Page 1 of Sketching Mr. Darcy

A bright August day enhanced the beauty of Brighton beach, caressed by small waves breaking tentatively against the shore.

The warmth was gently cooled by a soft breeze, and the water was so blue that it seemed to be one with the serene sky. Large parties of visitors walked and talked animatedly while admiring the beauty of the sea.

One young couple made a distinct impression as they seemed more courageous than the others, stepping closer to the water, arm in arm, smiling tenderly and glancing frequently at each other.

The lady gently held the hand of a girl whose beauty was impossible to miss though she was no more than twelve.

In front of them, a younger girl whose brown hair had escaped her carelessly tied bonnet and danced in heavy locks on her nape ran back and forth towards the waves, holding closely in her arms an English Setter puppy.

The small group stepped nearer the water until several waves touched their feet, which greatly amused the younger girl—who laughed cheerfully, stepping into the water with little concern for her shoes and petticoat—and scared the older one, who took a few steps backwards.

The gentleman and the lady smiled warmly at the girls’ singular reactions. A moment later, however, they called for the brown-haired girl to return immediately, as she was standing where the water was nearly to her knees.

“Uncle, I have never been so happy in my life! There is nothing as beautiful as the sea! And I cannot thank you enough for the most precious gift I have ever received. I am so glad that I am finally ten and can have a dog!” The girl caressed the puppy, her dark eyes sparkling with delight.

“Lizzy, I am glad you are happy, dearest, but please be careful. The waves can be quite dangerous. What should I tell your father if anything happens to you?”

“Do not worry. Nothing will happen to me. I am a very good swimmer,” the girl said, throwing down her bonnet, and her uncle, as well as the lady on his arm, could barely hide their laughter. The girl’s energy and happiness were quite contagious.

“Please be careful, Lizzy,” the blonde haired girl said gently.

“I am fine, Jane. Look, the puppy loves the water too. He is so brave. I love him so much.”

“Lizzy, you will become ill from the sun if you keep taking your bonnet off, missy.” The lady tried to sound severe. “If your mother knew that we allow you so much liberty…”

“Oh, please do not tell her, Aunt. You are the best aunt that ever existed! And do not worry, I never fall ill. I am very strong. You may ask Papa.”

She ran towards the water again while her companions could hardly restrain their laughter, following her with their eyes. The girl jumped against the breaking waves, together with the puppy, careless that her dress was wet and sandy. She asked Jane to join her but with no success.

A few minutes later, her attention was unexpectedly drawn elsewhere. With the dog in her arms, she hurried to a little girl who was tightly holding the hand of an exceptionally beautiful, elegant lady. They were followed by two other women and a man who appeared to be the lady’s servants.

Lizzy greeted the lady then knelt with little ceremony and put the puppy in front of the girl.

“Georgiana, I am so glad to see you again. Look, he missed you too, you see? Don’t be afraid. He is wet because he fought with the waves.”

She laughed while the younger girl shyly attempted to touch the dog, glancing at her mother for approval and receiving a warm smile of encouragement.

With an alarmed look to his wife, Mr Gardiner hurried to his niece.

“Lizzy, come here this instant, child. I beg your forgiveness for troubling you, madam.” Mr Gardiner bowed to the lady, his embarrassment impossible to conceal.

However, the lady replied kindly.

“There is no need to apologise, sir. Lizzy is an old acquaintance of ours. Oh, and so is Jane,” she continued, glancing at the other girl, who curtseyed properly, still holding her aunt’s hand.

“We first met a week ago, when they were at the beach with their governess, and have encountered each other nearly every day since. They are such lovely girls, and Lizzy is a true delight. She was so generous to show her little puppy to my daughter, who is sadly afraid of dogs,” the lady continued while her daughter timidly began to pet the puppy.

Suddenly, the lady glanced behind Mr Gardiner, and a surprised smile brightened her eyes.

“Madeleine? What are you doing in Brighton? What a lovely surprise!”

