Page 60

“Come in,” Charlotte Lucas called out, and displayed no surprise when Elizabeth Bennet stepped cautiously through the door into her sitting room. The midday meal had been served and since the day was very hot, the ladies had retired to their chambers to rest.

“I was expecting you, Lizzy,” Charlotte said with a chuckle. “Please do sit down. I begged some cold water from an obliging maid. Would you like some?”

“Certainly,” Elizabeth agreed, sitting down next to her friend and glancing around curiously. All the bedchambers for guests were pleasant ones and given the style in the rest of the mansion, Elizabeth guessed that they had been decorated by Lady Anne herself. The furnishings were elegant and understated, but none bore the marks of the current rage for Egyptian and classically themed rooms. This particular sitting room was a sea of soothing greens and blues, which suited Charlotte perfectly.

Elizabeth accepted the cup of cold water and gazed intently at her friend, who gazed back.

After a full minute of silence, Charlotte chuckled, “Yes, Elizabeth, I am entirely confident about my decision to marry Mr. Collins.”

Elizabeth sighed, “My dear Charlotte, I wish you all health and happiness and I confess I am concerned. You do not know Mr. Collins well, and to accept his hand with such limited knowledge seems unwise. I realize, of course, that I paved the way for you to come to Pemberley to see whether you and Mr. Collins were compatible. But Charlotte, we have been here but a few days. I thought you and Mary would spend time with him over the course of weeks! I do not intend to disparage Mr. Collins in any way; he is undoubtedly an amazing individual and a worthy man, unlike his former persona. He was completely impossible before the ball at Netherfield. ”

“I would have accepted Mr. Collins’s hand in marriage before his fall,” Charlotte replied matter-of-factly.

“Surely not, Charlotte! He was an absurd, groveling fool!”

“He was also respectable, a clergyman, heir to Longbourn and held a valuable living. I wish so much for a home of my own, for children. No, Elizabeth, I would not have hesitated. As it is, I truly consider myself the most blessed of women, for Mr. Collins is far more amazing a man than I dreamed I would wed.”

Elizabeth frowned at this, “I do not pretend to understand your perspective, Charlotte, but now I am concerned about something else. What of the living in Kent? It seems unwise for you to return to Hunsford given Mr. Collins’s reaction to Lady Catherine.”

“I agree that it would not do at all. I hope that Mr. Collins would not react so poorly after months of recovery here at Pemberley, but he would doubtless insult Lady Catherine quite thoroughly, resulting in unpleasant verbal explosions from his patroness. No, Mr. Collins will give up the living in Kent and take one about ten miles from here in the small town of Bastow. Mr. Darcy has offered it to Mr. Collins as the current rector is 78 years of age and eager to retire.”

“Is it a valuable living?”

“It is worth about 250 pounds a year, Elizabeth. That is not a great deal, but it will be enough, especially as Mr. Collins is writing for Sydney Smith now and will earn some money that way. Mr Darcy tells me that the glebe attached to the house is extensive, and next year we can have a large garden and chickens and perhaps a pig ...”

Elizabeth leaned forward and grasped her friend’s hands tightly, “You do look very happy, Charlotte, and I am happy for you.”

“I am happy for me too. Now, let us speak of you, Lizzy.”

“Me?”

“Yes. I am now engaged to a fine man. Should you not turn your attention to Mr. Darcy in the hopes of garnering an offer?”

Her friend blushed to the roots of her hair and jumped to her feet. She walked quickly over to the south facing window and stared out blankly.

“Lizzy?”

She turned around to face Charlotte, her face pinched, “Oh, do you not see, Charlotte? It is hopeless.”

“You love him?” Charlotte asked in surprise.

Elizabeth shook her head and slowly resumed her place next to her friend.

“I am not in love with Mr. Darcy, no. I think, indeed, I am quite sure, that I could love Mr. Darcy if I let myself. But my dear friend, look around you! We are staying at Pemberley! Ten thousand pounds a year and a large estate in Derbyshire sounded very impressive when I heard of it in Meryton, but I had no idea what this estate was truly like. Mr. Darcy is nephew to an earl, handsome, intelligent and quite incredibly rich. He is destined to marry a wealthy woman with wonderful connections, not a poor gentleman’s daughter from the country.”

“Now that is not the Elizabeth that I love,” Charlotte commented disapprovingly. “You know your own worth, I hope. You are intelligent, handsome and a most committed daughter, sister and friend. Any man would be privileged to marry you.”

Elizabeth rubbed her forehead with an unquiet hand, “It is not that I ... oh, Charlotte, I do not suffer from a lack of self-confidence. You know that! But Mr. Darcy has more than his own desires to consider in choosing a wife. He has his sister’s needs to take into account, and indeed his devotion to Miss Darcy is admirable! He has the future to consider for the sake of his children and indeed all of Pemberley. There are so many who depend on the Darcy family for their well-being; all the tenants and clergymen, all the people of Lambton who derive income from Darcy holdings. I just do not wish ...”

“To be disappointed? Now who is being ridiculously sensible, Eliza? You would, I think, be a wonderful match for Mr. Darcy. Perhaps he will not offer for you but then again, perhaps he will. I will say this, Elizabeth; he watches you a great deal. He did back in Hertfordshire, and he does here as well.”

