Page 8 of Lord Lonbourn’s Daughter

“Not again! What can he mean by coming here all the time?”

“Who, Lizzy?”

Jane joined her sister by the parlour window where Elizabeth discreetly pointed out the gentleman approaching with confident strides. He was spending an inordinate amount of time at Bennet House, yet he never joined her sister’s army of suitors.

“Mr Darcy!”

“Perhaps he is here to see you, Lizzy.”

“Do not be ridiculous, Jane, it does not suit you. You know what he said about me!”

“What are you two whispering about over there?”

“Nothing, Papa!”

“A gentleman is allowed to change his mind as much as a lady is,” Jane added mischievously.

Elizabeth scoffed, righted her posture, smoothed out her skirts, and readied herself for half an hour of torture as the butler’s soft steps approached, followed by the heavier treads of a boot-clad gentleman.

“Mr Darcy to see his lordship.”

“Mr Darcy, what a pleasure. We have not been graced with your company for what…it must be two or three days now.”

“Yes, well… Business has kept me occupied. I wondered whether I may have a moment of your time, Lord Longbourn.”

“Yes, of course. My study or in here?”

“Your study, if you do not mind.”

Their father gestured for Mr Darcy to precede him while he winked at Elizabeth. Jane waited until they heard the study door close before she giggled at Elizabeth, who was not as pleased as her sister seemed to expect.

“What do you think he has come here to talk about that he cannot say in our presence, Lizzy? Perhaps he has a matter of importance to discuss.”

“What? Has he approached you?”

“Me? No, of course not. He has never shown any preference for me, for which I am grateful. If he had it might be awkward for his friend Mr Bingley. He is everything a gentleman ought to be. So much sense combined with such happy manners. And he is perfectly well-behaved.”

“And handsome, as a young man ought to be if he can help it.”

“Lizzy!”

“What? One wants something pleasant to look upon on those dreary rainy days with nothing to do but be cooped up inside with one’s relations,” Elizabeth replied innocently.

“Yes, I do wish the endless rain would cease. Even I am becoming restless to be out of doors,” Jane admitted.

“Well, I shall go mad if it does not relent soon. I swear you may admit me to Bedlam if it has not stopped raining in the next two days,” Elizabeth announced.

“I have noticed you have become restless. Even more so than usual, which is quite telling.”

Jane looked too clever for her own good. It was vital for Elizabeth to conjecture a plausible excuse.

“It must be homesickness…”

Elizabeth might have begged her father to return to Hertfordshire had it not been for the obvious interest Mr Bingley had taken in her sister.

She was convinced their feelings were mutual, but their acquaintance was of short duration.

She was, however, quite sure that with time and familiarity, her sister’s future would be secured.

After Mr Bingley had proposed, there could be no further need for her presence in town for the foreseeable future.

“I am certain the sun will shine on the morrow, Lizzy. Then we can take a stroll in the park or visit Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. There is much to be seen and experienced, I am told.”

“Yes, let us pray for sun, Jane. It certainly could do no harm.”

Lord Longbourn and Mr Darcy finally emerged from the study. Mr Darcy bid the ladies farewell, and both gentlemen moved towards the door.

“I must be off, girls. I have an appointment with Lord Matlock. I am sure you will be able to entertain yourselves in my absence,” Lord Longbourn informed them.

“Of course, Papa,” the sisters replied in unison.

Elizabeth would have dearly liked to know what had been discussed in her father’s study, but she knew him too well to enquire. If he wanted to apprise her, he would do so in his own good time.

“If you sigh heavily one more time, Lizzy, I swear I shall hit you over the head. Surely you could find a book to read?”

“Yes, Mary, I suppose I should.”

Elizabeth left the parlour to search for a hitherto undiscovered gem in their library, but she did not leave fast enough to avoid overhearing her sisters’ remarks.

“What is the matter with Lizzy, Jane?”

“I wish I knew, Mary.”

#

Lord Longbourn returned from Matlock House with good news.

“Ladies! You have been invited to spend the next week with the Countess of Matlock!”

“Why? Are we being sent away?”

“Dear Lizzy, I would hardly deem it sent away to spend a week with the countess being paraded around the town’s most exclusive shops and exhibitions.

But there is a reason, and that is because I shall be absent.

