Memory: Volume 1, Lasting Impressions, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice) (7 page)

“No sir, I believe that all is well.  I have hired six new maids and four footmen, all are relatives of our former servants, so I do not expect any trouble from them.”

His brow creased.  “I suppose that I should know this but . . .is it common to lose so much staff in the Spring?  Were they unhappy?  Is there a need amongst the staff that I should know?”

Mrs. Reynolds regarded her master with approval of his concern.  “Oh no sir, we have a turn-over every few years of the lower staff.  It is not that Pemberley is unpleasant, but you know, these young people think that London is where their future lies.”  She shook her head.  “And then I hear how so many become ill there and die.  Nasty air.  I hope you return to Pemberley soon, sir.  I would not want you to take ill as well.”

Darcy smiled at this old protector.  “I think that I am immune to whatever lurks in the air by now, Mrs. Reynolds.”  He noticed her doubtful expression and appreciated her care.  “We will come home more than ready to enjoy the fresh air here.  Now, the accounts are in order?”

“Yes sir, don’t you worry about a thing.  I hope that you enjoy visiting your family.”  She smiled and left the room.  Darcy sighed and looked down at the pile of letters on his desk, seeing one from his uncle and another from Lady Catherine.

“Enjoy, hmm, interesting word.”  He opened his uncle’s letter first.

Dear Darcy,

I expect to see you in town in the next fortnight.  Your aunt wishes you to inform us of your arrival, and be warned, she has great plans for you.  Now, I know what you will say, you remain in mourning, however, six months have passed and you are now free to socialize a bit, so you cannot use that as a complete excuse.  You can visit family for dinners and if some friends and neighbours happen to be present it will certainly not be your fault!  Helen has been to Almack’s and has studied the new crop of ladies for the year and has found a number of beauties for your perusal.  I must say you are the envy of the men, so young and such a fortune available.  I assure you that you will be quite the popular fellow!  The ladies all know that you are to arrive soon, and they are already forming their battle plans!  You should have quite the delightful time enjoying their smiles and whispers.  Ah, to be young again!  Well, do not let your aunt hear that, but I am looking forward to seeing the pretty birds showing their feathers for you!  Enjoy it, Son!

I have received a letter from Richard, he is well as of three weeks ago, and has been promoted to Major.  From the rumours I have heard around the House of Lords, I believe that he is part of the forces who will support Sweden.  Of course he provides no details, only assurances of his health.  It is very trying on us to wait and wonder; more so as you know the members of our society seem to prefer to ignore anything that occurs outside of ballrooms, so there are few friends with whom to commiserate.  Well, I digress.  We hope that he will return soon, his mother in particular.

Be warned that my sister is greatly anticipating your arrival at Rosings.  I am certain that you know why and have devised your defences.  Give our love to Georgiana, and we look forward to your arrival.

Sincerely,

Matlock

Darcy refolded the letter and stared at it for a few moments.  His uncle’s confession of worry over Richard was remarkable, but this was the first time that his second son was truly in harm’s way.  His previous trips had been relatively brief and uneventful.  This time it was bloody and there were no guarantees of return.  Darcy’s worry over Richard had been constant, but like his uncle, he had no one in whom to confide his feelings.  He thought to look into purchasing a small estate to hold for a second son.  He did not want to face the possibility of his child dying in war simply by order of birth.  He wondered if he would have chosen the path of the military and decided that had he been forced to make a decision, he would have followed the law as his career.  Opening the letter from Rosings, he braced himself for his aunt’s demands.

Dear Darcy,

I expect your arrival on the 15
^th
.  Easter Sunday we will enjoy the company of our pastor and his wife.  Anne is excited by your visit and has spoken of little else for weeks.  You will be well-pleased with her; a bloom comes to her cheeks when I speak of your pending betrothal.  Your mother would be so proud to see this come to pass, she told me often how she wished for you and Anne to join the estates, and of course, how could you deny the wish of your dear mother?  I spoke of it often to your father as well.

Darcy closed his eyes.  “Yes, and my father assured me that neither he nor Mother supported your scheme.  Bloom in Anne’s cheeks, indeed!”  He snorted.  “Perhaps from a fever brought on by your insistence that she sit as close to the fire as possible!”  Sighing he read the rest of the letter, but it was the same as ever, assumptions over his marriage to Anne and directions for Georgiana’s upbringing.  Folding it he turned and tossed the paper into the fire and watched as it was consumed.  “Marriage to Anne would be a last resort, and according to my uncle,” he closed his eyes, “the ladies of town will not allow that to occur.”  He glanced down at his journal and read the day’s entry.

