Chapter 6

U ncle Edward had leased a very spacious house, which to Elizabeth’s delight was only one street away from Coast Road which paralleled the sea and beaches. The house was at 34 Privet Street, and Elizabeth would not be whinging, even a little, as she was greatly pleased she could see the sparkling sea from her bedchamber’s window. It was possible thanks to the house opposite, as well as the one behind it on Coast Road, being of only two stories each, while the one her uncle had found had four levels, and her chamber was located on the third level. The additional flight of stairs was more than compensated for by the vista from her window.

The nursery was on the same floor as Elizabeth’s chamber, but on this holiday only the two youngest Gardiners would reside in it. Eddy and Lilly were assigned their own chambers, one either side of Elizabeth’s.

Aunt Maddie’s and Uncle Edward’s suite was on the first floor. They did not have a direct view of the ocean; however, they did not repine it as they had the floor to themselves. Not being able to see the sea did not impede their enjoyment of the breeze blowing across the tops of the waves or the pleasant smell of the salt water in the air.

As they had arrived in the late afternoon the previous day, Elizabeth had not had a chance to begin to explore the area around the house where they resided. Being one who loved exercise combined with her desire to walk made it imperative for her to walk out on Wednesday morning. She found her aunt, uncle, and the two eldest Gardiner cousins in the dining parlour, the former two had cups of coffee while the latter two were enjoying hot chocolate. Thinking she was the only one who would be up so early, she was surprised to see most of the family at the table.

“Good morning, Lizzy dear,” Madeline welcomed, “I trust you slept well?”

“With the cooling breeze from the sea, I was not too hot while I slumbered, so yes, it was very restful,” Elizabeth replied. “I will admit I did not expect so many to be up already.”

“Eddy and Lilly want to explore the area close to the house. I assume you would like to as well?” Gardiner guessed.

Elizabeth kept her facial features impassive. She had hoped to go for a speedy walk this morning, and she knew her cousins were not able to keep pace with her. At the same time, she was a guest and did not object to their accompanying her. Part of her duties while on the holiday was to assist her aunt and uncle with her young cousins, a task to which she never objected.

“If there is more chocolate, I will have a cup, and then if Eddy and Lilly are ready, we can go explore,” Elizabeth smiled.

“As long as you remember, this is not Longbourn and the chances of encountering one with whom you are familiar is almost nought,” Gardiner pointed out. “As such, when any of you leave the house, whether it be you alone, Lizzy, or with some of the children, a footman and maid will accompany you.” Gardiner did not miss the protest forming on his niece’s lips. “No, Lizzy. As much as I know you enjoy your solitary rambles, just like when you visit us in London, whether you are alone or with some of your cousins, you will be escorted. Your father would never forgive me if I did not make sure you are safe at all times.”

“I suppose I knew how it would be, but it could not hurt for a girl to hope it would not be so,” Elizabeth accepted. “I will keep to your strictures regarding walking out. Aunt and Uncle, you have my word of honour.”

“In that case, as soon as you three are ready, and the escorts are with you, you are free to go explore.” Madeline looked to her niece. “Make sure you are all back in time to break your fasts with us.”

“Aye, Aunt Maddie,” Elizabeth promised. In the interim a maid had brought her a cup of hot chocolate with clotted cream on the top, just the way she loved it. She took her time to savour her beverage.

“Drink up, Lizzy, we are ready,” Eddy prompted impatiently, as a boy of eleven was wont to be.

Elizabeth drained her cup and used her finger to capture the last few drops and a little remaining clotted cream. When she was done, she put her cup down, wiped the edges of her mouth with a serviette, and then nodded so the footman would pull her chair back as she stood.

It was a warm day, so besides a bonnet and a light pair of gloves, Elizabeth only added the lightest of her pelisses. In case they were needed, the footman was carrying parasols for both Elizabeth and Lilly.

The three cousins and their escorts turned left and walked along Privet Street until they encountered the first street running east to west which led to Coast Road. It did not take long to walk to that road. Elizabeth was no less excited than her much younger cousins when they finally had an unimpeded view of the beach and the water beyond it. There was hardly any breeze so the waves were not throwing off any spray as they broke onto the sand and stones.

Without thinking, and aware of naught but the sea before her, Elizabeth ran across the road intending to reach the beach and walk on the sand. She did not notice another party who was right in her path, walking on the side of Coast Road she was trying to reach. Thankfully her young cousins were with the governess and footman .

Georgiana Darcy froze as the lady ran towards her, not out of fear as she did not feel threatened, but rather from surprise. She was walking with Mrs Annesley, Thompson, and one other Darcy footman. The footmen could tell the miss about to collide with Miss Anna was gently bred, and they did not want to manhandle her, so they were stymied.

