Elizabeth glared up at him for a moment. “I was still angry about your friend, Iamstill upset about Mr Bingley. Jane, for the first time ever, would not hear me. She said she already knew; that he hadconfessedhis inconsistency to her! I could not bear to watch her accept his suit, knowing that in a few week’s time, she will likely be pining for him.”
“I confess that I was at first displeased with Bingley for pursuing your sister, particularly here at my aunt’s home, but he has taken umbrage at my belief in his fickleness. He has gone a long way since that morning to convince me that his interest in Miss Bennet is sincere.” Darcy thought for a moment as they walked before continuing, “Miss Elizabeth, it is perhaps possible that I was unjust to Bingley when we first arrived here and I accused him of wasting your sister’s time. He has matured greatly in the last year. He handled himself well at his leased estate, both in the management, and in some difficult interactions with the locals. He has also admitted to me several timesin recent months that he is ready to settle down, and tired of the endless debutantes of London. I believe his interest in Miss Bennet is sincere.”
“And what will happen if it is not?” Elizabeth asked.
“For as much expectation as he has already created, if he raises your sister’s hopes and disappoints her, I shall call him out myself,” Darcy promised.
“Good,” Elizabeth giggled.
“I had no idea you were so bloodthirsty,” he said.
“I am when it comes to my sisters.” She paused as they walked. “He was drunk that night with the popped corn, does he always do that?”
“I was actually surprised to see him in such a state, because he does not usually imbibe so much,” Darcy informed her. “Then again, I deprived him of his favourite companion, myself, because I have been annoyed with him for throwing off my aunt’s numbers. He understandably spent more time with the other men, but I do not think he has been in the habit of drinking so much since we arrived. He is not a habitual drunkard, if that worries you. Many men slightly overindulge with their friends infrequently, without it becoming a habit or a problem. Bingley does not abandon his sobriety often, I assure you.”
Elizabeth was quiet at this, thinking intently as they returned to the manor, and hoping Mr Darcy was correct about the man pursuing her sister, even if Jane was unconcerned herself.
A half hourafter the two of them returned to the house, Darcy found his Aunt Theodosia and presented her with a bank draft for fifty pounds. Theodosia descended into hilarity when she realised what her godson had just handed to her.
“Not a single word, Aunt Theodosia!” he barked as he left the room.
“What on earth was that about?” asked Georgiana in indignation for her brother’s address.
“A private joke, darling,” Mrs Darlington assured her as she wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and tore the bank draft into pieces.
She handed them back to Darcy some hours later when she encountered him in the hall. “You have a family discount?2, darling,” she laughed.
1 19th century American slang for a rejected proposal.
2 Discount has been in use as “deduction in price” since 1630.
CHAPTER 33
6July, 1812
A few days later,Elizabeth and Darcy were on one of their early morning walks. Darcy had made a full apology to Mr Bingley for his belief in his inconstancy, and solicited his friend and Jane to accompany them on their morning walks for chaperonage. Bingley saw the sense in having time alone together to discuss important private matters pertinent to his future with Jane. Jane had not received an apology from Elizabeth, who was still suspicious of Mr Bingley, but was at length persuaded to agree.
Elizabeth’s exercise was curtailed slightly, for Jane had not her stamina, nor her enthusiasm for such early hours. They left a half hour later each morning than Elizabeth was accustomed to, and returned slightly earlier. Jane and Bingley would occupy a bench in the garden while Darcy and Elizabeth strolled another half hour among the verdure.
This morning, it was apparent that the house party would enjoy perfect weather later for archery on the green. The temperature waswarm but not excessively so. The sun was shining, and there was not a single cloud in the perfect sky. Mrs Higglebottom waved to them from the edge of the lake as they passed, with a warning that Barnaby had predicted rain for the morrow.
Elizabeth and Darcy had already canvassed many topics since Darcy had asked to court her, but this morning, they were again speaking of Charlotte and Elizabeth’s Cousin Collins.
“I was thinking about your experience with your friend, and while your circumstances are very different, they remind me of troubles I have had with one of my childhood friends.” Darcy navigated Elizabeth around a stone sticking out of the path that he would remind himself to have someone remove later.
“How so?” Elizabeth inquired.
“I grew up with another young man at Pemberley. His father was a good man; an intelligent and loyal man, and he made himself so indispensable to my father as his steward that my father sought to be of service to his son. George was named after my father, who stood godparent to him, and paid for his education, first at Eton, then later, Cambridge.”
Darcy paused, looking for the words to continue. “By the time we left Eton, any friendship I had with George had withered and died. He resented me for my position as the master’s son and for my expectations. He often made trouble on the estate and blamed me. When we started Cambridge, he created debts in my name which I covered, not wishing to grieve my father.”
He continued, “My father was like me. His responsibilities weighed upon him, and he valued his friendships with lively, charming people who brought levity to his life. George is many things, but primarily, he is charming and exuberant. My father took great comfort in his company, particularly after my mother died. When George’s father died, he was invited to live at Pemberley as family.”
“It sounds like he was given a marvellous opportunity,” Elizabeth murmured.
“He was, but he saw the opportunity as a burden,” Darcy replied. “George had no wish to work, not once he found a taste for living in splendor at Pemberley and running with a fast and well-connected crowd at university. Eventually, once he was at Cambridge, he began to show worse inclinations. His debts soon became far more than I could pay on my allowance, and there was no hiding the girls he ruined and left with child, but by this point, my father could not believe that George could do wrong. He made every excuse for him, insisting that the servant girls and tenant daughters accused George because he was a steward’s son, but with expectations. George even persuaded my father that he received poor marks in school due to the prejudice of his teachers because his father had been a steward. Even I was once blamed for his misdeeds, though my indignation and fury at his lack of trust in me quickly showed my father his mistake.
“My father never accepted George’s guilt, and when he died, recommended him for the church. He requested that I confer upon him a valuable family living, should he chuse to take orders. George made it immediately clear that he had no intention of entering the church. He wished to study the law and suggested pecuniary reimbursement in compensation for the living. I agreed without delay; I knew George ought not be a clergyman. He signed away all rights to the living, should it become available, and with three thousand pounds, in addition to another thousand left to him by my father, he left us.”
