An Unexpected Legacy

by Don Miller

  “I have spent many hours in the bookstore,” said Darcy, “and I look forward to seeing what you have done with it. I have quite an extensive library and most of the books in the library which I have purchased have been purchased from that bookstore. I suspect I will be giving you much business in the future.”

  “I will look forward to it,” said Mrs. Gardiner. “Now, back to the question, why are you here?”

  “It must be clear,” said Bingley, “that we want to renew our acquaintance with the Misses Bennet. As for why I have not been here earlier, it is because I have had some disagreement with my sisters, and they chose not to tell me Miss Bennet was in town and they had seen her. I assure you, had I known she was here, I would have been here earlier. Is she still here in town, or has she returned to Longbourn?”

  “I am sorry to inform you, Mr. Bingley, she is back in Longbourn. Mr. Bennet has a hard time dealing with his household without one of the elder daughters being there. Because Elizabeth was to visit her friend Charlotte Collins in Kent in April, Jane returned to Longbourn at the end of March so she could be with her sister a few days before she left for Kent. I believe she will be very disappointed to know that you called and she was not here. May I ask? Do you intend to return to Netherfield Park?”

  “To be frank, I did not know whether I would or not, but I think I have just decided that I will. I do enjoy the environs, the hunting, and the company to be had. I would appreciate it if you might mention to Miss Bennet that I intend to return in June.”

  “And how about you Mr. Darcy, are you to return with your friend?”

  “I may visit him later in the summer, Mrs. Gardiner, but shortly I must go to Pemberley, my estate in Derbyshire, to oversee the spring planting and meet with my tenants. And now may I enquire about Miss Elizabeth. You have not said if she is in town.”

  “Yes, Elizabeth is staying here, but she is visiting with a friend today, and will return tomorrow. She will probably be here for another week, helping her uncle in his office or me in our shops, and then will return to Longbourn for a month before joining us on a trip up north to the lakes and to the little town of Lambton, which, of course, you know Mr. Darcy, is near Pemberley. Because I grew up there, I am very familiar with Pemberley and have met both your mother and your father.”

  “That’s a remarkable coincidence. May I ask what your parents do in Lambton?”

  “They own a dry goods store and millinery. It is called Rodgers’ Emporium, which is my maiden name, and particularly your mother used to come in there often to buy linens and uniforms for your staff. As a matter of fact, when you were a young lad, I met you several times when your mother brought you into our store.”

  Darcy put his finger on his temple for a moment and then said, “I think I remember.” He paused for a moment as he thought more about it and then continued, “Yes, I do remember you! We called you Miss Maddie. However, I am afraid if you had not told me I would have never recognized you.”

  Mrs. Gardiner laughed. “I would hardly expect you to. You were a young lad, and I was a teenager. I do not think either one of us paid that much attention to the other one.”

  “You have visited Pemberley then?” asked Darcy.

  “Well, yes and no. I had occasion to deliver linens and uniforms out there, but all I ever saw was the house in the vicinity of the servant’s entrance. I have never even been in the foyer. We had thought we might visit Pemberley when we are in Lambton, because I have heard it is a very impressive house and has some beautiful gardens. Gardens are one of my passions, and I look forward to seeing many beautiful gardens on this trip up north, including, hopefully, the ones at Pemberley.”

  “We usually allow visitors on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but I will give Mrs. Reynolds, my housekeeper, your names, and you may go out there any time to see the house and gardens. And I suspect, if in your deliveries to Pemberley you met Mrs. Reynolds, she will remember you. She has a phenomenal ability to remember people and their names.”

  “We have not determined our itinerary yet, but I will give this information to Mr. Gardiner, and I am sure we will make an attempt to visit Pemberley. As I recall, Mr. Gardiner, who is an avid fisherman, wanted to apply to the steward to fish in some of your streams, which I believe are mentioned in The Compleat Angler.”

  “He is most welcome to fish our streams, and he need not take any fishing equipment with him, for we have plenty of it for our guests. Again, I will mention it to Mr. Wilson, my steward, and he will be glad to supply Mr. Gardiner anything he needs.”

  As he was finishing his sentence, the front door opened, and Mr. Gardiner entered the room. Mrs. Gardiner arose, went over to him, took his hand, and led him over to where Bingley and Darcy had arisen to greet him. She made introductions and then filled Mr. Gardiner in on some of the conversation they had been having. Darcy immediately asked Mr. Gardiner about his interest in fishing and strongly encouraged him to visit the streams on Pemberley when he was in the Lambton area. After some more discussion about the Gardiner’s shops and his export/import business, the gentlemen decided to leave.

  As they were putting on their coats and hats in preparation for leaving, Mr. Darcy asked if Elizabeth would be home on Thursday. He was told that she would be helping in the bookstore on Thursday and working at Mr. Gardiner’s office on Friday. If the gentleman wished to call, it would have to be on Saturday, or he could drop by the bookstore and speak with her on Thursday. Mr. Darcy thanked him and said that perhaps he would consider buying some more books for his library on Thursday. Darcy and Bingley then departed.

