Elizabeth rejoined us, and soon the other ladies found their way to the drawing-room. My aunt and Anne already knew Caroline and Louisa, and once the four of them had exchanged greetings, my aunt began to speak, only to break off as she heard another carriage arrive.
‘Who is this?’ she asked, glancing out of the window.
‘My aunt and uncle!’ cried Elizabeth, jumping up.
‘The uncle who is an attorney, or the uncle who lives in Cheapside?’ asked Lady Catherine contemptuously.
Elizabeth did not reply, but went forward to greet her guests as soon as they entered the room.
‘Elizabeth! How well you look,’ said Mrs Gardiner.
She was dressed fashionably, and had an air of style about her.
‘Positively blooming,’ added Mr Gardiner.
I saw that Elizabeth was pleased by the look of surprise on Caroline’s face. We exchanged glances, and our thoughts went back to the first time I had met the Gardiners, when I, too, had been pleasantly surprised.
There followed the usual conversation about the roads, and then talk of the Gardiner’s carriage led on to Elizabeth saying; ‘I have the phaeton and pair all ready for you, just as you requested. As soon as you feel like travelling again, we will take it round the park.’
‘A phaeton and pair? What is this? An equipage for an outing? I must have my share of the pleasure. I like a ride round the park of all things. I would have learned to drive if Sir Lewis had taught me, and I would have excelled at it,’ said Lady Catherine. ‘Sir Lewis told me so himself. You must let me know when you mean to go. I will come with you, and so will Anne.’
‘But there are only two seats,’ Elizabeth pointed out.
‘Then Anne and I will take the carriage.’
‘I am persuaded your ladyship will not like the expedition,’ said Elizabeth. ‘We will not only be going down by the river, we will also be going through the woods.’
‘What does that signify?’ demanded Lady Catherine. ‘The woods are my greatest pleasure. When my sister was alive, we drove there often.’
‘But, as your ladyship informed me at our last meeting, my presence has polluted them,’ said Elizabeth archly.
My aunt could think of no reply. I have never known her to be lost for words, and it was a welcome experience. She was not to be bested, however, and after a minute she overcame her astonishment and said: ‘Your mother and sisters are coming, I understand?’
‘Yes, they are.’
‘All of them?’
‘Yes, all of them.’
‘What, even the one who ran off with the son of Darcy’s steward?’
‘Yes. Even Lydia,’ said Elizabeth gravely, but with a smile in her eye.
‘I hear your mother received her at Longbourn, after her scandalous behaviour. It cannot be true, of course. The report must be false. No mother could endorse such infamy on the part of her daughter. She would immediately cast her off and leave her to suffer the consequences of her behaviour.’
In her estimation of Mrs Bennet’s character she was entirely wrong. Mrs Bennet arrived soon after her brother and his wife, and not only did she endorse Lydia’s behaviour, she gloried in it.
‘Lady Catherine, how good it is to see you again,’ she said as she made her curtsy. ‘It seems like only yesterday you were visiting us at Longbourn, bringing us word of Charlotte on your way through the village. If you had told me then what I know now, I should not have believed you. My Lizzy, to marry Mr Darcy! Of course, it is not to be wondered at. She has always been a very good sort of girl, quite her father’s favourite, and though Jane has more beauty, Lizzy has more wit, though of course I should not call her Lizzy any more, I should call her Mrs Darcy. Mrs Darcy! How well it sounds. And to think, she is the mistress of Pemberley! I knew she could not be so lively for nothing. Pemberley is a very fine house. I had no idea it would be quite so fine. Lucas Lodge is nothing to it, and it is even better than the great house at Stoke. As for Purvis Lodge, it has the most dreadful attics, but Lizzy – Mrs Darcy – assures me that the attics at Pemberley are quite the best she has ever seen.’
‘I am sure she will give you a tour of them, if you ask her nicely,’ said Mr Bennet drily, as he stepped forward and kissed Elizabeth. ‘How are you, Lizzy? You look well.’
‘I am well, Papa.’
‘Darcy is treating you well?’
‘Yes, he is.