28 March 1808

I am preparing for my return to society.  I suspect that I will take little enjoyment of it.  I might take frequent walks in the park and find better companionship there.

“DID YOU SEE that Netherfield Park was let again?”  Charlotte Lucas said as she and Elizabeth waited their turns at bowls.  The two families had gathered at Lucas Lodge for a picnic on the sunny day.

Jane tossed her ball and they watched it roll to a stop near the pins.  “I heard from Mama that it is a Naval officer and his family.  She was vastly disappointed.”  Elizabeth grinned at Charlotte and took her turn.  “I imagine Lady Lucas was as well?”

“Yes, to say the least.  She was hoping for some boys of marriageable age, not ones still riding their stick ponies on the lawn.”  She smiled and shrugged.  “Well, someone will come along eventually.”

“Someone to love.”  Elizabeth said determinedly.

“Eliza, you really have to rethink this philosophy of yours!”  Charlotte clapped as Maria’s ball travelled to strike down the pins successfully.  “Marriage is for security, not love.  If love occurs it is a fortunate bonus, but surely not necessary.”

“Your heart is hardening Charlotte.” 

“Not at all, my heart is the same as it ever was.  I am simply older now and feeling the concern of my family that I find my own home.”  She smiled sadly.  “It will not be long before Jane feels the same, I am sure.”

“Lydia!”  Jane cried.

“What?”  Lydia quickly stopped her attempts to rearrange the pins into an advantageous configuration for her ball. 

“Stop that!”  Elizabeth admonished.  “You may not change the rules to suit your desires!”

“Oh Lizzy, who wants to play by silly rules?  I want to make up my own game!”  With that she began grabbing balls, rolling one after the other down the length the course, merrily whacking the pins every which way.  Kitty giggled and joined in the fun.  Jane and Elizabeth looked at each other helplessly as Mrs. Bennet laughed and applauded their antics. 

“I am sorry, Charlotte.”  Elizabeth said quietly.

“It is fine, Eliza.”  She smiled slightly and they walked out to retrieve the balls before they were lost forever in the grass.  Mr. Bennet looked up from the book he was reading and took in the chaotic scene, then returned to his page. 

“Such wonderful lively girls they are!”  Mrs. Bennet cried.  “Do you not agree, Mr. Bennet?”

“Lively indeed, they will undoubtedly attract the best of men one day, and they will be as pleased with their marriage as I.”  He said tonelessly.

“Oh Mr. Bennet, how you make me blush, still!”  Mrs. Bennet gushed and waved her fan vigorously.  Lady Lucas looked between her and Mr. Bennet then raised her brows to her daughter.

Charlotte pursed her lips and saw Elizabeth and Jane flushed with embarrassment.  “I heard that you are to visit London, Eliza.” 

Elizabeth looked up.  “Oh, yes my aunt Gardiner asked for me to come in May.  She is expecting again and would like some help with the children.  Jane will go in autumn for her confinement.”

“And see to it that you look out for some gentlemen this time, Lizzy!”  Mrs. Bennet called.  “Mr. Bennet, we must order some new gowns for her before she goes, Lord knows that she needs something to make her more attractive!”

“Mama!  I want some new gowns, too!”  Lydia whined.  “Why can I not have new things?”

“Me, too!  I want to wear pretty dresses, not this silly smock!”  Kitty cried.

“You are not out!  You can not suggest that you are available to men by your dress!”  Mary admonished.

“Oh what do you care?  You will never look at a man!  Besides, what do I care of men?  I just want new things.”  Lydia stuck her tongue out at her sister.  “Please Mama; let us go to the dress shop now!”  She turned to her father.  “Please Papa, please?  I want a new dress and bonnet and gloves, and oh a parasol!  I am tired of wearing Lizzy and Jane’s old things!”  She jumped up and down eagerly and began pulling on his arm, making his book bounce.

Annoyed he shook her off.  “Fine then, go and buy whatever you wish, just leave me to my book.”

The girls squealed and Elizabeth looked at Jane and whispered.  “The expense!”

“I know.”  She said softly.  “But it makes them happy.”

“Yes, and it leaves us with no dowry.”  Elizabeth shook her head and looked at her sisters dancing around her mother and then saw Lady Lucas staring at her with a satisfied smile.  “Why is she so pleased, I wonder?”

