Mr. Darcy's Daughter (48 page)

Indeed,
it could be stated without fear of contradiction, and Mr. Sharp the chief
constable did say it: "The end of the investigation into the death of Mr.
Andrew Jones, and the activities of his henchmen, has resulted in an abatement
in the criminal activities in the area and a marked mitigation of the strain
that everyone in Matlock, who was in any way touched by it, has endured this
last month," he declared. "Now, we can all get on with our lives in
peace."

And
many a voice said "Amen" to that.

For
the Gardiners, this was indeed a blessing.

*

Richard
was preparing to go to London with Matthew Ward for the presentation of their
research to a medical council meeting, while Cassandra and her mother needed to
meet and make plans for Lizzie's wedding, which was closer now than ever. Mr.
Carr and his bride-to-be were especially pleased. They could concentrate upon
one another again, as lovers are wont to do at such times. There was much that
needed saying and doing and so little time.

Yet,
it was surely Mr. Frank Wickham who must have felt he had most to be thankful
for. During the difficult days he had spent explaining his activities and
present circumstances to Darcy Gardiner and Mr. Carr, the latter had shown some
interest in him, apart from his role in exonerating young Josh Higgins.

Later,
after the coroner's inquest was concluded and Wickham, who had been staying at
Rushmore Farm, had been preparing to leave, Mr. Carr had offered him the use of
a small vacant cottage near Rushford, on his property. Frank Wickham, unable to
believe his good fortune, had offered to pay some rent, but Mr. Carr had a much
better idea.

He
had suggested that Wickham should, in lieu of rent, provide his services to the
parish school, where he could teach the children to draw and paint.

"Unlike
the children of wealthy parents, who can afford private lessons, these young
people will never learn to draw or paint, because no one will teach them. If
you are prepared to do it, you can have Rushford Cottage free of rent,"

he
had said, and Frank Wickham had agreed with alacrity.

Even
at his best, he was not an articulate young man; on this occasion, he was
dumbfounded, barely managing to stutter his grateful thanks.

He
was, he said, more grateful than he knew how to say, which fact was quite
apparent to Mr. Carr.

When
he revealed to Lizzie the agreement he had made with Wickham, Mr. Carr did so
with some trepidation, knowing the acrimonious state of relations between the
Darcy family and the Wickhams. He expected to have to argue and persuade and,
to that end, was prepared with chapter and verse of the most logical arguments
in favour of his plan.

He
was, therefore, pleasantly surprised to discover that her response was quite
the opposite.

In
fact, Lizzie was delighted. "That is a splendid idea, I cannot imagine a
better scheme, for not only will it give poor Frank Wickham a place to stay in
a place where he can work in peace, as well as teach the children of the
parish; it also gets him away from his impossible family. If he could only get
out of the clutches of his insufferable mother and shake off the reputation of
his disreputable brothers, he may be able to make his way in the world,"
she said, with the kind of illuminating maturity that often surprised him.

"Lizzie,
my love, you sound exactly like your mother," he said, adding that in her
case, it was a compliment of the very highest order, and Lizzie did not need to
disguise her pleasure at his words.

*

An
invitation to dine with Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, a fortnight later, took all the
Gardiners and Mr. Carr to Pemberley. There they found already arrived Jonathan
Bingley, his wife Anna with their two young sons Nicholas and Simon, as well as
Cassy's aunt Jane and her husband Mr. Bingley, who was as amiable as ever,
despite having been laid low with the influenza for a week.

Their
lovely daughters Sophia and Louisa were with their husbands, in London, he
explained. Mr. Bingley was exceedingly proud of his beautiful wife and
daughters.

Cassandra
was especially delighted to see Anna Bingley, for whom she had a great deal of
affection and her husband, Jonathan, an intimate friend of both Richard and
Cassy since childhood. They were to spend a fortnight at Pemberley and the two
women looked forward to having more time together.

"I
shall need your advice on our preparations for Lizzie's wedding in November,
Anna," warned Cassy, and Anna Bingley responded with her usual generosity,
offering her time and skill whenever she was needed.

The
arrival of Colonel Fitzwilliam and Caroline, together with their son David and
their niece Jessica Courtney, whose time was now mostly occupied with the
parish school at Pemberley, completed the party.

Unhappily,
Mrs. Gardiner was not well enough to attend and Emily Courtney and her husband
Reverend James Courtney were gone to Oxford, to visit their son William and
stay with the Grantleys for a while.

To
Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth, their absence was a disappointment, for Emily was a
very special friend.

Despite
this, the occasion was a happy reunion of the families, as the first dinner
party given at Pemberley since the death of Josie and the subsequent departure
for France of Julian Darcy. There appeared, at first, to be no special purpose
for the gathering, beyond an understandable desire on the part of the Darcys to
re-establish their close relationships within the family, after what had been a
period of some turmoil.

The
talk at dinner was not all about domestic matters, however, with the financial
problems and social unrest in the cities being the chief topics of interest.
Fearsome rumours were abroad of the possible collapse of more investment houses
and the descent into bankruptcy of many previously thriving busi-nesses,
bringing more unemployment and unrest around the nation. Colonel Fitzwilliam
railed against the incompetence of the government, and Mr. Bingley groaned
about the greed of the bankers and stockbrokers. Mr. Darcy, for the most part,
appeared quite sanguine.

