Page 54 of Five Gentlemen at Netherfield (Pride and Prejudice Variations)

Sitting Room

Pemberley

Noon

The gardens of Pemberley were a vast carpet of yellow and white and orange daffodils tossing their bold heads in every slight breeze, interspersed with the more delicate pale yellow of primroses, while the last late snowdrops bowed over towards the ground and hollyhocks stood tall and proud like ranks of soldiers.

The air was alive with bees and butterflies, covered in pollen as they went about their business.

The first early morning sun had crept out of the east sitting room, leaving it cool and softly lit, the curtains open as far as they would go to let in light.

A fire crackled away merrily in the fireplace, replacing the sun’s heat at that end of the room and rendering it comfortable.

In the distance, just audible in the sitting room, was the pleasant sound of Georgiana hard at work on the pianoforte, practicing the Mozart symphony that her brother had purchased for her on the occasion of his last visit to Lambton.

“You both have beautiful babies,” Jane Bingley said with a broad smile, her gaze shifting from young Thomas Darcy in Elizabeth’s arms to Adam Fitzwilliam in Mary’s.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth replied, patting her infant son expertly on the back as he looked around with wide eyes and a wobbly neck.

“Mother is, of course, very pleased,” Mary remarked, her own child asleep on her shoulder. “She is now convinced that since Lizzy and I had sons first, all of you will.”

Jane Bingley chuckled and looked down at her own abdomen, which was swelling with new life. “Well, we will see, but neither Charles nor I care in the least whether we have a son or daughter, as long as the babe is healthy. We are not dealing with an entail away from the female line, after all.”

“Exactly,” Elizabeth agreed just as the door opened and Mrs. Bennet, Kitty, and Lydia entered the room.

“Jane!” Mrs. Bennet shrieked as her eldest daughter rose from her seat. “Oh, my dear, let me look at you! You are so very beautiful, my dear, and I am quite confident that you are carrying a son since Lizzy and Mary had sons first.”

Elizabeth’s eyes twinkled at this absurdity, but Jane merely said, “We will see. Mamma, Sisters, it is wonderful to see you all.”

“It is glorious to see you as well,” Mrs. Bennet said and gestured to the chair Jane had just vacated. “Do sit down, my dear, sit down. Lizzy, might we have tea and those little cheesecakes which your cook makes so well?”

“Of course,” Elizabeth said, and Kitty offered, “I can speak to a servant if you like.”

“Please do,” the mistress of Pemberley agreed, since little Thomas was comfortable right now and might well start wailing if she stood up and walked around with him.

Or perhaps not. If there was one thing she had learned as a mother, it was that infants were peculiar creatures, who liked one thing one day and despised it the next.

At the moment, he continued to gaze about with dark blue eyes at the various female relations in the room.

“Was your trip to Pemberley a good one, Jane?” Lydia asked politely, and Elizabeth turned an approving smile on her youngest sister.

It had been close to a year since Mr. Bennet had died, and Lydia had steadied significantly in that time.

Part of it was undoubtedly due to the excellent oversight of Miss Fairchild, who still served as governess and companion to the two remaining Misses Bennet.

But Elizabeth thought that Pemberley was also working its magic.

It was a stately house, an orderly house, a peaceful house, but also a happy house.

Lydia had learned that one did not need to dash around and attend parties and dance and chase men to be content.

“Mr. Collins married Mary King?” Kitty cried out, drawing her attention, and Elizabeth turned a startled look on her elder sister, who had not mentioned that.

Of course, Jane and her husband had only arrived at Pemberley some two hours earlier, and they had so many things to share about the doings in Hertfordshire.

“He did,” Jane said with a chuckle, “and I am hopeful that he and his bride will be happy together. Mary has her own fortune, you know, which was why Mr. Collins pursued her, but I think they have a great deal in common.”

“I hope that they will be decent overseers of Longbourn,” Mary remarked with a frown. “Neither has much experience with estates, and I understand that Mr. Collins has not been inclined to take much advice from you and Mr. Bingley?”

“He has not,” Jane agreed, “but then he is still annoyed with Elizabeth and Mary for refusing him. However, he is on excellent terms with Sir William Lucas, who is a canny gentleman, and Sir William has kindly taken him under his wing. He was also wise enough to keep Mr. Wallace as steward, who is intelligent and hardworking.”

“Have you been to Longbourn?” Mrs. Bennet asked, her face twisted in a petulant frown. “I do worry about what that man has done to the house!”

“I have not, Mamma,” Jane said with a smile. “We have not been invited, and I do not really care to know what he has done. But come, tell me about your cottage here at Pemberley. Do you like it?”

“Oh yes, very much,” Mrs. Bennet gushed, turning a smiling face on her second daughter.

“Lizzy and Mr. Darcy were so kind to allow me and the girls to move into it and provide us with servants, too – not that Pemberley is not very nice, because it is wonderful, of course, but I do like having my own little home.”

“It was our pleasure,” Elizabeth said, suppressing a smile.

