Page 7 of The Countess and Her Sister
“An absurdity, perhaps. What a fine piece of curio it should make – a museum exhibition wherein you are perpetually glancing around a ballroom and despising the revelry.” Elizabeth was careful to avoid mentioning the specific slight to herself, and she allowed her mirth to show enough that even Jane smiled.
“How you do go on, Lizzy! But a museum trip does sound like a pleasant excursion for another time, though I cannot like to think of my own family on display in such a way!” Lady Augusta chortled indulgently.
Mr. Darcy cocked his head to one side. “And what sort of exhibition might you make, Miss Bennet – what tableau would you present for the amazement of the masses?”
Elizabeth grinned at the challenge. “I would make a spectacle I have not done in nearly two years, and it is one I should be happy to repeat endlessly – rambling about the countryside for miles and presenting myself at the homes of my friends with my hem six inches deep in mud.”
Rebecca laughed. “I nearly perished of an apoplexy the first time you appeared thus when you came to us, after spending the day at Hyde Park. I never knew one could become so dirty there!”
“That was before Thomas could walk or run – you have since learned your lesson,” Jane said brightly. “Lizzy and I had plenty of practice with our young cousins – my aunt and uncle reside here in London – in Cheapside.”
Elizabeth watched as Jane assessed Mr. Darcy’s reaction to this incomplete revelation. He did not flinch; Jane, her head held high, let out a barely discernible sigh of relief.
“You are fortunate to have grown accustomed to children before becoming a mother yourself,” Mr. Darcy said smoothly. “My cousins are all near enough my own age, and my only sibling is a sister more than ten years my junior.”
“Having children in the family is certainly a charming advantage,” Lady Augusta agreed. Rebecca began to cough vigorously. “Oh dear – perhaps we should call for some tea.”
Mr. Darcy stood. “I had thought – if you will permit it, Aunt – to suggest a walk. The weather is very fine and Green Park is not far, if Lady Jane does not share her sister’s enthusiasm for dirty hems – and if she does, Cousin Rebecca shall be forewarned of her impending fit of vapors.”
Elizabeth fairly gaped at the completely straight face with which he had rankled Rebecca, then looked to her sister.
This was all for Jane, after all. Richard, who had been unusually quiet, agreed that it was a fine idea.
He escorted his mother and sister behind Mr. Darcy, who offered one arm to Elizabeth and the other to Jane, and they all began their promenade with just the right amount of distance between the two groups.
As if relieved that the watchful gazes of their relations were at his back, Mr. Darcy grew a modicum more animated as they meandered toward Green Park. “I mentioned my sister just now – Georgiana, who is not yet seventeen. I suppose you know that Richard and I share the guardianship of her.”
“Yes,” Jane said.
He seemed to desire some further reply, which Elizabeth readily supplied. “Richard and Mamma have told us that Miss Darcy’s disposition is very similar to Jane’s – that she is gentle and sweet, and if a little reserved in conversation, very eloquent in her performance at the pianoforte.”
“An excellent way of putting it, Miss Bennet – yes, my sister is rather shy in company, and therefore uncommonly attached to me. I mention this last part because I wish to tell you that I was out of humor at the ball because I was obliged to deny my sister permission to attend. She will enter society in the autumn, but even then I should hesitate to acquaint her with some of the gentlemen of Lady Thurston’s set. ”
“I knew there must have been some reason – that you must have had some other cause for ill humor,” Jane said, giving Elizabeth a significant look.
“I do not seek to excuse my own behavior, which a man of my station – particularly with such responsibilities as guarding one so young – must learn to moderate. I was not master of myself, yet I wish you to know why. I understand you have younger sisters at home, and may perhaps comprehend the complex sentiments of denying any indulgence to one so beloved.”
Jane stiffened at this mention of home. Matlock Hall in Derbyshire had been closed since the earl’s death – prior to this event, Jane’s time there had given her no happy memories.
After losing their father, she and Elizabeth had spent a restorative month together at a satellite estate of the earldom, Montrose, before installing their mother and sisters there.
They had not returned since, nor were they likely to do so any time soon.
As Jane grappled with some powerful and disconcerting recollection, Elizabeth gave Mr. Darcy an encouraging smile.
“She must be about our youngest sister Lydia’s age, then.