‘Good. Then I do not have to challenge him to a duel.’
‘I hope you will go fishing with me instead, sir,’ I said.
‘I will be glad to do so.’
‘And you, too, are included in the invitation, of course,’ I said to Mr Gardiner.
‘It will give me great pleasure.’
‘What do you think of my bonnet, Lizzy?’ asked Lydia, coming forward. ‘Is it not delightful? I got it yesterday.’
‘I thought you needed to economize,’ said Elizabeth.
‘I did,’ said Lydia. ‘There were three bonnets I liked in the shop, and I bought only the one.’
‘From all I have read, the practising of economy does not come naturally to females,’ said Mary. ‘They must study it diligently if they are not to let their expenditure exceed their income.’
‘Well said, Mary. Very well put,’ said Mrs Bennet. She turned to Colonel Fitzwilliam. ‘Such an accomplished girl. She reads I do not know how many books. She will make some lucky soldier an excellent wife.’
For the first time in my life, I saw my cousin nonplussed. He was not required to reply, however, for whilst Lydia went over to the mirror and began to admire herself, Mrs Bennet resumed her conversation.
‘When you drove away from us after your visit to Longbourn, Lady Catherine, I had no more idea of our being related than I had of the cat going to see the queen, but now we are family.’
‘Indeed we are not,’ said my aunt indignantly.
‘But yes! Your nephew is married to my daughter. That makes us cousins of a sort. My cousin, Lady Catherine! How envious Lady Lucas was when I told her, for she is not a real lady of course, she was only made a lady when Sir William was given a knighthood, on account of an address he made to the king. She was plain Mrs Lucas before that, and her husband was in trade in Meryton. He gave it up when he was made Sir William, but birth shows.’
‘It does indeed,’ remarked Lady Catherine pointedly. ‘And this is the girl who ran off with the steward’s son?’ she demanded, turning to Kitty.
‘No, I am not,’ said Kitty, blushing.
‘This is my second youngest, Kitty,’ said Mrs Bennet. ‘Such a good girl! Such manners! And in the way to becoming a beauty. She will turn heads before she is much older, mark my words. Not that she has not already done so. Captain Denny was very taken with her, and there were one or two other officers who singled Kitty out, though she is so young, but—’
‘It cannot be you,’ said Lady Catherine, cutting across Mrs Bennet and turning to Lydia. ‘You are a child.’
Lydia did not turn round but, having removed her bonnet, fluffed her curls in front of the mirror.
‘La! What nonsense you do speak!’ she declared. ‘I have been married these four months. My dear Wickham and I were married in September. I am quite the matron.’ She turned round and faced Lady Catherine. ‘I am so pleased to meet you,’ she said, extending her hand as though she was a duchess and my aunt a farmer’s wife. ‘My dear Wickham’s told me all about you.’
‘Has he indeed,’ said Lady Catherine awfully, ignoring her hand.
Lydia dropped it, unabashed, and turned to Colonel Fitzwilliam, going towards him with hand outstretched.
‘La! An officer. It does my heart good to see a red coat. It reminds me of my dear Wickham.’
‘I always liked a man in a red coat,’ said Mrs Bennet to Lady Catherine. ‘Lydia takes after me.’
‘Unfortunately for those of us who like rational conversation,’ said Mr Bennet. ‘Darcy, do you have a billiard room here?’
‘I do, sir. Allow
me to show it to you. Gentlemen?’
And so saying, I rescued them from the ladies.
‘My wife is a constant source of amusement to me,’ said Mr Bennet as we left the room, ‘and Lydia even more so. I had great hopes of Mary, but she has become less silly now that she goes out more, and doesn’t suffer in comparison with her sisters, though her outburst today gives me hope that her silliness has not entirely disappeared. Kitty, too, looks set to disappoint me. She has become so rational a creature, now that she spends two days out of every three at Netherfield, that I fear she will grow up to be a sensible young lady after all.’
I am still not easy with Mr Bennet’s way of speaking of his daughters, but as his levity helped to shape Elizabeth’s playful character, I suppose I cannot complain.
