Chapter 41

Pemberley

15th December, 1811

Dear Elizabeth,

Our journey home to Pemberley was quick and easy, which was a relief to us all. We spent one night on the road and rose early the next morning, and reached Pemberley a few hours after noon.

The day after our arrival, a storm blew through the area, leaving the tree branches spangled with ice. It was a beautiful sight, though some of the trees were sufficiently heavy laden that some of their branches failed and crashed to the ground. My brother, some of the servants, and many of the tenants were out moving large branches and cutting them up.

I miss spending time with you and your family and hope that one day we will be in company again. I am thankful for my Cousin Anne's presence here; my brother, for all his kindness to me, is a busy man, and having both Mrs. Annesley and Anne for company is wonderful.

I confess I am not quite certain how to write to a friend who has lost her father. I am so sorry that Mr. Bennet passed on, and so unexpectedly. It must be incredibly hard, and I daresay the entire ordeal is even more difficult with a new master of the estate, though at least he is your brother by marriage. Please know I lift you and your family up daily in my prayers.

God bless you,

Georgiana Darcy

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Pemberley

18th December, 1811

Dear Elizabeth,

Our journey to Pemberley was long but surprisingly enjoyable, because my traveling companions were so pleasant. My mother, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, is of the view that the only voice worth listening to is her own, and in the past, I have been almost completely silent during carriage trips to avoid tiresome diatribes. My Cousin Darcy is not a great talker, nor is Georgiana, so I found myself actually initiating the occasional conversational topic, which was both unusual and delightful.

So far, I am feeling well here in Derbyshire, which is a great relief. My health has been somewhat uncertain for many years, but I have felt quite well in both Hertfordshire and Derbyshire.

Pemberley is very large, so much so that I have a young maid guiding me from one place to another until I entirely know my way around! I am looking forward to the season of the Nativity too. Georgiana and I are working on Boxing Day gifts for the servants and tenants, filled with items both practical and fun; I particularly enjoy picking out things for the children.

I am also practicing daily on the pianoforte. I am still a beginner, but I am enjoying it. Georgiana encouraged me to focus on my pleasure in the experience and not on my own lack of skill. I have come to think that it is wise to do things one enjoys and not just what one is naturally gifted in.

I hope you will write soon, Elizabeth. I admire you very much and grieve over the loss of your father and all the changes which are doubtless occurring in your life and the lives of your family.

God's blessings,

Anne de Bourgh

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18th December 1811

Anne,

It is outrageous that I did not learn of your departure for Pemberley from yourself or from Darcy. No, I was forced to learn of my only daughter's movements from my former rector, Mr. Collins, now master of Longbourn!

Really, Anne, is it not obvious that Darcy and you belong together as man and wife? You were together at Netherfield Hall, and now you are together at Pemberley. Indeed, I would venture to say that if Darcy does not marry you, you will be ruined! He is far too honorable a gentleman to toy with a lady's reputation, so I expect to see the wedding announcement in the London papers in short order.

You need not wait for me to come, either. Naturally you will long for me to be there for the wedding ceremony, but given how extensively you have dilly dallied, it is best for you to buy a license and be done with it.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh

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21st December, 1811

Dear Georgiana,

Thank you for your letter and thoughts and prayers.

I do grieve my father, certainly, though in truth I have not yet come to terms with his loss. I still find myself walking into the library and am startled that he is not sitting by the fire with a book in his hands.

You are correct, of course, that the changes at Longbourn have made the last weeks even more surreal. My new brother, Collins, is a kind man, and I am grateful for that, and my sister Mary knows the estate as well as anyone. Your Cousin Anne mentioned that you and she are assisting in preparing Boxing Day presents. We are also engaged in purchasing items and making up gifts for the tenantry, and Mr. Collins has been open-handed in procuring items for our people. We are all most grateful.

I must close as my mother needs me, but if you would be so kind, I would like you to pass on a message to Mr. Darcy. Please tell him that I am grateful for his kind words on the day of your departure and am praying for wisdom in the midst of this strange time in my life.

God bless you,

Elizabeth Bennet

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21st December 1811

Pemberley

Lady Catherine,

At Anne's request, I read the letter you sent her a week ago in her stead and then threw it in the fire. Any further correspondence to your daughter will also be thrown in the fire.

I will never marry Anne, because we do not suit.

Anne is my guest and nothing more. She and Georgiana are cousins and friends, and it is entirely suitable for your daughter to be here at Pemberley.

I suggest that you accept the situation and stop bombarding us with tiresome letters.

Sincerely,

Fitzwilliam Darcy

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26th December, 1811

My dear Rosalind,

I am glad that you will be returning to Town early in the New Year. My brother and sister Hurst are settled in for the winter, and I will be staying with them. We both spent several months in Hertfordshire in the countryside, at an estate which my brother Charles is leasing.

Charles being Charles, he promptly fell in love with a local beauty, the eldest daughter of a country gentleman and his wife, who is a solicitor's daughter. Unusually, he did not fall out of love as quickly as he fell into love, and only a few weeks ago, he married the girl!

Now his Jane is a lovely young woman, and kind, and gracious, and well mannered, but I had hoped for more than the granddaughter of a solicitor for my brother. But that is neither here nor there at this point, I suppose; the deed has been done. But to add insult to injury, Jane's father died the very day after the wedding, and thus my new sister is in deep mourning! Naturally, we departed for London within days of the death; it would be unkind to clutter up the mansion while Jane was grieving.

Mr. Darcy and his relations were there with us for two months as well, but regrettably, they also left for Pemberley after the death.

Not that I can entirely blame them; Pemberley is magnificent! But in winter? I do wish they had come to London, but perhaps in the spring…

In any case, I hope to see you soon, my dear friend.

