Lydia did not restrain her glare, but she did not protest further. Darcy looked at the girl with fondness. The Bennet sisters were a disparate group of women, each with different interests from the eldest to the youngest, and while Lydia was a little too spirited for her own good, he had always gotten on well with her, even when she was a child. They all suffered from the confinement, he noted—though they all went out occasionally, they did their best to give Wickham as little chance to come upon them unaware as they could.
“Would it not be acceptable to all go out on the lawn?” asked Miss Bingley. “A picnic and perhaps a few games would do wonders in curing us from our recent ennui.”
Though Darcy had never seen the woman behave in this way, at Pemberley she had become soft-spoken, rarely venturing an opinion, and when she did, it was almost always with diffidence. Whether it was because of her experiences, Lady Susan’s kindness in promoting her interests, or realizing just what her interest in Jameson Darcy meant, he could not say, but he found her much more tolerable now than he ever had before. Bingley, he knew, looked on his sister’s alteration with approval, or he did so when he could spare any time from his contemplation of Jane Bennet’s perfections.
“That would be lovely,” said Jane, agreeing with Miss Bingley while favoring her with a smile. The two ladies had become closer friends since coming to Pemberley, a benefit to them both as it was now almost certain they would become sisters.
“A picnic and games?” demanded Lydia as if she had never heard of such a thing before.
“Oh, yes, let us have some fun!” said Kitty, clapping her hands.
Darcy exchanged glances with the other men and saw their agreement.
“I believe it will be quite safe,” said Mr. Bennet after a moment’s reflection. “Enough men are guarding this place that I do not suppose a mouse could approach the house and remain unobserved.”
“Very well,” said Darcy, much to the delight of the company. “I shall speak with Mrs. Reynolds and arrange a picnic lunch for the morrow.”
This was welcome to the entire party, such that they chattered about the amusement for the rest of the day, excited tones replacing the complaints and sighs of the younger girls. Had the weather been rainy, Darcy expected to face a mutiny, for all the company’s hopes appeared set on the following day’s activity. Nature, however, smiled on them, the day dawning beautiful and warm, with not a hint of a cloud to interrupt the glory of the fathomless blue skies. Though Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Darcy had continued the girls’ tutelage without cessation since their arrival at Pemberley, they determined there was little to be gained from requiring immersion in dusty tomes or concentration on mathematical problems, for there would be no focusing them on their studies that day.
At the appointed time, the company exited the house and made their way to the tables, chairs, umbrellas, and games set out for their enjoyment. As it was still early and beforeluncheon, those interested indulged in the games, and for a time, they all enjoyed the activity, while the elders sat and observed, sipping on lemonade and eating fruit from Pemberley’s well-appointed conservatory and orchards. When the time came for luncheon, they ate sandwiches and crispy salads, enjoyed cakes and biscuits, and for a time after, they sat together and spoke, allowing the bounty of their meal to settle. Thereafter, the younger girls again rose, eager to return to their fun.
“Well, this is an amusing scene, and no mistake,” said Bennet sometime later. “My youngest daughter has tried to project the aura of maturity, but now she is behaving as a child of five.”
Darcy could not dispute Bennet’s words, for the girls had broken into an impromptu game of tig, as they called it in the north. Laughter flowing, they chased each other across the lawn, and in time, they even drew Mary, Jane, Bingley, and even Miss Bingley into their raucous game. Bingley and Jane, however, were a failure, as Bingley allowed others to catch him, and then focused on Miss Bennet like a fox chasing a fat hare, provoking protests from the girls for his unnatural style of playing. At length, laughing so hard his sides ached, Bingley and Miss Bennet bowed out, allowing the girls to continue their game.
“It reminds me of the girls as children,” said Mrs. Bennet, a wistful note of remembrance in her voice. “I wondered how I could endure five such active and loud children, for their games drove me to distraction.”
“If you will pardon me,” said Jane, as she joined them with her beau behind her, “I do not believe I haveeverbeen a loud child.”
“No, you were as quiet then as you are now,” said Mrs. Bennet. “Yet I remember your shrieking laughter when playing, which was the equal of the other girls. Even Mary did not hesitate to join in your fun, though she was always a serious child.”
“And Lizzy was your ringleader,” laughed Bennet. “She could whip you all up into a frenzy, and did so whenever she could, no doubt to drive her poor parents to distraction.”
“Not at all, Papa,” said Elizabeth sweetly. “It was never to affect your peace of mind; I simply felt that Longbourn needed life.”
“Trust me, Lizzy,” said Bennet, fixing his second eldest with affection, “Longbourn has not needed invigoration these past twenty years at least. You girls have always created enough noise to wake the dead with your antics.”
“With such accounts,” said Bingley, winking at Elizabeth, “I wonder why you have not taken part in these games. Or have you given over your position as leader in hijinks to your youngest sister?”
Bingley, of course, knew nothing about Elizabeth’s condition, though Darcy suspected she had informed her elder sister. Now was not the time to tell anyone else, so Elizabeth settled on a jest to answer his challenge.
“Now that I am an old married woman, it would harm my image to partake in such childish pursuits as tig.”
“Old married woman, indeed!” cried Mrs. Bennet. “Why, I have never heard such nonsense from you, Lizzy. When you reach my age,thenmaybe you can claim the title.”
The company laughed at Mrs. Bennet’s exclamation, even as Kitty and Lydia ran past them, the former chasing the latter until she cornered her, each laughing so hard their sides ached. Then, when Kitty ran away, Lydia joined the fray once again, catching Miss Bingley, who appeared as if she were not trying to escape. Miss Bingley then caught Mary and excused herself from the game, taking a seat next to Jane, who smiled at her breathless state.
“I do not consider myself an old woman,” said she, “for I am only Jane’s age. Yet I declare the girls have far more energy;they appear ready to continue this game for the rest of the afternoon!”
“My youngest have always possessed vigor aplenty,” agreed Mr. Bennet. “The one who surprises me is Mary, for I would not have expected her to set aside her reserve to behave as one of the younger girls.”
Mary, laughing as she caught Georgiana, stood for a moment catching her breath as Georgiana chased the other girls, but when she caught Lydia, Mary nimbly moved out of the way of her younger sister’s questing hands. And so, the game continued.
“Well, they are excellent girls, if I may be so bold,” said Bingley. “I declare they shall cut straight through the hearts of society men when they come out.”
“Oh, please do not say so, Mr. Bingley,” said Mrs. Bennet, surprising them all. “I have only a few more precious years with my youngest daughters—I would not wish them to hurry into matrimony.”
It took no great discernment to note the members of the Bennet family present who exchanged glances bordering on hilarity. Mrs. Bennet had always maintained the absolute necessity for her daughters to find good marriages and ensure their wellbeing, but it seemed she had changed with Darcy’s marriage to Elizabeth, Jane and Bingley’s dance of courtship, and the looming end of Longbourn’s entail.
