by Kate Jensen
“Do you feel well enough to continue, Miss Elizabeth?” asked Mr. Darcy once the others had left. “I enjoy walking with you but do not wish to overtire you if you need to rest.”
Elizabeth smiled at him. “Thank you, Mr. Darcy, but I feel well enough. The headaches have lightened and are now only a dull throbbing. Indeed, the headaches are not what is making me uncomfortable anymore. I am more disturbed by my lack of memory. It is disconcerting to not remember anything from the past year and is making my present situation awkward. It is strange to be in a house full of people who know me and whom I cannot remember at all. I cannot determine whether I should be treating everyone as dear friends or as new acquaintances.”
“I can imagine that it would be strange. Is there anything that I may do to help you?”
Elizabeth remembered her desire to ask Mr. Darcy about their previous acquaintance and determined to put her plans into action. “Indeed. You were kind enough to share some part of the past year with me yesterday. I would be grateful if you would share more today. I am hopeful that it might help me to remember and even if it does not it will at least give me a better understanding of how to act around the others.”
Darcy hesitated. There were parts of the past year that he did not want to reveal to Elizabeth fearing that she would despise him.
“Certainly. As I mentioned yesterday, we met last September when my friend, Mr. Bingley, leased Netherfield Park. I accompanied him to Hertfordshire in order to help him settle into his new responsibilities. Miss Bingley and the Hurst’s also accompanied him. We first met you and your family at an assembly in Meryton…” Mr. Darcy continued to describe his time in Hertfordshire glossing over his bad behavior and instead focusing on his enjoyment of the time that they had spent together.
“And what did Miss Bingley think of the neighborhood?” asked Elizabeth when Mr. Darcy paused for a moment. She was confused by Miss Bingley’s strange mixture of friendly words mixed with a cold and unfriendly tone.
“Miss Bingley prefers London to country life, and is rarely impressed with anyone who cannot improve her standing in society,” said Mr. Darcy, hoping to give Elizabeth a hint about protecting herself from Miss Bingley’s attacks. “She befriended your eldest sister and yourself until Miss Bennet’s illness caused her to stay at Netherfield for several days.”
“Miss Bingley was not pleased with us imposing on her while Jane recovered?” asked Elizabeth.
“Miss Bingley is an ambitious woman. She did not like seeing Mr. Bingley’s attentions to your sister or listening to the two of us debate.”
“Mr. Bingley was attentive to Jane?” asked Elizabeth while trying to puzzle out what about their debates would have upset Miss Bingley.
“Indeed.” Mr. Darcy felt the danger of their present conversation. They were getting much too close to his part in separating Bingley from Miss Bennet. “Bingley was called back to London on business in late November. We accompanied him to town to celebrate the Christmas season. You and I did not meet again until March when you were visiting your friend, Mrs. Collins. Colonel Fitzwilliam and I visit our aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh each Easter. She is the patroness of your cousin and so we met frequently over the few weeks we each spent in Kent.”
Elizabeth’s mind was still focused on the new information that Mr. Bingley had been attentive to Jane last Fall and then had left for London. “Mr. Bingley accompanied you to Pemberley and then went to Longbourn to inform my family of my accident?” she asked, changing the subject back to Mr. Bingley instead of moving on to talking of Kent as Mr. Darcy had hoped.
“Yes. Bingley is a friendly, open young man. He was distressed to learn of your accident and volunteered to go to Longbourn to inform them of what had happened.”
Elizabeth was still confused about what had happened between Jane and Mr. Bingley but determined not to question it further. Not remembering Mr. Bingley, she could not determine whether it was a bad thing that he had left after showing so much attention to Jane or whether they were all better off with how things had occurred. Elizabeth smiled as she considered that no matter the case there was at least one person who would have been disappointed that Mr. Bingley had quit the neighborhood. Mrs. Bennet would have been devastated that Mr. Bingley had left without making an offer for Jane. Elizabeth was curious to meet Mr. Bingley and hoped that he would return before her own stay at Pemberley was over.
Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth continued to talk as they wound their way through the garden. Mr. Darcy shared more about Elizabeth’s visit in Kent, describing her cousin, Mr. Collins, in more detail and also talking of his own cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and the time that they had all spent together at the parsonage in Hunsford. By the time they returned to the house for tea, Elizabeth felt much better. It was a relief to feel like she had some understanding of the other guests. She was also quite pleased with Mr. Darcy. He had been very kind and attentive during their walk. She could not imagine why her aunt had thought that Elizabeth did not like him previously. He seemed everything that a young man should be, though perhaps not as open as some.
Chapter Eight
Tea began well. Elizabeth put aside all of her questions about Jane and Mr. Bingley to focus on conversing with the others, keeping in mind all that she had learned from Mr. Darcy about the other guests.
It was soon apparent that Mr. Darcy had accurately summed up the others. Miss Bingley was so effusive in her praise of Miss Darcy and Mr. Darcy that Elizabeth could not help agreeing that she seemed a very ambitious woman, determined to recommend herself to Mr. Darcy by praising himself and everything connected to him. Elizabeth also began to understand Miss Bingley’s attitude towards herself. As the only other unattached, unrelated young female present Miss Bingley must see her as competition for Mr. Darcy’s affections. Did Mr. Darcy care for her? She had never suspected it before but Miss Bingley certainly was not happy with her and, according to Mr. Darcy, had not cared for her since her stay at Netherfield to nurse Jane. Did Mr. Darcy and I form an attachment while I stayed at Netherfield? Perhaps that is why I visited Kent and came to tour Pemberley. But if so why the secrecy? There is nothing to prevent us from courting openly if an attachment was formed.
“Mrs. Gardiner,” said Miss Bingley, addressing that lady for the first time since being introduced to her the day before. “I understand that you used to live in Lambton. Did your parents work here at Pemberley?” Everyone gaped at Miss Bingley’s poor manners. Miss Bingley seemed very pleased with herself and sent an expressive glance to the Hurst’s who had finally condescended to leave their chambers and join the others. Mr. Hurst ignored his sister-in-law and instead focused on the sandwiches that had been served with tea. Mrs. Hurst clearly approved of her sister’s tactics as she smirked and nodded at Miss Bingley.
Mrs. Gardiner quickly recovered and replied, “No, Miss Bingley. My parents were not in service. My father owned a bookstore in Lambton.”
“Your father was Mr. Jones?” asked Mr. Darcy. At Mrs. Gardiner’s nod he continued, “I was always very fond of his bookshop. You could not find a better stocked bookshop outside of London. I was very sorry when he passed. The shop is not the same now that he is gone.”
“Your brother does not run it as well as your father did, Mrs. Gardiner?” asked Mrs. Hurst.
“I have no brothers, Mrs. Hurst, only two sisters. The bookshop is now owned by one of my father’s employees.”
“No brothers?” asked Miss Bingley. “It must be a family curse to produce no heirs.”
Once again the others were shocked momentarily speechless by her rudeness. Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first to recover this time. “Would that more families were cursed with that problem. England could use more families full of charming, intelligent, and beautiful women.”
“Not if their estates are entailed on male heirs,” stated Mrs. Hurst.
“Indeed,” agreed Miss Bingley. “And remember, Colonel, that you have not met all of the Bennet’s or Mrs. Gardiner’s sisters. While I
cannot comment on Mrs. Gardiner’s sisters, I would be surprised if you found all of the Bennet ladies to meet up with your description.”
Mr. Darcy stepped in. “I believe tea is done for today. Clearly Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst are extremely tired and I suggest that they return to their rooms to rest. Indeed, if you find yourselves too fatigued to join us for supper I shall be happy to have Mrs. Reynolds send trays to your rooms instead.”
The Hurst’s and Miss Bingley returned to their rooms like naughty children and the others soon split up to go about their own pursuits.
“Well, Lizzy! Miss Bingley is clearly not pleased with you. You wrote of her being a vain and rude woman, but I’ve never seen someone so determined to hurt another. You are lucky that she was armed only with words and not weapons or your fall down the stairs would be the least of your injuries. But I suppose Mr. Darcy would have defended you just as ably had Miss Bingley been armed with weapons. I would imagine that her dislike of you stems from Mr. Darcy’s admiration of you.”
