Chapter 9

S eeing as it was only himself and Carstens in the coach, they had travelled farther each day since departing London at daybreak on the first Monday of July, travelling for more hours each day, than Darcy would have had Anna been accompanying him. On Tuesday evening, the fourth day of July, he was close enough that he had instructed his coachman to continue and not break for the night. By the time his coach had entered the porte cochère , and then into the internal courtyard beyond, it was dark, but even arriving a day before he had been expected, Mr and Mrs Reynolds, his butler and housekeeper, were waiting for him in the courtyard when the coachman brought his team to a halt.

It was no great mystery as to how they knew. As soon as he had passed the gatehouse, the keeper had sent his son galloping towards the manor house to inform the staff and servants that the master had entered Pemberley’s land.

As he always did when he arrived home, Darcy felt the weight of the world lift from his shoulders. For him, there was no place which could relax him as occurred when at his estate in Derbyshire. The next two days had been consumed with multiple meetings with his steward, Chalmers, where they had covered many subjects including the upcoming harvest and tenant issues. Starting next week, Darcy would begin a tour of his two and thirty tenant farms. It was always good for them to see and speak to the master from time to time.

Darcy was seated in his study after the second day of long meetings with his steward. There was a knock on his door and on being instructed to do so, Reynolds entered carrying the salver with a single missive thereon. As stoic as the man was under almost all circumstances, Darcy knew who the letter was from thanks to the slight upturn of his staid butler’s lips. Mr and Mrs Reynolds felt very protective of the Darcys. Especially Miss Darcy, or as they called her, the little miss . Darcy removed the sealed letter with only his name written on the outside in his sister’s flowing script. He grinned widely at the confirmation of the cause of his butler’s reaction to the letter.

All thoughts of work were pushed to the side as he was keen to see what Anna had to say. He broke the seal, sat back in his plush chair behind his oversized dark mahogany desk and began to read.

4 July 1811

39 Coast Road

Brighton

William,

Did you not promise to stop hiding that from me which you think will overpower my sensibilities? It is a strange feeling to know that my perfect brother is not as faultless as I have always thought.

Darcy was, to put it mildly, rather shocked. His timid, deathly shy sister was admonishing him. How could that be? He knew Anna was beginning to recover, but even before Ramsgate, she would never have taken him to task in that manner. It was almost like she had imbued part of Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s impertinence into her character. But that was impossible, he was certain the two ladies he loved most in the world had never met. He went back to the missive because speculation would not tell him what Anna was about.

How is it after your resolution to speak to me as an adult, you did not tell me that he had joined the militia as a lieutenant, and you had not warned anyone about him before you left after Mr Bingley’s ball? It has been pointed out to me that your actions were more than likely in service of protecting my reputation, and I appreciate you are so fiercely protective of me. However, who in society would have believed the word of the son of our former steward?

William, I must tell you for the first time I am roundly disappointed in you. How could you publicly insult a lady at the Meryton assembly your first day in the neighbourhood? You not only refused an introduction, but from what I hear, you danced with only the shrew and Mrs H when many ladies were in want of a partner. I am told that rather than being slighted by other men, the ladies in the town choose to sit out two sets to allow all to have an opportunity to dance because of the imbalance between men and ladies thanks to the war. Your behaviour was neither tolerable, nor was it handsome enough to tempt me!

Darcy stared at the words. He could not place them, but he was certain Anna had used them purposefully. Then he looked again at the words about the assembly he had attended the day he had arrived at Netherfield Park…suddenly it hit him like a runaway overloaded cart. But how had Anna heard about his words, unless…his mind wandered back to the carriage headed towards Brighton, the one in which he imagined he had seen Miss Elizabeth, except it seemed it was not his imagination that time.

She had heard what he had said! He remembered she was seated just behind him, and neither he nor Bingley had lowered their voices. Suddenly he saw what he had considered as her flirting, as trying to needle him. No wonder she believed Wickham! She hated him!

He had always wanted Anna to meet her, but he was nervous about how Anna would cope if Miss Elizabeth still thought Wickham the wronged party. He needed to read on.