I cannot allow you to stay at Bennet House unprotected, not after the havoc with the guests’ coats at our ball.

I have investigated the situation, and I have concluded that it must have been one of our servants who had fun at our expense. ”

All three girls gasped at the implication, but Elizabeth’s mind had not let go of the prior subject.

“Can we not come with you?”

“There is no room in the carriage unless you wish to settle for travelling with the servants.”

Her father knew full well that she could not impose upon the servants.

“Mr Darcy, his sister, and I are to collect Lydia and Kitty. We have rented a house for the girls in Ramsgate for the summer. Their governess and companion will chaperon them through the shark-infested waters. Lydia and Kitty were most pleased with the arrangement. I would even dare to call them ecstatic at the prospect. You know they were moping and complaining when they were not allowed to join us in town. This is compensation for their patience while we are away for so long.”

“You do not see the danger of letting Kitty and Lydia loose in Ramsgate whilst Jane, Mary, and I cannot spend a few days at home, guarded by a sturdy stock of footmen?”

“It is different in town, and the girls will by no means be alone. You know I can trust Mrs Hill implicitly. She is a wonder, that woman. Even managed to make a lady of my little rapscallion Lizzy. There is nothing she is not capable of handling.”

“Poor Miss Darcy. She will perish with shock when she meets Lydia and Kitty.”

“The girl is shy and timid but no more so than our Jane was at that difficult age. I dare say Jane did not suffer too much from being brought up alongside a couple of silly sisters. Miss Darcy wants for a little liveliness that Lydia has in abundance, whilst my two hoydens may learn something from watching her flawless comportment. I shall be surprised if the endeavour does not prove to be beneficial to all three in some way or another. Kitty will have someone who shares her interest in the arts, which will be good for her, and Lydia will learn how proper girls behave with little inconvenience to myself.”

“Is that all you care about? To be as little inconvenienced as possible?”

“Lizzy! You may go to your room and stay there for the rest of the night and think about what you have just accused me of.”

Elizabeth rose and tramped out of the room with little humbleness and much poise. Before she reached the stairs, she heard Mary enquire, “What is it with Lizzy these days? I am worried about her.”

“There is no need to fret, Mary. I know perfectly well what the matter is, but it cannot be helped unless she discovers it herself. Let us pray that will not be too far into the future.”

#

While the eldest Bennet daughters were being escorted around town by Lady Matlock, the Darcy carriage entered Longbourn village in Hertfordshire.

Although modern and well maintained, the house they were approaching was not as impressive as Darcy had imagined and certainly smaller than the Matlock estate. It was even smaller than Pemberley.

“This is Jane’s property, Longbourn Lodge. We had it built because my wife did not like Longbourn Castle.”

“The grounds and pastures look fertile and productive,” Darcy replied whilst thinking that this being one of the earl’s lesser estates explained a lot. Neither was it so strange that his wife preferred to live somewhere other than the castle where their relations had perished.

“Yes, I have no cause to complain,” the earl replied, revealing his lack of interest in any further discussions on the topic of agriculture.

The carriage drew to a halt, the door opened, and two young girls came bouncing down the steps.

“Papa!”

The earl was enveloped in an enthusiastic embrace before his daughters began pestering him for gifts from town.

Their father laughed good-naturedly and promised that their sisters had sent them a little something but it was tucked away in the luggage he was taking to Ramsgate.

They would have to wait until they arrived at their temporary seaside home to unwrap it.

The youngest was also the tallest; a well-developed blonde girl who resembled Lady Jane in colouring but not in character. The other one was darker and sweet looking but did not speak much—a trait Darcy would later discover to be a blessing as the youngest hardly ever drew breath.

They would leave for Ramsgate on the morrow. Unfortunately, they had to spend a night at an inn and would arrive at their rented house the following afternoon.

Mr Darcy looked at his sister, who had fallen silent at the introduction to the two Longbourn girls.

Having met the three oldest sisters, he would never have imagined that the younger would have been quite so unruly.

To be fair, Lady Catherine—or Lady Kitty as she preferred to be called—was not much trouble.

She did not speak or act much out of fashion; but the youngest felt like more than enough bother on her own.

At a loss for how to make his shy sister feel at ease with the other two girls, Darcy walked away and took Georgiana with him.

#

Two days later, Darcy would have paid a handsome sum for temporary deafness.