Page 58

10 th June, 1812

“Mr. Darcy, a carriage is approaching the house.”

“Thank you, Wilton,” Darcy said to his footman. “I will be along in a minute.”

“Yes, sir.”

Darcy quickly inscribed his signature on the letter to his man of business in London and rose to his feet to welcome his guests upon their arrival. He paused briefly by the door to regard himself in the mirror. His clothing was understated and elegant as usual, and his face looked calmer than he felt. Actually, he was wearing what Georgiana called his “forbidding expression”. He practiced a slight smile and was pleased with the results. He must be appropriately welcoming to his guests but not overeager.

His guests.

Miss Elizabeth Bennet, her sister Mary, her father Mr. Bennet and Miss Charlotte Lucas were just arriving for a several week visit to Pemberley.

On one hand, this was madness. He was trying to forget Miss Bennet, and given that goal, bringing her to Pemberley seemed the very worst of decisions. On the other hand, nothing else was working. He had left Hertfordshire determined to put the young lady with her fine eyes out of his mind, and had failed miserably. He still imagined her walking the great halls of Pemberley, still envisioned her seated side by side at the pianoforte with Georgiana playing duets and singing.

No, allowing Miss Bennet to visit would be the quickest way to move past his absurd passion. Surely once he saw her in his home, her unsuitability would shine through. He would, of course, be the consummate host, but he would merely talk courteously and observe, and his soul would calm back to its normal placid state.

He exited through the main door of Pemberley and hurried down the steps as the carriage from Longbourn came to a halt. The door opened and Mr. Bennet emerged with a friendly nod; the man turned and handed out Miss Bennet, Miss Mary and Miss Lucas.

“Welcome to Pemberley,” Darcy said with a polite bow. Yes, that was the right tone; pleasant, but vaguely indifferent, polite, but not fulsome.

“Mr. Darcy, thank you for welcoming us to your home,” Mr. Bennet replied with his own bow.

“Yes, we are very grateful, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth added with a quick curtsey and an awed glance, not at the house, but at the lands surrounding the mansion. “I have never seen a place where nature has done more. You must be exceptionally proud of Pemberley and her lands.”

His heart lurched within him and he found himself responding warmly, “I am, Miss Bennet. I love Pemberley and her lands and her people. I have a house in London, of course, but Pemberley will always be my true home. But come, you must be desirous of freshening up. I will introduce you to my housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, and perhaps we can meet in the drawing room in an hour? I wish to introduce you to my sister, Miss Darcy, and of course you wish to speak to Mr. Collins.”

“That sounds delightful, Mr. Darcy,” Miss Lucas said politely.

***

“Miss Lucas, of course I remember you,” Mr. Collins said with enthusiasm. “Are you interested in possibly becoming my wife?”

Miss Mary choked and Miss Lucas looked briefly astonished before a hint of a smile appeared on her rather plain face, “I confess that I am, Mr. Collins.”

Collins turned his attention on Mary, who was blushing, “I apologize, Miss Mary; I am aware that my skills regarding proper etiquette are nearly non-existent. I need to read more about such things, but I fear that other, more palatable books have distracted me far too many times. I mean no insult to any of you.”

“That is quite all right,” Mary replied, though she still looked uneasy.

“Miss Elizabeth, I understand that you have no desire to become my wife?” Collins continued.

Elizabeth looked up from her quiet discussion with Miss Darcy and smiled, “Yes, sir. I will match bluntness with bluntness; I desire a match based on mutual affection and thus I do not believe we would suit.”

“I approve of your honesty most heartily, Cousin Elizabeth,” Collins declared. “Miss Mary, I am not adept at reading expressions so I must ask; are you disgusted with my peculiarities?”

Mary’s eyes widened and she glanced in horror at her father, who had been watching the unfolding conversation with amused amazement.

“Mr. Collins, you are certainly unsettling my daughter,” he interpolated kindly. “Perhaps I might facilitate a discussion between you, my daughter Mary, and Miss Lucas?”

“That would be most kind, sir!”

Darcy listened to the ensuing conversation for a few minutes and was both surprised and impressed by Mr. Bennet. He knew the man to be well read, but it appeared that when he cared to take the time, he was verbally adept as well. It seemed that Darcy could safely turn his attention to his sister, who was seated near Elizabeth.

When he did so, he found both ladies rising to their feet, and Elizabeth’s beautiful face glowing with enthusiasm. Georgiana, in turn, looked far more relaxed in Miss Bennet’s company than Darcy thought possible after only just being introduced.

