First Christmas at Pemberley

by Grace Sellers

  Georgiana looked at Adam. She knew what it felt like to not have a mother.

  “I was sorry to hear your mother passed.”

  “Thank you. It has been just my father and I this year. But that is kind of you to say.”

  He nodded, and Georgiana noticed that despite his black hair and long, almost hawkish nose, he was not bad looking. Just different.

  A footman poured claret from a decanter.

  “You must be excited for the impending member of your family.”

  “Oh, yes, quite,” Georgiana said, although she was taken aback by his mention of Elizabeth’s condition. She had always been told Americans lacked proper manners, and now she wondered if that was the case.

  “Is it still snowing?” Mr. Bennet asked from across the table. Georgiana saw Darcy frown.

  “Yes, unfortunately. There seems little evidence of it letting up tonight,” Darcy answered. He wore the expression of someone sitting on a pine cone.

  Mrs. Bennet then began telling everyone at the table how she had predicted a great Christmas snowfall weeks ago.

  “And Elizabeth will have a healthy baby, mark my words,” she said loudly to the entire table and grinned. Chatter stopped, and everyone turned and looked at her. Even Elizabeth stopped when she heard her name. Her mother was not known for her wisdom or discretion. Perhaps she was getting dotty as well.

  “Thank you for your blessing, Mama,” Elizabeth said cheerfully.

  Fiona bent her head as she and Hugh giggled at Mrs. Bennet, barely attempting to conceal her smile. The older woman did notice—poor thing.

  “How were your travels here, Mrs. Bennet?” Darcy interjected as food was set on his plate. Typical of Darcy to smooth things over.

  Mrs. Bennet smiled again. “Very well. We left before much of the snow had fallen. Angus kept me warm on the journey.” She gestured to the fat, beige-colored pug who sat wheezing upon a pillow behind her. Since her three daughters had married and left the house, Mrs. Bennet had devoted herself to the pug.

  “Yes, we are all glad you brought Angus again,” Darcy said, and Fiona snickered again. Elizabeth glanced at her disapprovingly.

  “And how far did you journey to arrive here, ma’am?” Adam asked.

  “Our home is more than one hundred miles away in Hertfordshire.”

  Adam smiled. “Do you always take Angus with you when you travel?”

  “Yes. Always,” Mrs. Bennet said, pleased to be engaged in conversation. “And who are you again?”

  Again both Hugh and Fiona snickered openly at her comment.

  Elizabeth spoke up. “Mama, this is our new neighbor, Adam Merriweather. He and his father, Mr. Merriweather, have joined us. They have let neighboring Barnsley Park since the summer.”

  Mrs. Bennet nodded, but Georgiana wondered if she might ask the same question in a few more minutes.

  Chapter 2

  During dessert, a tiny orange blur ran past the door as a footman entered, and Elizabeth immediately recognized the blur as Poppet. Or was it Muffin? It was one of the two anyway, and she did not belong in the dining room.

  “Georgiana?” Elizabeth said softly and flicked her eyes to the tiny orange ball approaching the table.

  Too late. Poppet-Muffin ran past the table and under a chair against the wall.

  Isabel gasped loudly. “Oh.” She put her hand to her chest. “I thought that might be a rodent, which, of course, I would never expect here at Pemberley.”

  Georgiana stood and scooped up the kitten before handing it to a frowning footman, who briskly carried it out of the room.

  “That is one of our newest additions: Muffin and Poppet. They are Christmas presents for me from my dear brother,” Georgiana said to the table.

  “Presents that certainly do not belong in the dining room,” Darcy said.

  “I’m sorry. I thought I closed them in my room. One of them must have escaped,” Georgiana said fretfully. “I didn’t want to risk them getting let outside.”

  “No, they are too young for that,” Elizabeth said.

  “I am not fond of keeping cats in the house,” Fiona said coolly, taking a long sip of her claret.

  Georgiana looked at her uncomprehendingly. “Of course, but they catch mice. Cook likes to keep one in the kitchen and pantry. Not to mention several in the barn.”

  Fiona moved her mouth into a pink disapproving line.

