9. Chapter Nine

Kiernan hopped down from the post carriage and looked around the town. It had been several years and quite a few inches since he had visited Meryton. Grabbing his luggage as it was tossed down to him, he took in a deep breath of autumn air. Hefting his tote onto his shoulder, Kiernan took off down the road that he knew would take him to Netherfield.

He knew that the Darcys were at Netherfield and soon the Bingleys would be visiting as well. School was on break for the moment, and he was glad for it. He had thought about visiting his family in Derbyshire, but he knew they were well and with Timmy there to help them, he wasn't needed. Really, what he had wanted to do was to check up on the goings on of Longbourn. There was a possibility that he could help them out with what he knew would be a large undertaking of restoring the neglected estate. He had received so much from the Darcys, he was keen to pay them back how ever he could.

Walking through the crunchy leaves as he made his way, Kiernan let his mind wander. He remembered the autumn years ago that had changed his life forever. It had not been long after he had told Miss Elizabeth he had decided to help her and her sisters out with some brotherin' that things had seemed to go sideways. His role in helping rescue Miss Elizabeth had cemented his connections with the family.

Recognizing his thirst for knowledge, Mr. Darcy had provided him with a tutor and later on, entry into Eton. His family had been tenants on Longbourn land for generations and now resided at Pemberley working on the home farm. It seemed, however, that he was becoming destined for more than simple farm work. While he did not know what that was yet, he did not mind taking the journey and finding out. It seemed like no time had passed at all before he was being greeted at Netherfield.

He was just putting down his pack when Darcy came to greet him in the hall. "Kiernan, I was not expecting you! I thought you would visit your family when your classes let out." Reaching out, Darcy gave him one of those half hugs as men seemed to be so fond of.

Good-naturedly accepting the ruffling of his hair and the accompanied hard clap on the back, Kiernan replied, "They are all well enough without me. I heard that new lad Timmy is working out well helping on the home farm. Anyway, I was eager to see about Longbourn. I am sure I can be of some sort of use while here. I will need to go back to Eton in a few weeks, but until then, I am here to help."

Darcy shook his head, but smiled warmly at him. "You are always welcome at any of my homes, Kiernan. Though you know you do not have to keep helping out. You do not have to work for your keep, or anything for that matter."

Waving his arguments off, Kiernan said, "I like being of use. I get antsy if I have to stay idle for too long. How are my sisters?" Though he was not actually related to any of the Bennet ladies, he had promised to be brotherly to them all and over time he had started calling them his sisters. He loved them all as if they were his blood anyway.

"Lydia and Georgiana are back in Derbyshire with Mrs. Hawkins. Only Elizabeth and Mary are here right now, though Jane will be arriving with Bingley and their daughter soon enough." Reaching out, Darcy grabbed the pack by Kiernan's feet and called over to one of the footmen and handing him the pack asked him to see to it that Kiernan was prepared a room in the family wing.

Kiernan thought of protesting his placement in one of the family rooms but knew that he would get nowhere with Darcy on the matter. Though the gentleman was kind and caring despite his anxiety around strangers and at gatherings, he was also rather stubborn. Letting it slide, Kiernan asked, "How is little Artie doing?"

Darcy's grin, if possible, grew larger. "He has everyone wrapped around his little finger and his vocabulary grows by the day."

Barking with laughter, Kiernan had to wait to regain his breath before responding. "Well, that has to be expected. Look at who his parents are."

"Oh, how darling! Is it a boy or a girl?" Elizabeth exclaimed, her eyes wide with adoration as she watched the striking kitten curiously explore a footstool.

They both sat on the floor with the kitten running between them. "With her cute appearance and affectionate personality, she is simply irresistible," Mary agreed.

Pulling out a feather, Elizabeth attempted to get the kitten to play. "What will you name her?"

Biting her lip in thought, Mary said, "I was thinking of naming her Cleopatra."

"Why Cleopatra of all things?" Handing the feather off to Mary, Elizabeth laughed at the kitten's apparent confusion.

"We found her in a stack of rugs. It made me think of the story of how Cleopatra snuck herself to Caesar in a rug." Mary flicked the feather out of the kitten"s reach, entertaining it with a chase. "Then too, she has dark markings around her eyes, like you see in the Egyptian paintings."

"Then I think Cleopatra is perfect."

