by Janet Aylmer
“Yes, Sir, I recall us speaking together at the ball, and your dancing with my friend Elizabeth. She has such a facility for that pastime.”
After a pause, she added more thoughtfully, “I myself have few opportunities now to dance in Kent. But I acknowledge that there are many other consolations.”
Darcy recalled what a young lady of his acquaintance from Hertfordshire had said about the marriage between Mr. Collins and the former Miss Charlotte Lucas,
“his friends may well rejoice in his having met with one of the very few sensible women who would have accepted him, or have made him happy if they had. My friend has an excellent understanding though I am not certain that I consider her marrying Mr. Collins as the wisest thing she ever did. She seems perfectly happy, however, and in a prudential light, it is certainly a very good match for her.”
Darcy again thanked her for her trouble in calling, and asked his coachman to take Mrs. Collins to Bond Street, where she could purchase some of the commissions for his aunt.
When she had gone, he reflected that, in his present state of mind, he could not think of anyone he wished to see less than Lady Catherine, and the more so if she wished to pursue her plans for an alliance with his cousin Anne. But he needed an excuse to be absent from London for a few days.
Thus it was that he surprised both his sister and his cousin Fitzwilliam in finding a sudden delight in joining them and renewing his acquaintance with the landscape in Essex, as well as in congratulating his cousin the Viscount and his young wife personally on the recent addition to their family.
By the time Darcy was back in town, a week in advance of his sister, Lady Catherine had travelled on to Kent, leaving behind her a note that left little doubt of her displeasure at not seeing him during her stay in London.
Bingley now also returned to stay in town.
It did not take Darcy long to realise that his friend was still not in the best of spirits. Although he dare not ask him why, it was not difficult to guess. He knew full well that Bingley’s separation from Miss Jane Bennet might be the cause of his distress.
He had much more sympathy with Bingley on this occasion than previously, when his friend had bestowed his affections on other young ladies. There can, Darcy admitted to himself, be no better way of appreciating the sufferings of those whose hearts have really been touched by love than having the same affliction yourself.
The arrival of Bingley’s sisters at Grosvenor Street with Mr. Hurst two days later did little to cheer Darcy.
He was already regretting the invitation that he had extended to them earlier in the year to join his party at Pemberley for a few weeks. He had little patience now for Miss Bingley’s pretensions and, as far as possible, he avoided seeing both sisters, encouraging Bingley to visit them at Mr. Hurst’s house. However, he could not now go back on his invitation. At least they would only be at Pemberley for a few weeks before travelling on to Scarborough.
He was suddenly wild to get back to Derbyshire and the familiar pleasures there. However, since Georgiana was to travel with him, he had to wait a few more days before she returned from Essex and they could set off with Bingley, his sisters and Mr. Hurst.
On the second day of their journey, the party reached the town where he and Georgiana usually stayed overnight, and which was only a few hours’ journey from Pemberley. The Hursts’ carriage had been troublesome, with one of the wheels being far from secure, and it was agreed that it would be better for the carriage to take the last part of the journey very slowly.
He knew that there would be business to attend to at Pemberley with his steward. At the Inn, there was an urgent message sent by the post waiting for him.
Accordingly, Darcy decided to ride on alone with his groom the next day, leaving his sister to travel with Bingley and Mrs. Annesley in his own chaise, and the rest of the party with Mr. Hurst.
“You may need,” said Darcy to his friend the following morning before he left, “to go more slowly and stay another night on the way, if that will enable the other carriage to reach my estate without further mishap.”
21
A few hours later, Darcy rode across the fields and entered the park around Pemberley.
He turned his mount towards the valley leading down the side of the woods, where he knew that he would catch his first sight of the house.
It was one of his favourite rides within the grounds, with the trees as a backcloth to the vista across the lake. Now, in July, the green of the woods was at its best against the colour of the sky.
In those few days at Rosings when he had hoped to bring Elizabeth Bennet to Derbyshire as his bride, he had dreamt of them walking together across that same grass. How briefly that happy reverie had lasted. How much pain and distress had tortured him since April.
Darcy rode down the slope, along the drive and into the stable yard at the back of the house. The stableboy looked surprised as his master came into view, and explained why he had arrived in advance of the rest of the party. Leaving his horse to be unsaddled, Darcy walked slowly through the arch into the garden at the side, and went to turn towards the house.
As he came out into the sunlight from the shade of the buildings, he saw a lady walking slowly towards him. There was something familiar about the figure . . .
Then he stopped suddenly, immobile, totally startled.
There in front of him, and from her expression equally surprised, was Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
They were within twenty yards of each other, and their eyes instantly met, the cheeks of each being overspread with the deepest blush.
To begin with, Darcy could not move, could not speak, he was so taken by surprise. Then he forced himself to recover sufficiently to draw closer. Walking forward until he was a few feet from her, he tried to speak calmly as he enquired about her health, and then that of her family.
Before he began, she took a step as though to move away but, as he addressed her, she turned back and answered him.