“Lady Anne!” Madeleine Gardiner was all astonishment, curtseying properly. “What an extraordinary surprise, indeed. Lady Anne Darcy, please allow me to introduce to you my husband, Mr Edward Gardiner. We married two months ago. Lizzy and Jane are his nieces.”

“Oh yes, I remember. Mrs Reynolds wrote to me. How lovely! I have been in Brighton since May. It seems the air is beneficial to me and to Georgiana, the doctor said. Please allow me to congratulate you both on such a happy event. Mr Gardiner, I hope you know how fortunate you are in your choice of a wife, sir. There are few young women as remarkable as Madeleine,” she said warmly.

Mrs Gardiner blushed while Mr Gardiner bowed again with gratitude and respect.

They spoke a few more minutes. The ladies shared a keen interest in various subjects, and the manner of their conversation astonished Mr Gardiner exceedingly.

Though he deeply loved his wife and knew quite well her worthiness, he also heard that Lady Anne Darcy was the mistress of a large and beautiful estate that was only a few miles from the town of Lambton where Madeleine’s father had owned a shop.

He could hardly believe that a lady of such stature could treat the daughter of a shop owner with such warm amiability.

It was almost noon, and the beach was becoming less crowded. The three girls and the puppy seemed to enjoy playing together so much that they showed interest in nothing else.

“I have had a most pleasant time, but I am afraid we must return home now,” Lady Anne said kindly.

“Thank you for coming to greet us, Lizzy.” She smiled as she caressed Lizzy’s red cheeks.

“You have such beautiful eyes, Lizzy—so full of life and joy. Never allow that to change, my dear,” she added then wished them a good day, and walked slowly to their carriage, which was waiting nearby.

“Good day, Lady Anne! Will you come again tomorrow? Jane and I like to play with Georgiana. We will wait for you,” Lizzy said energetically. No answer came, but from the small window of the carriage, the lady and her daughter sent back warm smiles and gentle waves of their delicate hands.

“That was Lady Anne Darcy of Pemberley? She is very beautiful,” said Mr Gardiner.

“Indeed, she is the most wonderful lady that has ever been. She is so kind, so generous—her father was an earl, you know—and her husband, Mr Darcy, is said to be the best master and the best landlord. I was happy to see her again, but it saddens me so to know she is unwell. Did you notice how pale she is? She has been ill for more than five years now… We all hope and pray that she will recover soon, but I truly fear for her,” Mrs Gardiner whispered, careful not to be heard by the girls.

“That is sad, indeed,” Mr Gardiner said, calling his nieces as they walked to the carriage.

They arrived at the small cottage they had rented for their stay in Brighton, and the girls told Mrs Johnson—the owner of the house, who also assumed the role of governess—about the beautiful lady and the girl with the most blue eyes ever who had come to the beach again and played with them.

For an entire week, Lizzy and Jane went to play on the beach every morning and every afternoon, either in the company of their aunt and uncle or of Mrs Johnson. They met Lady Anne Darcy and Georgiana twice more, but during the last days, the beautiful lady and her daughter did not appear.

By the end of the week, the weather turned colder and cloudy.

Saturday morning it even rained a little—a short summer rain.

In the afternoon, Mr and Mrs Gardiner went to call on some friends, and the girls remained inside, under the strict supervision of Mrs Johnson.

Two hours later, however, the sun tentatively appeared from behind the clouds.

Lizzy played with her dog in the back yard then begged Mrs Johnson to take them to the beach. Jane did not dare support her sister’s insistent request, but Lizzy’s smile, her pleading eyes, and her words of wisdom about how beneficial the sea air was made Mrs Johnson laugh and comply.

The beach was lonelier than usual. Only a few visitors found delight in walking on the wet sand.

The wind was blowing vigorously, and the sound of the waves crashing against the shore competed with their voices.

Lizzy hastily put down the puppy, which started to run back and forth while she chased it, completely careless of the state of her gown and shoes.

