The Darcys of Pemberley (20 page)

“I admire your courage and your
determination. As time passes, it will become more comfortable. I
hope that someday you shall once again find only pleasure in seeing
both your cousins.” Elizabeth gave her sister’s hand an
affectionate squeeze as Darcy reentered.

Georgiana excused herself to return to her
one true consolation: her music. She was soon playing with much
feeling, liberating the emotions she had restrained whilst their
guests were present. Elizabeth’s strong sentiments – on behalf of
her sister and for herself – found no such ready release. Since she
had not the ability to pour them into music or any other art, she
relied on the relief of conversation. Even in this, however, she
was obliged to be guarded for the sake of another.

“I must confess, I am glad to have that
over,” she said to her husband.

“Was it difficult for you then, Lizzy? Your
manners and countenance never betrayed you; you appeared
confidently at ease throughout the whole of it. I am convinced that
even Lady Catherine could not fault you on any point, though she
may be the most fastidious person we know.”

“This is high praise indeed, Darcy. And were
you just as pleased with your aunt’s behavior? Has she met all your
conditions to be accepted back into the family fold?”

“It was gratifying to see her pay the respect
long overdue to you. Although I am not so naive as to believe that
her deference is sincere, I have to admit she made a real effort to
please. Yes, I am satisfied.”

“Then may we accept her invitation to visit
Rosings?”

“If you wish it. I am surprised, though, that
you should want to revisit the place. As the scene of your cousin’s
untimely death and the grievous ill-usage you suffered yourself,
Hunsford must harbor unpleasant memories for you. To this day, I
cannot think of my own conduct there without abhorrence.”

“No specter of Mr. Collins haunts me, I
assure you, and we have forgiven your aunt, have we not? As for
you, Mr. Darcy, I remember only what I wish to remember. I remember
we became better acquainted as we met very often at Rosings, and I
remember that you first declared your love for me at Hunsford
parsonage. How can any of this be unpleasant? I only ask that you
be similarly selective in your recollection of
my
behavior.
Then I think we may visit again without fear of
recriminations.”

“So, we go to Rosings with only pleasant
thoughts and happy memories. An elegant solution, Lizzy. At any
rate, I shall be glad for the chance to offer Fitzwilliam
encouragement. He seemed rather low today.”

“I suppose it is just what he said in his
letter – concern for Anne and the toll taken on her by preparations
for their wedding. I daresay her constitution still cannot be
considered strong, and she certainly looked to be suffering some
affliction of body or soul.”

“Blast!” Darcy expostulated, driving the fist
of one hand into the palm of the other. “It is this infernal
arranged marriage; that is the source of the trouble.”

“We have been through this again and again,
my love. Anne is a sweet girl, and I believe the colonel is
genuinely fond of her. They may do very well together. We must
accept their decision regardless, and hope for the best.”

“So I have been endeavoring to do … without
success.”

Darcy and Elizabeth settled between them that
they would travel to Hunsford on Monday. Elizabeth made a point of
speaking to Georgiana about the plan as soon as she had a moment
alone with her.

“What do you think?” she asked. “Can you face
such a visit, or will it be too much to endure? I could contrive
some excuse for you if you think it best.”

“That will not be necessary. Their calling
today has taught me to trust my own strength. No, I will go. My
aunt wishes it, and I should like to see Rosings again.”

Rosings Park

The pace of social activity not slackening in
the least, the Darcys kept well occupied. They attended another
ball that evening and a dinner party at the Applewhites’ home the
next. Then Sunday, after church, the whole afternoon was spent in
the agreeable company of the Gardiners. In this way the days passed
quickly, and it was soon time for their visit to Hunsford.

When they arrived at Rosings, Colonel
Fitzwilliam met and welcomed them cheerfully, helping the ladies
from the carriage. “I am so delighted that you are come,” he said.
“Rosings Park may be admired for its manicured lawns and generous
glazing, but I believe it is only
truly
exceptional when
graced by beautiful women. Darcy, I thank you for bringing
them.”

The elegant compliment had the desired
effect. Elizabeth and Georgiana were immediately disposed to think
the colonel more than usually charming.