“Do you think Mr. Darcy admires me? I confess that I reached the same conclusions based on Miss Bingley’s behavior but otherwise I’m not sure I would have ever suspected it. Mr. Darcy is polite and solicitous of my comfort but not obvious in his feelings, if he has any for me.”
“Have you not noticed his feelings for you?” asked Mrs. Gardiner. “I suppose you were not awake to see his concern when he first learned of your accident. That is when I first began to suspect that he has feelings for you. He also goes out of his way to be near you and to converse with you. Surely you can see the difference in the way he treats you compared to how he acts around Miss Bingley.”
“True, but if he truly admires me why has he not said or done anything about it? We have known each other for the better part of a year. He could have spoken at any time.”
“But you did not approve of him at the beginning of your acquaintance. He might be aware of that and therefore wary of speaking of his feelings to you.”
“I am still puzzled by my dislike of him previously. What could have set me against him do you suppose?”
“You never mentioned anything specific to me. All you ever wrote was that you thought him proud and haughty.” Elizabeth considered everything they had discussed for the rest of the afternoon.
Elizabeth had hoped that Miss Bingley and the Hurst’s would take Mr. Darcy’s suggestion that they take trays in their rooms instead of joining the others for supper but was not surprised to see them in the drawing room before supper.
Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst were clearly put out with Elizabeth and her relations. They made no attempt to converse with any of them and instead spent their time ignoring them and speaking with each other. If they thought this was a punishment to the others they would have been very disappointed as the others in the room were relieved that they kept to themselves.
Elizabeth found herself settled in a conversation with Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy about the countryside around Pemberley and her hosts’ favorite sites. “It is a shame that you cannot ride out with us on this visit, Miss Elizabeth,” said Miss Darcy. “I hope that on your next visit you will be feeling well enough to see more of the sites.” Elizabeth wondered if she would ever visit Pemberley again. Miss Darcy seemed to feel that there was no question about a future visit.
Elizabeth smiled and said, “I’m afraid I am no horsewoman, Miss Darcy. I would not be able to visit the sites you’ve mentioned.”
“Do you dislike horses?” asked Mr. Darcy.
“Not truly. My father’s horses are often needed on the farm and since I enjoy walking I left the riding lessons to those of my sisters who desired to learn.”
“William could teach you,” said Miss Darcy. “He is an excellent teacher and very patient. It would be a shame to miss out on the views that can only be seen on horseback.”
“Thank you, Miss Darcy, but I would hate to shackle Mr. Darcy with myself as a student. I am not the most patient person and I could prove to be a bothersome student.”
“It would be a pleasure, Miss Elizabeth. The next time you come to Pemberley I would be happy to teach you to ride. It would be a pity for one who loves nature as much as yourself to miss out on the most spectacular views the area has to offer.” Elizabeth wasn’t sure how to answer so she smiled and thanked the Darcy’s for their thoughtfulness.
Miss Bingley had been listening in on the Darcy’s conversation with Elizabeth while pretending to ignore everyone else and converse only with Louisa. She was not pleased with what she heard. The Darcy’s were treating Eliza like an honored guest or a member of the family instead of the bothersome little country chit Miss Bingley knew her to be. Miss Bingley spent the remainder of her time in the drawing room before supper thinking of ways to discredit Elizabeth that evening.
When supper was announced Mr. Darcy escorted his sister and Miss Elizabeth into the dining room. Everyone arranged themselves around the table and the meal began pleasantly. Colonel Fitzwilliam had determined to sit by Miss Bingley and to keep her distracted so as to avoid another situation like tea earlier. He attempted to converse with her but found her unwilling to enter into any real conversation. She answered curtly and returned to glaring at Miss Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.
About halfway through the meal Miss Bingley decided to put her plan into action. Leaning forward to have a better view of Elizabeth she said, “Pray, Miss Eliza, are the militia still quartered at Meryton?”
Elizabeth looked back at her in confusion. “The militia?”