Mrs Johnson walked at a slow pace with Jane, occasionally stopping to speak with old acquaintances.

Suddenly, Jane pulled loose her hand and ran away, screaming.

Disconcerted, Mrs Johnson ran towards Jane, who continued to cry.

Immediately, people gathered on the shore, and then Mrs Johnson observed with horror that Lizzy had disappeared.

From Jane’s cries and screams, Mrs Johnson spotted Lizzy, struggling against the waves.

She ran in despair, crying the girl’s name.

Lizzy struggled to respond from afar, while her small body was defeated by the swirling water.

Suddenly, a man was seen to throw himself into the water, and a few terrifying moments later, Lizzy appeared in his arms. He seemed tall, as the water barely reached his chest despite the angry waves.

With apparent ease, he stepped holding the girl in his arms. Mrs Johnson and Jane ran to them.

Lizzy was crying as if she were badly hurt.

However, it was soon obvious that she was crying for the puppy lying still in her arms. The young man put her down, and Mrs Johnson and Jane hurried to her, but she continued to call to the dog as she knelt on the wet sand.

The young man knelt near her then took the puppy from her small hands, warmed him in his palms, and then rubbed his belly with gentle, insistent strokes.

Seemingly endless moments later, the puppy’s small cries made everybody gasp in surprise, and Lizzy stretched her hands to take it, her tears mixed with the laughter of happiness.

The young man held the puppy in his hands a little longer as it wriggled to right itself, a little dizzy.

He caressed the puppy gently, and it licked his hands then stretched and licked his wet face.

He smiled and gently placed the puppy in the girl’s outstretched hands.

She placed a soft kiss on its small nose, and the puppy instantly returned her kiss.

Then she lifted her eyes to the man kneeling in front of her and said reverently:

“Thank you so much, sir, for saving my puppy. You are a true hero. I never met anyone as brave as you, not even in the millions of books that I read. I shall never forget you!”

He smiled, obviously amused, while Mrs Johnson, pale and tearful, struggled to thank him.

“Sir, there are no words to express our gratitude for saving Lizzy’s life. Please let us know with whom we have the honour of speaking, I am certain Lizzy’s uncle will wish to—”

“There is no need to trouble yourself, ma’am…and surely no reason to speak of gratitude. I am glad I was here and that I could be of some use to the young, imprudent miss—and to her puppy,” he interrupted the lady decidedly while glancing briefly at the girl.

“But there must be some way to thank you, sir.”

“There is. I would wish Miss Lizzy to forever remember that water can be dangerous. She must promise me she will take care of herself and of her dog…a very lucky dog indeed.”

“I promise you,” she said, and he smiled again while quickly walking away, followed closely by another young man who seemed to be his companion. Drops of rain forced them to leave the beach immediately, so Mrs Johnson had no choice but to hurry home with the girls.

The extraordinary event was much discussed during dinner. A doctor was fetched, and his examination brought relief to the adults and to young, tearful Jane, while Lizzy could not understand why the others did not realise that she was perfectly well.

For days, Mr Gardiner tried to discover the young man’s identity, but to no avail.

They had no indication of his name or age, and neither Lizzy nor Mrs Johnson remembered his face well enough.

All they knew was that he was young—Mrs Johnson estimated he must have been more of a grown-up boy—most likely not yet twenty.

With so few details and after a long and unsuccessful search, they concluded that he must have only passed through Brighton, never to be seen again.

All they could do was remember him fondly and express their gratitude to him, wherever he might be.

As for Lizzy, though his features were blurred in her recollection, she vividly remembered him over the years. In her young mind, she knew without a doubt that he was the most courageous man who ever existed, so like the heroes from the books she loved to read.

She wrote about him on the first pages of the red velvet-covered diary given to her as a present by her Aunt Gardiner and even attempted to sketch his portrait several times—as witnessed in the following pages of her journal—but the face of her saviour remained lost.

However, she did not forget her promise to him—and she named her dog Lucky.