The Darcys of Pemberley (2 page)

“Do you know who she is, Lizzy?” Jane quietly
asked.

“I imagine she must be Mrs. Sanditon, Mr.
Collins’s younger sister and, therefore, our cousin. Charlotte
mentioned in her letter that she would be here. Her name is Ruth
and she is a widow with no children. I understand her husband was a
captain in the navy and lost his life at sea.”

“Widowed so young, just like Charlotte? How
sad. She is a lovely woman.”

“Yes. I never would have taken her for Mr.
Collins’s sister, would you?”

“I had forgotten that Mr. Collins even had a
sister. Perhaps we will finally have the opportunity to meet her
today.”

The balance of those gathered for the service
were members of the little flock Mr. Collins had endeavored to
shepherd since his ordination and preferment to the rectory at
Hunsford. Whether or not they considered him a credit to his
profession, these humble people had the good manners to honor their
clergyman to the end. And so, quite a respectable number of
mourners assembled to speed William Bartholomew Collins on his way
to God.

Everybody took their places and the ceremony
began. At the behest of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. Collins’s
bishop presided over the proceedings, doing and saying all that is
right and proper on such an occasion. The dearly departed received
appropriate eulogy, and the Almighty’s grace and pardon were
implored on behalf of the living as well as the dead. After the
body had been returned to the earth whence it came and the last
prayer proffered, people moved to comfort the family and renew
acquaintances.

No one present interested Lady Catherine,
most especially since she was not on speaking terms with her
nephew, Mr. Darcy, and steadfastly refused to acknowledge the
existence of his wife. This was in fact the first time the two
parties had knowingly been within twenty miles of one another since
the breach occurred, and no sign of an easing of tensions showed on
either side. Thus, after giving the obligatory notice to the widow,
the dour lady took her leave.

Following her departure, which noticeably
eased the oppressive atmosphere that hung over the gathering, Mr.
and Mrs. Darcy paid their respects.

“Mrs. Collins, my sincere condolences,” said
Darcy, taking Charlotte’s offered hand. “I would by no means wish
to intrude upon your private sorrow. Only allow me say that my wife
and I shall consider it a great honor if, should you find yourself
in need, you were to think of us first. Should there be any service
I might render you, please do not hesitate to make it known to
me.”

“Thank you, sir. That is very generous.”

“Not at all. I would be most gratified to be
of assistance.” Darcy bowed and moved on, leaving the two women to
themselves.

Elizabeth embraced her life-long friend with
true affection. “Oh, my dear Charlotte, what a shock you have had.
How do you bear it?”

“It is most difficult. Mr. Collins was such a
stable, dependable man; I never expected him to leave me so
abruptly. One minute we were sharing an ordinary dinner together,
and the next, he was slipping away forever. I felt so helpless;
there was nothing I could do to save him.”

“How awful for you.”

“I still cannot fully comprehend that he is
gone. Every time I look out into the garden, I half expect to see
Mr. Collins there, fussing over his vegetables or tending the bees.
I know you did not care for him yourself, Lizzy. Yet despite his
faults, he suited me well. I had, in fact, grown rather fond of him
… in my own way.”

“I do understand, Charlotte. One cannot help
but become attached. How will you manage without him?”

“I confess that at times my courage nearly
fails me. But then I tell myself that countless other women before
me have survived the same hardship. I must carry on and trust
things will look brighter by and by.”

“You have more strength than I should in your
place, I think. Still, where will you live? How will you support
yourself? As Mr. Darcy said, we are completely at your
service.”

“What a kind friend you are, Lizzy. Still,
you mustn’t distress yourself on my account. My husband left me a
small income, which, with strict economies, might be made to supply
my modest needs. I shall be very sorry to leave my home, though.
Once Lady Catherine appoints a new cleric, I must make other
arrangements. In the meantime, William’s sister is to stay on as my
companion. Ruth and I are in much the same situation, you know, and
I shall be glad to improve our friendship. If only she could have
come under different circumstances.” Charlotte sighed. “Ah, well.
It does no good to dwell on it.”