“I suspect that she thinks the same as we, Lizzy.”  Jane said softly.

“Charlotte’s dowry is as small as ours.” 

“And that makes us equal in our hunt for husbands.”

“We are still a gentleman’s daughters, Jane.”  Elizabeth looked at her with a small smile.  “We do have that.”

“I HOPE THAT your visit to Rosings was not too objectionable.”  Lord Matlock laughed as he saw Darcy’s eyes roll.  “She was lying in wait for you?”

“She sounded like one of the parrots,
Marry Anne, Marry Anne, Marry Anne
.   If I was as weak-minded as her pastor I would have given in simply to escape her voice.”  He sighed while Lord Matlock chuckled.  “And then there were the demands for Georgiana.  I know that I am not the most prepared parent in the world, but the thought of subjecting her to Aunt Catherine as her example is impossible.”

“No, I believe that your aunt would have put a stop to such a scheme before that could happen.”  He paused and looked at Darcy speculatively.  “Would you prefer to have Georgiana come to live with us?”

Darcy hesitated and then shook his head.  “No, no, Father entrusted her to me.  I will not give her up.  Besides, she is all that I have.”  He smiled sadly for a moment, revealing the man he used to be, then replaced his emotion with a smooth mask. 

Lord Matlock noticed that he had nearly perfected the ability to hide every expression behind this new talent, and wondered if it was a good thing.  His nephew had changed since his father’s death.  “Well, you cannot hide here in the corner all night.”

“I cannot dance, Uncle.”

“You can smile and greet the ladies, though.”  He gave him a push.  “I know how you do not enjoy the exercise, but next Season you will have no excuse.  Now get out there.”  Darcy unhappily ventured forth into the crowded drawing room where several men stepped forward to introduce him to their daughters.  Darcy bore it all with seeming equanimity.  The compliments, the smiles, every comment he made was met with laughter and cries of delight.  He was not fooled.  The conversation was dull, stilted, and uncomfortable, certainly not something that should inspire such excitement.  He turned away from another eager debutante and heard her high-pitched giggling in the background, and slowly made his way back into his corner to hide. 

Were none of them taught that to laugh with false amusement is unattractive?  Just one of them I would like to see greet me with a genuine smile.  I cannot remember the last time . . .
  He stopped his musings as the image of a girl suddenly appeared in his mind. 
Lizzy.
 A soft smile came to his lips and his eyes warmed.  He remembered a musical laugh. 
Where are you now?
  He wondered and tried to recall the name of her estate. 
L . . . it began with an L, I am sure . . .
  He had almost sounded it out when a woman approached and greeted him in French.  Startled he turned and focused on her, forced to pay attention to translate the conversation.  The woman slipped into Italian.  He smiled, she was displaying her education.  When he returned the conversation to English and began to ask her of poetry, she hesitated.  He frowned, and soon she was gone, only to be replaced by another girl and her mother.  It was a long evening, and when it was over, the expression in his eyes and set of his lips clearly communicated his displeasure with the experience.

“Darcy, you really must improve your manners.  What has become of you?”  Lady Matlock said as the last of the guests departed.  “You have lost your smile.”

“Surely you cannot be surprised Aunt Helen, nobody likes to be hunted.”

She laughed and patted his face.  “Until you are caught nephew, I suggest that you become accustomed to it.”  His frown deepened.  “I know that you cannot attend any balls, but we will host another dinner in a fortnight, your cousins will be present for it and both look forward to seeing you.”

“No, I will attend to business, take Georgiana to a few sights, then we will return to Pemberley.  I am no good mood for courting.”  He smiled slightly.  “Perhaps next year.”

She sighed.  “Perhaps.”

25 MAY 1808

I visited my club today and I wonder if I should end my membership.  If it were not for the fact that Darcys have been members since its inception I would have left immediately.  Allowing in tradesmen is insufferable.  I have voiced my displeasure, but I do not know what good it will do.  Someone sponsors them, and they have the money.  But surely there must be some sort of requirement that your money be more than a step away from the till box!  No matter, what is done is done.  They are there, and we must put up with them.  But if this fool that I met today is an example of what is to come, I am sure that I will go to my chess club or fence instead.  Bingley, Charles Bingley.  That was the boy’s name.  Not a day over twenty and in cotton so I heard.  Smiling and laughing at everything.  How can anyone be so agreeable?  Surely it must be an act to ingratiate himself with his betters.  Bingley, a name known to no peer.  I would like to see him receive the attention I have from the ladies!