“Fitzwilliam, I am going to escort Miss Bennet to Mama’s rose garden. Our guest loves roses and the June varieties are at their very best now. Would you care to join us?”

“I would,” he said immediately, stepping forward eagerly to extend both arms to the ladies. Georgiana and Elizabeth immediately took one arm each and they walked out of the drawing room, through a series of oak paneled halls, and passed through the eastern door which led into the Lady Anne’s rose garden.

“Oh!” Elizabeth breathed in excitement as they halted on the mosaic circle which formed the center of the garden. “Mr. Darcy, Miss Darcy, these are the most astonishing roses I have ever seen!”

“Thank you, Miss Bennet,” Georgiana exclaimed with delight, releasing Darcy’s arm and moving quickly along one of the paths which extended out from the center. “Please, let me show you the Blush Damasks, which are the finest I have ever seen. Mrs. Reynolds tells me that my mother loved them.”

Miss Bennet, with a smile at Darcy, tripped quickly after Georgiana. Darcy trailed along behind them, feeling a strange aching loss at the removal of that small hand from his arm.

“Oh, Miss Darcy, they are absolutely lovely!” Elizabeth agreed, leaning forward to smell one particularly fine bloom. “I have never seen their like!”

“Lady Anne spent many hours in this garden,” Darcy said, looking around fondly. “I was only fourteen years of age when she passed on, so I must have been ten or eleven when we spent hours here working on the plants together, tending and pruning them. We have a full staff of gardeners, of course, who are responsible for keeping the rose garden tended now; when my mother was alive and in full health, she insisted on getting her own hands in the soil.”

Miss Bennet was gazing at him gravely and he frowned a little at her sober demeanor. What had he said?

“Miss Darcy, you must have been young when you lost Lady Anne,” she said, turning towards the girl.

Georgiana nodded sadly but did not blanch, “I was but four years of age, Miss Bennet. I only have the barest fragments of memory of my mother.”

“I am so very sorry. I cannot imagine, and I know you have since lost your father as well.”

“Yes, six years ago, when I was ten years old. It is difficult,” the girl agreed as she glanced at Darcy, “but my brother has been a wonderful guardian.”

Darcy concealed a wince at this. He had failed rather spectacularly to protect Georgie from Wickham. It was only by the grace of God that he had prevented his sister’s elopement with that foul fiend.

“I know he is a most attentive and caring brother,” Miss Bennet agreed sincerely. “While I have you both here, I also wish to express my gratitude – indeed, our family’s gratitude – for your kindness toward Mr. Collins. It is obvious that he is thriving here at Pemberley and there are few places on earth, perhaps, so perfect for a man in his position. My father says he waxes eloquent about the glories of the Pemberley library every time he writes.”

“It has been an honor,” Darcy replied truthfully. “I consider myself an intelligent, well-educated man, but I believe that Mr. Collins has a mind that only appears a few times in a generation. His ability to recall information is astounding enough, but he has a remarkable ability to distill information into a reasonable form and connect it to other, only remotely related data. I am aware that he has developed a correspondence with a number of the finer minds in England, and feel privileged to have him as our guest.”

“I appreciate that he is so forthright,” Georgiana chimed in unexpectedly. “I have been to finishing school, Miss Bennet, to prepare for my coming out. It seems that much of the conversation in the ton is a matter of veiled innuendos and subtle indications. I am rather shy by nature and am nervous when faced with unspoken undercurrents in conversation with others. With Mr. Collins, I always know what he is truly thinking.”

“He is certainly blunt,” Elizabeth agreed with a crease in her brow. “I hope that he does not distress you with his direct speech on, for example, the topic of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”

The two siblings exchanged amused glances and Georgiana actually chuckled, “Not at all, Miss Bennet. My aunt terrifies me, to be entirely honest, and your cousin’s very direct assessment of her overbearing personality is extremely refreshing. Regarding most people, Mr. Collins is plain-spoken but generous. I appreciate that he does not lord his superior intellectual abilities over us lesser mortals. Indeed, he comments often how much he enjoys my playing the pianoforte.”

“I understand you are tremendously adept in that arena, Miss Darcy.”

The girl blushed at this and Darcy said, fondly, “She is truly excellent, Miss Bennet, thanks to natural talent and great devotion to her practicing. Perhaps you and she can play duets together during your stay at Pemberley.”

“Well, as to that, I am sure I will be found wanting, Mr. Darcy, but of course I will perform if you wish. Miss Darcy, I fear that I do not practice as much as I ought; I enjoy walking the paths of my home county and reading books too much.”

“I found you a most enjoyable performer,” Darcy said truthfully.