Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

A few days later, too soon for the letter from Lord Matlock to have reached Kent, Lady Catherine de Bourgh descended upon Pemberley. Immediately upon her arrival, she began to make demands and offer complaints to everyone in the household.

“I am most seriously displeased, brother, that neither you nor your nephew felt it necessary to inform me of my brother’s ill health until after he had passed away. Nor can I understand why these interlopers have been allowed to remain in this house which ought to be a house of mourning. It is unseemly to have guests in the house who are unrelated to the family,” she said upon being introduced to Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth.

“Lady Catherine–” Darcy began but was cut off by his uncle.

“Catherine, why are you here? You have known of George’s ill health for some time and while we were all surprised at the suddenness of his death, we have known for months that it was inevitable. Had you truly wished to see him again, you would have come at the beginning of the summer when you were asked, or even visited him while he was in London in the spring,” her brother asked in an equally haughty tone.

“I have come to ensure that Fitzwilliam does his duty and marries my Anne. I have had my solicitor draw up a marriage contract, and since you are here as well, you and Fitzwilliam should sign it, making the engagement official. It was the dearest wish of my sister Anne that our children marry, and now that Fitzwilliam has inherited Pemberley, he can marry Anne immediately. She can remain here with him, and I will return home to Rosings.”

“Aunt–” Darcy began again, only to be interrupted by his uncle.

“You have wasted a journey then, Catherine since Anne never agreed to such a betrothal, and Fitzwilliam has no intention of marrying your daughter. You knew this, you have been told this multiple times by me, by Fitzwilliam, and even by George. We have repeatedly informed you, through verbal communication and letters, that Anne never agreed to such a betrothal, and that Fitzwilliam has no intention of marrying your daughter. Despite this, you chose to ignore everything we said.

“Fitzwilliam cannot wed until his year of mourning has passed. George and I spoke of the type of woman he wanted his son to wed, and he hoped his son would marry for love. Should our nephew fall in love with your daughter or decide on his own he wished to marry her, I would not object, but I will not allow you to bully him into a marriage based solely on your wishes. Other than you, Anne spoke of her desire for her son to marry your daughter to no one—not her husband, not her brother, not my wife, and not her son. You are the only person who believes she wished for the match,” Lord Matlock stated.

“She did. We spoke of it when both children were still in their cradles. Fitzwilliam is now the master of Pemberley; it is the perfect time for the two to wed. Anne is not yet of age, but she will do as I command. ”

“Catherine, I hope your men have not unloaded your carriages just yet. My wife and I were to depart for Matlock shortly; you and your daughter will accompany us there. I will not allow you to harass our nephew in an attempt to force him to comply with your wishes in this matter when he is already dealing with so many other things.” He turned toward his nephew and spoke quietly. “Darcy, I will write to you, but let me know if there is anything that you need from me. I suppose other matters will have to wait for the moment, but we will speak again when I see you in London in the spring, if not sooner. For now, I will escort Catherine to Matlock myself; please inform my wife that I have departed and to follow me soon with our things. She will understand my haste.”

And with that, he escorted his sister into the hallway and back out to her coach, where the carriages were not unloaded, nor did anyone seem to be in a hurry to do so. With a brief wave to his nephew, he helped his sister and niece back into the carriage and instructed the driver to take them directly to Matlock.

Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth remained at Pemberley a fortnight after Lady Catherine’s visit. Though Elizabeth wished to remain longer to stay with her friends and support them, Mrs. Gardiner was anxious to return home to her husband. Reluctantly Elizabeth agreed with her aunt, and the two departed for London, along with the Gardiner children, who were equally disappointed to depart from the country for smelly London.

“Please write to me often,” Georgiana pleaded with Elizabeth as the two stood in the great hall on the day the Gardiners were to leave. “I have so enjoyed having you all here and will miss your company. I know we are in mourning, and should not be having fun, but the house will be so quiet without you all here with us. William will be eternally busy, and I will have so little company. ”

“Georgiana,” Darcy scolded gently. “Mrs. Gardiner needs to return home, as do her children. They intended to remain only a month and have been here nearly twice that long to be of use to us during our time of need. Mrs. Gardiner and the children miss their father, and it would be inappropriate for Elizabeth to remain here without them. We will see them again in London in the spring, though it is possible we will have a reason to journey there in the autumn.”

“Truly, William?” she asked excitedly.

“I cannot say for certain yet, Sprite. But it is possible I will need to travel to London in October or November. You know that Uncle will be in town for the beginning of Parliament then, and we will be just entering half-mourning near Christmastide. I am uncertain whether I would prefer to be at Pemberley or in town for the holiday, but we will decide nearer to the time and see what might occur. Regardless, we will certainly be in London in the spring. In the meantime, you can write to Elizabeth and use my messenger when it is feasible.”

