“Advanced age indeed! I am but one and thirty.” Seeing the look on Jane’s face, Andrew realised she had been teasing him. To all of her other perfections, he needed to add a sharp and dry wit.
“I take it that you would liketo join us in the coach on the return to Derbyshire,” Gardiner verified.
“As long as there is enough room for the rest of you to be comfortable, then yes,” Hilldale confirmed. “Trunks and the like can be conveyed in my carriage. Did I see a conveyance for your personal servants?”
“You did. Between the three vehicles, we will have more than enough space. You and I will sit on the rear-facing bench, which will give the three slight ladies more than enough room on the opposite bench.” Gardiner thought of something. “What of your house? How long is the lease?”
“It was on a per-month basis, so it will cost me an additional fortnight’s rent until the end of July. It is a small price to pay so that we may travel as one,” Hilldale related.
It was with reluctance the newly affianced couple separated after dinner that evening. They would meet at church on the morrow.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On Saturday morning when Charlotte joined Anne and Mr Fitzwilliam in the breakfast parlour, she was wearing a pale-yellow day dress. Her days of mourning the man who she had not felt deserved to be mourned had ended.
“Good morning, Charlotte,” Anne greeted. “That colour suits you very well. Is it not a pleasure to not have to pretend you mourn Mr Collins’s passing any longer?”
“As loath as I am to cast aspersions on the dead, yes, I am much happier the charade is over. I must admit that no longer having to pretend I am unhappy to be free of him is very liberating. At least, marrying him is not a mistake that I will be forced to repine for the rest of my days,” Charlotte replied.
“Was he so very bad?” Fitzwilliam enquired.
“He never lifted a hand to me, however…” Charlotte related a condensed version of her late husband’s attempts to make Eliza jealous and how bitter his failure made him.
“So, he was a petty, sycophantic, pompous, and vindictive man,” Fitzwilliam opined.
“He was,” Charlotte confirmed. “If it is all the same to you, now that I do not have to continue the pantomime that I was mourning him, could we speak of other topics?”
“With the greatest of pleasure,” Richard agreed. “This morning, I am to see the Andersons about the problems they are having with their tenancy. As you are familiar with them and their situation from when you were married to the parson, would you agree to join me in my visit to their farm?”
“It is my pleasure to be useful, Mr Fitzwilliam,” Charlotte responded. ‘If only he saw me as more than of use about the estate. I must put that out of my head and my heart. I have no one but myself to blame that I have fallen in love with him. He can have his pick of pretty, high-society ladies,’ she thought sadly.
“If you have nothing else this morning, we will take Anne’s phaeton at ten. I am aware you are not a horsewoman,” Fitzwilliam replied.
“The only reason I do not ride is that I never learnt. By the time my father purchased Lucas Lodge. I was already sixteen. Neither my father nor my brothers took the time to teach me,” Charlotte explained.
“In that case, Richard, you must teach Charlotte to ride,” Anne commanded.
“If Mrs Charlotte is not averse to my teaching her, it would be my pleasure,” Fitzwilliam agreed.
“As long as it is not keeping you from your regular duties, I would like that,” Charlotte stated. It would be exquisite pain to be so close to him, but yetso far, during her lessons.
‘There will be a footman riding close to the phaeton today, and it is the first day she is out of mourning. Due to that, I will wait to speak until Monday when I begin to teach her to ride. If she will have me, Charlotte is perfect for me,’ Richard thought. He wiped the corners of his mouth with his serviette and then stood. “I will go make sure the ponies are hitched to the phaeton, so we will be prepared to depart. When you are ready, the carriage and I will be in the drive next to the front doors.” After a bow, Fitzwilliam made his way to the master’s chamber to change into his work clothes.
Anne was of the opinion that now that Charlotte was out of mourning altogether, it would not be long before Richard acted on his admiration of the widow.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy had been counting the days since Miss Elizabeth—no, now he could think of her as Elizabeth—had replied to Gigi’s letter in which he had taken a chance to include a page written by himself for her. Until the reply had been delivered by the courier, he had been nervous that he had overstepped and pushed her away.
Seeing that she had inserted an epistle for him inside of her reply to Gigi removed all doubts. This was Monday, the day the Gardiners, Miss Bennet, and Elizabeth would be departing their house on Lake Windermere’s shore.
They would be in the area by Wednesday at the latest. He could not wait. As he had not a few times since the letter was received, Darcy stood and unlocked his safe, which was located behind a bookcase at his back. Something as dear to him as her note deserved to be kept as safe as was possible. He removed the paper he valued above anything of monetary value from the safe. He gently unfolded the page, and as he did each time, he admired her neat, feminine script. He took a deep breath and read the words he already knew by memory.
30 June 1812
Lakeshore House
Bowness-on-Windermere