  “Cats are very clean. They eat rodents and insects,” Adam said, and Georgiana smiled warmly at him.

  Fiona made a face that indicated she felt otherwise.

  “I think the animals of Pemberley have enjoyed enough attention during this meal,” Darcy said.

  Elizabeth knew she frowned. She had pushed him to get Georgiana the kittens, and she hoped he didn’t now regret it. She worried Darcy might feel her presence at Pemberley too strongly at times. Sometimes she felt she was slowly changing Pemberley, brick by brick. Sometimes she feared he thought she—or her family rather—unleashed chaos on his formerly orderly life.

  But she was so fond of Georgiana, she couldn’t help indulging her. She smiled brightly at her across the table, but the girl now stared wistfully across the table to where Hugh and Fiona laughed.

  The footman stepped forward and whispered something to Mr. Darcy. His expression soured, and he looked nervously to Elizabeth.

  “It seems as though my groom believes the snow is coming too fast and thick for people to travel safely tonight. I’m sorry to interrupt your Christmas plans, but I will happily offer you all amenable rooms for the night,” he announced to the table.

  Mrs. Bennet clapped her hands together. “Snowed in! How snug!”

  Mr. Bennet lifted a forkful of meat to his mouth and rolled his eyes.

  “There, Christmas Eve dinner finished, and Pemberley still stands,” Darcy mused as he removed his cravat in his bedchamber later. Elizabeth undressed several feet away behind a screen with the help of her maid.

  “That went well, don’t you think?” she called to him.

  “Except for the inclusion of the animal kingdom in our dinner party.”

  “Oh!” Elizabeth said. “Yes, I was quite surprised to see the kitten run along the floor. I think Isabel Shire-Smith had a good shock.”

  Darcy chuckled to himself. “Yes, she went quite pale. Did you see her face?”

  Elizabeth stepped out behind the screen in her nightgown. “I did,” she said, smiling. “But I shouldn’t laugh. I would have had the same reaction had I not known there were orange kittens afoot.”

  Darcy unbuttoned his greatshirt. “I thought for a moment she might faint into the soup.”

  Elizabeth thanked her maid and sent her out. “To be fair, it keeps with the Christmas Eve theme of sharing our evening with beasts.”

  “All we needed was a sheep and three wisemen,” Darcy said.

  Elizabeth smiled as she started to get into bed.

  “Allow me,” he said and hurried to her side to help her.

  She smiled but waved him away. “I don’t need help getting into bed. Not yet. Getting out, however, may be another issue.”

  Elizabeth lay down, and Darcy carefully pulled the quilt up around her, his hand coming to rest on her stomach.

  “May I?”

  She nodded, enjoying it when Darcy put his hand or, occasionally, his ear to her burgeoning belly. “Is our young Darcy moving?”

  She smiled. “Somewhat. Not more than usual. I think the baby enjoyed the mutton.” Elizabeth leaned back into her pillow. “Or I did at least.”

  Her face softened as it did when talking of the pregnancy. She put her hand on Darcy’s and moved it slightly.

  “Try here,” she said, moving it to where the baby usually kicked. She waited a moment. “There!”

  Darcy’s eyes opened wide.

  “That was a strong kick. I daresay our child will be an excellent horseman. Or horsewoman,” Darcy said.

  “Or an exquisite dancer,” Elizabeth said.

  Darcy smile
d at his wife. Again, he wondered how he’d gotten quite so lucky. He leaned in to kiss her.

  “Do you think G. enjoyed the dinner?” Elizabeth pulled back and asked, thus ending the kiss.

  He slumped a bit. He did not want to think of his sister at his moment.

  “She seemed well enough.”

  “She and Adam Merriweather seemed to get on,” Elizabeth said.

  Darcy really didn’t want to think of Georgiana and a suitor.

  “I hope not too well,” Darcy said, giving up and walking to his side of the bed.

  “Why? Do you not like Mr. Merriweather and his son? They seem like very fine people to me.”

  “They are pleasant neighbors. But you know what some people will say if she married a tradesman. Even a very wealthy one. My aunt might have an apoplexy.”