I promised my friend not to mention her name because she thinks you dislike her, and you only looked upon her to find fault! You should know she and the rest of the residents of the neighbourhood were made aware of the true nature of that man, and no longer credit anything he told them. I know he and another officer stole money and escaped the area, without, of course, paying his debts before fleeing.

William, my friend knows all regarding last summer, and she does not think any less of me. The only ones she truly blames are Mrs Y and he who shall not be named. Although I have kept my word not to mention her name, I am sure you know who my friend is. She is wonderful! What were you thinking sitting in a library and ignoring her for a half hour?

Enough remonstrations. My friend will soon come to see me, with her aunt and uncle. Mr Gardiner is her mother’s brother, and his wife is the daughter of the late Mr Lambert who was the rector at All Saints in Lambton. If you did not know Mr Gardiner was in trade, you would think him a gentleman. They have four adorable and very well behaved children from 11 down to 3. Peter, the youngest, calls me a fairy princess, or in his words, a ‘faiwy pwincess.’

Last week we went past the Pavilion, but sadly it was already closed to public visits as his Highness was to arrive soon (he and his retinue are already in residence by the date of my writing to you), and the day we were there they were busy preparing the house for the Regent’s arrival. What a house! It makes Pemberley’s manor house look small in comparison.

We have been to the shops a few times, and yes, when I go out Mrs Annesley, Thompson, and three of his men are always with me. Do not worry, Brother, I have not purchased so very much that I will bankrupt you.

On a serious note, I love having a true friend, one who likes me for me and not to impress you or for me to introduce to Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie. In other words she is nothing like Miss B. By the by, I told my friend about what occurred with that lady, and she was highly diverted.

Speaking of Mr B’s sister. Were you aware in her letter to discourage Miss Bennet from pursuing Mr B, Miss B wrote that her brother was courting me and you her? That woman would not recognise the truth if it slapped her in the face.

Darcy growled at this latest offence. How dare that harpy use Anna’s name in her machinations? If she had not been injured as she was and run north with her tail between her legs, he would make sure she was ruined all over again! At least he would never again have to be in her company. He went back to reading the rest of the letter.

My hope is one day you and my friend will meet again and get past all of the misunderstandings between you, because that is what I believe they are. I know you, William, and you are too good and too honourable to purposefully do some of the things about which I have heard. (She did not volunteer the information; I demanded it once I heard his name spoken. It was not in admiration. She was pointing out something he said about Aunt Catherine, which according to her was one of the only true things he had said to her.)

Knowing her has helped me move past the ‘event’ more than anything else. Mrs Annesley has said the same and encourages us to be together whenever possible so more of L my friend can rub off on me.

Even though what I heard about you disappointed me somewhat, it is good to know you are human like me, and have foibles like the rest of us imperfect beings.

With much sisterly love,

Anna

Darcy sat staring at the page. On the one hand, he was more than pleased Anna had met Miss Elizabeth. On the other hand, he would have preferred to be the one who had told Anna about Wickham’s presence in Hertfordshire. With absolute confidence in Miss Elizabeth’s discretion, he was not concerned about the fact his sister had told her all regarding Wickham. After all, it was her story to tell, and from what he could see, sharing the information had helped Anna more than anything else.

He had always respected Miss Elizabeth’s intelligence, so he had been baffled by what she said at the ball. It had indicated that at the time, she seemed to buy all of the whole cloth which Wickham had been selling. Thankfully, based on what Anna wrote, Miss Elizabeth’s eyes were fully opened regarding the blackhearted bastard. At least now he understood why she had been open to his honeyed words.

Now the question remained, what was he to do about the antipathy in which he was now sure Miss Elizabeth held him. Richard’s word’s hit him like a hammer blow. Miss Bennet was Miss Elizabeth’s closest sister, and he had acted against her interests when he had advised Bingley as he did. At least, Anna did not know about that, but he realised that even so, he needed to apologise and confess his actions to Miss Elizabeth if he ever was to have a chance of winning her regard, which he now knew would be an uphill battle. He needed to answer Anna’s letter. Yes, a letter. He was much better at writing than speaking. He would include a letter for Miss Elizabeth when he wrote to Anna.

