Chapter 32

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

T he children had eaten breakfast and set to their morning lessons with their governess. At last, Elizabeth could chat with her aunt about the dinner party she had attended the night before.

"The officers of the Melisande were given a long shore leave after their last voyage, and they are gathered for Lieutenant…oh bother, I mean Captain Leonard's wedding. Mr Fielding, our host, is Captain Leonard's cousin. Apparently, they were close as boys. Their home was very elegant, but not ostentatious as I had thought it might be, located where it is. Mrs Fielding was rather young but a graceful and warm hostess. Admiral and Mrs Langley were there, as was Lieutenant Middleton and Captain Dunbar and their wives. Oh, Aunt," she sighed. "I do miss them so."

"Friendships forged in difficult circumstances are often the strongest bonds," remarked Mrs Gardiner.

"Yet I missed you all terribly while I was at sea. There, I am fickle, and there is no pleasing me."

"Perhaps you should count yourself fortunate that you have so many excellent friends, both here in England and also far away. I am sure that with the friends you found in the Navy, you will always be missing someone, scattered all over the world as they are. It is a good thing that you are a prolific correspondent."

"There was another present at the dinner whom I never expected to see again in my life. Do you remember several years ago when Mr Bingley leased the Netherfield estate, and his party made such a stir in our sleepy, inconsequential little town?"

"Mr Bingley was there?" gasped Mrs Gardiner, her hand flying to her chest.

Elizabeth laughed heartily. "No, thank goodness! No, his friend Mr Darcy was there! It turns out that Mrs Fielding is his sister, and she and her husband use his home when in London. Can you imagine my surprise?"

"I can indeed! I remember how you disliked him, and I could not make sense of your description of him, as it was at such odds with what I knew of his family."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Ah yes, the opinions of an ignorant country girl who believed herself to have superior powers of discernment." She returned her aunt's gaze and said in a voice tinged with remorse, "I was wrong about so many things! Mr Bingley proved to be a spineless jilt, and Mr Wickham proved to be a vile reprobate. Mr Darcy was indeed above his company, and too awkward in conversation to be pleasing, but in retrospect, a decent man. A gentleman. Much too late, I realised he had tried to warn me about Mr Wickham's depravity. I was too decided against him to hear it.

"I think he would have liked to speak to me last night, but he was very thoughtful regarding my time with my friends from the Melisande . He did ask if he could call while I was in town. I gave him your direction, Aunt. I hope you do not mind."

Aunt Gardiner looked at her curiously. "I do not mind at all, but why do you think he wishes to visit you? You were not friends."

"No, we were not," sighed Elizabeth. "I wasted a chance to make a friend of an intelligent, educated man, which were in very short supply in Meryton. I shall admit to curiosity about his life over the past several years. He should have married some wealthy, titled, diamond of the first water by now, but there was no mention of a Mrs Darcy."

Mrs Gardiner settled back against the cushions and stared absently, seeming to search her memory. "I believe my friend in Lambton said he is widowed. I plead ignorance of anything further. You know how your uncle feels about society gossip rags. We do not read them."

Their butler appeared at the door. "There is a Mr Darcy here to see Mrs Bancroft, madam."

Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner sat bolt upright and stared at each other open-mouthed for a moment, then both ladies leapt up and began patting their hair and shaking out their skirts. Mrs Gardiner answered somewhat breathlessly, "We shall receive him in the yellow parlour, Jackson. Goodness this is early for a visit! Pray send in a tea tray with some toast, fruit, cheese, and breakfast pastries. And coffee as well."

The two ladies managed to settle themselves in the parlour seconds before Mr Darcy was shown in. Elizabeth inhaled sharply. He was just as handsome and stately as she remembered, but as she had seen the previous evening, his countenance was no longer marred by a frosty hauteur. He wore a small smile, and his eyes seemed unusually bright. Heavens, he was almost animated!

Curtseys and bows were exchanged, and Elizabeth presented her aunt to their guest.

"Mr Darcy, my aunt shares a controversial opinion with you. She believes Derbyshire to be the finest of counties."

One corner of Mr Darcy's mouth twitched, but he answered with solemnity. "Obviously, Mrs Gardiner, you are a lady of great discernment. Though I am curious as to why you have formed that opinion. Are you from Derbyshire?"

"I am, sir. I spent much of my youth in Lambton. My father, Mr Ellis, was rector of that parish until his health began to fail, then we removed to the south of England to be closer to my mother's family."

"I do not remember ever meeting your father, but my own father spoke of him with respect. We attended services in Kympton, though I believe he and my parents collaborated on the Lambton parish school, which is still in operation."

Mr Darcy turned to Elizabeth. "Have you visited Derbyshire, Mrs Bancroft?"

"I have not. I was supposed to travel north with my aunt and uncle five years ago but…" Elizabeth faltered, heat rising in her cheeks. She was skirting perilously close to her family's fraught history of that year. Mrs Gardiner smoothly finished her sentence.

"Yes, Mr Gardiner and I had hoped to take Elizabeth with us to Derbyshire and the Lakes, but other circumstances interfered, and we had to cancel our plans. When we were again at liberty to travel, we only had time to go as far as Lambton, and our niece was already at sea. Poor soul, she has only seen two oceans and three continents, with islands and ports of call too numerous to mention, but not the north of England," Aunt Gardiner said breezily, with a surreptitious wink.

"I still wish to see the Lakes, Aunt. Perhaps we can make the journey next summer?"

Before Mrs Gardiner could voice her reply, Mr Darcy spoke. "If you are able to travel to the Lakes, you must visit Pemberley on your way. Mr and Mrs Fielding also live nearby and would enjoy your company."