Mary watched as her sister played with the kitten, happy to see her so well and joyous. Elizabeth was finally getting over much of her morning sickness, and while it was by no means gone, it had receded enough that Mary no longer worried so much about her health.

In fact, there were actually several things that Mary was happy about. As she reflected on her little excursion, she was pleased to note that her ankle had performed admirably, giving her confidence that she was mostly recovered from her unexpected mishap of falling through the floor. And while it would be quite some time before Cleopatra became a mouser, Mary had found a cat for Longbourn. Though she hoped there would not be a rodent problem at her former home for very long. From what she had heard from William, the estate was coming together nicely. It was not livable at that point, but everything was going in the right direction. There had been no unexpected problems cropping up, well besides the rot in the floorboards she had discovered. Soon enough, Longbourn would be a fresh slate ready for new possibilities and happier memories.

Yes, things were definitely looking up.

Coming down from his horse with a thud, Gabriel looked around the yard by Longbourn's stable with a critical eye. They would have to do something with all the discarded ruins of what once was the insides of Longbourn. It was unseemly to have such heaps of trash surrounding a manor house.

The sound of a horse and rider approaching had Gabriel looking up and shielding his eyes from the sun to see who was coming his way. It appeared to be a young man on a rather energetic steed. Despite his stylishly cut brown hair and matching brown eyes, he was dressed in practical work attire. While his clothes implied that he was a worker, his horse implied that he had money. Its sleek lines and powerful build were easily notable. He looked somewhat familiar, but Gabriel could not place his name.

Calling out, Gabriel questioned the new arrival. "Hello. Can I help you?"

Bouncing down from his horse with the boundless energy of youth, the stranger turned around and smiled. "Actually, I have come to see if I could help you." Giving a sharp bow with the horse's reins carefully in hand, he explained, "I am Kiernan Anderson, and you could say I am good friends with the Darcys. Since I am on break from school and came to visit, I hoped I could do something useful while I was here. I am not formed to be idle and was looking to get my hands dirty, so I have come to offer my services."

Gabriel's memory was jogged by the younger man's introduction. Kiernan was the little boy that had helped Darcy rescue Mrs. Darcy all those years ago. That would certainly develop a close friendship if anything did. It seemed that he was a little boy no longer. He looked to be around fourteen and was probably as tall as Miss Mary. He was going to be a rather large man soon enough.

Gabriel could well remember the age where he felt he would burst if he did not have some sort of activity to engage in. "You are more than welcome to come and help me. I was trying to decide what to do with all this debris when you arrived."

"While the Bennet ladies are good to be rid of him, it looks like Mr. Bennet left quite the mess to take care of in his absence." Kicking at the horribly broken remains of a table, or possibly a chair, Kiernan shook his head. "You might burn it all, but you would need to keep a good watch. With it being autumn and all the leaves on the ground, there is the risk of an uncontrollable fire. I can understand why you want to be rid of it, though. An early snow would make it impossible to work with all this before spring. Have you thought of reaching out to people, like the blacksmith or one of the carpenters? Perhaps they might have use of some of it?"

"I had not considered that anyone else might have use of it." Looking at the young man with new understanding, Gabriel realized he was more than he might have originally assumed. "I had been thinking of the possibility of burning it all. It has been some time since we have had a snow this early, but it would be just the sort of thing to make the situation even more difficult. At least the windows are boarded over until the glacier comes tomorrow."

Looking up at the clouds, Kiernan narrowed his eyes before turning his attention to the manor's boarded-up windows. "Have you checked the tenant houses over yet? I would be curious to know how my childhood home fared."

With a slight grimace, Gabriel shook his head. "Only a cursory glance. For the most part, I have been working on the manor. There was unexpected damage on the second floor that necessitated more attention than anticipated. The broken windows letting in the weather had caused damage to the stability of the flooring."

"I can imagine that broken windows could have caused problems with rot and the like. I hope no one was injured."

Looking down, Gabriel felt his face flush with shame as he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Miss Mary experienced a mishap where she ended up partially falling through the second floor. It resulted in her leg being visible through the ceiling of the first floor." Clearing his throat, Gabriel forced himself to continue. "She actually became stuck, and it took some work to free her. She escaped with minor injuries, but it was certainly a harrowing moment."

"I can imagine," Kiernan replied, his tone oddly full of amusement despite the topic of conversation. "I am glad that she is well. She certainly seemed fine when I greeted her yesterday."

