Page 5 of Longbourn’s Son (Pride and Prejudice Variation #22)

Darcy halted his mount and rose up in the stirrups to gaze thoughtfully at the field to the west of the path. “It appears this area has lain fallow this year. That is most unfortunate.”

“Why do you think the field was not seeded?” Bingley asked worriedly as he scribbled a few words in a handy notebook. The list of problems with the estate was depressingly long.

Darcy shrugged and gently urged his black stallion, Phoenix, forward.

“There are a number of possible reasons. Perhaps this field does not drain well and needs work. Perhaps the tenant farmer died or is ill. In any case, it needs to be addressed before next year’s planting.

You should speak to your steward on the matter. ”

“I hope you will come with me for that discussion?” Bingley asked forlornly.

He was quickly realizing that being master of Netherfield would require substantial knowledge of farming and tenantry, and he knew himself to be ill-equipped.

At least he had Darcy to assist him, and Darcy had been overseeing the vast estate of Pemberley for some seven years now.

“Of course,” his friend assured him as they reached the end of the lane and turned onto the main road. “Do not be overly distressed, Bingley; Netherfield is a fine estate and while it is somewhat neglected, work and a judicious use of funds should improve yields in short order.”

“It seems odd that the estate has not been well tended,” Bingley mused as the horses began trotting toward Meryton. “Surely the owners would earn more in the long run if they cared for the tenants and the land?”

“Of course,” Darcy agreed, “but there are all too many landlords who wrest everything they can from the land and refuse to plow any of it back into the soil. Sometimes it is from lack of knowledge, often it is greed. It is a great pity because many people depend on the estate for their well-being. I am not an expert on farming practices here in Hertfordshire, but I can already see many possibilities for change here.”

“Would those changes require a substantial outlay?” Bingley inquired.

“Some of them, but not all. Given the lack of oversight of late, a few simple changes will no doubt help substantially. We need to speak with your steward as soon as possible to understand more.”

“Very well. Oh, is that not the Bennets?”

Darcy, whose mind was busily considering sheep and cattle and four course crop rotation, realized too late that his friend’s question was not rhetorical.

Already, Bingley had spurred his golden mare forward to where a bevy of bonneted young ladies were striding down the road, with one tall youth in their midst.

“Miss Bennet!” Bingley cried out, swinging off his horse as the group halted.

Darcy gritted his teeth and thought briefly of galloping off at a fast pace.

This was hardly the place for a public apology.

Really, why must Bingley be so impetuous around beautiful blonde ladies?

With an inward sigh, he urged his horse forward and dismounted near his friend.

“Mr. Bingley,” Jane responded, curtseying along with her four sisters. “How good to see you today.”

“It is good to see you as well,” Bingley said with a cheerful smile. “I do not believe I have had the honor of meeting your brother and youngest sister yet?”

“Ah yes. Mr. Bingley, my brother, Mr. Luke Bennet, and youngest sister, Miss Lydia. Luke, Lydia, Mr. Bingley.”

“Mr. Bingley,” Luke said, his eyes fixed raptly on Bingley’s horse, “you have a wonderful mare, sir.”

“Penelope? Yes, she is a fine beast, though my friend’s stallion is even more awe inspiring.”

Luke Bennet turned his gaze on Phoenix, bypassing the stallion’s master completely, and a look of adoration filled that young face. “He is absolutely magnificent, Mr...”

The youth’s voice trailed away as he realized that he was addressing Mr. Darcy, whom he had remonstrated with only the night before. The boy bit his lip in discomfort and cast a distressed look at the eldest Miss Bennet, who looked ruffled.

“Bingley, might you do me the honor of introducing your acquaintances to me,” Darcy said hastily.

“Of course,” his friend responded in relief. “Darcy, Mr. Bennet, Miss Bennet, Miss Elizabeth, Miss Mary, Miss Kitty, and Miss Lydia. Mr. and Misses Bennets, my close friend Mr. Darcy of Pemberley.”

The gentlemen bowed, the ladies curtseyed, and Darcy hurried uncomfortably into speech.

“It is my honor and pleasure to make your acquaintances,” he said rather stiffly.

“I am aware that our first interaction at the assembly last night was not propitious, and I only have myself to blame. I hope that you would be kind enough to allow me to start anew in meeting the inhabitants of Meryton.”

The six Bennets looked uniformly startled, but within a few seconds, Miss Elizabeth smiled and said generously, “Of course, Mr. Darcy. I hope that you will find Meryton to be more to your liking from this moment on.”

“I have no doubt I will,” Darcy agreed, casting a piteous glance at his friend. He had made his apology and now wished to separate from the Bennet clan as soon as possible.

“May I ask whether my friend and I would be permitted to call on you and your family tomorrow morning?” Bingley asked without a flicker of a glance toward his friend. He was obviously fixated on Miss Bennet’s fine features.

“You are entirely welcome to call on us,” Jane replied graciously.

“Until tomorrow then,” Bingley said with a bow, and the two groups parted.

/

“Well, that was rather a surprise,” Elizabeth commented once they were out of earshot of the two horsemen. “I thought Mr. Darcy would prove far too proud to apologize for his behavior last night.”

“Perhaps Mr. Bingley forced him to apologize,” Kitty speculated.

“I doubt that Mr. Bingley forces Mr. Darcy to do anything,” Elizabeth argued. “He is older, richer, and better connected. I understand that Mr. Bingley’s fortune derives from trade, and Mr. Darcy is master of a large and well established estate.”