Elizabeth blinked at the familiarity implied by Mr Darcy's invitation. "That would be pleasant indeed. I remember Mr and Miss Bingley's praise of your home, and I am sure it would be lovely to see."

Her aunt was clearly enthused. "When I was a child, I had the honour of visiting Pemberley, sir. Your mother planned a little celebration of May Day for the village children. There was a maypole and Morris dancers. We sang and danced around the maypole, and your housekeeper gave us each a little posy. We had a picnic on the lawn, and we were permitted to walk in the orchard where the trees were covered in blossom. I still remember how beautiful they were."

Mr Darcy nodded. "My mother greatly enjoyed planning events that would benefit the people of our community. Especially the children."

Noting his wistful expression, Elizabeth said, "I expect you are well travelled, Mr Darcy."

He smiled ruefully. "Not like you are, Mrs Bancroft. I did not have a grand tour, due in part to the situation on the Continent but mostly to my father's declining health. After his death, there was no question of travel while I assumed my responsibilities as my sister's guardian and master of Pemberley. Since she married almost three years ago, I have reacquainted myself with a small estate in Scotland that is part of my family's holdings, and I recently accompanied Mr and Mrs Fielding to Devonshire to inspect a property he inherited there. Otherwise, I have been content to remain at Pemberley, managing the farm and other interests, with occasional short visits to London."

Elizabeth wondered. Managing the farm? He does not spend most of the year in town? He does not spend the Season there? Her former impressions of Mr Darcy had again been proved wrong. She had thought him to live mostly in London, mingling with the wealthy and titled, a proud pillar of fashionable society. That was the portrait Miss Bingley had painted of him.

"You prefer the country," said Elizabeth with a soft smile, a little question in her voice.

"Yes, by far. I do enjoy availing myself of the great variety of entertainments of the city—concerts or plays or lectures, and patronising the booksellers and Tattersall's—but that is not enough to keep me here for long. I miss my home too much."

"You speak of your home with great pleasure, sir. It must mean a great deal to you."

He nodded. "Mrs Bancroft, you were also quite attached to Longbourn, I believe. Do your parents still reside there? Did you remove there upon returning to our shores?"

"My mother died of a fever several years ago, but my father remains. He has in fact remarried."

Mr Darcy's eyes widened in surprise. "I am grieved to hear that you lost your mother. It hardly seems possible. Mrs Bennet was a…" He stumbled over his words, clearly searching for the right ones. "A spirited personality. You must miss her very much."

Elizabeth managed not to chuckle, but her eyes twinkled at his careful choice of words. "We all do."

"So you did not go home to Longbourn to live? Does your stepmother not welcome you?"

Elizabeth smiled. "No, I am welcome there whenever I choose, and I visit often. I have my own home, Windward House, overlooking the Bristol Channel in Somerset. And of course, I enjoy visiting family in London. Beside my aunt and uncle, two of my sisters, Jane and Catherine, reside in town with their families. Like you, I also find the entertainments of the city an attraction."

"You have a house by the sea? That must be lovely."

"Yes, Captain Bancroft and I had planned to retire there."

Mr Darcy, looking chagrined, closed his eyes briefly. "I am sorry for your loss, Mrs Bancroft."

"I thank you, sir, that is very kind. And have you found your partner in life, Mr Darcy?"

"I am widowed, madam."

Elizabeth felt a wave of sympathy. "Now it is my turn to offer condolences. So, you know what it is to miss someone deeply."

His hand rose briefly to his chest. "I married my cousin Anne de Bourgh, as my family wished. She had never enjoyed good health and died less than a year later."

"I do remember that my cousin Mr Collins said your marriage to Miss de Bourgh was planned. Do you have any children?"

"No, no children. I have no need of an heir. Pemberley is not entailed. Georgiana or her children can inherit."

"Does your sister have any children?" Mrs Gardiner asked.

Her aunt's voice seemed to take him by surprise, and Elizabeth herself startled. Apparently both of them had forgotten she was still in the room.

"She has a son who is not yet two years old."

The visit continued for a short time longer, though they were already well over the usual quarter hour. Mr Darcy looked at his watch and stood. "I fear I must take my leave."

Elizabeth smiled as she also stood, and the trio moved towards the door.

Mr Darcy bowed to the ladies and thanked Mrs Gardiner for her hospitality. "Mrs Gardiner, Mrs Bancroft, will you have time while you are in town to attend a performance of some kind? I have heard that Herr Gerhard Heidemann will be in town to conduct a series of concerts soon. Would you and your family wish to attend?"

Elizabeth stifled a grin and exchanged a glance with her aunt. "We would enjoy that very much, sir, and shall wait to hear more details from you." Curtseys and bows were exchanged. Elizabeth, on impulse, held her hand out to Mr Darcy and was taken aback when he took it and gave it a little squeeze.

After the gentleman had been escorted out, Aunt Gardiner stared at the closed door and turned a discerning eye on her niece, one brow arched high. "Lizzy, I believe you have a suitor."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I would be surprised if that were the case." She moved to the window overlooking the road to watch him depart. "Although he is certainly more amiable now, if he were to seek a second wife, it would be from among his own set." She watched Mr Darcy speak to the boy who had been walking his horse and give the lad a coin.

The man was impeccably dressed as always. His coat accentuated his broad shoulders, stretching slightly as he moved. His breeches clung to his long, perfectly formed legs. She sighed, forgetting that her aunt was in the room. As he swung easily into the saddle, she could see the muscles of his thighs work and glimpsed the shape of his lower back and perfect derriere as his coattails flew up slightly. Her mouth went dry, and she felt a wave of heat and the strangest flop of her stomach.

"Lizzy?"

Elizabeth started and tried to reply, but only a wheezy croak emerged from her mouth.