  Elizabeth grimaced. “I suppose, but I think that is silly. His father runs a successful business and will be knighted soon. Besides, you essentially run a business here at Pemberley.”

  Darcy pulled back the covers and lay down next to his wife. “If Lady Catherine could hear you now…”

  “Thankfully, she was never my lodestar.”

  Darcy leaned over and tenderly kissed his wife. “Which may explain why I married you.”

  Georgiana sighed with disappointment as she readied for bed after dinner. She had no time to speak to Hugh, and he seemed more interested in Fiona than her afterwards. She also wasn’t impressed that he and Fiona had giggled at Mrs. Bennet so much during dinner. Bad form, as her brother would say.

  She looked under her bed, the place the kittens seemed to favor. Oddly, no tiny orange kittens galloped toward her the way they usually did.

  “Tabitha, have you seen the kittens?” Georgiana asked her maid as she helped her undress and brush out her hair. “Do you know if anyone left my door open?”

  Tabitha shook her head. “No, miss. But Jenny came through with the laundry, and she may have had the door open as she set your clothes in your wardrobe.”

  That made sense. Jenny may not have known the kittens were in the room. After Tabitha left, Georgiana wrapped a robe over her chemise and stepped into her slippers. Likely the kittens were somewhere down the hall. They usually got distracted and played in new environments.

  Georgiana walked quietly down the hallway, trying not to creak on the wooden floor. It was late enough that their guests had gone to bed and she didn't want to wake anyone. The snow was heavier than expected and nearly everyone at dinner had been put up for the evening at Pemberley. She wondered for a moment which room Hugh was in.

  She saw no kittens as she crept down the empty hall.

  She leaned over the railway and scanned the dark, cavernous space below. She heard something move downstairs and peered into the dark to see. After a moment, she padded down the stairs to Pemberley’s wide entryway. A sound came from around the corner in the kitchen. Had someone mistakenly put the kittens in there? She eased the kitchen door open.

  Someone was there.

  She nearly leapt in fear at the tall, dark shadow standing in the corner, but quickly lit a taper and saw it was Adam Merriweather, also standing in a too-short robe, drinking a glass of milk.

  “Miss Darcy! You startled me,” he exclaimed and tried to pull his robe around himself. He glanced around to see if she was alone.

  “You startled me,” she shot back. “What are you doing in the kitchen?”

  He held his glass up. “Drinking milk,” he said.

  Georgiana rolled her eyes. “I can see that. I meant why are you down here, drinking our milk?”

  “I didn’t realize it was your milk,” Adam said, smiling, and shrugged. “It helps me sleep.”

  Georgiana exhaled. “Well, not my milk—” She stopped, paused and started again. She sounded as irritated as her brother. Perhaps the disposition was congenital. Why did Adam irritate her so? “Have you seen either of the two orange kittens down here?”

  “No, but I haven’t been down here very long. I did hear something as I came downstairs.”

  Georgiana looked around and, seeing nothing, decided that perhaps bait would help.

  “Maybe a saucer of milk would bring them out,” he said.

  She nodded. He poured some onto a saucer and handed it to her. His shoulders were very broad, she noticed.

  “Perhaps some chicken?” He held up a drumstick with a bite mark in his other hand. For some reason, this annoyed her further.

  “So you are not only drinking our milk, you are eating our food?”

  He smiled, clearly not embarrassed, and continued chewing. “And some mutton. I didn’t think anyone would mind,” he said.

  Georgiana walked to him and took some of the chicken out of his hand, pulling off the greasy skin, the part she knew cats liked best.

  Adam nodded. “Place some on the ground, and we can hide and see if they come out.”

  Georgiana looked sharply at him. We? She wasn't sure how her goal became his too, but she just sighed. Maybe the two of them would find the kittens faster, and she could return to bed before she was discovered in the kitchen talking to a young man in her nightclothes.

  She set the chicken down on the kitchen floor, and they both stood behind a corner and watched.

  “Do you think this will take long?” Adam whispered, but it was a man’s whisper, which was maddeningly loud, as though he’d never truly had to be quiet.