Mrs Annesley acted first. “ MISS ,” she called out loudly which garnered the attention of the young lady who was running towards them.

The loud noise penetrated Elizabeth’s consciousness and her blind desire to reach the beach. Just before the collision, she saw a horrified young lady who had been bracing for an impact. She managed to stop herself and ended up merely inches from the person of the pretty, blonde, and blue eyed younger lady. Those eyes looked familiar but it was neither the time nor the place to consider that.

“Please pardon my behaving as a bull in a china shop,” Elizabeth managed as she took a step or two back from the young lady who she had almost knocked off her feet. “I allowed my excitement at being near the sea for the first time to make me blind to my surroundings.”

Before the young lady or one of her party could reply, Elizabeth’s young cousins caught up with her. “Lizzy, did you not see where you were going?” Eddy enquired.

“I did not, Eddy,” Elizabeth responded, “I should have been more aware of my surroundings. In my haste to reach the beach, I almost collided with this young lady.”

“She looks like a princess,” Lilly added.

Anna blushed at the young girl’s compliment. She looked to Mrs Annesley as she had no idea how to introduce herself without a third party to do the honours. There was something in the kindness she saw in the eyes of the lady who almost knocked into her which made her want to meet her.

“Given that the two ladies almost met physically, I think we may make introductions without the benefit of a third party,” Mrs Annesley opined. “Will you introduce your party please, Miss?”

“Certainly. I present my cousins Master Edward and Miss Lillian Gardiner of London. I am Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire,” Elizabeth imparted. She did not miss the way the young lady’s eyebrows rose when she mentioned her name.

“Miss Bennet is your estate near an estate called Netherfield Park?” Georgiana questioned.

“It is! Do you know Netherfield Park?” Elizabeth queried.

The older lady stepped in to introduce her charge. “Miss Bennet, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Miss Georgiana Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire. I am her companion, Mrs Annesley”.

Elizabeth spoke as she had the thought,“Mr Darcy’s sister!” There was nothing in the bearing of the young lady which screamed prideful. In fact, if anything she seemed to be a very shy girl. If she did not already know that nothing Mr Wickham told her was true, meeting Miss Darcy would have been all the proof she would have needed. She now realised why she had seen Mr Darcy in the coach which had passed them on Tuesday morning. He must have been returning to Town after delivering his sister to the area.

For her part, Anna was fascinated by the lady her brother had mentioned warmly, and repeatedly, in his missives he had written to her from Hertfordshire. She exuded confidence, warmth, and openness, the first and last of which Anna felt she lacked. “D-did William mention me?” she asked quietly.

The speech was so soft Elizabeth almost missed it. “He did, but not nearly as much as one who claimed you as an intimate friend and extolled your virtues whenever she was able,” Elizabeth replied playfully .

“You must be referring to Miss Bingley,” Georgiana guessed as she smiled for the first time since meeting Miss Bennet.

“You are correct. That lady never missed a chance to lavish praise on you, especially on your prowess at the pianoforte. I feel I know you already without the advantage of having met you before.” Elizabeth was about to ask her about her courtship with Mr Bingley, but she knew it would only embarrass Miss Darcy. She was more sure than ever that the pernicious Miss Bingley had dissembled in the letter she had written to Jane, when trying to warn Janey away from her brother. Miss Darcy was a pretty girl who was a little taller than herself. That made Elizabeth think of the night at Netherfield Park when Miss Bingley had attempted to induce Mr Darcy to compare his sister to herself, and to her disgust, he had used Elizabeth as his example of his sister’s height.

“Miss Bennet, would you agree to call on me soon?” Georgiana asked daringly.

“As long as my aunt and uncle approve, I see no reason I would not be able to do so. Where are you residing?” Elizabeth queried.

“You are not here with your parents and sisters?” Georgiana enquired.

“No, I am not. My uncle is my mother’s brother. How do you know I have sisters?” Elizabeth could not imagine Mr Darcy had mentioned her or her family, unless he wanted his sister to know how not to behave that is. He must have said something about them due to the fact Miss Darcy had recognised her name and mentioned Netherfield Park.

“My brother mentioned it in one of his letters to me when he was at Mr Bingley’s leased estate,” Georgiana explained. “He told me much about his time in the neighbourhood and the people he met there.”

She wondered what he had said, and if he had told his sister of his slight to her at the assembly. Before Elizabeth could reply, her young cousin spoke. “Come Lizzy, we need to walk, or we will not see much else before we return to break our fasts,” Eddy insisted.

“I apologise for keeping you from your walk,” Georgiana stated diffidently.

“As I am the one who almost ran into you, the fault is all mine,” Elizabeth asserted. “What is your direction, Miss Darcy? And may I call on you on the morrow, let us say at ten in the morning? May I bring my aunt with me, in case she would like to meet you as we have only just met?”