In contrast to their last meeting in the parsonage at Hunsford, Miss Bennet hardly looked at him, and her replies to Darcy’s pleasantries were as confused as were his questions to her. Despite his state of mind, he was aware that his enquiries, as to the time of her having left Longbourn, and about her stay in Derbyshire, were so frequent and put in so hurried a manner, as must plainly speak the distraction of his thoughts.
As he spoke, he was conscious of his gardener close by. He was also aware, although less clearly, of a lady and gentleman of fashion a short distance back, as though they might be in company with Miss Bennet.
Eventually, every idea failed him and, after standing a few moments without saying a word, he finally recollected himself. Very conscious that his manner of speaking had none of its usual sedateness, Darcy took his leave of her, bowed, and walked swiftly away.
By the time that he had entered the house, Darcy’s agitation of mind had resolved on only two matters.
First, Miss Elizabeth Bennet was at that moment still within the grounds of Pemberley.
Second, his overwhelming desire was to encounter her again before she left.
As he took the stairs towards his dressing room at a rapid pace, he sent one of his servants to see how far the visitors had gone in walking towards their carriage.
When he had changed from his travel stained clothes a few minutes later, the message had come back that the carriage awaited them still, as the gentleman accompanying the young lady had told the coachman that they were to take the walk by the side of the water. Darcy’s gardener had been asked to act as their guide along the way.
That route led further along the stream towards a fine reach of the woods and onto some of the higher grounds. There, the opening of the trees gave charming views of the valley and the hills opposite with the woods enclosing both sides of the stream. If they had taken the circuit around the lake, that would bring the visitors after some time in a descent back towards the house, past the edge of the water.
Darcy almost ra
n from the house and took the route in the opposite direction from that the visitors had taken. After a few minutes, he came to the steep walk amidst the rough coppicewood in one of its narrowest parts beyond a bridge. At this point, the twists and turns of the path revealed from time to time the path further along the stream. He walked swiftly on.
Eventually, at one of these glimpses of the route ahead, he caught sight of Miss Bennet and her companions coming slowly along that part of the path towards him. He slowed his pace a little and, as they came nearer, Darcy tried hard to compose himself.
Uppermost in his mind were Miss Bennet’s comments at their last meeting in Kent about his behaviour. He remembered so well what she had said:
“your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others . . .”
He was only too well aware that he might only have this one opportunity to redeem himself in her eyes. He had long since ceased to deceive himself that any other course would secure his own happiness.
When they met, he greeted her with all the civility he could muster.
She responded in equal politeness by beginning to admire the beauty of the place, saying how delightful and charming it was. He was puzzled that she then stopped speaking abruptly, as though in confusion. In this pause, he asked her if she would do him the honour of introducing her two companions, who were standing a little behind her.
He was not quite sure of her expression. She almost smiled, and then said that they were her uncle and aunt, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, from Cheapside in London.
Darcy had taken them for people of fashion. But he was quick to greet them. With Miss Bennet and her aunt in front, Darcy turned to walk back towards the way he had come.
He soon found in conversation with Mr. Gardiner that he was a cultivated and intelligent man with pleasant manners and a wide range of interests. He expressed a lively curiosity about country pursuits and, for someone who lived in the city, was unexpectedly well informed about them.
The conversation turning to fishing, Darcy invited Mr. Gardiner to fish there as often as he chose, while he continued in the neighbourhood, and offered to supply him with tackle. As they passed alongside the water, he asked the gardener to point out those parts of the stream where there was usually most sport.
After some time, they reached a part of the path close to the brink of the river, and drew close to the water to inspect a plant. At this moment, Mrs. Gardiner sought her husband’s arm, confessing some fatigue from the exercise of the morning.
Darcy was secretly delighted by this alteration, since it enabled him to take his place by her niece, and they walked on ahead of the others together.
After a short silence, she spoke, wishing him to know that she had been assured of his absence before she came to the place.
“I understand that your arrival had been very unexpected,” she said quickly, “for your housekeeper informed us that you would certainly not be here till to-morrow; and indeed, before we left Bakewell, we understood that you were not immediately expected in the country.”
“You are quite right,” he said, half turning to steal a glance at her as he spoke, “for business with my steward had occasioned me coming forward a few hours before the rest of the party.”
“They will join me early tomorrow,” he continued, “and among them are some who will claim an acquaintance with you. They are Mr. Bingley and his sisters.”
Miss Bennet answered only by a slight bow.
At that moment, Darcy knew that he himself coloured, his mind instantly driven back to when Bingley’s name had been last mentioned between them. He dared not look, but surmised that hers might be similarly engaged. They walked on a little in silence, their minds thus occupied. Darcy was anxiously considering whether she might agree to an application from him concerning Georgiana.
“There is also one other person in the party,” he continued after this pause, “who more particularly wishes to be known to you. Will you allow me,...or do I ask too much . . . to introduce my sister to your acquaintance during your stay at Lambton?”