No words could adequately convey all
Elizabeth felt on her friend’s account. She trusted her countenance
and the press of her hand to carry home the depth of her
sympathy.

Charlotte took a moment to recover her
composure, and then went on. “I believe you said that you were not
yet acquainted with Mrs. Sanditon, Lizzy.”

“That is correct. We have never met.”

“Then, pray, allow me to introduce you.”
After doing so, Charlotte left the cousins in each other’s care,
her attention presently being claimed by others.

“I am so pleased to meet you at last, Mrs.
Sanditon,” said Elizabeth.

“As am I to meet you, Mrs. Darcy. My brother
wrote often, and he frequently mentioned you and your family, so I
do feel as if I know you a little.”

“Your brother was always a most generous
correspondent,” Elizabeth acknowledged. “I am truly sorry for your
loss, Mrs. Sanditon – first your husband and now your brother.
Grief has been your constant companion, it seems. Were you and Mr.
Collins close?”

“We were as children, all three of us, before
time and distance intervened. You may not be aware of it, Mrs.
Darcy, but I have another brother who emigrated to America. I
haven’t seen dear Tristan since he sailed. Even William and I,
though no ocean divided us, seldom met in recent years. Alas, I
could almost say the same about my poor husband as we were often
separated by his absences at sea. In the nearly four years we were
married, we scarcely spent a total of twelve months under the same
roof.”

“So little time together? Oh, my dear, I
tremble at the very thought of it,” said Elizabeth, darting a
glance at her own husband.

“It has been lonely without him, and I miss
my brothers as well. At least I have their letters for comfort. By
reading their words, I imagine that I keep my dear ones with me.
Now I shall have Charlotte’s companionship as well.”

Being of similarly open and amiable
dispositions, their conversation flowed effortlessly. As they
talked, Elizabeth watched for some example of family resemblance
between the siblings – the one before her and the one so recently
departed – but she could detect no trace of Mr. Collins in his
sister’s person or comportment. Mrs. Sanditon was fair; he had been
dark. She possessed a slim figure, whereas he was decidedly stout.
She was bright, genuine, and modest; her brother had been quite the
reverse. Consequently, Elizabeth found
this
cousin much more
agreeable, and when they parted company she expressed her earnest
hope that they soon would meet again.

Elizabeth then turned to locate her husband.
He was never completely comfortable in this sort of situation, and
she did not wish to disconcert him unnecessarily by neglect. She
spied him across the way, standing alone, patiently watching her. A
tall man with noble mien, she admired him immensely, and he grew
more handsome in her estimation month by month.

As their eyes met, a familiar, knowing look
passed between them, causing her to take a sharp breath and feel a
quickening of her heart. With private delight, she noted that
nearly a year of marriage had, if anything, increased rather than
diminished his power to affect her in this way. Elizabeth had no
means of perceiving it, but at that moment Mr. Darcy entertained
similarly pleasant thoughts about her.

The Darcys

Both for those who had traveled far and for
the young widow, it had been an arduous day, as the strain on more
than one drawn face attested. Excepting the Lucases, who planned to
stay on with their daughter at the parsonage a fortnight, most of
the other parties were lodged in town. So, by mid-afternoon,
carriages were ordered and people began taking leave to return to
London.

The Bingleys intended to stay a few days with
Mr. Bingley’s sister and her husband, the Hursts, in Grosvenor
Street. The Bennets went to the Gardiners, Mrs. Bennet’s brother
and his family, in a less fashionable part of town. Although they
may have hoped for a different invitation, none had been
forthcoming from the Darcys. The suddenness of their trip south
from Derbyshire at the news of Mr. Collins’s death had given no
time to properly prepare the townhouse for guests. At least that
was the formal reason given. In truth, the easy-tempered Mr. and
Mrs. Gardiner could more cheerfully abide the unbridled tongue of
Mrs. Bennet than could some of her nearer relations.

Therefore, with all their friends parceled
out elsewhere, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy enjoyed the happy prospect of
having their home quite to themselves. In companionable silence
they rode back to London, Elizabeth’s contemplative mood for the
moment matching her husband’s taciturn tendencies.