"That is good. I have not seen her since the accident and hoped that she had recovered." Deciding that he would ask a few of the men in town if they had any use for the ruined furniture pieces before he set about burning things, Gabriel made a snap decision. "Would you be interested in riding to a few of the tenant homes with me? I would like to survey what needs to be corrected before anyone can resume living in them. I have a feeling you might be able to direct me to them better than my own wanderings."

"I would be happy to go with you. My family home is probably one of the closest. I can easily show you the way." Swinging back up on to his horse in a single fluid motion, Kiernan was ready to go.

Gabriel mounted his own horse and allowed Kiernan to take the lead. For a while, he pondered things in silence. Thinking about the possibility of needing to redesign a tenant cottage or two if they had become too damaged. Though his skill was not anything special, he enjoyed studying architectural design, and he hoped that he would have the ability to make a comfortably livable home.

Quickly, though, his mind seemed to wander to Miss Mary. He was glad to hear that she had recovered sufficiently from her accident. The nagging feeling of regret gnawed at him, knowing he had missed his chance to prevent it. The incident had reinforced just how much he loved her. He had admitted to himself that he had feelings for her for some time. Strong feelings. For a while now he had been putting off any action, and though it ate at him, he knew it was for her own good to wait until he could provide what she deserved.

They had been dancing around each other for the longest time. Would he ever reach a point where he could offer Mary a home and a life worthy of her? How long would that take?

It was not long before Gabriel realized they had arrived, and he was forced to push his mind back to the work at hand. Dismounting, Kiernan looped his reigns loosely over a nearby branch and approached the building. It was big for a tenant home, with a second story and what must have been a pretty little garden. Going into the garden, he knelt down and ran his fingers over some of the herbs that were still growing and had gone rather wild.

Getting off his own horse, he looked the home over. It was obvious to Gabriel that the house had been loved before it had been abandoned. They had taken the time to board up the windows to prevent the sort of problem like Longbourn had. "It seems that your family took good care of your home. It must have been hard to leave it."

"Yes, it was. Our family had lived on Longbourn land for nearly as many generations as the Bennets. But we understood that without the Bennet ladies overseeing things, it would become unlivable." Breaking off a piece of what seemed like mint, Kiernan rubbed it between his fingers and sighed. "Darcy offered my family a larger house at the Home Farm at Pemberley. They took the opportunity with the understanding that if they chose to come back here, the Darcys would make the way for them. I think my parents have decided to stay at Pemberley, but I have an older brother who is considering coming back to Longbourn at some point."

Unsure of what to say to the young man, Gabriel offered a platitude. "That is good, I suppose." Then, looking at him more closely, he asked, "Do you not want to come back to Longbourn?"

"No, with the Darcys sending me to Eton and soon enough to Cambridge, I have a different path in front of me than my family had." Dropping the mint, he turned to face Gabriel more fully, a small grin on his face. "I have also been growing a nest egg to enable me to do interesting things with my future." Walking back to his horse, he gave him a rub behind the ears and wrapped the reins around a nearby branch. "Did you want to go in?"

"I think that will be a good idea. We can check out if there has been any damage that needs to be corrected." Meanwhile, his mind was wondering how a tenant child could manage to grow any kind of nest egg by the tender age of fourteen.

They had made their way inside and were examining the home. They soon realized that besides the rodent issue, something had made a home in one of the two chimneys. That would have to be dealt with carefully, as they did not want to risk injury or rabies from a badger or whatever was in there. It also looked as if the kitchen door had been gnawed through and would need to be replaced. Beyond those problems, the house should not require much more than a thorough cleaning.

Gabriel's mind was so focused on whether he should ask Jeremy and Isaac to tackle this house next or to work on the patching of the holes in the walls that he was completely taken off guard by Kiernan's comment.

"So, when are you going to make Miss Mary happy and ask her to marry you?" Kiernan looked at him with a grin.

Stepping back from the door he had been examining, Gabriel had to force his mouth shut to not gape before responding to Kiernan. "What? What did you just ask?" The boy couldn't have just asked what he thought he did.

Shaking his head at the question, Kiernan gave a little laugh. "Do not try to deny it. Between the color you are changing, the way you called her Mary before and not Miss Bennet and the information I get in letters from the Bennet ladies. I know it is not a matter of if you like or love her, it is a matter of when you will act on your inclination."

