“And next year’s shall be even better,” she added. “Certainly, everyone is in better spirits than a year ago.”
Darcy nodded and looked down the valley with a pensive look on his face. Gleams of light illuminated various aspects of the landscape. This year had been warmer and drier in comparison to the last. It was still a year of rebuilding, but the hopes for next year’s season held everything promising.
She gently linked her arm through his. “Why are you not at ease?”
“How could I not be at ease in a lovely spot, with you, near a sparkling stream in a valley covered with foliage and fields?”
“That sounds like something I would say,” she said with an emphatic look that he ought to begin again.
He shrugged before taking her hands in his. “I am glad of that. You know, I had wondered last year, before I proposed to you at Dovedale, if you could be happy in Derbyshire after all of the terrible things you had seen.” After another long look at the valley, he said quietly, “I was thinking about the near riot in Lambton last year. How quickly the situation with my tenants might have fallen apart if we could not band together.”
“They banded together with you because they trusted you.” Since the storm, Darcy had been sure in his decisions, cautious in his spending, and generous to his tenants. “You managed the disaster well.”
“I also managed the tragedy of the murder of my servant, and the looting of my villagers, and the need to retrench.”
Lewis Balfour was still a painful subject, and she avoided it by saying, “General economies were made, but you still possess a good and clear estate, and you have not had to sell part of it to answer the purpose.”
They now walked through the valley towards the house. “Was it,” he asked cautiously, “was it difficult for the new bride? You had to forsake a new carriage, a house in town for two seasons, and seeing theGardiners, as well as travelling to Staffordshire to see Bingley and Jane settled in their new home.”
“We shall see them all here at Christmas. What was sacrificed was done out of necessity, and it was temporary.”
“I think next summer I can take you to any watering place you wish to go. Bingley has written of returning to Scarborough if you want to join them.”
“Jane and Charles told me enough about the balls, theatre, and public teas.” Elizabeth gripped his arm a little tighter. “I am happy here.” After a while she said, “Now, as much as you long for my conversation, surely you did not walk two miles to find me simply because I am witty and charming.”
He did not even try to deny it and flatter her, not that she would expect him to. “I received some letters, and wanted a walk to clear my head. And then I needed to find you to talk it over with you. One was from Utterson; he says that he has nearly completed his terms at the Inn of Court.”
His was a name that had not been mentioned in some time. “I remember you commenting that Mr Utterson had been saying that he was nearing the end of his study for years.”
She felt Darcy shrug. “An inactive state is exceedingly disagreeable, so unlike my own, and I feared that Utterson was addicted to ease and pleasure, as much as he is assumed to have sound judgment. I wondered if he would ever complete his degree or if he would waste whatever talents he has.”
“Perhaps he only needs a patron, some reason to stay encouraged to focus on his study of the law.”
“He found that in Miss Margaret Newcomen, who by now has become Mrs James Utterson.” He smiled at her gasp of surprise. “It seems the couple grew tired of waiting for her father to approve and went to Scotland to make Lord Poole’s approval unnecessary. Utterson writes that he is now back in London, will be called to the bar soon, and, wishing to provide for his wife properly, asks for my help to promote his career in the law.”
“I would have thought he was asking for a place to stay in Derbyshire since he will not be welcomed at Lord Poole’s.”
Darcy smiled. “No, quite unlikely, at least until there is someone to call Poole ‘grandpapa.’”
“Shall you help Mr Utterson? I feel sorry that my interference let him know we suspected him and it caused a rift in your relationship.”
“Do not feel sorry. His fault is that he is a resentful man, and he admitted in his letter that he ought not to have been unyielding towards me for our suspicions. My own temper is not as forgiving as it could be, after all, and I can show him a little grace.”
“Especially because he admitted that he was wrong to hold it against you.”
Darcy nodded. “Still, I am not reluctant to engage on his behalf, not when he wants to make amends.”
After walking in silence, she led, “You said letters...”
“I was surprised to learn that Fitzwilliam is selling his commission in the Foot Guard.”
“What?” she cried. “That would bring him a few thousand pounds, but not enough to live on.”
“More like eight or nine.”
“Still, what strange scheme is this?”
“At first I thought like you, but the more I think on it, I see he is prudent, not a schemer.”
