat.
Darcy looked over the spread. “Everything has been very well arranged, Miss Bingley. I confess I had not expected luncheon in the open air to be managed with such elegance.”
A flush rose in Caroline’s fair complexion. “Thank you, Mr. Darcy.”
Across the way, Bingley offered Jane a plate of strawberries between them. She chose one, and he left the plate within her reach. Elizabeth was pleased to see his attentions to her sister becoming so marked.
After luncheon, the servants began clearing the plates while the party remained beneath the trees.
Elizabeth rose and walked toward the edge of the shade. Darcy joined her.
“You chose well,” she said.
“Miss Bingley deserves the credit for the elegance. I merely asked Rogers for his recommendation.”
Elizabeth looked across the grounds. “Then I am grateful you thought to ask him. It has been a very good day.”
* * *
It was well into the afternoon when Caroline announced that they ought to begin the journey home if they meant to reach Longbourn before evening. They helped the servants gather the blankets, then boarded the carriages and set off.
They had been on the road for nearly an hour when the first carriage slowed and came to a stop.
Darcy leaned forward as the coachman climbed down. A moment later, Rogers appeared at the window.
“One of the traces requires attention, sir. It should not take long.”
Darcy descended, and the others followed. The road ran between open fields, with a stand of trees farther along and a narrow stream passing beneath a stone bridge.
Bingley offered Jane his arm and led her toward the bridge. The three young women followed behind.
Elizabeth had gone a short distance along the road when Darcy came up beside her.
“I hope this delay has not diminished your opinion of my expedition.”
“Not at all. You promised me a day at Berkhamsted. You said nothing about returning me safely to Longbourn.”
His resonant chuckle made her smile. “I shall be more precise in my promises hereafter.”
They continued along the edge of the road toward the bridge.
“I had forgotten how much I missed this,” Elizabeth said. “A day in which nothing of consequence happens, and we are together.”
Darcy looked at her. “Yes.”
She glanced toward the carriage. “I find I am grateful for a broken harness. It has given us a moment of privacy.”
His head bent toward hers, his eyes resting on her face. “I long for more days like this, Elizabeth.”
Near the carriages, Caroline watched Darcy bend his head toward Elizabeth as she spoke. A moment later, his laugh carried faintly back along the road.
Louisa glanced at her sister.
Caroline looked away. “I had not known Mr. Darcy could become so completely engaged by a woman’s company.”
Rogers called that the repair was nearly complete.
Darcy and Elizabeth returned to the carriage. He offered his hand, and handed her up. Caroline moved aside to make room for her.
Within a few minutes, they were again on the road to Longbourn.
* * *
By the time the carriages reached Longbourn, the light had begun to fade. The delay on the road had made the journey longer than expected, and there was little inclination to prolong the visit.
Bingley handed Jane down from the first carriage while Darcy assisted Elizabeth. Darcy's hand lingered beneath hers for only a moment as she stepped onto the drive.
“Good evening, Miss Elizabeth.”
“Good evening, Mr. Darcy.”
Kitty hurried past them toward the house.
“I shall see you tomorrow, Kitty,” Georgiana called after her.
Kitty looked back and waved.
Bingley took his leave of Jane, and the Netherfield party departed for home.
Mr. Bennet was waiting in the drawing room when his daughters entered. Elizabeth crossed directly to him and put her arms around him.
“We had a wonderful day, Papa. Peaceful and happy, and exactly what we needed.”
“I am very glad to hear it, Lizzy.”
Lydia looked up from her chair as Kitty came into the room.
“You should have seen the castle,” Kitty said. “There was hardly any castle left at all.”
Lydia laughed. “Truly?”
“Almost nothing. Georgiana and I climbed everywhere.”
Lydia set aside the fashion plate she had been studying. “Tell me about it.”
Kitty dropped into the chair beside her and began.
Elizabeth removed her bonnet and sat near her father while Kitty described the ruins, the picnic, and the view from the mound. Before long, Lydia was asking questions.
Outside, the last of the daylight faded from the windows as the Bennet family waited for the dinner bell.