“That’s exciting.”
“Yes, I suppose.The birth of an earl often is.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Second is my brother Harrison, named for my mother’s family.We call him Harry.He is a barrister in London and making a name for himself.He is not married, but Mother is on him to get to it now that he is successful and nearing five and thirty.”
“Oh!Yes, it is high time he settled down,” she said primly.“He must see to it quickly before he is considered a spinster irrevocably.”
“Quite so, Miss Bennet,” he answered gravely.“Next is my sister Judith.She has been married to Lord Lydham more than a decade, though plain Roger Montgomery suits him better.”
“Is he a dull man then?”
“He is a bit of a stick in the mud, but I must admit that I would rather have my sister married to a bore than a man about town.”
“Hear, hear.”
“Forgive me, Miss Bennet, I am overly familiar.”
“Not at all, colonel.Please continue.I believe you have one more brother to go and we have just enough time before reaching the parsonage for you to tell me of him.”
“Ah, yes.Well, there was one other sister after me.Her name was Olivia.She died when she was eleven years old and I twelve.Influenza.”
She pressed his arm again, now feeling badly about teasing him.“I am sorry.Were you close?”
“Yes, we were, odd though it may be.My two elder brothers played with each other, and then were sent off to school, and sandwiched between my sisters as I was, I became caught up in their games.I attended many tea parties as a lad,” he said with a nostalgic smile.
“Is this where your elder sister bossed you about?”
“Oh yes, she was terrible about it.She insisted Olivia and I do everything just as she directed.We often rebelled, which only made her angrier.She was sent off to finishing school shortly before Olivia died.It was sweet, having that time, just the two of us.”
His voice was soft with remembrance and she looped her hand through his arm, offering silent support.“She sounds lovely.”
“Yes, she was.You remind me of her, in some ways.She had expressive brown eyes, too, and was often laughing.She was always cheerful.Of us all, she was the last I would have imagined would have succumbed to—” he trailed off, his voice strained.“Well, anyhow, it is only Judith now.”
She squeezed his arm again and he placed his hand over hers.
“My younger brother is seven years my junior.I have always thought my parents imagined Olivia was the last child.But then came Anthony.He is a curate in Shropshire at the moment.The current incumbent of the living is elderly, and Anthony is preparing to take over for him in the next year or so.He has the temperament for the church—patient, kind-natured, forgiving.”
“You are all of those things, too, are you not?”
“I am flattered you think so, Miss Bennet, but I have mellowed with age.When I was four and twenty, I was not nearly so patient as my brother is.And I have always craved more adventure than Anthony.I would not have suited a quiet life in the country.”
“And so your parents have one son in the law, one in the army, and one in the church, and an heir to train.How perfectly balanced.”
“Yes, my father is quite pleased,” said the colonel jocularly.
“Well, I for one cannot wait to meet them.I enjoy character studies and your family sounds fascinating.”
“Oh, they will give you plenty to study, that is certain.Whether you will enjoy the experience is less so.”
They laughed together and were soon at the gate to the parsonage.She turned to face the colonel.
“Thank you for the escort, sir.I shall see you in the morning.”
He bowed more deeply than she would have expected.“Good day, Miss Bennet.Until tomorrow.”
While Colonel Fitzwilliam was walking with Elizabeth, Darcy was doing something much less agreeable—speaking with his aunt.Lady Catherine received him in the main drawing room.He was certain she had heard something of his conversation with Anne, though he could not know if she knew the contents of said conversation, and she had asked him to meet her here with the goal of intimidating him.
