The Portrait of Elizabeth

by Jane Angwin

  "Aunt Madeline! You didn't! What a naughty thing to do!" Elizabeth scolded. "What ever happened to the boy?"

  "Well, that is a story for another time, Lizzy. I think we should talk about something else while your Uncle is within earshot. I don't want him to think there could have ever been anyone other than him in my heart!"

  "My dear, I do not think a crush at the age of ten is something I would give concern to. Unless, of course, he has grown to be a rich and handsome man that is pining away for you still. Tell me, will we bump into him here in Lambton, and will I have to challenge him to a duel?"

  "Nothing of the sort, Edward. No need to worry. Believe me, there was no possibility of any reciprocal feelings from the young boy, and I am quite happy with my choice of husband." She looked at Elizabeth and gave her a wink as if to say that the boy had in fact grown up to be quite rich and handsome. This was a story she was anxious to hear!

  They arrived at the Lambton Inn late in the afternoon, and they were greeted by the innkeeper and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Holloway. Madeline exclaimed, "Duncan! Emily! It is so good to see you again! It has been far too long, but here we are at last! I believe you met my husband, Edward Gardiner, at our wedding?" Edward Bowed and said he too was pleased to see them again. Madeline looked to Elizabeth and said "And this lovely young woman is my niece, Miss Elizabeth Bennett." She explained to Lizzy that the Holloways had owned the Inn for as many years as she could recall. "Emily was the eldest daughter of my mother's best friend, Sally Johnson, and Duncan was the son of our school teacher, Mrs. Holloway. Since my parents had me quite late in life, I was always the bothersome little girl that played on the swing in the back yard of the Inn, but these lovely people patiently tolerated me regardless."

  "Come in, come in, Madeline, Edward! We have been looking forward to having you visit with us after all this time. And what a pleasure to meet your lovely niece! I have a lovely room picked out just for you, my dear," Emily said, smiling at Elizabeth. Duncan instructed the driver and several boys to unload their trunks and then take the horses to the stable in the back to feed and water them. He supervised the men as his wife graciously showed their guests to the front desk. "You will notice, Madeline, that I have made just a few changes to the place, but for the most part, it remains quite the same . And you will be pleased to know that the swing still hangs from the tree in the back yard. The ropes have been changed a few times over the years, but it is still there!" She moved behind the desk and took two keys from the cubbyholes on the wall and asked if they would like to refresh themselves before dinner. It was agreed that they would all like to rest for a short time, and they were shown to their rooms.

  Elizabeth was given a room right next to her relatives on the second floor with a view of a lovely small park to the side of the Inn. The room was small, but comfortable, and she was delighted to see a small writing desk and chair near the window where she could sit and write to her father and her sisters. She sat down and looked out the window while it was still light outside and noticed that there was a path that lead into a copse of trees. "I hope that I can walk while I am here" she thought to herself. "I am so tired of sitting in a carriage for four days, and I miss my morning walks."

  Her trunk was soon delivered to her room, and she decided to change into something other than her traveling clothes. She found a small mirror on a chest and she attempted to fix her hair and pinch her cheeks to give her complexion some color. That reminded her of her mother, and she laughed at herself. "Good Lord, I am turning into my mother!" For just a moment, she felt a pang of missing Longbourn, but she reminded herself that leaving to go on this amazing adventure was both prudent and fortunate, and she wouldn't think sad thoughts from now on. After a short rest, they returned downstairs and enjoyed an early dinner with the Holloways in a private dining room. Elizabeth was delighted to watch and listen to her Aunt as she told stories about her life as a young girl in Lambton. The Holloways mentioned some names of people from her past that still resided there, and it was decided that she would try to visit them at some point during their stay.

  Elizabeth was growing quite weary from the long day in the carriage and the small glass of wine she had with her meal, but when she heard the mention of the name Darcy, she flinched and stifled a gasp. "Do you think the family is in residence now" Madeline asked. "I would love to show Elizabeth the magnificent estate of Pemberley."

