At her suggestion, Mr Darcy retrieved scissors and a basket for her to collect flowers to brighten his sister’s room. Having a task would make it easier to avoid talking. The old gatehouse had an enclosed garden and a small terraced walk that had been neglected all spring. Mr Darcy talked about the strawberry beds needing tending and the apple tree beginning to bloom while Elizabeth silently picked bluebells and a few daffodils.
“I am surprised to see the bluebells at their peak the third week in April.” Mr Darcy was strangely attentive today. “They do not bloom until May in?—”
Mr Darcy broke off, and Elizabeth looked up from the flowers in time to see him cringe.What an odd, taciturn man.She picked up the basket and moved farther down the walk, but he followed and after several minutes spoke again, this time more sensibly.
“Do you have a taste for flowers? Since she was quite young, my sister has enjoyed working in the garden.”
“When I was young, if I gathered flowers at all, it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief, if my father was to be believed.” She caught his questioning eye. “Or at least he so conjectured from my always preferring the flowers that I was forbidden to take. My tastes have improved with age, I promise you.”
Mr Darcy smiled. “Since you are such a proponent for the countryover town, perhaps you can now give way to all of your feelings on flowers and nature.”
One moment unsocial, the next ready to banter and tease. “Be careful what you ask for lest I wax eloquent on all the beauties of Hertfordshire.”
“Hertfordshire is not a county for poetry; it is only straight lanes and a few peaceful valleys. Derbyshire is more—Derbyshire, for example, is all picturesque cliffs, rugged rocks, and bold peaks.”
“Goodness, what makes you an advocate for that county above any other, including the one you live in?”Who is this man to say Hertfordshire is not worthy of poetry?
His reply was interrupted by the approach of the maid, who said that the woman who came in to help with the washing wished to be paid. Mr Darcy reached into his pocket and pulled out two shillings before asking Hannah to put the flowers in water for Miss Darcy, who the maid said was now awake.
Elizabeth frowned. “Is it old Mrs Moon who comes in to help with the washing?” Mr Darcy nodded. “Forgive me for speaking out of turn, but since you have no housekeeper nor is Miss Darcy in charge of your household, I must tell you that I fear you are being cheated.”
“How do you mean?”
“Mrs Moon helps many in the village, and I assure you, as good as her work is, such a task is not worth more than eighteen pence, particularly for as small an establishment as yours. I would not have thought her capable of it, but I fear she cheats you.”
He gave her a smile that reached the corners of his eyes. “I thank you for thinking of my accounts, but Mrs Moon is a widow with only a small annuity, andIwould cheat a worthy woman if I did not give her two shillings.” He then led her into the house and asked, “If it is not any inconvenience, would you go to my sister’s chamber to spare her the trouble of getting out of bed?”
As Mr Darcy went into his study, Elizabeth climbed the stairs, distracted. Mr Darcy was the sort of man who had someone come in to do washing for eighteen pence a week, but who added the sixpence for the sake of a poor woman, to make her happy by it. She caught aglimpse of his generosity and the depth of his character for the first time, and was duly impressed.
Well, he might be a quick-witted, handsome man, and excellent to those under his care, but he is still not apleasingman.
The flowers were already by her bedside, and Miss Darcy sat in her dressing gown on her bed. She looked better than when she had last seen her, and Elizabeth told her so.
“I feel well for having rested, and I think I will tend the garden for an hour later today. Thank you for the bluebells and daffodils.”
“Your brother said you have always had a fondness for flowers.”
“Nothing but music pleases me more. Do you think I shall see the strawberries this summer?”
“Oh, my dear Miss Darcy! Your brother showed me the apple blossoms, and I think not only will we be picking strawberries in July, but apples in the autumn, and I will expect you to play a duet with me at Christmas. Now, shall I tell you about the dance I attended last Christmas? There were only twelve dances, of which I danced nine, and was merely prevented from dancing the rest by the want of a partner. We began at ten, supped at one, and were back in Cheapside before five.”
“Not now. I ...” She sighed softly. “I ought to explain my brother’s loss of temper yesterday.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “You need not justify his behaviour, and it does not reflect poorly on you. He is a taciturn man who does not like me, but tolerates my friendship with you, and you need not make an excuse for him. He assumed I was the worst sort of gossip.”Likely he has a propensity to hate everybody.
“No, you see, he is rightfully concerned for my reputation, and your remarks about an unsuitable friendship between a man and me hit close to the truth.”
Elizabeth, who had been rearranging the flowers in the vase, sank into the chair near to her bed. “Miss Darcy, I never meant to imply?—”
“I know, and Fitzwilliam does as well, but he wishes to protect me. I am dying, Miss Bennet, and my end will come sooner rather than later, but I would like to call you my friend in the time I have left.”
“You will be with us for a long while, and of course, you must call me Lizzy.”
“I should like to, but I first must tell you why we live in seclusion. I feel well enough today to speak at length. The truth pains me, but you should know it if you wish to be my friend, and if you decide you do not, I feel no doubt of your secrecy.
“After my father died, I was left to the guardianship of my brother and cousin, and was sent to school. My lungs have never been strong, and a year ago I was taken from school and last summer went to Ramsgate for the sake of my health with a lady who presided over the establishment Fitzwilliam formed for me.
“There we met—seemingly by chance—my father’s godson, but I later learnt there was a prior acquaintance between my companion and him. He was a charming man, and—and I thought I was in love. I loved the idea of being in love, andbeingloved.