“Well then, perhaps Mr. Darcy is not quite as odious as we thought he was,” Lydia suggested with a scrunch of her pert nose.

Elizabeth chuckled and said, “I hope so, for all our sakes. It will be far more pleasant if our neighbors are moderately amiable.”

“Jane, it is obvious that Mr. Bingley is quite taken with you,” Mary pointed out slyly. “What think you of the gentleman?”

Jane shrugged, though she maintained her brisk pace towards Meryton. “I like him well enough, but I am certain he is attracted more to my beauty than to my character. I grow rather tired of gentlemen who are focused only on my pretty face.”

/

“Is Miss Bennet not an angel, Darcy?” Bingley enthused as Penelope shifted to a trot under the restless seat of her master.

Darcy urged Phoenix to match the filly’s speed and sighed inwardly. It seemed unlikely that Bingley would be capable of focusing on Netherfield’s needs with the specter of Miss Bennet’s angelic features foremost in his mind.

“Yes, she is lovely,” he acknowledged. “What do you know about the Bennet family, Bingley?”

“Sir William told me about them; a Mr. Thomas Bennet is master of Longbourn, a nearby estate with an income of two thousand pounds per annum. His wife passed away some years ago. The younger Mr. Bennet is the heir, of course.”

Darcy felt a sudden surge of sympathy; he knew how painful it was to lose a mother at a young age. “Have you met the elder Mr. Bennet?”

“I have not, oddly enough. He did not call upon me when I arrived at Netherfield, unlike most of the other principal gentlemen. Perhaps he is not in good health.”

“I hope for the sake of the children that their father is unsociable, not sickly. I found it difficult enough to oversee Pemberley when my father passed when I was but two and twenty years of age. Young Mr. Bennet cannot be more than eighteen.”

“I believe he is seventeen, as is Miss Kitty, his twin sister. Yes, I quite agree. I suppose we will find out more when we call on them tomorrow.”

Darcy clenched his teeth at these words. He had done his duty in apologizing for his rude words at the assembly and had no further interest in the Bennets. “As to that, I do not believe I will accompany you, Bingley. I must spend time with my sister, after all.”

Bingley turned in his saddle to peer at his friend. “I will not urge you to accompany me, but do you not think Miss Darcy would enjoy meeting young ladies her own age?”

Darcy opened his mouth to protest and then closed it.

The Darcys were more highly ranked in society than the Bennets, and thus it would be an unusual choice to allow Georgiana to become acquainted to the Bennet ladies.

On the other hand, Miss Darcy was terribly shy; perhaps she would benefit from visiting with a family of no particular importance so that she could practice social interactions.

“Perhaps she would, Bingley. I will discuss the matter with her.”

/

Georgiana Darcy stretched her hands as she walked down one of the side halls of Netherfield with Mrs. Annesley at her side.

She had been practicing on the pianoforte for two hours and while she was growing more skilled in playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.

Twelve, there was one movement which continued to give her trouble.

“You are making remarkable progress, Miss Darcy,” her companion said in a soothing tone. “I do beg you not to grow discouraged; it is a difficult section of the concerto that is giving you such trouble.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Annesley,” Georgiana responded gratefully.

She was thankful that her companion was a gentle, kind woman who never criticized her playing, because she always wilted under censure.

Indeed her aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, always kept up such a string of criticism that she could barely play the simplest of songs in her presence.

“I suppose the tea tray must have been served by now,” Georgiana mused, turning the corner and then coming to a halt outside the open door of the drawing room.

Mrs. Annesley stopped as well, and both women, by mutual agreement, lapsed into complete silence.

Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were obviously in the middle of one of their arguments, and neither Georgiana nor her companion had any particular interest in being present.

Within the drawing room, Miss Bingley shot a disgusted look at her sleeping nephew and viciously pushed her embroidery needle through a scarf she was decorating. “It is quite absurd how much time you spend with that baby,” she declared scornfully. “He ought to be upstairs with one of his nurses.”

Louisa Hurst planted a loving kiss on her little son’s forehead and glowered at her sister. “If you are so offended by the presence of Christopher, you are welcome to go somewhere else, Caroline. Netherfield is very large, after all.”

“People will think you are very odd to be doting over your own child in such a way,” Caroline argued.

“You know that the ladies of the haut ton hardly see their infants at all! Even our mother, while merely wife to a tradesman, did not bother with us much until we were ready to come out into society.”

“I have no intention of ignoring my own child in such a way,” Louisa responded fiercely.

“Christopher is the light of my life and heir to Mr. Hurst’s estate.

I do not care in the least what other parents do.

I grieve that I spent so little time with my own mother, and I will not make the same mistake with my son. ”

Miss Bingley ground her teeth and then, catching sight of Georgiana, plastered on a welcoming smile.

“Miss Darcy, please do come in and enjoy some tea! I would appreciate your insight into the argument my sister and I are having. I am sure that you, as the daughter of Mr. and Lady Anne Darcy, and sister of Mr. Darcy, have a clear understanding of the proper behavior of a mother towards her dribbling infant.”

Georgiana cast an anguished glance around and then relaxed as the front door opened and her brother walked inside with Mr. Bingley at his heels. “Brother, how glad I am to see you!”

Darcy smiled at her lovingly and swept forward to embrace her. “I am glad to see you too, my dear.”