Tuesday 16th December
Elizabeth took her aunt through the grounds in the phaeton and pair today as promised, and the two of them returned with bright eyes and a healthy glow on their cheeks.
‘And do you like Pemberley as much as the last time you visited?’ I asked her.
‘Far better,’ she replied. ‘Then, it was simply a fine house. Now it is Elizabeth’s home.’
‘It must be an enjoyable way of seeing the grounds,’ said Anne.
There was a trace of wistfulness in her voice. Elizabeth heard it, and said, ‘You must take a drive with me this afternoon.’
I blessed her for it. Anne has little pleasure in her life, I believe.
They set out after lunch, and though their trip was shorter than the previous one, they returned in lively mood.
‘I think I have misjudged Anne,’ said Elizabeth later. ‘I, who used to pride myself on my ability to judge people on first impressions, seem to have done nothing but mistake people this year. I made a grievous mistake with you, and I believe I have made a mistake with Anne, too. I took her to be sickly and cross, and I thought—’
She stopped abruptly.
‘Yes, what did you think?’ I asked.
‘I thought that the pair of you deserved each other,’ she said mischievously.
‘It is a pity I did not know this sooner, or I could have obliged you by marrying her,’ I teased her.
I never knew what it was to tease or be teased before I met Elizabeth, but I am learning.
‘She is not nearly as sickly or cross as I supposed. In fact, the farther we went from the house, the more lively she became.’
‘She used to be very much more lively when we were children, until the winter when she had a bad cold, and a cough settled on her chest. My aunt took her away from the seminary and said she was not well enough to go back.’
‘Ah. So she was alone at Rosings with Lady Catherine from then on?’
‘She had her companion.’
‘It would be a brave companion who would stand up to Lady Catherine.’
I agreed.
‘What did you talk of to Anne?’
‘To begin with, we talked of the park. She has fond memories of it from childhood visits, and she pointed out the spot at which she lost her doll, and the spot at which Colonel Fitzwilliam found it – though he was not a colonel then. But he seems to have been a nice boy. It could not have been pleasant for him to have had a little girl trailing after him, yet he seems to have shown her a great deal of kindness.’
‘He was always fond of Anne.’
‘And then we talked of books. She has read a great deal, and we enjoyed a lively debate. I think she is better away from her mother. I will ask my Aunt Gardiner to take her out in the phaeton tomorrow. Between the two of us, we should be able to separate her from Lady Catherine for most of her stay.’
Thursday 18th December
The house party is proving to be surprisingly enjoyable. Mrs Bennet is content with walking the length and breadth of Pemberley, memorizing its finery so that she can confound her neighbours with accounts of its splendours on her return to Longbourn. Lydia spends her time flirting with the gardeners. It is useless to try and stop her, and at least it keeps her out of doors. Mr Bennet sits in the library most of the time, venturing out only for our fishing trips. Lady Catherine has taken to instructing Kitty and Mary on the correct behaviour for young ladies, and Kitty is so in awe of my aunt that she sits and listens to her with flattering attention for hours together. Mary, too, sits and listens, interposing her own profound thoughts from her reading. Caroline and Louisa occupy themselves with fashion journals, whilst Mr Hurst sleeps for most of the time.
Anne has made the most of this chance to escape her mother’s notice, and has taken to walking in the grounds, where she is often joined by Colonel Fitzwilliam. Her cough seems to trouble her far less than formerly, and she says it is the exercise which is doing her good.
When the others are occupied, it is with Jane and Bingley, Georgiana, and Mr and Mrs Gardiner, that Elizabeth and I are able to spend most of our time.
Saturday 20th December
Elizabeth and I rode out with Jane and Bingley this morning to see a property some ten miles from Pemberley. It is a fine house, with good views. We looked around, and Jane and Bingley were much taken with it.
‘If we find nothing better, I think we will buy it,’ said Bingley.
‘I do believe you are learning caution,’ I said to Bingley. ‘A year ago you would have taken it straight away.’
‘Impossible for me to do so now,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘If I have learnt anything from you, Darcy, it is that I must not take a house without first enquiring about the chimneys!’
