“Excellent! I shall make all of the arrangements, and Anna, while Papa is doing his work tomorrow morning, I should like you to help me.”
“Yes, Mama, I want to help.”
“Very good. To start with, it would be nice if the two of us selected some flowers for Aunt Georgie’s room. Would you like that, sweet one?”
“I would. Aunt Georgie told me her favourite flowers are roses.”
“Roses are perfect, since I saw some lovely ones growing in the garden, and there may be some additional flowers we can add to her vase from the solarium.”
About this time William turned off of Rotten Row and on to Serpentine Road. When the Serpentine was clearly in view, William pulled to the side of the road so they could get out and walk closer. Exiting the carriage and moving near the water’s edge, Anna and Elizabeth continued to delight him while he held open a cloth containing some scraps of bread to feed the ducks. At one point a group of pigeons suddenly descended in their direction, wanting their share of the food. When Anna let out a little scream in fear, William scooped up his daughter, dropped the rest of the bread and hurried back to the carriage followed by Elizabeth.
“My goodness, William. I never saw such aggressive birds!” Elizabeth declared.
“Neither have I.”
“With so many people passing this way every day, it appears they are accustomed to being fed.”
“It would seem so.”
“Papa, do you think the birds wanted to eat me?”
“No, sweetheart, but they surely wanted the rest of the bread. Just look; now that they have finished, they are flying off.”
“I am glad,” Anna said. “They were not very nice birds.”
“Anna,” William remarked trying to divert her attention to something more pleasant. “Do you remember when we made the little twig boat and sailed it on Grandmamma’s pond at Rosings Park?”
“I do.”
“Look, there are several twigs on the ground just over here and some longer grass a little beyond. Since we are so close to the water and the birds have flown away, shall we make one now?”
“Yes, Papa, please.” She clapped her hands and softly giggled with delight. “Mama! Wait until you see the little boat Papa and I are going to make. Will you help us collect the twigs and the grasses?”
“I would be happy to. The last time I made a twig boat was about a year ago when the Gardiners visited Longbourn. I will have you know, I am a very adept craftsman,” Elizabeth boasted. “When I was younger, my boats were superior to those made by my sisters or the Lucas boys, and we often had contests on the stream that joins our two properties.” Her look became smug. “Needless to say, my boat won more times than naught.”
“So, my lovely wife, does this mean you are putting up a challenge for us this afternoon?”
“Yes!” She laughed, placing her hands on her hips in defiance. “I most certainly am. I, Elizabeth Rose Darcy, hereby challenge Mr. Fitzwilliam James Darcy and Miss Anna Elizabeth Darcy to a contest of skill and speed.”
“You do?!” William chuckled.
“I do! And to make things interesting, I propose a two-part challenge, each being ten minutes in length. In part one, we shallsee who will be the first to finish the construction of their boat, and in the second part we shall watch and see whose boat will sail the furthest on the lake.”
“What do you think, Anna, shall we accept Mama’s challenge?”
“Yes, Papa!” she said bouncing up and down on her tiptoes.
“Then let us begin as soon as I spread out the blanket and check the time on my pocket watch.”
Gathering their twigs, leaves, and tall grasses, the merry party sat on the blanket and quickly began constructing their boats. Each boat, consisting of five or six twigs, was tied in two or three places with the tall grasses. A twig mast with one large leaf for the sail was inserted between two of the twigs and tied in place. To complete the project, Anna and Elizabeth added one flower from each of their posies for luck.
In the first challenge, Elizabeth was declared the winner since William spent too much time instructing Anna as they meticulously constructed their boat. Nevertheless, when it came to the actual sailing, William and Anna’s boat bested Elizabeth’s having caught the slow current in the water and moving ahead. In the end, it was determined the challenge was a draw.
After all was finished, Anna said, “Oh, Papa, our challenge was so fun, but I wish we could have kept the little boats.”
“Well, sweet one, perhaps another child will find them later on and enjoy them, too. And who is to say that we cannot have another contest when we go home to Pemberley?”
“Or even to Longbourn!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I am sure my sisters would enjoy the competition, and I will have the advantage because I am far more familiar with the currents, much like Papa’s knowledge of this body of water.”