Grasping at the first thing that came to mind, Gabriel blurted, "First off, I let her fall through the floor. I did not know that the floor was so unstable. I did not sufficiently warn her." There was no way he was having a conversation about how much he loved Mary. It just was just not happening. More than that, how could a boy of what was he fourteen… fifteen… know?

"Love allows for a lot in my experience. Darcy allowed Miss Elizabeth to be tossed off a cliff by a childhood friend of his that had gone bad. Love is not constrained by the bad things that happen. If it is actually love, you overcome the things like falling down the cliff and grow closer together." Laughing, Kiernan looked at Gabriel. It was not long before his gaze became serious, however. "I am sure that Miss Mary can forgive you for letting her get her foot stuck, but first you must forgive yourself. Besides, she is more likely to be upset about your hesitation. If I have learned anything, it is that women and girls, my sisters included, do not look at things the way men do."

What in the world gave this boy such insight? And falling off a cliff? He knew that Mrs. Darcy had needed rescuing, but it was obvious that he did not have all of the story. Fighting against embarrassment, Gabriel considered confiding in the young man. Even after only an hour of conversation, he realized he could become friends with Kiernan despite their age difference and class divide. It seemed as if the young man had an inside angle that might help him in his attachment to Mary. "Yes, I have feelings for Mary that apparently, I cannot deny, but what good are feelings when I can do nothing about it? I am a second son with no estate or even a place to live with her available. I would never take her to my family"s home. My family would never treat her as she should be treated."

"Do you think you would not be instantly invited to stay at Netherfield or with any of her sisters?" Kiernan gaped at Gabriel as if he was stupid for using the excuse that he was. "Even her mother lives on a prosperous estate that I am sure you could make yourself of use at."

"But what woman wants to marry without good provision? My mother complains all the time that she should have married better, as what my father has is beneath her." Of course, his mother rarely spoke of it directly to his father, but he had often heard her complaining of it to her sister when she came to visit. "I could not bear it if eventually Mary felt that way."

Walking away from Gabriel for a moment, Kiernan paced and then turned back to confront him. "Do you think they only married because of where they might live and the clothes they might have? If so, then you are fooling yourself. Jane, Elizbeth, and Catherine married for love and nothing else. If Bingley, Darcy, or Colonel Fitzwilliam had been anything else—book seller, steward, or common soldier—it would have changed nothing." Looking at Gabriel discerningly, Kiernan seemed to judge him for a moment before continuing. "I will guess that Mary is more hurt by your hesitation than your lack of a grand home or jewelry that you have to offer her. The Bennet ladies are not like others of their station: they escaped a hell at Longbourn despite the nice things and position it offered. Now free, they will accept nothing but love and respect."

It took a moment for Gabriel to absorb all that he had been told. He knew that the Bennet sisters all married for love, but would they really have married to their disadvantage? Was Mary hurt by his inaction? Gazing at the younger man, he recognized that this had not been a conversation that had taken place by accident. "Thank you for talking to me about this. I have a great deal to ponder and a few beliefs that need reevaluating. It seems that I may expect to be happy much sooner than I had ever hoped."

"I suggest you take care of matters soon. I dislike seeing my sisters in pain." Kiernan glared at him momentarily, but his features soon softened as he changed the subject. "What do you suppose we speak with the blacksmith and carpenter to see if they would be interested in anything in the piles of rubbish?"

Gabriel readily agreed and soon they were both back on their horses, trotting towards Meryton. He was glad his horse knew what it was about because there was so much whirling through his mind that it was very possible that he would have become unseated easily. It had been a while since he realized Mary was the woman he wanted to love forever. There had never been any coyness between them. For some time now, they had both acknowledged that there were feelings left unsaid. Was what Kiernan was implying true? Was Mary in pain because of his hesitation to move things forward? If so, he was a cad for allowing her to suffer for his own misplaced pride.

He went about the rest of the day quieter than was his wont. Things were accomplished around Longbourn. The blacksmith and carpenter came to see what they had and were surprisingly interested in hauling quite a bit off. Kiernan allowed him to think as they burned the remainder of the rubbish and take care of other things around the manor. His mind was focused inward, no matter what he was doing on the outside. He had to make things right with Mary. But how would he go about it?