He looked adorably awkward, all concern and confusion, so she presented him with her hand and said, “Will you help me up?”
“Of course!”He reddened at not having thought to offer the service before and attempted to make up for it by picking up the trailing end of her shawl and placing it back around her shoulder.He smiled grimly when it was firmly in place and she shook her head at him.
“You must not let it spoil your morning, Mr.Darcy.Truly, I am perfectly well.It is not the first time I have taken a tumble in the grass and I doubt it shall be the last.”
He reddened at the thought her words conjured and looked even more awkward than he had before.
Deciding to give him a moment to compose himself, Elizabeth went to retrieve the basket she had left under a neighboring tree.“Shall we walk to the stream?”
“There is an old folly on the hill yonder I thought you might wish to see.If you do not mind a longer walk, that is?”
“That sounds lovely!”She smiled brightly and asked him to lead the way.
The folly had been built by Sir Lewis’s father and was a small round structure at the top of a hill rather distant from the house.It was a beautiful prospect, and it had a lovely view of the countryside, but she did wonder why it was built in so remote a location.
“Sir Reginald de Bourgh built it for his wife.She loved to paint landscapes, and this view was one of her favorites.She would ride her mare here with her paints and spend the afternoon.He was very fond of her, so he had this built as a gift for her thirtieth birthday.”
“That is very romantic,” she said softly, looking at the folly with new eyes.It was a graceful structure, with lovely simple columns, not ridiculously adorned with ornate crowns or Grecian statues.There was a tiny room in the center.Its door was locked, but she could see through the window that it contained a small chaise and a pair of chairs with a low table between them.It would have been the perfect artist’s retreat.“It is charming.”
“Yes, it is.My aunt is not overly fond of it, so the path leading to it has become rather overgrown.There was a wider horse path just there.”He pointed to a space between the trees where the grass grew slightly shorter than its surroundings.“Only the deer use it now.”
“That is rather sad.”
“Yes, I have always thought so.”
“What was Sir Lewis like?”
“My uncle?”
She nodded.“Growing up with such parents had to have impacted him in some way.Was he artistic like his mother?Or romantic like his father?”
“I do not know, to be honest.I was only twelve when he died.I know he was a kind man, and much older than my aunt.She was his second wife.His first had died in childbed along with the babe and he was much affected by it, or so everyone said.”
“How awful!”
“Yes, it would be difficult for anyone, but his was said to be a love match, and he mourned her for nearly a decade before wedding my aunt.”
Elizabeth made a noncommittal sound and turned to look over the view.It certainly painted Lady Catherine in a different light.Had she wished for a love match?Or even an affectionate marriage?Had she thought she would have it, or hoped for it with Sir Lewis, only to find he was still mourning his first wife and had only married her for an heir?She shook her head.She was being fanciful.She knew nothing of Lady Catherine’s desires nor her heart.The lady may have had exactly the marriage she wished for.Sir Lewis might have been a perfectly wonderful husband to her, despite still mourning his first wife.Though, even as Elizabeth told herself this, she knew it was not true.Lady Catherine did not have the sensibility of one who had been loved.She was too cold, too shuttered to have experienced such a thing.
With a sigh, Elizabeth sat on the cold stone, letting her feet dangle over the ledge.“Are you hungry?”
“Yes.Do you have more muffins?”he asked as he lowered himself to the floor of the folly.He leaned back against a pillar, his legs stretched out before him and his eyes on Elizabeth.
“I do.”
She passed him a muffin and they sat in silence while they ate, looking at the view.Well, Elizabeth was enjoying the view.Darcy was enjoying watching Elizabeth.He had never thought he would enjoy courting.It seemed a terrible waste of time and energy.If a man knew he wanted to marry a woman, why not simply ask her and be done with it?Surely the marriage itself would offer more opportunities for intimacy than a courtship would.But then he had not given the lady’s feelings much consideration beyond her acceptance of his suit.To his great embarrassment, he realized he had counted on the very thing he most abhorred about society—ladies pursuing him for his wealth and position alone—to be his ally.He had expected her to accept him because it was prudent and he was a good match, yet he had also desired her affection and respect, while doing nothing to earn either.He expected a lady, Elizabeth to be precise, to fall into his arms with rapturous joy why exactly?Because he had a grand estate and a large income?It was abhorrent.
He did not know when he had last been so disgusted with himself.
“What must it have been like?To be loved like that?”
“Pardon?”With a start, Darcy realized Elizabeth had been speaking while he was lost in how own thoughts.“Forgive me, I was not attending.”
Elizabeth smiled self-consciously and looked at her lap.“I was saying nothing of import.Would you like another muffin?”
“Please, continue.You were saying something about love?”
She darted her eyes to him, then back to her hands.“I was musing aloud, that is all.”She met his eyes for a moment, then turned her gaze back to the trees.“I wondered what it was like, for Sir Reginald’s wife.To be loved like that.For a man to build his wife a folly—he must be more than fond of her.”