The cottage in question, which lay only two miles from the main manse, was small compared to Pemberley, and even Longbourn, but definitely large enough for Mrs. Bennet, her two daughters, their governess and four servants, as there were five bedrooms, along with a decent drawing room, a small dining room, a modern kitchen, and two sitting rooms. Mr. Darcy had also provided a carriage and horses for his mother-in-law and her unmarried daughters, and thus it was easy for the Bennet ladies to visit Pemberley whenever they wished.

“I do hope you will visit Mansford Cottage, Jane,” Lydia said eagerly. “I have been adding embroidery to my best gown, and I think it looks quite nice.”

“I will, definitely,” Jane replied just as the door opened to reveal two servants with tea and cheesecakes.

At Elizabeth’s request, Mrs. Bennet poured tea, and the mother and her five daughters enjoyed a simple repast, eating, drinking, and talking in perfect amity, together for the first time in almost a year.

Given their situation only two years ago, it was indeed incredible how much had changed; the death of their aunt Amelia, the resulting bequests to every one of the Bennet daughters, the arrival of five eligible gentlemen at Netherfield Park, and then the apoplexy and, after a few months, the death of Mr. Bennet within days of her own marriage to her beloved Fitzwilliam.

Elizabeth looked out the window as tears filled her eyes. She was so happy here, mistress of her own home, mother of her dear son, wife of the best man in the world.

***

Trout Stream

Pemberley

Darcy had walked with his brothers-in-law on a long ramble, away from the house and following the course of the river for a time, before turning to follow a trout stream for some minutes until they reached a narrower section close to the spring from where it began.

There were not quite as many fish up here as farther down, where a multitude of limestone pebbles and rocks lined the bottom and provided sanctuaries for eggs and fry and food, but there were enough to make spreading round ripples in the water as fish noses broke the surface.

It was cool here by the water, with a breeze playing at their coats and hats. A few steps further along and into the sunshine would warm them again, but Darcy was content to stand for a few minutes with his friends and watch the fish.

A trout leaped out of the stream in front of the gentlemen only to splash down noisily with a wiggle of its scaly body, and Bingley said with a grin, “It is a pity that Netherfield does not have a trout stream. That was a big one!”

“You are certainly welcome to fish while you are here,” Darcy said, looking on his friend fondly, “and my understanding is that you will be here for at least a month, so we will have plenty of opportunities.”

“At least a month, yes,” Bingley agreed, “and indeed, while Jane and I still need to come to a permanent decision on the matter, we may well give up the lease on Netherfield this autumn and purchase elsewhere. Perhaps while we are here, we can make some local inquiries into available estates.”

Darcy grinned and said, “I know that Elizabeth would be very pleased if you purchased an estate near Pemberley. She misses Jane.”

“And Jane misses Elizabeth and her mother and sisters,” Bingley agreed and turned toward Richard Fitzwilliam, who was gazing somewhat blankly at the water. “What of you, Fitzwilliam? Do you and Mary intend to purchase an estate, or stay here at Pemberley, or…?”

The former colonel jerked a trifle at this question, his brow furrowed, and then he shook his head and said, “My apologies, Bingley. I am tired as our son was up twice last night. To answer your question, we do not intend to purchase an estate in the near future, but we may buy a house somewhere.”

“Please know that Elizabeth nor I nor Georgiana are eager to see you leave,” Darcy said earnestly. “Pemberley is very large, after all, and you and Mary are easy to live with.”

“Unlike Mrs. Bennet, I suspect?” Bingley said with twinkling eyes, which provoked a reluctant laugh from his host.

“I am happy that she is living in the cottage,” Darcy admitted. “I respect and care for our mutual mother-in-law, but she has a difficult time allowing Elizabeth to serve as mistress of Pemberley without making a great many tiresome recommendations and pronouncements.”

“Mrs. Bennet sounds like Lady Catherine,” Richard Fitzwilliam said, and Darcy huffed and said, “She is not that bad, not nearly. Speaking of Lady Catherine, did I tell you I received an outraged letter from her yesterday?”

“Another one?” Richard asked with a lift of an eyebrow.

“Another one, yes, complaining bitterly that Anne is bereft and miserable when I know she is not, since our cousin was kind enough to write me a few months ago assuring me that she was not at all distressed at my marriage to Elizabeth. I wish she could move out from under our mutual aunt’s thumb, but she has always been sickly and probably does not see any easy way of escape. ”

Richard straightened his back at these words, and his eyes danced mischievously. “We should do something, Darcy. Now that we are safely married to ladies we love, Lady Catherine cannot claim compromise. We should arrange for Anne to leave Rosings if she wishes.”

Darcy nodded and said, “We should. She can stay here at Pemberley if she likes or in Town if that suits her better.”

The conversation continued, shifting from Anne de Bourgh to estates nearby, to possible Seasons in the future for Georgiana Darcy and the two unwed Bennet daughters.

It was enjoyable to be with his two best friends, one of whom had been living at Pemberley for most of the last year, while the other had been in Hertfordshire for the same time.

In the midst of cheerful discussion, and watching the trout leaping in the stream, and the joy of being outside, part of Darcy’s heart nonetheless pulled toward the mansion, where his beloved wife and infant son were waiting for him

Because he truly loved his wife and son with every ounce of his being.