  "I did hear that Mr. Darcy is not presently in Derbyshire, but I understand that his sister is entertaining houseguests," Emily said. "It is still possible to tour some of the rooms that the family does not occupy, and I'm sure Elizabeth would enjoy seeing the beautiful grounds. There are many lovely paths and gardens, and the small lakes and streams are magnificent. You cannot journey all this way and not see Pemberley. It is truly the most beautiful home in all of Derbyshire, if not all of England."

  "I don't think we should visit if they are in residence," Elizabeth said. I would not want to intrude on their privacy." She felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment and dared not look at her Aunt.

  Madeline eyed her strangely, wondering why she would turn down such an opportunity. "I agree with Emily, Elizabeth. At least we know that the Master of the estate is not there, and I'm sure his sister won't be bothered by a tour. If the family does not wish to provide the public with access, they post a sign indicating that the premises is closed to tourists. It is definitely something to behold, and we should not miss seeing it. I remember visiting there as a child, and I would dearly love to see it again."

  Elizabeth tried to slow her heart rate, and knew that her aunt had noticed her strange reaction. She didn't want to visit the estate where Mr. Darcy lived, imagining someone other than herself there. She didn't want to imagine someone else being the mistress of his home, hearing the deep timber of his voice and feeling the touch of his hand as she had. It was best that she stay back from the tour, but how could she explain that? She hadn't shared anything with her aunt about meeting Mr. Darcy in Hertfordshire, and she knew that if she said anything now, it would be obvious that she was avoiding him for some reason. Her aunt knew her well, almost as much as her sister Jane, and she would undoubtedly guess that Elizabeth was keeping something from her. Her only option was to agree to go. "Very well, we will visit the estate. As long as they are accepting visitors to tour the estate, I suppose it is alright."

  After a long dinner and an animated conversation about life in Lambton since her Aunt married and left to live in London with Edward Gardiner, they decided to retire for the evening. As they returned to their rooms, Elizabeth agreed to meet them in the morning to begin the visits to the various shops and places of interest in the town square. There could be no reminder of him there.

  Chapter Thirty Seven

  A chance meeting

  "I would very much like to visit the bookstore that your family owned when you resided in Lambton, Aunt Madeline." Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle were breaking their fast, seated in the same dining room where they ate dinner the night before. "I so envy that you were raised surrounded by books!"

  "Yes, my dear, I too would love to see it first thing this morning. I have so many fond memories of spending a great deal of my childhood there. Every day, right after school, I would walk across the town square and go to our bookstore, where I would do my homework and then help my father with the new shipments. I think the thing that I loved the most, however, was getting to listen to the customers discussing the books they were buying, as well as politics, rumors of war, and town gossip, of course. It was a gathering place for many of the gentlemen in town, and I think they forgot that I was there. I certainly learned a lot!"

  "I think the thing that attracted me the most about your Aunt was her wide knowledge of the ways of the world," Edward added. "She certainly wasn't like any girl I had ever met, and I loved her independent mind." He laughed and said "And of all my nieces, you are the most like her, Lizzy! Any gentleman that wishes to court you had better be ready for the chall
enge, and if I have anything to say about it, he must respect your intelligence and treat you as an equal."

  "Will you join us on our tour of the village this morning, Uncle Edward?" Elizabeth inquired.

  "Not this morning, my dear. I have some correspondence to see to, but you and my wife can take your time in the shops without worrying about me accompanying you. I'm not much of a shopper!"

  After finishing their meal, they bade goodbye to Edward, and they decided that their first stop would be the bookshop. They walked across the square and entered the shop. The little bell over the door jingled, and a gentleman emerged from behind a curtain. "Good day, ladies. How can I be of service today?"

  "Hello, Mr. Wilson! Do you remember me? It is Madeline Sullivan Gardiner." She curtsied, and waited for him to recognize her.

  "Good heavens, yes, Miss Maddie! Of course I remember you! You have certainly grown to be a lovely woman!" He came around the desk and bowed . "What brings you to Lambton?" he asked.

