The party ate for a few minutes in silence after this pronouncement, each lost in their own reflections. Elizabeth thought about the expression of joy on Mrs. Darcy’s face in the picture. It was what had first caught her attention. It was not until the second or third time seeing it that she noted the lady’s surroundings. Instead of a formal setting, as was usual in most portraits she had seen and all the others at Pemberley, Lady Anne Darcy was seated on a blanket in the sand. The sea crashed behind her right shoulder with cliffs looming in the distance. The artist had captured a moment in time where the wind wasteasing her, with tendrils of blonde hair escaping her straw bonnet, which seemed to be threatening to fly off her head at any moment. Sometimes when Elizabeth and Georgiana were alone in the sitting room, Elizabeth would ask about Lady Anne and Georgiana would share the few memories she had and many of the stories she had been told. As Elizabeth heard about picking wild strawberries at Matlock, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy racing one another across the fields of Pemberley and his mother teaching Fitzwilliam to play the pianoforte so they could do duets, Elizabeth would look into the pale blue eyes of the woman on the beach and feel like she knew her just a little.
“It must be a very beautiful place,” Elizabeth said, wanting to break the silence and pull them back from the melancholy that seemed to be threatening.
“Indeed,” Darcy agreed, shooting her a small smile of thanks. “I am looking forward to seeing the sites of Cornwall as well as getting reacquainted with this particular branch of the Darcy family tree.”
What followed was a lengthy discussion of the cousins, aunt, uncle and several other relatives further removed whom they would be staying with, several of whom they had spent time with on their last visit ten years prior. As Georgiana did not remember and they were all new to Miss Baxter, who would be accompanying them, there were plenty of questions. Though Mary and Elizabeth contributed little, they were both content to hear about what sounded like a very interesting clan of Darcys.
The ladies bade the gentlemen good night directly after the meal was finished and proceeded to Georgiana’s chamber, where all three girls would sleep. Miss Baxter stayed with them for half an hour, joining their discussion of the next day’s plans.
“Would you mind terribly if Mary and I did not join you on the morning ride?” Georgiana asked, her voice at once tentative and pleading.
“Do you not wish to rise so early?” Elizabeth asked. “We do not have to see the sunrise. I am quite content to begin after breakfast.”
“You are not,” Mary accused gently. “You have talked of watching the sun rise over the lake for weeks.”
“It would of course be lovely, but it is not only my wishes we must consult.”
“But your wishes are important,” Georgiana insisted, “and it is not so much that we wish to sleep longer—though I do not relish leaving my bed at such an hour. Mary and I were actually hoping to sketch the sunrise over the peaks.”
“And to do that, you would need to set up on the south lawn,” Miss Baxter surmised.
“Exactly,” Georgiana affirmed, then, turning to Elizabeth, she clasped her hands. “But if you desire our company, we can proceed as planned. It will be a lovely outing.”
“No, of course you must do as you desire. You both possess such skill and passion for sketching and painting that I would never suspend any pleasure of yours. But I can simply enjoy being with you instead of riding to the lake.”
“No, you must!” “Absolutely not,” Georgiana and Mary said at the same time.
“Miss Elizabeth, if you still desire to ride to the lake, I was also looking forward to the outing, so it is not trouble for me to accompany you.”
“Yes! Thank you, Miss Baxter!” Georgiana exclaimed. “And Fitzwilliam was also anticipating joining you, so you must not disappoint him either.”
“It is settled then,” Miss Baxter declared, rising from the sofa and moving to the interior door which led to her own chamber, “I shall bid you ladies good night, trusting you will be sleeping soon in light of the fact that Colleen will be here in just a few short hours to bid you rise and make you ready for your respective adventures.”
Though they intended to heed Miss Baxter’s parting admonishment, the girls found themselves unable to settle down to attempt sleep for another hour, all three aware that their time together was growing short. The Bennet girls would return to Barlow Hall the following afternoon and would not see the Darcys again that summer, as they planned to set off for Cornwall in two days’ time.
An hour before sunrise, Colleen, Georgiana’s lady’s maid, crept into the dark room holding a candle aloft. The three girls were cuddled together in the centre of the bed, heads resting on each other’s shoulders, with arms and legs going in every direction. She looked fondly upon the young girl she had known since she was but a toddler chasing after her big brother on unsteady limbs before attempting to rouse her.
The aforementioned fondness was stretched to a near breaking point, and Colleen more than earned the generous wage Mr. Darcy paid all his household staff, trying to cajole hercharge from the bed. Elizabeth and Mary, more used to rising early, stumbled from their blankets and pillows quickly and began to help one another dress and get ready for the day.
“I have put your clothes just there,” Colleen said, even as she continued to gently shake her charge, quietly urging her to rise.
As Elizabeth had outgrown Mrs. Gardiner’s old riding habit, the Darcys had gifted her a new one at the start of the previous summer. Though she could not wear it anywhere other than the fields and trails of Derbyshire, it was Elizabeth’s favourite outfit. This was partly because when she donned it, she knew she would be doing something she loved. The other part of her favouritism was simply because it was the finest thing she had ever worn. The quality of the fabric was beyond anything she owned, and the precision of the cut—she had been fitted by a Lambton seamstress, who made many of the clothes for the Darcy family—meant it fit her better than the gowns, often second- and third-hand, that she and her sisters made and remade.
After they had dressed and before they began on their hair, Elizabeth and Mary helped convince their very reluctant friend to leave the warmth of her bed. Colleen thanked them, and she and Georgiana disappeared into her dressing room.
“Let me do your hair first,” Mary said, guiding Elizabeth to sit in front of the mirror at the vanity. “You must leave sooner to make it to the lake before sunset. Georgiana and I have more time.”
“Thank you, Mary,” Lizzy said as her sister’s fingers quickly braided and twisted her long brown tresses into the simple style Lizzy favoured.
Miss Baxter came in a few minutes later, greeting the sisters and moving to find Georgiana, whose excited chatter could now be heard.
“I am surprised she sounds so cheery,” Miss Baxter commented. “Mornings are not her favourite.”
“That was more than apparent ten minutes ago,” Lizzy laughingly responded.
When Mary finished, Lizzy sprang from the seat. “It is perfect, Mary. You are better than Jane! Enjoy your sketching; I will look forward to seeing your masterpieces.”
“You have a lot of faith in us,” Georgiana said as she emerged from the dressing room.