“Thank you, William,” she gushed, then turned to her friend and said in a hushed voice: “Write to me often,” she repeated before watching her brother step out the main door with Mrs. Gardiner on his arm. “Write to William as well since I feel certain your letters will help to brighten the frown he wears perpetually since our father’s death. He is so busy now that he is the master of the estate; I cannot recall Father working quite so hard.”

“Hush, Georgie,” Elizabeth reprimanded gently. “Your brother has had a significant burden thrust upon him, and he wants to do what is best for the estate and all those who rely on him. He is scarcely less busy now than he was at the beginning of our visit; it is only your perception of his work that has changed. Although you are only ten, you can help him by refraining from scolding him for working hard and by doing what you can to assist. You should focus on your lessons and perhaps play for him occasionally. You are quite skilled on the pianoforte, and you know he enjoys listening to you. ”

“I fear there is little I can do to help him,” she whispered.

“Ask him about his day. Do not pressure him. Go riding with him on occasion and force him to leave his study. Even try rising early, at least once a week, to join him on his morning rides. If he does not leave his study, tell me, and I will scold him in a letter or have my uncle do it. I know it is difficult, Georgiana, but you can lighten his load by attempting to be cheerful yourself. You both miss your father, and I promise, it is equally difficult for him.”

Her voice was almost inaudible when she said: “He had Father for longer; I feel like I had so little time with him. And I cannot remember our mother at all.”

Elizabeth pulled the younger girl in for a hug. “I do understand what you are feeling, Georgie. We cannot control these things; we can only do the best with what we have. You had ten years with an excellent father and now you have an excellent brother who will do everything in his power to be what you need. You have your aunt, Lady Matlock, and my aunt to support you, and me to be your friend. Truly, Georgiana, you have much to be thankful for. Be grateful for the time you did have and remember how much he loved you.”

“I will do my best, but you will need to remind me on occasion, Elizabeth. I will miss you.”

“And I will miss you. Now, come, let me say goodbye to your brother and then we must depart. My aunt is anxious to return home because she misses her husband.” She took her friend’s hand and led her toward the front stairs where the rest of the party waited.

The children and Mrs. Gardiner were already in the carriage, having said their goodbyes earlier. Darcy was standing by the carriage door, having helped the children in first and was still exchanging a few final words with Mrs. Gardiner.

“Elizabeth, we must go, my dear. Say your goodbyes quickly,” her aunt called .

Darcy took a few steps to meet her and stood in front of her. “I will miss you, Elizabeth. You have been a good companion on my rides. I fear Georgiana will not be as willing to accompany me in the mornings.”

“I have become quite the horsewoman this summer. It is too bad I will have little chance to ride while in London, but I hope to return to Pemberley someday. You may have to endure my poor riding a third time since I will no doubt have forgotten all I learned by then,” Elizabeth said brightly, though in truth, she was very sad to be leaving both of the Darcys. They had become even more dear to her during this visit, and she wished she could stay with them in the country.

“I would gladly suffer through more lessons with you if it meant you could join me on my rides as you have. I will miss you.”

She smiled up at him, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Georgiana told me to write to you. I have not forgotten our conversation about how it is not improper since we are cousins, of a sort. Do you still wish to me to write to you?”

“I do,” he said, his smile happier than she had seen in some time. “Your uncle approved our writing to each other in his last letter. Since your uncle and my father approved our friendship, I have no qualms at all about continuing it in this manner. In fact, I have a letter for you to read on your way to London.”

This time, her smile did reach her eyes. “How scandalous, sir,” she teased. “Not yet out, and already receiving secret correspondence from a gentleman. I have told Georgiana to accompany you on your rides in my place, at least occasionally. Do not isolate yourself in your study and forget everything else. She is hurting, and I know you are as well. Lean a little on each other. Speak of your father, and your mother, for Georgiana knows little about her. I think it was too painful for your father to speak of her, but now Georgiana is missing her too and feeling a little lost that she is an orphan at such a young age. ”

Darcy nodded. “You can sympathise with her, can you not? Perhaps you can advise me on this through your letters as well. She is so much younger that I am sometimes uncertain how best to approach her.”

“Just spend time with her. I know you are busy but make a deliberate effort to spend a little bit of time with her each day. Perhaps have dinner or breakfast with her a few times a week as you can. If you need ideas, you can write to me, and I can make suggestions.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth; I will do as you ask,” Darcy said, before gently pulling her in for a hug and pressing a chaste kiss to her forehead. “I will see you soon.” After helping her into the carriage, he shut the door and latched it, remaining where he was. Elizabeth watched him until the carriage crested the hill, and she could no longer see him.