“Perhaps it is merely absence of mind?”

“If so, he could just as well look at his sister or Mr. Bennet. No, I truly believe there is admiration in his gaze.”

“I cannot believe it. Nor will I humiliate myself or anyone else by throwing myself at Mr. Darcy as Miss Bingley did.”

Charlotte laughed aloud at this, “Now that I know you would never do. But do give the man a chance, Elizabeth. I believe you would be very well suited; perhaps you are correct and he feels obligated to make a match with a woman of fortune and connection, but then again, perhaps not.”

***

“Miss Mary?”

“Oh!” Mary cried out in astonishment and embarrassment. “I am so sorry, Miss Darcy ...”

“Not at all,” the girl replied as she walked into the music room. “I know that you enjoy performing on the pianoforte and you are certainly welcome to play this one. My brother purchased it for me only eight months ago and it has a splendid tone and timbre.”

Mary Bennet turned and looked down at the gleaming pianoforte with awe and a minor stab of envy. It was an absolutely glorious instrument, far better than the one at Longbourn.

“You are quite certain?” she asked Georgiana meekly. “I would not wish to prevent you from practicing.”

“Not at all,” her blonde hostess insisted. “I have some new music and I wish to study the score. If you are willing to play, it will provide a delightful accompaniment.”

Mary smiled in gratitude and began looking through the music set on a nearby table, as Georgiana plucked several pieces of music from a drawer.

The third Bennet daughter had just selected a favorite piece when the door to the music room suddenly swung open, a man rushed through, and the door was closed quickly but quietly.

Both ladies froze in astonishment and mild alarm, and then Georgiana chuckled.

“Mr. Martyn?” she inquired.

The man in question turned toward the ladies, his blue eyes wide as saucers, “Miss Darcy, I am so very sorry for intruding on you! I apologize most profusely! I understood all the ladies were above stairs. I really am quite horrified. I will leave immediately!”

“That is quite all right, Mr. Martyn. Please do stay long enough to meet one of our guests.” Georgiana suggested. “Miss Mary, may I introduce Mr. Martyn, steward of the small estate where Mr. Collins will soon be serving as rector. Mr. Martyn is the younger brother of one of Fitzwilliam’s friends from Cambridge. He successfully studied law but prefers working as a steward than in a dusty law office. Is that not true, Mr. Martyn?”

“Indeed it is,” Mr. Martyn replied fervently. “I was always following my father’s steward around our family estate in Norfolk County. I am most grateful to Mr. Darcy for giving me the opportunity to learn from his steward here at Pemberley, and now I have been given employment at the Darcy estate at Bastow.”

“Mr. Martyn is also a great favorite of our cook,” Georgiana continued with a glance at the man’s hand, where he was clutching a scone.

The man flushed even more but managed a bow toward Mary, who curtsied in return as she did a careful inspection of the intruder. He was a very tall man, even taller than Mr. Darcy, though very thin. She estimated he was some five and twenty years of age, and he sported a shock of very red hair.

“Mr. Martyn, it is very pleasant to meet you. Mr. Collins is one of my distant cousins.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Were you wishing to use the pianoforte?” Mary asked curiously. The young man seemed to be suffering some deep sense of embarrassment; perhaps he enjoyed playing the instrument, rarely had the opportunity, and had crept in here for some surreptitious playing time?

“No, no,” the young man replied, looking even more embarrassed. “No, the truth is, well, I heard Mr. Collins’s voice coming down the corridor and I was not ready to speak to him, so I fled in here hoping to avoid him. He is so intelligent, you see, and he always asks questions I cannot answer. I am quite fearful that he will think me a supreme idiot once he has moved to Bastow and we interact on a regular basis.”

Georgiana and Mary exchanged amused glances and Mary laughed, “I assure you that Mr. Collins makes us all feel quite foolish at times, Mr. Martyn. He is genuinely brilliant, is he not?”

“He is,” the man stated, his face relaxing. “He is incredibly gifted. Mr. Darcy is, of course, a very intelligent man but Mr. Collins is on a different plane.”

“We all feel that way at times, Mr. Martyn,” Georgiana said warmly. “I assure you, though, that Mr. Collins is an honorable and kindly man. He does not look down upon us poor mortals whose minds do not move with such great rapidity.”

“I do apologize for intruding, Miss Darcy, Miss Mary. I should go out and, er ...”

“Brave my cousin?” Mary asked with amusement.

“Precisely. Miss Darcy, Miss Mary, I bid you good day.”

He left as rapidly as he came, and Mary found herself staring after him. A minute later, she came out of her reverie and discovered Georgiana gazing at her curiously.

“He seems an interesting young man,” Mary commented, rather awkwardly.

“Yes,” Georgiana agreed, looking down at her music. “My brother thinks much of him, and Mr. Martyn may be the next steward of Pemberley when the current steward retires, though that is likely many years away. I know he seems uncertain, but he is most diligent, sensible and intelligent. I also feel at ease with him; he is friendly but respectful, kind but not fulsome. His father is a gentleman but not a wealthy one, and the estate and its limited income will go to his older brother. Thus Mr. Martyn needs employment.”

“Oh!” Mary replied thoughtfully.