Georgiana was amenable to this plan, and when Mrs. Gardiner rose to ring the bell, Georgiana moved to sit beside Elizabeth.
“I am particularly sorry you and Fitzwilliam will not see one another.”
Elizabeth scrambled to think of a response.
Before she could stop herself, she picked the most innocuous of her questions and asked, “Why me in particular?”
“It has just been so long since he was able to converse with you, and he so enjoys it and even though I include his questions and comments in my letters and offer yours back to him, it is not the same. You know he does not make friends easily, and it has been a year and a half since your visit for the holidays . . .” Georgiana swallowed here, and the girls looked at one another in an unspoken acknowledgement of shared grief. Elizabeth reached out and held her friend’s hand. “All that to say I am sad you will miss one another and have to wait another year for a reunion.”
Elizabeth bit back her much more precise account of how long it had been since she had seen him and how long it would now be until she did. One year and seven months and two years and five months, respectively. Instead, she said, “Please let him know that I am sorry to miss a chance to best him at chess and look forward to hearing his account of Aileach.”
“I will do just that,” Georgiana happily responded as she thanked the maid who delivered her writing materials. After settling at the desk beside where Elizabeth sat, she added, “By the time he sees you next summer, he might not even recognise you. When I first saw you this summer, I was surprised at how much you had changed.”
“Changed how?”
“I suppose you look much more grown-up. At Twelfth Night, in your aunt’s gown with your hair styled so differently, I saw a little of it. You looked older, but not as you do now. It was a glimpse of the woman inside the girl. Now it is the reverse. You are fully the woman, but I do still catch glimpses of the girl.”
“I did not realise I had changed that much.”
“Perhaps it is because I had not seen you in over a year that it was so noticeable to me.”
Elizabeth thought on this many times over the final week of her visit. When she looked in the mirror as the girls prepared to attend Miss Baxter’s wedding, she tried to trace the change in her features. She had to stop herself from imagining how Darcy might react to seeing her next summer. Would her physical transformation force him to see her in a new light, or would she always be his sister’s friend, a young girl, not someone he could see in any other role?
While Elizabeth was standing outside the church after the ceremony, Mrs. Robertson approached her.
“Good morning, Miss Elizabeth. It was a lovely ceremony, was it not?”
“Indeed, they are both such wonderful people, it is a joy to watch them commence their life together.”
“Just so,” the older woman replied, then seemed to hesitate before saying, “When I wrote John of the wedding, he asked to be remembered to you if I were to see you. He was sorry his new curacy began at such a time that prevented him from seeing you during this visit.”
“And I am sorry to have missed the chance to see him again,” Elizabeth said. She was sincere. Though she had not thought of John as often as she imagined would be required for her to believe herself in danger of falling in love with him, she did genuinely enjoy his company and would not be sorry to see him again.
“I will let him know,” Mrs. Robertson responded with a broad smile before wishing Elizabeth a good day and joining her husband, who was in conversation with the minister.
Choosing to defer any serious consideration of the state of her heart with regard to a seemingly real potential beau and the only one she had imagined in that role, Elizabeth applied her considerable will to not thinking about John Robertson or Fitzwilliam Darcy for the remainder of her stay in Derbyshire. She was far more successful at the former than the latter.
Chapter Nine
Summer 1810
The bright blue sky was dotted with soft white clouds, and the air smelled of jasmine and honeysuckle. The carriage rumbled through a village town with trellises and archways covered in these red and yellow blossoms. The road leading them out of the town and closer to their destination was dotted with large and small flowering trees blooming in vibrant pinks and whites. The sun warmed Elizabeth’s hand, which rested on the sill of the open window and the side of her face which was turned towards it. Even so, she did not feel the summer had yet begun. That moment was coming in an hour or so, she guessed, just before the sun would set.
Jane and their uncle were chatting animatedly about the latter’s favourite topic—his daughters. Miss Constance had joined her sister Amelia in October. Since he met them yesterday, Mr. Gardiner had filled his nieces in on everything there was to know about the youngest Gardiner, as well as how Miss Amelia got on generally and as a big sister.
“She is such a sweet thing,” he said fondly. “No matter how loudly Amelia expresses her love and affection, Constance receives it with smiles and even laughter. We try to tell Ameliashe must be gentle and quiet sometimes with her sister, but she has difficulty containing her excitement.”
After relaying a tale which ended in Amelia going to bed with no supper, Mr. Gardiner said, “Sometimes it seems as if we have a little Jane, sweet and serene, and a Lizzy, adventurous and boisterous. We would be delighted beyond measure if our girls were anything like either of you and if they love each other as well as you do.”
“Thank you, Uncle,” Elizabeth and Jane responded together, though Elizabeth was somewhat disconcerted by this assessment.
Due to a wheel repair, they reached Barlow Hall just as the sun was disappearing over the western orchard. As the house came into sight, Elizabeth’s summer began.
The morning after their arrival, Elizabeth rose early, as usual, dressed quickly and after stopping in the kitchen to grab an apple and a muffin, rushed out the side door. Soon she was strolling along a very familiar path. By the time she had finished the small apple, she heard footsteps coming from around the bend in front of her. When she turned the corner, she saw her.
“Lizzy!”
“Georgiana!”