She replied to this with what appeared to him to be pleasure, if not ease, and he engaged to bring Georgiana to the inn at Lambton where they were staying as soon as he could, after his sister’s arrival at Pemberley.
They then walked on in silence, soon outstripping the slower pace of her uncle and aunt. When they reached the carriage at the side of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were some way behind.
After another pause, Darcy ventured to ask Miss Bennet whether she would take some refreshment inside the house, for he most dearly wished to show her some aspects that might commend Pemberley to her.
However, she declared herself not tired, and preferring to admire the view.
Again there was silence between them, and so many subjects that he thought to pursue were linked with unhappy memories from the past. At last, Miss Bennet began, rather tentatively, to talk of travelling. Her uncle’s need to return soon to his business had required them to reduce the extent of their journey, which had been intended to take them to the Lakes. But they had seen Blenheim and Chatsworth, as well as Matlock and Dove Dale.
Her aunt, who had lived some years ago in Lambton, had wished to revisit the village, and had then suggested that they should visit Pemberley.
Miss Bennet again repeated that their understanding had been that the family was not at home, or they would not have planned to call at the house. He in turn expressed his pleasure at having the opportunity of renewing their acquaintance, and of meeting her uncle and aunt. This conversation occupied the time well enough until Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner came across the lawn to join them.
Darcy again pressed his visitors to go into the house and take some refreshment; but this was declined, although with the greatest civility.
He then handed the ladies into the carriage and, as it drove off, walked slowly towards the house.
On his way across the hall, he encountered the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds.
“I understand that you have had visitors to see Pemberley today?” he said.
“Yes, Sir. I would not have admitted them if I had known that you were to be at home. But I understood from the young lady that you had met her before. Her aunt told me that she had heard much of you from her niece.”
This was welcome news to Darcy. For Elizabeth Bennet to have spoken of himself, and to have seen something of Pemberley, was what he had wanted to hear.
“There is nothing to regret; indeed, I am very glad that they were able to see the house. The young lady lives near Netherfield, the place that Mr. Bingley took last Michaelmas, in Hertfordshire. As they are staying at Lambton, they may be able to visit us again, once Miss Georgiana has arrived tomorrow.”
22
In the past, Darcy had prided himself in being able to com-pose his mind in any situation, if only by avoiding those occasions which could disturb him.
It was as well that he had urgent business to discuss with his steward, for otherwise he would have found himself making very little use of the rest of that day.
In particular, he needed to decide how he could detach Georgiana from Bingley’s sisters as soon as might be, so that he could introduce his sister to Miss Bennet.
How much he now wished that he had heeded Georgiana’s reluctance to invite the ladies and Mr. Hurst to accompany Bingley to Derbyshire, even though that had been his practice in the past.
The sooner he could introduce Georgiana to Miss Bennet, the more opportunity he would have to see her during the remainder of her stay in Lambton. He so dearly wished to see her again at Pemberley. How he longed to know whether she might have seen some improvement and softening in his speech and conversation, and an absence of that arrogance, and ability to offend and insult, which she had discerned previously in Kent.
When Darcy recalled his severity in addressing the habits of her family, what irony there now was in discovering the intelligence, manners and good humour of those very relatives from Cheaps
ide that Miss Bingley had ridiculed last winter at Netherfield.
Despite the distractions which he found to occupy him, the rest of the day seemed to take so long to pass, and the night the more so, that on the morrow, it seemed impossible that less than a few hours had elapsed since his sudden encounter with Miss Bennet.
However, he was in a very much more cheerful frame of mind than he had been for several months. It should be possible during Miss Bennet’s stay at Lambton for them to meet on more than one occasion.
Darcy had left Georgiana to travel with Bingley and Mrs. Annesley, with Mr. and Mrs. Hurst and Caroline Bingley to follow in Mr. Hurst’s equipage.
It was therefore with some surprise that he saw only his own chaise make its way up the drive towards the house in good time the following morning.
It transpired that the Hursts’ carriage had been delayed by another problem with one of the wheel bearings. The innkeeper at the town where they had spent the night hoped it could be repaired within half a day.
Darcy’s other guests were therefore likely to be coming some hours later.
He wasted no time in taking advantage of this unexpected opportunity. When Bingley went to his room to change soon after their arrival, he went to seek out his sister. He found her examining with delight the new piano-forte that he had purchased, as a surprise present for her arrival at Pemberley.
“Georgiana, I have most welcome news. Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the young lady we last spoke of in town, is staying at Lambton with her uncle and aunt. I have said that we will call on them together, once you arrived. Would you be willing to go with me today, once you have had a late breakfast? I should prefer that, rather than wait until tomorrow.”
His sister very readily agreed to this plan, and Darcy then went in search of his friend.
“So you see, Bingley,” he ended in explaining the news about the unexpected visitors from Hertfordshire, “I shall have ample time to make the journey to Lambton with Georgiana and then return before your sisters arrive with Mr. Hurst. Will you excuse us both for a short while?”