‘I reprimanded Bingley for not asking any sensible questions when he took Netherfield,’ I explained, when Elizabeth looked mystified.
‘It is a good thing he did not ask too much,’ said Elizabeth, ‘or else we might never have met.’
We rode back to the house, where we found Mrs Bennet deep in conversation with Mrs Reynolds, ascertaining how much the curtains had cost, and what were the exact dimensions of the ballroom.
Anne was in the drawing-room with Mrs Gardiner, and their laughter reached us as we entered the room. Anne is looking much better than formerly. There is an animation about her that was wholly missing when she was confined with Lady Catherine, and, I own, when she thought she would have to marry me.
‘Did you like the house?’ asked Mrs Gardiner.
‘Yes, very much,’ said Jane. ‘It is a little smaller than Netherfield, but it is still a good-size house.’
‘Smaller than Netherfield?’ asked Mrs Bennet, coming into the room. ‘That will never do.’
‘But it is an easy distance from Pemberley,’ said Jane.
‘To be sure, that is in its favour. Then I might visit you both at once. I can stay with Lizzy first and then, dear Jane, I can stay with you. It is a long journey into Derbyshire to visit one daughter, but an easy distance to visit two. I dare say I shall be here all the time.’
‘I thought the park was rather small,’ said Bingley, with a glance at Jane.
‘And the attics were poor,’ she said.
‘Oh, if the attics are poor I should not contemplate it,’ said Mrs Bennet. ‘You had much better stay at Netherfield.’
Monday 22nd December
It was a wet day today. After dinner, Lady Catherine retired early. Kitty and Lydia were engaged in trimming bonnets, and Mrs Bennet was telling Kitty that when she was married she must make sure she had a house as fine as Pemberley. Mr Gardiner and Mr Bennet were playing chess, whilst Mrs Gardiner was looking through a book of engravings.
‘Would anyone care for a game of billiards?’ asked Colonel Fitzwilliam.
‘Darcy will play with you, and I will watch’ said Elizabeth. ‘Anne, will you join us?’
Anne agreed, and the four of us went to the billiard room. We had hardly entered it, however, when Elizabeth excused herself on account of a headache, and asked me to help her back to the drawing-room.
As the door of the billiard room closed behind us, her headache seemed to disappear.
‘I think Fitzwilli
am and Anne will do better without us,’ she said.
I looked at her in surprise.
‘He needs only a little encouragement to realize that he is in love with her.’
‘Fitzwilliam and Anne?’
‘I think they would suit well. Her eyes follow him whenever he is in the room, and she can scarcely talk about another subject without somehow mentioning him. For his part, he has always been fond of her, and it would be a suitable match as well as a love match. He needs to marry an heiress, and Anne is to inherit Rosings and a considerable fortune besides.’
I was even more surprised.
‘How do you know he needs to marry an heiress?’
‘He told me so.’
‘When did he do that?’
‘At Rosings, when we were all there together last Easter. I suspect it was to put me on my guard, and warn me that I must not expect an offer from him.’
‘What arrogant men we are! Both of us thinking you wanted an offer from us!’
‘Perhaps I did want one from the Colonel,’ she teased me.
‘My love, I warn you that I am a jealous husband. I will ban my cousin from Pemberley unless you tell me this minute that you did not want an offer from him,’ I returned.
‘Very well, I did not. But Anne, I think, does.’
‘It might not be a bad thing,’ I said. ‘In fact, the more I think of it, the more I am pleased with it.’
‘Lady Catherine, too, will be pleased.’
‘So you are encouraging it to please Lady Catherine?’ I asked her innocently.
‘Mr Darcy, you are becoming as impertinent as your wife!’ she teased me.
‘But I am not so sure Lady Catherine will approve,’ I said thoughtfully.
‘She cannot complain about his birth.’
‘Perhaps not, but he is a younger son, and impoverished,’ I reminded her.
‘But Anne’s fortune is big enough for two.’
‘My cousin has no house.’
‘He will live at Rosings,’ she said.
‘Sending Lady Catherine to the dower house.’