Pray, forgive me for writing, but I find myself in such a similar situation as you that I just knew you would understand my wish for a friend. You see, my cousin has convinced me to take a more active role in the management of my estate, and I feel quite unequal to everything I am learning. My steward is grateful for a less officious mistress and my cousins and uncle are doing everything in their power to ease the transition, but I still find myself frustrated by my general lack of knowledge.
I do hope you will consider me a friend. May I beg that we dispense of the formalities and call each other by our Christian names? I have so few, and though I have Mrs. Jenkinson, she is more of an age with my mother than myself.
My cousin tells me that you have returned to Hertfordshire after spending some months in Derbyshire. I do hope everything has proceeded smoothly. Andrew and Charlotte also inform me that you gave birth to a little boy. I am so happy that you came through your ordeal so well.
Please, will you tell me how you fare with managing your estate? Let us compare our experiences. Perhaps I shall feel like less of a failure.
Sincerely,
Anne de Bourgh
The brief letter was very disjointed, and Jane thought she detected nervousness in Miss de Bourgh’s words. The poor dear had been almost exclusively at Rosings Park for many years and likely did not know how to go about forming a new friendship. Happy to discuss her efforts, she went to her writing table to compose a reply.
Dear Miss de Bourgh,
I was very pleased to receive your letter from Sir Andrew today. Please feel free to make use of my Christian name. Jane will do quite well.
My own forays into estate management have been exhausting. There is so much to learn. I, too, have support in the form of my brother Darcy, my dear sister Elizabeth, and Mr. Brown, who is the steward that my father hired before he passed away.
Longbourn is not nearly as large as Rosings Park, so I imagine that you have a vast deal more to learn than I. As long as you have the aid of loyal friends, family, and staff, you will likely do admirably well.
I shall have to hire a secretary eventually, I suppose. Being both master and mistress of an estate is time-consuming. Sometimes I feel as if I do not have time to do anything other than stare at estate books or household ledgers, or have meetings with the steward.
My son and I have been in Hertfordshire for almost a month now, and it has been a joy being close to my younger sisters again. Henry is a good boy, never giving anyone a bit of trouble.
I, too, look forward to hearing from you again.
Sincerely,
Jane Collins
It would be pleasant to speak with another woman who understood the position Jane now found herself in. Elizabeth made everything seem so simple. Jane often had to seek multiple explanations for why something was done a certain way before she understood and could move on. Her younger sister hid her impatience well, but Jane could detect it in the slight pursing of Lizzy’s lips or the little sighs that escaped from time to time.
“It would all be easier if I had a competent husband,” she muttered aloud as she sanded and sealed her letter.Perhaps I shall have one… someday.
Chapter Forty-Five
November 27, 1812
Longbourn
Elizabeth
“Come on, it is not much farther!” Elizabeth tugged on Darcy’s hand, climbing the last stretch of the path before they reached the top of Oakham Mount.
“Youare not carrying a basket,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “Did you really walk this path daily when you lived here?”
She nodded. “I did. And I still walk it now that I have returned. Come on, the prospect is worth the climb."
They crested the summit, and Elizabeth wrapped her arm through his. “You were at Netherfield Park for two months and never rode this way?”
He shook his head. “You forget, my love, that I was keen on avoiding a certain lady with fine eyes at the time, a lady I knew to be a great walker.”
She laughed delightedly. “Yes, I trust the residents of Netherfield were suitably impressed by my excellent constitution.” She gestured to a semi-flat area and spread out the rug she had carried out. She sat down, patting a spot beside her. Pulling food from the basket, she arranged their impromptu picnic and served her husband a plate.
It was a momentous day, for she had felt the quickening just that morning. There had been a few flutters, but nothing she could confidently say was her child until today at breakfast. The sensation, so foreign, brought a smile to her face.
Her husband suspected; she felt certain, but gentleman that he was, he had not asked. Elizabeth had a tall torso, and so she had only a small bulge that spoke of her coming child. That sign had not appeared until just a few weeks ago.
