by Greer Boyd
Gabby placed her hand over her heart and laughed, “It will be my pleasure to make garments for all of you. When should I have them ready?”
Darcy looked down to Elizabeth’s face from where he stood behind her chair, then answered crisply, “It will be at least another couple of weeks before Elizabeth is able to ride, but I think that Mary’s and Miss Lucas’ attire as well as that of the children should be completed quickly so that they can begin their riding lessons as soon as possible.”
David and Richard chimed in almost simultaneously, “I agree,” then looked at one another and laughed, arms entwined on their shoulders with brotherly affection.
Aunt Eleanor and Anne sat farther back in their chairs and exchanged knowing glances. Aunt Eleanor was the only person other than Anne’s solicitor who knew the nature, although not the specifics, of Anne’s wishes for both Charlotte and Richard.
∞∞∞
The following day when Aunt Eleanor, Annabel, and Darcy joined Elizabeth for breakfast they noted she was doing much better and could move her head more freely without becoming nauseous. Still, she continued to have horrid headaches whenever she sat up quickly or moved abruptly.
After breakfast, Anne Elizabeth and Thomas again came to Elizabeth’s bedchamber, but when Thomas asked plaintively to be lifted up, Darcy responded warmly, but firmly, “Just a moment.” Then, looking toward Aunt Eleanor and Annabel, he said, “Master Thomas Mills, I would like to introduce you to Lady Annabel Fitzwilliam.”
With only a slight nudge from Darcy, Thomas performed his bow and then giggled, “Pretty.”
Her cheeks a light pink, Annabel curtsied to him and responded, “Thank you, Master Thomas.”
Darcy picked up both children and placed them on the foot of the bed. As they scampered up to Elizabeth’s side, she hugged them closely for a few moments. Then, smiling brightly at them, she announced, “Anne Elizabeth, your father has a surprise waiting for you today at the stable. He has a pony for you to see.”
“A pony?” the little girl queried, eyes bright with expectation. “Yes, Sweeting,” replied Darcy. Then turning his attention to Thomas, a twinkle in his eye, he pronounced, “And Master Thomas, there is a pony for you, too. Would you like to go look at them now?”
“Yes - - peez,” replied Thomas smiling almost as brightly as had his mother. Then, as though there was an echo in the room, Anne Elizabeth gushed, “Yes - - peez,” as well.
“My love, do you mind if I cut the children’s visit with you short this morning so as to let them choose their ponies?” asked Darcy, somewhat abashedly looking from Elizabeth to his aunt and cousin.
“Not at all, but I will be very interested to hear about their selections,” smiled Elizabeth as she examined one small face and then the other.
“Then you certainly shall. Children, tell Mrs. Mills goodbye, and we shall go to the stable.”
Elizabeth hugged and kissed the children before they slid off of the side of the bed to join Darcy, who leaned down, kissed her forehead, and murmured huskily, “Until later.”
Then, hand in hand, he and the children hurried from the room with Annabel and the nurse following closely behind. When they neared the stable, Darcy stopped and spoke genially to the eager little boy. “Master Thomas,” he asked. “Would you stay with Nurse Lauren while Anne Elizabeth chooses her pony? Then, I will come for you so that you may make your own choice.”
“Yes, Papa,” he answered before he spotted the discarded ball behind a rose bush and began to roll it to his nurse, who had gotten down on her knees to play with him.
In the stable, Annabel was surprised to find six pairs of the tiniest ponies that she had ever seen, grouped by the colour of their coats: black, white, dappled gray, chestnut brown, roan, and a colour that could only be described as silver.
Watching the expression on her face, Darcy was quick to explain, “I know that the children will soon outgrow them, but the confidence they will gain while they are still very young will make them much better riders later.”
She giggled, “You sound just like Richard. When he got me my new pony last year, he said that he was glad that he had started with the much smaller pony while I was still quite young.” Then dropping her voice, she asked conspiratorially, “Which colour do you think they will choose?”
“That is exactly what I am interested to see and why I wanted them to make their selection independent of one another,” explained Darcy, also almost in a whisper. “I believe that they will both choose the silver, or Thomas will choose the black and Anne Elizabeth will choose the dappled gray.”
“Why those colours, Cousin?” she queried, turning her head to again look at the ponies more closely.
“Well, the silver because the ponies almost look magical like the unicorns they have heard about in fairy tales, or the black and dappled gray because they are the colours of my and Mrs. Mills’ horses,” Darcy explained.
“Then I hope it will be the silver,” Annabel glanced back toward the stable, “because that is the colour I would choose.”
Darcy had his groomsman bring the ponies out of the stall one group at a time, and as soon as Anne Elizabeth saw the silver pony, she pulled on Darcy’s hand to let her pet the little mare’s nose.
“Is that the one that you want, sweeting?” asked Darcy as he knelt on one knee beside her.
“Yes,” she reached out her hand as the pony lowered its head so she could rub between its ears, “peez.”
“Then it shall be yours. Shall we go back to Nurse Lauren so Thomas may come and make his choice?” offered Darcy. Once back in the flower garden, he took the young boy by the hand and walked toward the stable. As he left Anne Elizabeth to play with the nurse, the ball game resumed.