“How silly of me! I forgot that you do not remember the past year. There was a regiment of militia quartered in Meryton last Fall.”
“I am sorry, Miss Bingley. I do not know if the militia is still quartered there or not.”
“What a pity that you do not remember them. You and your family seemed rather fond of several of the officers. Your younger sisters especially were quite taken with them. And you were quite friendly with some of them too, Mr. Wickham especially.”
Elizabeth noticed the tension in the room rise dramatically at Miss Bingley’s words. Miss Darcy became pale and would not lift her eyes from her plate. Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were both glaring at Miss Bingley with a fierceness that almost frightened Elizabeth. Mrs. Hurst was smirking along with her sister. Mr. Hurst continued to eat as if unaware of the others in the room and the Gardiners were looking at the others with the same confusion that Elizabeth felt.
“I believe the militia were to leave the area in the Spring, Miss Bingley. They should be settled in their new quarters by now,” said Mr. Darcy. With that he struck up a new conversation with Elizabeth and her relatives.
Elizabeth was impressed with the way that Mr. Darcy was able to relieve the tension in the room but she was also curious about what had caused the tension to begin with. Elizabeth promised herself that she would ask about the militia and Mr. Wickham the next time she had a moment alone with Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth’s natural curiosity was too strong for her to ignore a mystery that caused such strong reactions in almost everyone else in the room.
The group did not remain together long after supper. Miss Darcy did not recover much from Miss Bingley’s attack during supper. She did not feel up to performing the piece she had practiced earlier with Miss Bingley and asked to be excused to her room claiming she had a headache. The Gardiners and Elizabeth retired soon after. Mrs. Gardiner wanted Elizabeth to get plenty of rest to help with her recovery.
“Aunt, what do you know about this Mr. Wickham that Miss Bingley mentioned at supper?” Elizabeth asked once they were safely back in Elizabeth’s room.
“Mr. Wickham is a lieutenant in the militia that was stationed in Meryton over the winter. I met him when your uncle and I came to Longbourn for Christmas. He is a charming young man who comes from Derbyshire. I believe he and Mr. Darcy were once close but have broken their acquaintance in recent years. Mr. Wickham claims that Mr. Darcy deprived him of a living that Mr. Darcy’s father had promised him but now that
I know both gentlemen I find that hard to believe. Mr. Darcy is too honorable to have behaved in such a way. Perhaps there is a misunderstanding between the two men.”
“And what of Miss Bingley’s assertion that Mr. Wickham and I were close?”
“You were indeed friendly with Mr. Wickham. He seems a charming man. But your heart was not touched. We spoke about it at length while I was at Longbourn and again when you visited us in London after your trip to Kent.”
“And were Kitty and Lydia as bad as Miss Bingley suggested? I can imagine that they would be overjoyed to have a regiment quartered nearby.”
Mrs. Gardiner smiled. “Yes. They were as excited as you can imagine. Lydia became good friends with the wife of the commanding officer and has joined her in Brighton for the summer. Kitty was distressed that the invitation did not include her.”
“Lydia is in Brighton with the militia? I am surprised that my father would allow her to go.”
“I believe he did not relish the idea of having to listen to her complaints all summer if he did not let her go.”
Elizabeth grimaced. She knew that her father was not the most active of protectors but was saddened to hear that he had not stepped up in this case. Elizabeth could well imagine the spectacle that Lydia would make in Brighton but determined to put it out of her mind for the time being.
Chapter Nine
The next morning Mr. Darcy’s physician from London arrived at Pemberley and examined his patient. He spent about an hour with Elizabeth before returning downstairs to Mr. Gardiner, Mr. Darcy, and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“Miss Bennet appears to be doing well,” said Dr. Buchanan in reply to the questions of the gentlemen. “I am satisfied with the treatments that Mr. Carter has recommended. Plenty of rest is the best medicine at this point.”
“And what of her memory?” asked Mr. Gardiner. “Do you think that it will eventually return?”
“I would not be surprised if it does. I have seen cases where some small, insignificant thing can cause the memory to return. Perhaps once Miss Bennet returns to her home something will jog the memories back.”