Mr. Darcy rolled his eyes heavenward.
“Shameless flatterer,” he muttered, shaking his cousin’s hand.
“Still, I am glad to find you in good spirits today, Fitzwilliam. I
suppose we owe it to the fact that your wedding is now only a few
days off.”

“What? Oh, yes, of course, the wedding,” he
agreed, nodding and smiling. “How fortuitous that you have come
today, for I think I can promise that Rosings will prove far and
away more entertaining than you ordinarily find it. Come in! Come
in! Anne and her ladyship will be very glad to see you.”

They surmounted the front stairs of the
imposing structure and were shown into the oversized drawing room.
There they found the principal residents – Lady Catherine and Miss
Anne de Bourgh – and Mrs. Jenkinson, a woman long employed as
Anne’s companion. Lady Catherine received her guests with generous
condescension, and everybody acknowledged everybody else in proper
form.

Despite her assurances to her husband,
Elizabeth found that she could not observe the scene without
thoughts of the past. She was struck more forcibly than she would
have expected by the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Collins, without whose
company she had never been in this house before. It would be a
different sort of visit without Mr. Collins’s obsequious attentions
to her ladyship and his rapturous praise for the splendors of
Rosings Park.

Otherwise, things appeared just as Elizabeth
remembered; the expensive furnishings were arranged exactly as
before, and the three women even seated themselves in the same
places as they used to do. Lady Catherine sat in her formal,
high-backed chair, its style and situation serving to accentuate
her position of authority. Her chin worn high, she sited down her
aquiline nose as her small court assembled about her.

Elizabeth noticed at once that Anne was far
more animated than she had been only a few days earlier in town.
Her eyes were bright and alert, and her good color had returned. In
fact, she looked a little flushed.

“How was your drive from town, Darcy?” asked
her ladyship, after they were all settled.

“Quite tolerable. The roads were dry,” he
answered.

“I understand that you brought Mrs. Collins
with you from Derbyshire.”

“Yes, your ladyship,” said Elizabeth. “She
was good enough to accompany us as far as Hertfordshire. She is
visiting her family there and will come into London on Thursday so
that she may drive down with us for the wedding on Friday.”

“It was very charitable of you to convey her
so far,” continued her ladyship. “I doubt that she could have
afforded such a journey otherwise, with her modest resources. I
shall be glad to see her again. She and Mr. Collins always suited
me so much better than the
new
rector and his wife. I find
Mr. and Mrs. Chesterfield entirely too independent for persons in
their situation. Why, only last week I discovered that they have
made changes to the parsonage – removing shelves from the closets
and rearranging the furniture – all without my permission. And Mrs.
Chesterfield has recklessly converted some of the garden from the
growing of vegetables to the purpose of raising flowers! I would
have been glad to advise her against such foolishness if she had
had the courtesy to consult me, but neither of them can be troubled
to call at Rosings above once a week. I am quite put out by the way
Mr. Chesterfield neglects his duty.”

“He is still new to the position, Aunt.
Perhaps he does not yet understand what is expected of him and of
his wife,” suggested Colonel Fitzwilliam.

“How does Mr. Chesterfield do at his other
responsibilities?” asked Elizabeth. “Does he have more aptitude for
preaching than he does for obeisance, perhaps?”

“I suppose he does. I have no complaint
against his sermons; they always seem correct and well-considered,”
Lady Catherine conceded.

“He also spends a great deal of time visiting
the poor and infirmed,” said Miss de Bourgh in the clergyman’s
defense. “I have heard good reports of that sort from many people
in the parish, and Dr. Essex says that he often encounters Mr.
Chesterfield as he makes his rounds among the sick.”

“From what you say, Anne, I am inclined to
think well of the man,” said Mr. Darcy, “despite his shortcomings,”
he added dryly.

“He sounds a lot like our good Mr. Thornton,”
offered Georgiana.