  “Shhh. It may if you keep talking,” she hissed back. That wasn’t very nice, she told herself, particularly for Christmas. “One is very skittish. We’ll need to be quiet to have her come out.”

  Behind her, Adam was silent, but she could feel him standing near her and hear his breathing. Despite the coolness of the deserted kitchen, she felt heat coming from him. Why couldn’t it have been Hugh to come down here for milk instead of Adam? Suddenly, she was very aware of him.

  A small shadow ran across the floor in front of them. It grabbed the chicken and gobbled it down. He touched her arm excitedly.

  “There! Did you see that?”

  As soon as he spoke, the shadow bolted out of sight.

  “Drat!” he said loudly, startling Georgiana, who turned to look at him. His face opened in a wide smile. She noticed how his dark lashes were in the dim light. It was not a bad face, she thought.

  But it was not Hugh’s.

  Something rustled nearby.

  They both turned to the sound, peering into the darkness.

  Adam started to say something.

  “Shhh,” Georgiana whispered. Someone really needed to teach him how to whisper properly.

  They heard soft crunching, as though the kitten were eating something.

  Across the vast marble black and white entryway floor, the front door handle rattled. Georgiana held her breath. They were far enough away that they wouldn’t be seen in the dark. That was more than the wind. Was someone trying to get inside?

  “Someone’s coming inside,” Adam said, his voice low and soft. He pulled Georgiana back behind a wall as the front door opened. Cold wind whistled inside the house.

  Georgiana’s heart pounded in her throat. Was it an intruder?

  From around the wall, came a soft female voice, “Oh! Blast the wind.”

  Georgiana recognized the voice immediately. It was Mrs. Reynolds, coming in from outside.

  “It’s the housekeeper,” she said to Adam.

  She waited to hear the door close, but heard only the wind whistle. Finally she peeked around the corner.

  Mrs. Reynolds shook the snow from her coat and struggled to push the door closed.

  Above Georgiana, Adam looked too.

  She saw it from the lantern Mrs. Reynolds held.

  A tiny kitten-shaped shadow darted behind Mrs. Reynolds.

  “Muffin,” Georgiana said quietly. She felt Adam stiffen behind her.

  Mrs. Reynolds got behind the door to use her body to close it against the strong wind.

  Just as the door slammed shut, she saw the k
itten run to the door and dart outside.

  Georgiana’s hand covered her mouth.

  Adam’s hand squeezed her arm, but somehow she stayed silent.

  “As soon as she leaves, I’ll run out and fetch her,” he said quietly.

  Georgiana nodded, still horrified. The tiny cat was outside!

  Maybe all would be well. Adam Merriweather will be able to catch her.

  She swallowed, still shaking.

  For the first time, she was grateful Adam was here with her.

  Mrs. Reynolds shook out her coat, taking her time moving away from the door.

  Georgiana wanted to scream, but could only stay still and silent, wondering how long a kitten’s tiny body could possibly stay warm in the cold.

  If Adam got her immediately, she would be all right, Georgiana told herself.

  Finally Mrs. Reynolds removed her coat and moved away from the front door. Georgiana and Adam waited as she bustled out of the entryway.

  “Stay here,” he said, and for once she was glad not to move.

  As soon as she was gone, Adam moved to the door. He opened it as quietly as he could, wincing as it squeaked, and shut it behind him.

  Georgiana held her breath. She realized she was sweating despite the chill in the air.

  If the kitten died or got sick, she’d never forgive herself. She banished the thought from her head. She would warm it up, put a hot water bottle under the blanket with it. She mentally listed all the items she’d need.

  Still, she waited.

  What was taking him so long? She had no idea the amount of time that had passed. Was it seconds or minutes? It felt like an hour.

  Georgiana crept to the closest window and tried to look outside, but only saw lashings of ice and wet spreading across the window glass. Finally she grabbed Mrs. Reynolds’s coat from the cloak tree and wrapped it around yourself.

  As she opened the door, ice struck her face, stinging it. She let her eyes adjust to the dim white just for a moment and looked around for Adam’s tall form.

  “Adam!” she called above the swirling wind.