Page 4 of Longbourn’s Son (Pride and Prejudice Variation #22)
“Good morning!” Georgiana Darcy exclaimed brightly as her brother wandered wearily into the dining room.
His face lit up with pleasure; it was still early and he had not expected to find his sister and her companion, Mrs. Annesley, out of their bedchambers yet.
He had slept poorly as he considered his unfortunate interactions with the inhabitants of Meryton.
After tossing and turning for much of the night, he had risen shortly after dawn broke since it was obvious that he would not get any more sleep.
“Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley, I hope you are both well?” Darcy asked, aware that both ladies were looking at him.
“I am very well,” Georgiana responded cheerfully. “I had not realized how noisy London is, even at Darcy House. I lay in bed this morning and relished the sounds of the cocks crowing and the birds twittering, and have you noticed how very clear the air is?”
Darcy stared at his young sister with a mixture of surprise and delight. Georgiana had experienced a great disappointment the previous summer and had been downhearted ever since. He was overjoyed to see her so happy.
“Yes, it seems a fine estate,” he agreed, walking over to the sideboard where a buffet of food was laid out. He collected eggs, ham, toast, and coffee and seated himself next to Georgiana.
“What are you planning to do today, my dear?” he asked, taking a sip of black coffee and appreciating the jolt of heat and energy it imparted to his weary body.
“Netherfield has a fine pianoforte, so I can spend time practicing. Mrs. Annesley is also going to give me a French lesson. I was hoping, if you have time, that perhaps we could walk the formal gardens this morning, though I understand that you might be too busy.”
“I would be delighted,” Darcy said hastily.
He had not been able to spend much time with his much younger sister of late, and if he and Georgiana were wandering the gardens, they would not be present when Miss Bingley finally deigned to make an appearance for breakfast. “I should be finished with my repast in ten minutes.”
“Do take your time. Mrs. Annesley and I were discussing the harp-lute, which Mr. Edward Light has been improving these last years.”
Darcy happily munched on his food as the ladies embarked on an erudite musical discussion. He was proud of Georgiana; many a young lady of society studied music, but Georgiana had a true gift and loved playing the pianoforte for hours on end.
When he had finished breaking his fast, the siblings walked out a side passage to the gardens. Darcy felt a stab of guilty pleasure when he heard Miss Bingley’s voice just as he opened the outer door for Georgiana. They had fled the dining room just in time!
“Where would you like to walk first?” Darcy inquired, stepping outside and giving his arm to his sister.
“The geraniums, please. I adore the geranium garden at Pemberley, and while Netherfield shows signs of neglect, it seems quite possible that there will be different varieties given that we are farther south.”
Darcy tightened his grip on her small hand, and the twosome walked along a gravel path which skirted the west side of the house.
Their mother, Lady Anne Darcy, had greatly enjoyed a wide variety of flowers.
She had been gone a decade now, but the gardens in Pemberley had been lovingly attended ever since in fond memory of their dear mother.
“Did you enjoy the assembly last night in Meryton?” Georgiana asked curiously, looking up into Darcy’s face.
Her brother hesitated; he did not wish to lie to Georgiana, but he also did not care to admit that he had behaved in a boorish manner to a country lady.
“I confess I did not, particularly,” he responded carefully. “You know that I dislike meeting a great host of new people.”
“Oh, I completely understand!” his sister returned with a shudder. “I am absolutely dreading my coming out in society in two years. People always focus on my wealth and my connections, not on my character or interests. I suppose that is partly why, last summer...”
Darcy turned to look down at her in concern. “Why what, Georgiana?”
The blonde stopped in place, her eyes fixed on a bed of purple Michaelmas daisies.
“I was eager to ... to elope with George Wickham partly because, if I were married, I would not have to enter society as a single heiress and be hunted for my fortune. It was stupid, of course, because Mr. Wickham was only interested in my fortune despite his professions of love, but I had such fond memories of him and society truly frightens me. It was incredibly foolish on my part.”
“No, I understand completely,” Darcy assured her, reaching out to smooth a vagrant curl on her head. “We are both of us not comfortable with strangers, though I present myself as an arrogant snob and you are gentle and shy.”
“You are not an arrogant snob!”
Darcy grimaced and began walking again, unable to look into his sister’s clear blue eyes. “Last night I was,” he confessed. “Bingley was importuning me to dance, and I insulted a lady’s looks to escape.”
“Oh, Fitzwilliam, surely not!”
“I did, although in truth I did not realize we were within hearing of the lady and her brother. The brother remonstrated with me severely, which was appropriate.”
“Did you apologize?”
“I did not,” Darcy admitted. “I was so taken aback that I merely stood like a brainless statue. I intend to convey my regrets for my thoughtless words when I have the opportunity. I feel uncomfortable about the whole affair; Bingley asked me here to Netherfield to help him grow acquainted with estate management, and it behooves him to be on good terms with his neighbors. I hardly assisted him in that matter.”
“If the lady in question is so plain, perhaps she is used to such comments, not that you should have made them, Brother.”