How little she had understood his reserved
nature when they first met. She blushed now to remember how she
censured him for pride and arrogance – not wholly undeserved –
whilst her own conduct was equally at fault. What if they had never
overcome those early misunderstandings? It could so easily have
happened. No doubt most men would have walked away for good upon
being so soundly refused. Elizabeth shuddered at the very idea.

“What is it?” Darcy asked. “Are you
cold?”

“A little,” she answered, accepting his
interpretation. “Fall is upon us, and the evening air has taken a
decided chill.”

In response, Darcy settled a rug over their
laps and his arm about her shoulders. “There, is that better?”

“Oh, yes. In fact, had I anticipated such an
agreeable solution, I should have discovered myself to be cold a
good deal sooner.”

Elizabeth observed her husband’s look of
quiet satisfaction. Later, when the carriage wheels exchanged the
rutted dirt of country roads for the clatter of cobblestones, he
voiced what they were both thinking.

“Not much farther now; we shall soon be
home,” he said, squeezing her arm.

Elizabeth’s mind drifted back to the first
time she had seen their London house, which had been on their
wedding day. Although usually self-assured, on that occasion she
became increasingly discomposed as they drew ever nearer, her
apprehension arising as much from her new position as mistress of
such a grand house as from the prospect of what awaited her in the
marriage bed. She needn’t have worried on either account; her
husband managed everything for her comfort.

A fine supper had been prepared that evening
for the master and his bride, to which they did not do justice. The
delicately roasted quail had gone nearly untouched; the parsley
potatoes failed to hold their interest; they drank their wine but
hardly tasted it. The cook was not to blame, nor was she much
offended that the couple’s appetites were so thoroughly engaged
elsewhere. Ultimately, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy abandoned their dinner
and moved to the bedchamber for the much-anticipated main course of
the evening, which turned out more to their liking.

Now, Elizabeth experienced far different
sentiments as they entered their affluent neighborhood. Confidence
engendered by familiarity had replaced her former anxiety. Although
both she and her husband preferred to spend most of the year in the
country, at Pemberley, they returned to London every so often for
business or social concerns.

The obligation to introduce Mr. Darcy’s
younger sister into society added one more reason for coming to
town. Miss Georgiana, now seventeen, had been under the
guardianship of her brother since the deaths of their parents
several years prior. Always careful with his charge, Darcy learnt
to be even more protective after a nearly disastrous brush with a
fortune hunter – the same Mr. Wickham who was now, unhappily, his
brother-in-law on Elizabeth’s side.

Although he took every reasonable precaution,
the danger remained, and he would not be completely easy until his
responsibility for his sister was fully discharged by seeing her
respectably married and settled. Still waters often ran deep, and
it had occurred to him that Georgiana’s tranquil exterior might be
concealing more trouble brewing just below the surface.

Darcy pushed that recurring thought from his
mind as the carriage began to slow upon approach to the house. “Do
you wish to do any shopping or take in an entertainment while we
are in town?” he asked his wife. “We might find some amusement at
one of the assembly rooms, should you have a mind to go out.”

“I do have a little shopping if convenient. I
really ought to visit the milliner, and Georgiana asked me to look
out for some new piano music.” Elizabeth paused and smiled coyly.
“As for entertainment, husband, you know that I prefer the
amusements
you
provide above all others.”

Taking her words as an invitation, he
snatched his wife into his arms. He would have given her a little
“amusement” right then and there, had not the footman opened the
door prematurely. “Confound it,” Darcy muttered under his breath,
loosening his hold.

With a laugh, Elizabeth made good her escape;
she slipped from her husband’s grasp, out of the carriage, and up
the steps into the house. There, she knew, she would be perfectly
safe, since Darcy took meticulous care to preserve his dignified
demeanor in front of the servants. This fact made him an
irresistibly easy target for her sport, the brunt of which he bore
tolerably well. He would simply bide his time, content in the
knowledge that he would receive his recompense later when they were
alone, which was the most
amusing
part of the game.