Once at the stable, Darcy had the groomsman again bring each group of ponies in the same order that they had been presented to Anne Elizabeth. As soon as the silver pair was brought from the stall, Thomas almost ran to the little gelding and threw his arms around his neck. “Pretty,” he cried as Darcy laughed and looked at Annabel. Seeing her questioning look, he demurred: “Over the last handful of days, they have both independently and jointly made choices of great similarity, but I truly did not know precisely which ponies that they would choose. It was only supposition.”
“Cousin, I will go to Mama and Mrs. Mills and let them know which ponies were chosen,” quipped Annabel as she skipped quickly away from Darcy, indicating that although she was on the cusp of becoming a young woman in some ways she was still very much a little girl. “I will ask Nurse Lauren to bring Anne Elizabeth to join you here at the stable.”
As his daughter came from the flower garden to the stable, Darcy asked the groomsman to saddle both ponies. He had purchased matching saddles and tack along with the ponies, one side-saddle and two astride, since he wanted Anne Elizabeth to learn how to ride both ways, but for now, she would learn to ride side.
CHAPTER 12
The day of Georgiana’s presentation was filled with activity. As preposterous as it sounded, months and weeks of work had been spent in preparation for only a very few moments in front of the Queen.
Because of Darcy’s mourning, and more importantly her own personal preference, Georgiana had responded with “no she would not be attending” to the invitations she had received for the many balls that were being given the night following the presentations. Instead, she had asked her brother for a large dinner party with family and close friends. Mrs. Wyatt was ecstatic that the house would be filled with guests, since it had not been used so in many years. With the Darcys, the Fitzwilliams and several of their very close friends, the Gardiners and their oldest son Nathan, the Bennets, the Bingleys, Anne and Charlotte, the Doves, Gabby and her sisters, Mr. Fleming and his betrothed and her family, and Mr. Grove, the dinner party consisted of approximately fifty persons.
That night, Georgiana stood between her brother and her aunt and uncle in the great foyer of Darcy House to welcome the guests on their arrival. When Mr. Fleming
and his party arrived, he introduced them starting with his betrothed, Miss Rebecca D’Arcy, and her sister and brother, Miss Maryann and Mr. Piers D’Arcy, cousins of Madame Claudine and her sisters.
Since Mr. Fleming and his group were the last to arrive and be greeted, Georgiana, Darcy, and Uncle James and Aunt Eleanor moved with them from the foyer to the sitting room above stairs where everyone was being introduced around to become better acquainted before going in to dinner. Elizabeth and Jane had been brought down to the sitting room earlier, and were seated close to one another in chairs that faced one of several couches. After being introduced, Lord Dove asked if he and Lady Dove might join them.
“Of course, Your Grace,” replied Elizabeth as she bowed her head slightly in deference to his rank.
“Mrs. Mills,” stated Lord Dove warmly, “you may not know this, but our daughter Amanda often wrote to us of her correspondence and growing friendship with you.”
Elizabeth immediately became somewhat apprehensive about how Amanda’s parents might feel about her current relationship with Darcy. Quickly sensing her concern, Lady Dove reached over to gently place her hand on Elizabeth’s. “Mrs. Mills, Elizabeth, if I may presume to call you that, please do not be apprehensive. Darcy has spoken with both of us. His marriage to our daughter was one of convenience for each of them. Of course, we had hoped for more; but . . .” quickly glancing to her husband who immediately took her hand, “that was not to be. We can only be grateful that one of them has finally found true love and happiness. I must tell you that you are very like our Amanda in many ways.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth looked up from where Lady Dove now clasped her hand into the face that appeared almost regal yet full of warmth, “she often wrote to me with sisterly confidences. I do so much miss my correspondence with her.”
As Lady Dove squeezed Elizabeth’s hand once more before releasing it, she urged, “Now, tell us about our granddaughter.”
Elizabeth laughed and began to tell them some of the events of the last few days, with Jane filling in some of the parts of which her sister may not have been aware. When they heard of Anne Elizabeth’s part in her recovery, they could not but think that it was a sign from Amanda.
While Elizabeth and Jane had been talking with the Doves, Georgiana had been slowly circling the room, making a point of conversing with everyone and making introductions whenever necessary, though since almost everyone knew everyone else, such introductions were needed infrequently.
The sitting room opened into the music room separated only by tall floor to ceiling doors that now rested folded against the walls on either side of the room. Georgiana found that Gabby’s cousin Piers D’Arcy had wandered to the piano and was seated on the bench. Ever mindful of propriety, she made sure that she was clearly visible to all within the sitting room as she came to the piano where she conversed with him.
Bella had told her that Piers was a young man of two and twenty. He had been a soldier during the recent war; and, since her sister Gabby had brought him, his sisters, and their aunt from France, he had been working with Mr. Fleming. His sisters were seamstresses and worked with her at the modiste.
Coming closer to Piers, Georgiana lightly rested her hand on the piano, as she stood in the curve of the instrument, and asked, “Sir, do you play?”