  On the ride back to Darcy house, both Darcy and Bingley agreed that it had been a very interesting and informative visit. They were very impressed with both of the Gardiners, and if the elder Bennet girls had spent a lot of time with the Gardiners, they could see why they were so different from their sisters. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were very enjoyable people. And they could see the way forward to at least meeting again with the two young ladies that had so taken their hearts.

  Chapter 6: At the Bookstore

  Georgiana came down to breakfast at 8 o’clock and found her brother already there having his second cup of coffee. This was unlike him, because when in town, he usually stayed up late working or reading and then did not make it down to breakfast the next day until 9 o’clock or after. What was even more unusual was that he gave her a big smile and greeted her with, “Good morning, Georgiana. It is good to see you up and around so early.”

  “What do you mean it is good to see me up so early? I am usually here about this time in the morning. It is you being here that is unusual. Why the big smile?”

  Darcy smiled at her again. “I just happen to feel good this morning. In fact, I was wondering if you would like to go shopping with me this morning. I know there is always something that you want at the modiste, and we have not been to the bookstore for a long time. I understand our favorite bookstore has changed hands for the better, and I thought we ought to go see what it was like.”

  “You mean Mr. Cranston does not own the bookstore anymore?”

  “So I was told. I was told the owners of the wine and coffee shop next to it bought it and combined the two stores so that you can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea, or glass of wine, while you are browsing the books.”

  Georgiana readily agreed and just before 10 o’clock they entered their carriage and headed to Grove Street. The first thing they noticed when they pulled up in front of the bookstore was that the front had been redecorated to match the façade of the wine and coffee shop next door and attractive new drapes had been put in the windows. They entered the bookstore and were greeted by a young man, who asked them if he could be of service to them.

  “May I ask if Miss Elizabeth Bennet is here?” asked Darcy, and Georgiana turned to him with a startled look.

  Before she could say anything, young man said, “Yes, she is. She is in the back of the store cataloguing books. May I ask who is calling?”

  “Yes. Please tel
l her that Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and his sister Miss Georgiana would like to speak with her.” The young man nodded, excused himself, and headed toward the back of the store.

  “Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn?” questioned Georgiana. “Is that why you were so anxious to go shopping, and why you had a smile on your face this morning?”

  Darcy did not answer her, and watching the back of the store, soon saw Elizabeth appear and saw her recognize him and head in his direction. When she reached him, she curtsied and said, “Mr. Darcy. My aunt and uncle told me about your visit and said you might come here today. I assume you had no problem finding our new bookstore.”

  “Good morning. Miss Elizabeth. And, of course, I had no trouble finding this place since I spent so much time here when it was Cranston’s Bookstore.” And then turning to Georgiana, he took her hand and turned back to Elizabeth and said, “May I introduce my sister Georgiana to you?”

  The two young ladies curtsied to one another and Elizabeth said, “It is so good to meet you, Miss Darcy. I have heard so much of you from your brother and the Bingleys.”

  “And I to meet you, Miss Bennet,” Georgiana said in a very soft voice. “My brother mentioned you in some of his letters from Netherfield Park and his descriptions intrigued me.” She turned her head to look at her brother, and continued, “It is very unusual for him to mention the young ladies he has met, so I was doubly interested in meeting you.”

  Elizabeth was impressed with Miss Darcy. Wickham had said she was proud, but to Elizabeth she appeared to be somewhat shy, but very pleasant and her manners were perfectly unassuming and gentle. She was quite tall for her age, probably 3 inches taller than Elizabeth, with a well-developed figure, blond hair, and very attractive.

  “Oh dear, I do not know if that’s good or bad. Although I suspect Mr. Darcy is too much of a gentleman to be very severe with me.”

  “Oh no! Why would you think that he would be severe with you? He only spoke of how much he enjoyed listening to you play and sing and how invigorating some of his conversations with you had been. And he did mention that you were different than most of the young ladies of the ton with whom he knew.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “That is another statement I could interpret one of two ways. Is ‘were different’ good or bad?” As she asked this, she looked at Darcy with a questioning look on her face.

  “In this case, definitely good,” answered Darcy. “Do you have time to sit and talk a while, or do you need to get back to your labors?”

  “Oh, I believe my aunt can spare me for a few minutes.” Directing them to a furniture grouping that included a two-person sofa and a chair, they sat, with Darcy in the chair, and Elizabeth on the sofa between Darcy and Georgiana.

  Darcy was very pleased with the reception they had received from Elizabeth and looking at her, he realized that trying to forget her would be impossible. It seemed so natural to be here with her and his sister and enjoying each other’s company. His hopes were rising that he still had a chance with her.

  As soon as they had settled themselves, Georgiana asked, “May I ask what you are doing to help your aunt and uncle?”

  Elizabeth explained that they had recently acquired a rather large collection of books from the library of a man who had died and whose heirs were not interested in his book collection. The heirs had approached her uncle about buying the book collection and had, after some negotiations, reached an agreeable price for which he could buy the books. They had just received the collection of over 800 books the day before, so much work needed to be done cataloguing them, evaluating their condition, and setting a price on them. Also, many of the books were in Latin or Greek or French or Spanish or Italian, and her uncle and aunt needed her knowledge of those languages to be better able to determine the contents of the books and their value.