Pemberley
had escaped the worst of the gloom, thanks to a good harvest and the investment
made by Mr. Darcy in Mr. Gardiner's successful trading company. This enterprise
was now, to all intents and purposes, managed by Caroline Fitzwilliam, with the
help of her son David, who had been persuaded by the large parcel of shares
left to him by his grandfather to finally abandon dreams of glory with the
cavalry and turn his mind to the more practical business of commerce. It
appeared from all reports that he, advised by his mother, was managing very
well indeed.

Amidst
all the congratulations, however, Caroline succeeded in introducing a note of
caution, warning everyone to be less complacent.

"While
the business is doing well, it will take very little, no more than rumours of a
bank collapse, another mutiny in India, or an attack upon one of the British
Colonies in Africa or the Far East, to cause a collapse in trade. Much of our
trading success depends upon prosperity and peace in the nations with which we
do business," she said, and as Cassandra listened in astonishment, she
reminded them how the profits of several companies, who had put all their eggs
in one basket, had disappeared when the Duchies of Schleswig-Holstein had been
annexed by Bismarck.

Cassy
had always admired Caroline's knowledge of the world of business and politics,
and the obvious confidence with which she held the attention of the men at the
table amazed her.

"Even
the hint of such a problem is sufficient to create the kind of sense-less panic
that causes customers to close their order books and put their money back in
their wallets," said David, while his proud father nodded sagely. Colonel
Fitzwilliam was immensely pleased to see his son so keenly involved in the
business. Years of anxiety for his mother, while David had pondered upon a
military career, had finally ended. While neither Fitzwilliam nor his wife had
tried to change their son's mind, their relief when he did had been immense.

It
was at this point that Mr. Darcy, who had been listening with interest,
intervened to say that this was perhaps an appropriate time to give them all
some good news.

He
had decided, he said, in view of the prevailing uncertainty in the country and
his own inability to travel more often to inspect them, to sell his properties
in Wales and reinvest the proceeds in the Camden Park Estate, which had
recently come up for private sale.

"And
I have since made a gift of the property to my dear daughter Cassandra and her
husband, Richard," he said.

Cassandra,
who was sitting next to her father, looked across to her husband, who was
safely ensconced beside her mother and she could not make out from his
expression, whether he had known of this impending announcement or not.

For
her part, she was completely astonished, for while she had known of her
father's intention to purchase the Camden Estate, and had prior warning that he
would like them to live there; of his intention to gift the property to them,
she had had no indication at all.

She
looked up at her father, who had by now proposed a toast to her and her
husband, thanking them sincerely for their help and comfort during what had
been quite the worst year in a decade or two.

"I
can say without the slightest fear of contradiction," he said, placing a
hand on his daughter's shoulder, "that without the support of Cassy and
Richard, my dear wife and I would have been hard put to survive the
tribulations of this Summer past." Cassy touched his hand, as he
continued, "And while this is in no way to be regarded as a reward for
their efforts, for nothing will ever repay their kindness, affection, and sheer
hard work, it certainly is a token of our love and gratitude."

Looking
directly at Cassy, he added, gently, "I know my daughter is disinclined to
move to live there at present; she has an understandable attachment to her own
beautiful home, but I hope that one day in the future, while I am still here to
see her, she will decide that Camden Park is a worthy home, of which I know she
will make a charming mistress. Meanwhile, it is theirs to do with as they
choose."

By
this time, Cassandra could not hold back her tears and rose to embrace her
father and thank him, to applause from around the table.

But,
as she sat down, Mr. Darcy continued.

He
had more to reveal and his next announcement astonished them all, well, maybe
all but one or two of them. Reminding his family that young Anthony was now the
legal heir to Pemberley, he pointed to the obvious difficulties associated with
a very young person inheriting an estate.

"Even
if Anthony were to be fourteen or sixteen years old, should I live that long,
he would need to have competent and trustworthy advisers to manage it for him.
You are all aware that Cassy, as Anthony's legal guardian, has been given this
onerous responsibility and we feel it is unfair that she should have to carry
the burden unaided. While Mr. Grantham handles the routine business of the
estate very well, there are matters, which require greater family involvement,
chiefly those relating to tenants' concerns and legal matters.

"There
is also the investment in the Commercial Trading Company, which has to be
handled with discretion and care. My wife and I have discussed these matters at
length and I have decided to offer the position to a person, who will, I think,
have Cassy's complete confidence and approval."

Turning
at this point to look at Darcy Gardiner, he continued, "My young grandson
Darcy has agreed to accept the position and will commence his training for the
job, immediately."

"Darcy!"
a chorus of voices echoed Lizzie's as they turned to the young man seated to
the left of his grandfather and delighted applause broke out around the table.

Young
Darcy stood up and took a bow, embraced his grandfather, his mother, his father
and grandmother, and proceeded to do the same to all his relatives, probably
because he had no idea what else to do. As everyone around her looked
delighted, Cassandra struggled to contain her feelings.

This
had come as a complete surprise; neither she nor Richard had guessed that her
father would choose Darcy. Cassy was proud of her son. He had proved in the last
few weeks that he was possessed of sound common sense as well as compassion;
she prayed he would also have sufficient endurance to stay the course.The
management of an estate as large and as complex as Pemberley was no sinecure.

Clearly,
Mr. Darcy had observed his grandson and spoken seriously with him before
offering him the position. Cassy was certain it would not have been lightly
done. Her father was too careful of the reputation of his estate to act upon a
whim.

The
ladies withdrew soon afterwards and, in the drawing room, where they partook of
coffee, tea, and sweets, their talk was all about young Darcy Gardiner. He was,
they all agreed, a fine young man, handsome like his parents, entirely
agreeable in his manners, well educated, and sensible; they were convinced he
would make an excellent job of managing Pemberley.