“Yes,” he chuckled with a bit of a modest smile as he looked up at her. “I have played since I was a child. I love music, and I compose as well.”
“That he does,” elaborated Bella, as she walked over to her cousin with a happy countenance that began to betray a bit of sadness. “We were so afraid for him during the war. Afraid that he might be injured and no longer able to play or that he might be killed and never return.” She walked to his side, placed her hand on his arm, and in a lightened air requested that he play the opening of the piece he was currently working on.
“Yes. Please do, Mr. D’Arcy,” urged Georgiana as she placed her hands firmly atop the instrument. “I would like very much to hear it.”
As Piers sat at the piano for a moment stroking his fingers over the keys, appreciation for the instrument quite evident in his eyes, she said softly, “It is a recent gift from my brother. He encourages me and often purchases new music for me to play as well.”
When he started to play, the strand of music began to sweep over Georgiana. So touched was she by the mellifluous sound, that tears gently started to run down her cheek without her even being aware that they were there. After playing for a few minutes, Piers looked up and saw her reaction. He immediately stopped playing. “I am so sorry. I did not mean to make you sad.”
“Oh no, I am not sad. It is just so . . . beautiful that it moved me . . . so much,” uttered Georgiana as she looked fully into his face for the first time. What she saw there was a deep sadness, something that she had seen before in the face of her cousin Richard. Was it the war? She knew that the war had changed Richard. What had it done to this young man? Inexplicably, somehow she felt drawn to find out.
Having heard the music being played and abruptly cease, Richard offered Charlotte his arm, and then escorted her to the piano. He looked openly at Piers, “Gabby told me that you were in the war. You must have been quite young.”
“Yes. I was in the war for only one battle.” From Richard’s expression, he knew that he was looking at one of his former opponents. “I was not quite seven and ten when the soldiers came to my aunt’s door. Several of them grabbed me and told my aunt that I was now a grenadier in the French army. For two weeks, I was forced to throw grenade-sized rocks as fast and as far as I could. Then, quite abruptly, very early in the morning the other conscripts and I were taken to a field outside of the town of Waterloo. We sat there for more than six hours before the emperor signaled for the battle to begin. We threw grenades from noon until almost evening, until the Prussians arrived, the battle lost, and the emperor defeated.”
A sudden wave of sadness gave his face the appearance of thoughts that had taken him far away, “Sometimes I cannot get the sights or smells or sounds of the battle out of my head, so I make music to help me remember how it used to be, how I used to be . . . before that day.”
“I understand more than you know,” stated Richard flatly, as he companionably touched the shoulder of the young man. When Piers looked up at him tentatively, he repeated, “More than you know.”
Seeing the look on Piers’ face, Georgiana was almost overwhelmed by a feeling of protective tenderness. How could she bear it? She knew that from that day on she would do whatever she could to make sure that Mr. Piers D’Arcy did not have to bear alone the pain she had seen mirrored in her cousin’s eyes.
As Richard and Charlotte stood by, Georgiana moved so that she sat beside Piers on the bench and asked him to play the portion of music again. As he began to play, she softly joined him, playing the chords in unison with the notes that he played.
The music was so beautiful that all conversation in the sitting room stilled until Piers and Georgiana stopped playing, then the room exploded with great applause. To Piers it seemed that Georgiana could see directly into his heart; and, for the first time since that terrible day at Waterloo, a broad smile broke across his face.
Looking at Georgiana’s hands as they rested on the piano, he had an almost overwhelming desire to take them into his own. Gaining control before he put action to desire, he redirected his thoughts, “That is a lovely ring that you wear.”
Stretching her fingers out so that he could better see the ring, she said, “Thank you. It is a much smaller version of the one my brother has worn most of his life. However, mine was altered somewhat to look more feminine.”
“I have a similar ring that I wear as well,” countered Piers as Georgiana peered at his bare fingers doubtfully. Noticing the expression on her face, he laughed, “It is very old, so I do not wear it on my hand. Instead I wear it in a small pouch around my neck.” As he began to reach for the pouch, Mrs. Wyatt called for dinner to begin.
Aunt Eleano
r, her voice a reflection of her regal manner, announced that there would be no procession going in to dinner, since the seating had not been designated with the exception of the places for Jane and Elizabeth. Charles carried Jane to her seat, and Darcy carefully carried Elizabeth to hers. The rest of the assemblage followed a bit behind and then sat wherever they felt comfortable.
At the end of the meal when everyone quietly began to go to rooms prepared so that they might refresh themselves, both Jane and Elizabeth begged to be excused for the evening. Since they were not fully recovered as yet, they tired more quickly than the others. Georgiana excused herself for a few minutes to accompany her brother as he carried Elizabeth to her bedchamber. Then, the brother and sister each took a few moments to refresh themselves in their respective bedchambers. When they came down the stairs to again enter the sitting room, Mr. Grove quietly pulled them aside.
“Darcy, have you had an opportunity to look over the material that came from Pemberley today?” he asked pointedly.
“No, I have not,” Darcy replied. Then, realizing he had forgotten to inform Georgiana that the items he had requested from Pemberley had arrived earlier that evening, he turned to apologize to her.