“We are at 39 Coast Road, and I look forward to seeing you, and of course your aunt or any others of your party are more than welcome. That is the house right there.” Georgiana pointed to a large house of five floors on the corner of Coast Road and the street Elizabeth and her cousins had used to reach the shore from Privet Street. It was next to the house of two stories which allowed Elizabeth her view of the sea from her window.

“We are very close to your house; my aunt and uncle have taken a house at 34 Privet Street. Until the morrow, good day, Miss Darcy and Mrs Annesley.” Elizabeth curtsied to the ladies. Miss Darcy and her companion returned the curtsy and the two parties went their separate ways.

“Come Eddy and Lilly, let us walk down the beach to the water’s edge. I am sorry my carelessness used up so much of our time,” Elizabeth stated contritely.

Her cousins agreed. Elizabeth offered each one a hand, and the three of them made their way to where the tide met the beach. That Mr Darcy had mentioned her to his sister, and from her reaction seemingly in a positive light was baffling, but this was not the time to puzzle out what that meant, if anything.

Had they more time, Elizabeth would have removed her half boots and stockings, and lifted her skirts an inch or two in order to be able to feel the seawater on her toes. They would be here for more than a month, and she was sure there would be time to do that.

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

“Are you saying you no longer disdain Mr Darcy as you did at Christmas?” Madeline verified when Elizabeth told her of meeting Miss Darcy after they had eaten. She and her aunt were sitting in the private sitting room attached to the master suite.

“He did insult me and held himself above all of us in Hertfordshire, but I have come to own he is not as bad as I first thought he was. To my shame, I based much of my antipathy towards him on the words of a man who is a thief, seducer, profligate, and liar. I accused him of pride and vanity when it was my own pricked vanity and pride in my discernment which caused me to listen to Mr Wickham. I never questioned what he told me about Mr Darcy until the truth about Mr Wickham was exposed.” Elizabeth shook her head. It still mortified her that her much vaunted ability to sketch characters had been so wrong in the cases of those two men. “Miss Darcy is nothing like that miscreant described.”

Madeline paused before saying, “I have no objection to meeting her with you on the morrow. Do you know that I met her mother more than once?”

“I was not aware you were familiar with the Darcys,” Elizabeth owned.

“There is more. The truth is the last time I saw the current master of Pemberley was when he was in his teens, not long before I married your uncle. My knowledge of his family and their goodness made it hard to reconcile your stories of his dishonour with what I knew. I said nothing because as I said, I did not know very much about this Mr Darcy,” Madeline informed her niece. “I should have written to some of my friends in Lambton and asked about both men. Knowing how you do not like to hear anything to the contrary when you come to a conclusion about anyone, I waited until you asked me before I expressed my opinion.”

Elizabeth felt chagrined all over again at her former belief in the infallibility of her conclusions. She had learnt a valuable lesson. Suddenly something struck her as if she had been run over by a galloping horse. If Mr Darcy mentioned her, more than once it seemed, to his sister in his letters from Netherfield Park, then could it be she was incorrect in her assertions he had been looking at her to find fault? She did not know, but given all of the errors of judgement she had made, it was quite possible that too was incorrect. Elizabeth would wait and see if she and Miss Darcy became closer. If they did, it was possible she would discover more about the brother.

“Jane and Charlotte both advised me to be more circumspect in my judgement of both men. I dismissed their advice and kept my own counsel,” Elizabeth admitted. “I told myself Jane only saw the good in all, and Charlotte was swayed by Mr Darcy’s wealth and consequence.”

“Lizzy, we all err from time to time. The important thing is how we react to those mistakes. Do we learn from them or simply ignore them and repeat them over and over again? Look at your mother and father. The former, at least so far, has not been able to make any changes, but the latter is making many adjustments. Both Edward and I never thought we would see the day Thomas decided to do more than hide away with his books and port.” Madeline smiled at her niece. “If your father has the capacity for change, then I do not doubt the same is true of you as well.”

“It is my prayer that is so. At the very least I am aware that I must be open to evidence that my conclusions are not sound, and not cling stubbornly to them as if they are written in stone.”

“That, Lizzy dear, shows you too are able to grow and change. On a different subject, Nurse told me that Peter wheedled two stories from you yester-night. Do not let him get his way like that. I want him to learn, like his sisters and brother have, that only one means only one.”

“He is your son, so I will honour your wishes. It is just so hard when he looks at me in the way he does. It melts my heart.”

“Come let us go collect Edward and the children and take a walk down Coast Road and then onto the beach so the children can run, and you can finally dip your toes in the seawater,” Madeline suggested. After a hug from her niece, Madeline led Elizabeth downstairs to join those preparing for the family outing.