  "We are on holiday, and I have brought my niece along to see where I grew up! Let me introduce Miss Elizabeth Bennett." Elizabeth moved next to her aunt and curtsied after the introduction.

  "I am very please to make your acquaintance, Mr. Wilson. My favorite place in the world is a bookshop, and I am quite anxious to peruse your shelves! My aunt has told me so much about this charming shop."

  "Please feel free to wander about Miss Bennett. I haven't changed the shop too much since the your aunt's father was the proprietor, so she can point you in the direction of your interests. I am unloading some books that just arrived, so make yourself comfortable."

  "Yes, Elizabeth, what interests you today?" Madeline asked. I think I can recall how the books are organized."

  "Before I begin searching the aisles, I am most interested in having you direct me to the table where you carved the initials of your secret crush! I am most interested in delving into who this mystery boy was!"

  "Oh goodness, Lizzy, I do not remember where it was. Let us not waste time doing that with all these wonderful books to choose from." She glanced over at a large library table near the door, and although Elizabeth noticed the glance, she felt that her aunt was trying to avoid exposing her mischief, so she allowed her to show her through the various areas arranged by subject. They passed a narrow wooden staircase, and Madeline pointed upward saying "Upstairs there is a small section of books written in other languages if you are interested." She moved on and said "And here are the poets, and on this shelf are the philosophers." She looked around the next aisle and chuckled. "I am sure you will find something in this area." She pulled out a book, and read the title aloud. "The Mysteries of Udolpho." Shaking her head, she said "I am not at all fond of these gothic novels so many people enjoy reading." She showed the book to Elizabeth and asked her if she had read it.

  "Yes, I have read it. I have actually read several of Mrs. Radcliff's novels. She does have quite a flare for terrifying people!"

  Madeline returned the book and ran her hand along the spines of six or seven other novels. "Why don't you take your time here while I post a few letters at the postal office? I have a few other errands to run, and I will return to purchase a book or two myself when I am finished." She promised not to hurry, as she knew that Elizabeth could spend hours browsing the entire shop.

  Elizabeth walked from aisle to aisle in the small shop, impressed with the variety and quality of Mr. Wilson's selections. She pulled a book from the poetry section and another book about villas in Italy that had lovely drawings. She had always dreamed of visiting Venice and Rome, and this was the perfect book to peruse while she waited. She took a few others off the shelves and piled them all on a long table to make her final choices later. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a small, faint heart carved in the far corner of the table. On closer inspection, she noticed the still visible initials F.D. inside the heart. "That must be the boy Aunt had a crush on!" she chuckled quietly. "Now I have more information to get to the bottom of who this mystery boy was." She decided to go up the stairs to the section where the foreign language books were to find something in Latin. Her father had insisted that it was important to study Latin, and this would impress him.

  ----------------

  Georgiana read and reread her brother's letter that had arrived the day before. The news about Richard marrying his cousin, Anne was quite a surprise to her, and although she was sure it was for a very good reason, her brother, in his typical brief letter style left out details and none of it made sense to her. Why was Anne coming to Pemberley? And why was she coming without Richard? She was elated to read that her brother was finally coming home and bringing Anne with him, but it didn't specify the exact day and until then she would just have to wonder about it all. Perhaps she would get the full story from Anne. The next part of the letter puzzled her too. Darcy mentioning a young woman and her relatives visiting Lambton was quite unlike her brother. The explanation about Mr. Bingley marrying into the lady's family was true enough, but "possibly bumping into strangers" and inviting them to Pemberley did not seem like something he would have her go out of her way to do. He knew how shy she was, and it would be entirely too difficult to approach people she didn't know at all. She decided to talk it over with Janine and Angelique to see what they thought. She found them breaking their fast in the dining room and shared her thoughts with them.

  "Oui, mon ami," said Angelique. "Perhaps there is more to the story than than he writes, but it sounds perfectly banale to me." She stopped, realizing she spoke French. "How do you say, 'innocent' in English?"