Thus resolved, he pulled a page from the pile of paper on one corner of his desk and began to write. He wanted the reply on its way this day, so it would arrive in Brighton by Saturday.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Anna was expecting Lizzy to arrive and then they, with some of the Gardiners would be walking to the stores near the Pavilion again on Monday the tenth day of July. When she had seen her friend at church the previous day, she had requested that Lizzy call on her before they walk out.

She had not told Lizzy why, but it was because of the letter from William which had arrived with the courier on Saturday evening. More to the point, it was the one enclosed for her friend. She needed to apologise for revealing to William in her missive, Lizzy’s presence in Brighton. The letter she had sent her brother had precipitated the reply with one enclosed in it. She had not used Lizzy’s name, but William would have to be a dunderhead not to know to whom she referred, and her brother was rather intelligent. At least she could assure her friend about her brother’s unreserved approval of their friendship. She hoped that would mitigate the possible anger from Lizzy.

“Good morning, Anna,” Elizabeth greeted cheerily when she entered the sitting room. “Anna, is all well? You look nervous.”

“I am somewhat so,” Georgiana owned. “Last week after our talk I wrote to my brother…” it all tumbled from her mouth, including William’s approbation of their friendship. Once she had told all, Anna remained still, waiting for Lizzy’s reaction.

At first, Elizabeth felt a tinge of anger. Then as she considered everything carefully, rather than jumping to conclusions as she had in the past, she arrived at the realisation that her worry Mr Darcy would be angry at her friendship with his sister had been unfounded. In fact, it seemed the opposite was true. Elizabeth found that very surprising as it confirmed both Jane’s and Anna’s opinions that her opinion regarding why Mr Darcy stared at her was in fact wrong.

Then she smiled when she remembered that although she had asked Anna not to mention her by name, she had not requested she refrain from mentioning anything else.

Seeing Lizzy’s smile meant that Anna was able to relax. “Am I forgiven?”

“There is nothing to forgive, my friend. My worry that you would be told to drop the acquaintanceship was unfounded,” Elizabeth told her relieved friend.

“Lizzy, there is another reason I asked you to come without your family. When William wrote to me, he included a missive for you. If you do not want to read it, he will understand.” Georgiana picked up the sealed letter and held it in her hands until Lizzy decided what she wanted to do.

She was a single woman, and it was improper to receive a letter from a man not of her family, or whom she was engaged to, but Elizabeth was nothing if she was not inquisitive. Besides which, other than Anna, and of course Mr Darcy, not another living soul was aware of the existence of the letter. Her decision made, Elizabeth extended her hand to her friend and waited until Anna placed the sealed missive into her hand.

On the front were only her initials. She turned it over, almost caressing it, and broke the seal. Before reading the words, she admired the strong, masculine, even, and more importantly, legible script.

6 July 1811

Pemberley,

Miss Elizabeth,

Please excuse the freedom with which I write to you. Do not be alarmed, madam, that I will repeat that vile insult from the night of the assembly in Meryton, in fact, I need to beg your pardon for those patently untrue words.

Before I do so, I would like to explain the genesis of my mood that night. I do so not to mitigate my behaviour, but so you will have some context.

Anna has told you of the almost disaster. When I arrived at Netherfield Park that day, I had come from seeing my sister at Matlock House (My aunt’s and uncle’s home) and she was not in a good way, her spirits were almost as low as they were the day the bas blackguard had importuned her. Added to that, when I told Bingley I would remain at the estate, a certain lady (I have no doubt you will know who I mean) wanted to remain with me. Hence I attended and was in a very dark mood.

As you heard, Bingley importuned me to dance, and in my mood, I did not even see who the lady was. I only wanted to say what I needed to so Bingley would cease and return to the dance floor. I should never have said those words about any lady, especially not you who I soon realised was the handsomest woman of my acquaintance. My barbs were not aimed at you, but we did not lower our voices so there was no eavesdropping on your part. You had no choice but to hear those false words.

All I can do is beg your forgiveness and assure you that I will never be so ungentlemanly as to repeat words of a similar vein aimed at any lady ever again.

I need to ask your pardon for my behaviour when you were at Netherfield Park nursing Miss Bennet back to health. I had developed tender feelings for you, which in my pride I was fighting, so I vacillated between wanting to be in your company and not wanting to raise expectations I wrongly thought I could never fulfil. In hindsight, I am aware that regardless of what my feelings were or are, you had no interest in me.