Apprehending that her audience was not
entirely sympathetic to her grievances, Lady Catherine changed the
subject. “Mrs. Darcy, when I saw you lately in London, you
expressed an interest in making the acquaintance of Dr. Essex. I am
pleased to say that he will be returning from town this very day.
He sent word that we should expect him by dinner if not before. So,
you may have the pleasure of meeting him after all …
if
you
would care to stay.”

“Yes, do stay,” encouraged Fitzwilliam. “It
will certainly be worth your while.”

As the Darcys had no very pressing
engagements in town, they consented to remain at Rosings.

When the conversation waned, Lady Catherine
called for some music. Elizabeth and Georgiana, fully prepared for
the request, passed through the wide archway into the adjoining
room to comply. Georgiana could not resist the opportunity to play
a fine instrument. She directly took her place at the pianoforte,
which, true to her ladyship’s boast, was capital indeed. Elizabeth
had no intention of playing, but she did not mind singing with her
sister-in-law’s accompaniment.

They began with
Voi Che Sapete
, an
aria in Italian from
The Marriage of Figaro
by Mozart. Being
one of Darcy’s favorites, it captured his full interest. Colonel
Fitzwilliam was likewise entranced. Lady Catherine, who by her own
profession was a very great appreciator of music, concentrated all
her attention on the performance for at least two minutes before
remembering something important she needed to discuss with Mrs.
Jenkinson. This she did not scruple to do without delay, despite
the difficulty of making herself heard above the song. Mrs.
Jenkinson had no choice but to listen to her ladyship as she talked
on. The others, however, one by one, made their way out of the
conversation circle and into the music room, constituting a small
but appreciative audience for Elizabeth and Georgiana’s
efforts.

Despite her continued inattentiveness
throughout the three songs that followed, Lady Catherine felt fully
capable of rendering an authoritative judgment as to the quality of
the performances. She praised Miss Darcy’s playing without
hesitation or parsimony. For Elizabeth, her compliments were more
tempered.

“As for your singing, Mrs. Darcy, I must
allow that it is not altogether lacking in value. I would go so far
as to say that you possess a fine, natural voice. Clearly, though,
that potential was never properly developed. Use of the voice is
like the playing of any other instrument. One must be continuously
schooled in it from an early age under the guidance of an expert.
No true excellence can reasonably be looked for otherwise. Your
parents should have engaged a master for you. Then, with faithful
practice, you might have been a true proficient.”

After hearing this speech, Mr. Darcy declared
himself to be in grave need of fresh air. His wife and sister
readily accepted his invitation to accompany him in a turn through
the gardens before dinner. Fitzwilliam stood to join them, and Anne
was ultimately persuaded as well. Mrs. Jenkinson, who would not be
joining them for dinner, took leave and retired to her own
apartment for the evening.

When Elizabeth had visited Hunsford before,
she had taken great pleasure in long solitary walks about the
extensive grounds of Rosings Park. This day’s tour would be neither
solitary nor lengthy, however. In consideration of the lateness of
the hour and of the sky, which threatened rain, they were obliged
to stay close to the house. They strolled through the formal
gardens at a leisurely pace, Darcy escorting his wife and sister,
and Anne on Fitzwilliam’s arm. No one appeared in any hurry to
return to the confines of the drawing room.

Before long, their walk was interrupted by
the arrival of a gig, which Anne readily identified as belonging to
the expected Dr. Essex. The good physician climbed down from his
modest equipage, and, upon seeing the group, made his way in their
direction. His long strides brought him swiftly to them, whereupon
he was immediately introduced. A man of roughly thirty, Dr. Essex
carried himself well and spoke with the intelligence and manners of
a gentleman, making a very good impression on the Darcys, who were
prepared to be pleased by what they already knew of him.

“You are a miracle worker, sir,” said Darcy
after the first flush of civilities. “I have long wished to make
the acquaintance of the man responsible for my cousin’s
transformation.”

“I was only too glad to help. I am sure my
predecessor did his best, but it is high time medicine advanced
beyond the dark ages. Patients like your cousin, Mr. Darcy, deserve
all the benefits modern science has to offer.” Dr. Essex then
turned his attention to Anne. “I hope you are feeling especially
well and strong on this
particular
day, Miss de Bourgh.”