“She was not plain, though of course it matters not whether she was. It was appalling of me to denigrate her looks. But in actual fact, the Miss Bennet in question is handsome enough. But come, my dear, I have no wish to discuss ad infinitum my folly of last night. How about you? Did you have a pleasant evening with Mrs. Hurst and Mrs. Annesley?”
Georgiana, who had been looking troubled, smiled brilliantly at this question and gushed, “Oh yes! We spent much of the evening in the nursery with Mrs. Hurst’s little baby boy!
He is such a darling, Brother, and so tiny!
Mrs. Hurst said he was far smaller when he was born four months ago, but I find it hard to imagine that a person could be even littler! ”
Darcy paused to gaze down at a yellow geranium plant, his mind flying back some sixteen years.
“I remember how small you were, dear one,” he murmured huskily.
“Father was so delighted when you were born alive and healthy, and I remember coming into my mother’s room and seeing you in her arms. It was truly the best day of my life. ”
Georgiana clung tighter to his arm and rose to her tiptoes to give her older brother a quick kiss on the cheek. “I am so grateful for you, Fitzwilliam. I hope you know how much I appreciate your love and care for me, especially given that I was such a fool last summer.”
“Now do not revert to being downhearted on that matter,” her brother begged.
“We both made mistakes. I failed to investigate the bona fides of your companion, Mrs. Younge, and I did not tell you about Wickham’s true nature.
You should not have agreed to elope, but you were surrounded by nefarious individuals urging you to set aside your upbringing in favor of romantic love.
I am merely grateful – so very grateful – that I arrived unexpectedly to visit, and you told me all. ”
“I am grateful as well,” Georgiana declared, her eyes shining with unshed tears, “and please do not worry about me, Fitzwilliam. Last night’s discussion with Mrs. Hurst made me realize how very blessed I am.
She has been through so much and yet is determined to forge onward bravely for the sake of her son. I find her an inspiration.”
Darcy sighed as they moved forward along the paved path between the geranium bushes. “I was shocked and distressed when I heard of the carriage accident which took her husband from her.”
“Yes, and did you know she broke her left arm in the same accident? She was six months along in her pregnancy, and she lived in terror for days that the babe had been harmed; by God’s grace, he was born healthy.
Mrs. Hurst says her arm still pains her at times; last night, Mrs. Annesley and I took turns holding him and carrying him to her for feedings. ”
Darcy scowled at this. “That is hardly your role, Georgiana. Surely Mrs. Hurst has a nurse for the babe?”
“She has two nurses,” Georgiana agreed, “but both were unwell last night with colds, and Mrs. Hurst will not allow anyone who is ill near Christopher. It was no burden at all, Brother; indeed, I have not enjoyed an evening so much in many months. Mrs. Hurst is a pleasant companion, and her baby is precious.”
/
“My dear boy,” Mr. Bennet said as he cast a longing glance at his copy of Hamlet , which was sitting beguilingly on his desk in the library, “we have always bred Norfolk Horns here at Longbourn.”
Luke Bennet frowned and answered, “But Father, Mr. Coke of Norfolk has crossbred the Norfolk Horns with the English Leicester, producing a much superior breed of sheep which are both tamer and grow faster. The world of agriculture is changing, Father, and we must change with it.”
Bennet reached out a hand and picked up his book. “Very well, Son, I will acknowledge you are far more experienced in such matters. We can buy a few English Leicester ewes if you like.”
“Thank you, sir,” Luke responded gratefully and stood up, turned toward the door, halted, and turned back to his father.
Bennet sighed and asked wearily, “Is there something else, Luke?”
The heir of Longbourn bit his lip, straightened his shoulders, and said, “Father, I met Mr. Ludlow in Meryton yesterday and he informed me that he is selling Moonlight, his thoroughbred mare, and I wondered if perhaps...”
Bennet rose to his feet and glowered up into his son’s face.
Yes, Luke was now taller than he, which made it hard to glare properly.
“We have discussed this before, Luke. I have permitted you to buy work and carriage horses but no thoroughbreds. You are too much like Lydia; once you mount such a beast, you will be tearing along lanes and roads and jumping over fences, and you will break your neck. I promised your mother...”
“Do not bring my mother into this, sir!” Luke interrupted, his eyes flashing.
“You are merely using her as an excuse! I may have been only twelve years of age when she passed on, but I well remember that you paid little heed to her concerns over my health, except to keep me here at Longbourn instead of sending me away to Harrow or Eton. No, you merely wish to use Longbourn’s wealth to fill your library! ”
The boy clenched his jaw and strode out of the room, leaving his father to stare at him with a mixture of concern and irritation.
Yes, it was true enough that Bennet had discounted his wife’s nerves, but her sudden illness and death had woken him up to the reality that the world was a precarious place.
Luke, as heir to the estate, stood between a comfortable life and poverty for his daughters, and the boy, while he was less reckless now than a few years ago, was still prone to imprudent actions.
He sighed and reached for his book. It mattered not if the boy was angry with him; he had pledged his wife that he would keep Luke unharmed, and he would fulfill that promise to the best of his ability.