It is my fault you were willing to listen to Wickham’s tale of woe. Therefore I cannot blame you for believing him, he is a very skilled liar.

When Anna told me you have seen through him and no longer credit his lies, even before she told you all, I was very much gratified. I will write to Sir William and pledge myself to pay any debts the wastrel had owing to the local merchants. On that subject, thank you for your generosity in explaining to Anna your opinion of why I did not expose him. You were correct in part, but I must admit that improper pride also held me back at not wanting to bare my private dealings for the world to see.

I have one more amend to make. I assisted Bingley’s sisters in convincing him to give up your sister. Until his sisters pushed him, I accused her of nothing underhanded, only opining I saw her display no particular affection for him. This was done in service of a friend, and never with the intent to harm your dearest sister.

My cousin, and Anna’s co-guardian, Colonel Fitzwilliam, took me to task for my interference no matter my intentions. In the end he helped me see had Bingley’s love been strong and constant, nothing I said, or any other said, would have kept him from returning to your sister.

I had thought she would do your mother’s bidding and accept him regardless of her feelings. In that too, I was wrong. When I visited Rosings Park, I discovered your refusal of Mr Collins, your father’s heir presumptive. That told me none of you would marry where you did not have an inclination to do so.

Before I broke with Bingley (over that which Anna related to you) I told him not only that I had been wrong to advise him at all, but I had known your sister was in London, and she had called on his sisters in January. He asked my advice, and I told him he needed to follow his own heart, like he should have from the beginning. I do not believe my former friend is mature enough to contemplate marriage yet.

Let me close by telling you that I could not approve more of your friendship with Anna. Even in Hertfordshire when I was fighting a losing battle with my heart, I knew Anna would love you.

I can only pray you see your way clear to forgive me.

God Bless,

Fitzwilliam Alexander Darcy

Elizabeth found that she was able to forgive him on all counts, including his advice to Mr Bingley. Jane had reached the same conclusion as Mr Darcy and his cousin, one she herself agreed with, so in the end, without intending to, Mr Darcy had assisted her Janey.

Elizabeth looked up and saw Anna watching her expectantly. “You may tell your brother I forgive him for all which he asked my pardon.” Elizabeth looked at the letter in her hands. “Will you keep this safe for me? I do not think I should take it to my uncle’s house, just in case.”

“Do you realise almost any other woman would have crowed about the letter to one and all and claimed a compromise. You have too much honour to do such a thing. Of course, I will keep it for you, and no, I will not read it,” Georgiana agreed.

The friends made their way downstairs arm in arm where Mrs Annesley and the footmen were waiting. They left the house to make the quick walk to 34 Privet Street.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“George, we need to take that man seriously, he is threatening our daughters if you do not turn over the defunct dukedom, its estates, and wealth to him. What if he hurts one of our girls,” Mrs Maria Fitzherbert pleaded.

“Maria, the girls are safe. You know they are guarded by men from the royal guard, and when they are not with us, either Seargent-Majors Biggs or Johns, or both of them, are with the guards. Those two will never allow them to come to harm,” Prince George, the Regent of the realm assured his longtime love. “He has gone too far this time. When we return to London I will have him stripped of his title, his lands, and his wealth confiscated. This will not stand.”

Mrs Fitzherbert looked at her younger daughter, who was thirteen, “Yes Emma, you may go visit the shops in an hour. You will stay close to the guards, will you not, my dearest?”

“Yes Mama, I promise,” Emma, whose full name was Mary Georgina Emma Seymour replied. “It is a pity that Mary Anne has a trifling cold. I hope she will be well soon.” The older daughter, Mary Anne Smythe, was sixteen.

“Papa…I mean your Highness, are you able to come with me when I go see the stores?” Emma asked keenly.

“I am sorry, Emma dear, I have matters of state to attend to, but I will be interested to see what you bring back to the Pavilion with you,” the Regent drawled. He had the persona of a profligate who cared nothing for anything which did not pleasure him. He was anything but. He liked it when he was underestimated, like the damned baron had.

Emma skipped away to go and play until it was time to go to the shops.