With much affection,

Caroline Bingley

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27th December, 1811

Dear Elizabeth,

Boxing Day is over, and I did not rise from my bed until noon. Such a thing is unusual for me now that I am away from Rosings and Town, as thankfully I have been more energetic these last months! But Christmas Day was busy, and Boxing Day as well, and yes, I quite enjoyed lounging around in bed this morning!

Darcy, of course, was up with the roosters. My cousin is a most diligent master of Pemberley, and when I finally made my way downstairs, he had just come back from a long ride after checking on the fencing in one of the fields.

The longer I am here at Pemberley, the more I question my mother's absurd desire for me to wed my Cousin Darcy. While I am much improved in health, I still grow weary easily, and there is a great deal to be done as mistress of the estate, of course! Ever since my aunt, Lady Anne, died, the housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, has been fulfilling many of the duties of the mistress, but she is growing older, and I daresay will not be able to manage it all in a few years' time.

I know I am not being particularly subtle, my friend! I wish for Darcy to be happy in his marriage, and I am confident you and he would suit nicely.

But then again, I realize I am being quite like my mother, and that is an unnerving thought. I do not desire to direct other people's lives in such a way, nor do I wish to harangue you into a marriage you do not wish for.

Really, I do feel rather badly about this letter, to the point that I am tempted to crumple it up. You just lost your father, and here I am burbling about my Cousin Darcy as a possible husband!

And yet, I will send it, because I want you to know that, while some of the elders in the family might be unhappy about you potentially becoming mistress of Pemberley, Georgiana and I would be ecstatic.

God bless you.

Your friend,

Anne

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7th January, 1812

Dear Elizabeth,

We had a hard freeze last week, and a nearby pond has frozen thickly enough that it is safe to skate on it. My brother and I went out yesterday and skated, and it was so much fun! Cousin Anne did not feel up to skating, but she accompanied us, well wrapped in rugs, and sat on a bench set up near the pond, with a hot brick at her feet and hot potatoes in her muff.

There are goldfish that live in the pond, though the ice was too thick to see them. It seems extraordinary that they can survive when the water is so cold, but survive, and thrive, they do.

The Christmas season was wonderful, but now that is over, and we are settling into the coldest and darkest part of the year. I will confess that even last January, I felt rather morose about the beginning of the year. I was living in London with a lady named Mrs. Younge and had a fairly lonely time of it, as my brother was at Pemberley working diligently on estate business. Fitzwilliam had good intentions, without a doubt; the winters of Derbyshire are harsh indeed, and London has its share of amusements regardless of the season. But I am at heart a country girl, and I far prefer Pemberley to Town at any time of year.

I also continue to enjoy Anne's company. When my brother must spend a full morning in his study, it is pleasant to spend a few hours in a sitting room or the library. The only thing better would be if you were here as well!

I am not certain if we ever described the library at Pemberley. It is truly enormous, the biggest library I have ever seen outside of a circulating library in London.

I pray for you and your family often.

God bless you,

Georgiana Darcy

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17th January, 1812

Longbourn

Dear Georgiana,

It has been six weeks today since my father passed on. I find myself slowly adjusting to the reality that he is gone forever. I am surprised, really, that it has taken this long to accept it, but it was a great shock and very sudden.

For all that, I know we are blessed in many ways. Both of my sisters are happy in their marriages, and if my father had been taken ill even a day earlier, our situation would be much more complex, with the family in mourning and both weddings unavoidably delayed.

My sister Mary is proving as excellent a mistress of Longbourn as I had ever hoped. My younger sisters and mother and I help as needed, but she has her finger on everything; the smooth running of the household, the needs of the servants and tenants, and so on.

My sister Jane is also content at Netherfield Hall. The Hursts and Miss Bingley departed for London some weeks ago, so Jane is able to enjoy her time with her husband. It is, truly, a difficult thing for both my married sisters to be learning how to be married while in the midst of mourning. But that is life, of course; joy and sorrow are often inextricably mixed.

The skating sounds delightful, dear friend.

I have, with your brother's permission, enclosed a note for him from me.

If he chooses to respond, I hope that he will do so enclosed in your letters to me. Mr. Collins is not an ungenerous person, but he feels it is a God given right to know everything that is happening in the house. He greatly admires Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and if Mr. Darcy were to write to me directly, I have no doubt such information would be sent on to Rosings immediately, and none of us wish for another visit from your formidable aunt!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Bennet

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17th January, 1812

Mr. Darcy,

What an awkward thing this is, writing a note to a gentleman – via his sister, no less! Lady Catherine de Bourgh would be horrified, as would my brother-in-law, Mr. Collins!

I consider myself to be a courageous person, though, and while I am somewhat chastened by the events of the last two months, I am not cast down sufficiently to throw away a chance for a compatible marriage.

I am being direct, but yes, after thinking and pondering and praying, I believe there is a good possibility that we could be happy together as man and wife.

You are an honorable man, along with being both handsome and wealthy. You are a wonderful brother to Georgiana, a kind and exemplary cousin to Anne, and by all accounts, toil unceasingly to care for the estate and those who depend on it.

Good looks and money are considered the most important among many a young lady, but for me, honor is far more vital. "For man looketh on the outward appearance, but theLordlooketh on the heart."

Of course, in the last weeks, your feelings may well have changed, and if so, I urge you not to give way to feelings of guilt. The last thing I want is an unwilling correspondent, especially a gentleman!

My own parents' marriage was not a happy one, and more than anything, I long for true respect and love in marriage.

If you choose to respond, please enclose your letter with Georgiana's. I do not wish Mr. Collins to know that you and I are corresponding, as he would send that information to Lady Catherine within the hour!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Bennet