  Georgiana laughed at her. "Innocent in English is innocent. It is the same!" She giggled again and said, "and banale is banal in English. Also the same! I am also improving my French with you and Janine being here, so do not hesitate to use French terms with me!"

  "Oui, thank you, my dear. You do have a very romantic imagination, so let us not try to write the plot to a romance novel. To my way of thinking, your brother is a man of integrity and he wouldn't have you running about Lambton tapping every stranger on the shoulder, now would he? But he is also a very kind man, and perhaps he just wants to extend friendship to them after such a long journey. We will just have to go to Lambton and find out for ourselves, Oui? I think it will be great fun searching for them! Janine, are you agreeable?"

  "By all means, Angelique. I too am not comfortable approaching strangers, but I think it will be exciting trying to determine who these people might be! It shouldn't be too difficult finding a young woman traveling with an older woman and gentleman. Shall we go today?"

  "Oui! I had hoped to go to the milliner today to look for a hat to go with my winter pelisse, so let's be on our way right after we finish our meal."

  Georgiana added, "And I would like to visit the bookshop. I want to see about some sheet music I ordered at the bookshop, and I would love to get a new book to read. There are no novels that interest me in the Pemberley library as they are all chosen by men."

  They quickly ate and donned their outerwear to venture in to Lambton. They piled into the carriage that Mr. Raymond had brought around, and he instructed the driver to keep them within sight at all times. He walked to the horse and said something in its ear, and the horse nodded up and down. "What do you suppose he says to the horse each time we leave for town?" Angelique asked Elizabeth. "It seems the horse agrees with whatever it is he says!" she laughed.

  "I really cannot say, but he has done that with all our horses for as long as I can remember, and it is quite unusual, indeed. The horses all seem to understand him, and he claims to know exactly what they are thinking. Fitzwilliam says that he is a 'horse whisperer', but I just think he has spent entirely too much time in their company and is clever enough to have everyone believe that he talks to them." They settled in, and the carriage gently lurched forward.

  They chatted about their plans to find the strangers as they rode along, and before long, they arrived in Lambton. They decided to start in the milliner's shop
first so Angelique could look for a hat. She found a lovely gray wool hat with a burgundy grosgrain ribbon to match her dark burgundy pelisse, and she handed it to the driver to hold in their carriage while they continued on down the line of shops. The next shop sold fabrics, but as it was doubtful that visitors would be buying fabric, they went on to the next shop, which was the bookstore that they all wanted to visit.

  The little bell over the doorway jingled as they entered, and the man at the desk glanced up to greet his customers. "Good day, ladies. How can I be of service to you? Is there something in particular that you are looking for?" Georgiana was the last one in, and when the gentleman recognized her, he greeted her enthusiastically. "Why, hello, Miss Darcy! I am delighted to see you. I believe your sheet music arrived yesterday, but I haven't unwrapped the parcels yet, so let me do that now. I won't be gone long."

  Toward the back of the store and up a staircase to the second floor, Elizabeth Bennett heard the exchange with Mr. Wilson and the customer. She couldn't believe that he had greeted Miss Darcy, undoubtedly Mr. Darcy's sister. "Good Lord," she thought to herself. "I have been in town less than one day, and already I have encountered Mr. Darcy's sister. Perhaps if she doesn't leave right away, I can simply walk past her and leave the shop unnoticed." But then, as she quietly crept down the stairs and was getting up her courage to emerge from behind some tall book shelves, she heard one of the other ladies talking in a very thick French accent, saying something about hoping to have found a young lady visiting Lambton with her relatives. She slipped back into her hiding place to wait until they left.

  "Here it is, Miss Darcy. Beethoven's Piano Sonata, Number 14. I have certainly read about his recent composition, but I don't believe that I have heard it played. It is written just for the piano, but perhaps your brother can accompany you on the violin. I know that your brother is quite fond of accompanying you when you play. He bought some sheet music for the violin the last time he was here and told me about your duets."