  Both Georgiana and Darcy were very impressed, and Georgiana expressed their amazement by asking, “You know all those languages?”

  Elizabeth nodded her head and said, “I can read some of them fairly well, at least enough to determine the content. However, the only one of those languages that I can fluently speak is French, because that is the only one for which I have acquaintances with whom I can speak the language. I hope to be able to travel when I am older to other countries so that I can become more fluent in other languages.”

  “This is an accomplishment you never mentioned to us at Netherfield Park,” stated Darcy.

  “There was never any particular reason to so,” said Elizabeth. She smiled and said, “In Miss Bingley’s long list of required accomplishments, I do not think she listed knowing many foreign languages. I suspect she might have thought that I was overqualified in this area.”

  Darcy and Georgiana both laughed and agreed that she was probably correct. The next 15 or 20 minutes they engaged in conversation covering books, the theater, the Season, and the unexpectedly warm weather of the last two days. And then Elizabeth asked, “And when do you intend to return to Pemberley? I assume you spend most of the summer there to miss the heat of the city.”

  “Unfortunately,” replied Darcy, “I have to return there early next week. I have received a letter from my steward, Mr. Wilson, that spring planting is underway and they are about to shear the sheep. I always like to be there for those events and to have meetings with my tenants about their plans for the growing season and to see if they have any needs with which I can help them.”

  Georgiana leaned toward Elizabeth and whispered, “You would never believe it, but he actually gets out there with his men and shears some of the sheep himself. My father’s steward taught him when he was a young boy, and he has loved to do it ever since. However, we have to keep it quiet, because he fears his peers would greatly disapprove of his participation in this activity.”

  Elizabeth laughed, trying to imagine Darcy out in the field with a sheep, in his work clothes, using shears. But in truth, she actually thought that it made him more attractive. To Georgiana she whispered back, “I can well imagine they would not approve, however, I must tell you I think it is commendable that he does it.”

  “What are you two whispering about? I am sure it is about me, and I insist on knowing how I am being criticized.”

  After being assured by Georgiana that it was nothing bad, but that it was their little secret, Darcy said to Elizabeth, “I understand you are traveling with your aunt and uncle to the north in July and August and that you will be stopping by Lambton at some point. I do hope you will let us know and visit us at Pemberley while you are there. I have strongly suggested this to your aunt and uncle, but let me put in a good word with you also. And I am sure Georgiana would love to see you there too.”

  Georgiana clapped her hands together and exclaimed, “Oh that’s wonderful, I would love to have you visit Pemberley. In fact,...” She paused and looked at Darcy, “Did you not tell me that I was the acting mistress of Pemberley until I leave or you are married?” When he acknowledged that he had said that, she said, “then I would like to invite you and your aunt and uncle to visit us at Pemberley and use it as your base for visiting Lambton and the neighborhood. I believe our accommodations are much better than the ones you will find in Lambton.” She then looked at her brother to get his reaction.

  Elizabeth thanked her for the invitation but insisted that they did not want to impose upon the Darcys, and besides, she thought her uncle had already made reservations at the Inn at Lambton. However Darcy assured her that the Inn would have no problem finding persons to take the rooms they would give up and that he and Georgiana would very much enjoy having them stay at Pemberley.

  Elizabeth said that she would speak to her aunt and uncle about it, and if they decided to take up their invitation, they would let Darcy know as soon as they knew the exact dates in their itinerary. She then arose and said, “I really have enjoyed visiting with you” and then looking directly in Mr. Darcy’s eyes, she continued, “and I also hope, Mr. Darcy, that some of the misunderstandings we have had in the past ha
ve been cleared up and put behind us.” After she saw his palpable relief, she concluded, “And now I really must get back to the task at hand, because there are a lot of books that I have to peruse. And once, Miss Darcy, let me say that it truly has been a pleasure to meet you and I hope we can visit again.”

  Georgiana stood, and, to the surprise of Darcy and Elizabeth, very uncharacteristically gave Elizabeth a quick hug, and said, “I have the same hope, and please, do consider our invitation to visit Pemberley. We would love to have you.”

  And with that Elizabeth returned to the back of the shop to go through the books that were awaiting her examination, but she had a very hard time concentrating. Her first meeting with Darcy since the episode in Kent had gone better than she had imagined, and she found it hard not to think of him while she was trying to read the various books.

  Darcy and Georgiana in the meantime spent some time perusing the books in the bookstore and then going next door to the wine and coffee shop to see if it had been changed. Darcy took the opportunity to order a bottle of French wine, for he was on the Gardiner’ s list of “best customers,” even though he had never met the Gardiners before last Tuesday.

  When they entered their carriage, Georgiana decided she did not want to go to the modiste, but wanted to go home and talk to her brother about Elizabeth and his feelings for her. On the way home Darcy went into more detail about his interaction with Elizabeth while he was in Netherfield Park, and after they had arrived and were sitting down to lunch, he told her the big news: that he had proposed to Elizabeth when he was at Rosings and she had refused him. That set off a discussion that went most of the rest of the afternoon.