Kitty and Mary are two years older than her, and I am two years older than them.
Our sisters are not at all reserved, and it has therefore been impossible to deny them anything, even our own favorite books and bonnets!
But I suppose in a house with only one daughter, there is bound to be less thievery. ”
“Half as much,” he said with a smile. “I have no finery to tempt her, but she is a voracious reader.”
Elizabeth felt a little color creep into her cheeks as he said the word tempt , but she was pleasantly surprised by how amiable Mr. Darcy had become since apologizing for his offense.
He was not as gregarious as his friend Mr. Bingley, but he looked ready to speak about his sister for as long as they would consent to hear him; such tenderness of heart could not fail to make an impression on the ladies.
“If she is fond of books and music, she would enjoy herself very well some afternoon at Matlock House – is it not so, Jane?”
“Yes indeed, and her reserve might go wholly unnoticed if you and Richard are present, Lizzy.”
“I hoped to ask for the privilege of introducing her to you both. It is time she made suitable friends in London. I fear she suffered something of a setback last summer when visiting Ramsgate – she has struggled to place her trust in anybody after bestowing it in the wrong quarter. Her fortune and station have been more of a hindrance than a blessing.”
Jane gasped. “Poor Miss Darcy! But our relations have been a great comfort to me, and I am sure they must be the same for your sister, sir.”
When Mr. Darcy gave a gracious nod of his head, Elizabeth mused aloud, “I wonder that you have seen so little of the Fitzwilliams; you appear to have long been on cordial terms. Is it not strange that we have not met in the two years I have been at Matlock House?”
Elizabeth could well understand why Mr. Darcy had wished to avoid his late cousin, but the loathsome late Lord Matlock had been dead for two years. Richard spoke as if he saw Mr. Darcy often – but why should he only see his cousin away from Matlock House?
Mr. Darcy drew in a long, uncomfortable breath. “I wish to answer you in honesty, and yet without giving offense, Miss Bennet. I have some sense of your temerity, yet I fear causing you any dismay, Lady Jane.”
“I am aware of your quarrel with Lord Robert; I have no objection to your acknowledging it,” Jane said evenly.
“You are too gracious. I will own that I regretted his passing. I hoped that our advancing years might bring us both the age and wisdom – and cooling of our respective tempers – to grow into a cordial sort of truce between us someday. At the time of his death, a cousin of my father’s and her daughter were living near Pemberley, and after some counsel from my aunt, Lady Susan, I called at Matlock House to offer my condolences.
I was prepared to extend the proverbial olive branch to my cousin’s widow, but I was told that you were ill, Lady Jane.
Perhaps you may not recall – I was told your sister had come to attend you, though the mode of her arrival put the house in uproar. ”
Jane raised a hand to her cheek and then withdrew it, as if recollecting the toll that illness had taken. “Now that I think of it, I believe I do recall Mamma telling me later that you had visited. Perhaps you may not remember it, Lizzy, for you nearly took ill yourself.”
“My head was full of fear for you, Jane; I can recall naught else.”
“You are the sister who stole the magistrate’s horse and rode astride to the countess’s aid?” Mr. Darcy smiled so brightly at Elizabeth that she stumbled, and then he drew her a little nearer on his arm without betraying any notice of her misstep.
Elizabeth let out a breathy laugh. “I borrowed a horse from my neighbor, Sir William Lucas – his daughter was my dearest friend, and I had her permission, though the horse was not hers to offer, I suppose. That factored very little into how unsatisfied I was by my father’s advice that I wait a few days for fear of contagion. ”
The corners of Mr. Darcy’s lips crinkled as they tugged upwards, and he radiated approbation. “You are a lady of high courage, Miss Bennet. And it is certainly to your credit that you inspired such devotion, Lady Jane.”
What a change had come over the man! Elizabeth began to think there must be something amiss with Lady Thurston’s intimate circle that the man presently charming them could have been so out of sorts at the ball; the concern he had expressed for his sister was just as pleasing as his present overtures to commend them.
Jane blushed prettily at Mr. Darcy’s compliments.
“I daresay you would do no less for Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth observed.
His face shaded for a moment, and he nodded his head gravely before turning the subject. “You say she will be in good company at Matlock House – do you ladies play and sing? Are you fond of novels and poetry?”