Elizabeth asked him about the crops growing in the fields they drove by, a topic that, to his relief, lasted until they reached the next house.
Mr and Mrs Greene had just welcomed their first child earlier in the summer. Mrs Greene looked run half-ragged.
Elizabeth went to her after the introductions were made. “I am very pleased to meet you,” she said. She looked down at the babe with loving affection. “May I?”
Mrs Greene looked hesitant at first, but then relented, handing the sleeping baby over to Elizabeth’s waiting arms. His wife seemed quite the natural as she cradled the babe in her arms and rocked gently from side to side.
“Would you like to come in, Mistress?” Mrs Greene asked.
Not wishing to intrude, Darcy would have declined. But before he could do so, Elizabeth thanked her and followed her into the tiny cottage. Darcy and Mr Greene trailed after, where they found Mrs Greene bustling about clearing the table.
“Please, do not bother yourself on our account, Mrs Greene. Is there anything that you need?”
Mrs Greene halted her task, looking a little misty-eyed. “Oh, no, Mrs Darcy. I thank you, though, for thinking of us,” she said quietly. She glanced at her son nestled in Elizabeth’s arms. “He usually cries whenever anyone else holds him. You must have the maternal touch about you.”
Elizabeth glanced at Darcy, the colour high in her cheeks. “Oh, well, I have three younger sisters. I helped bring them up, you might say,” she said. They stayed for another quarter of an hour, chatting about how their farm was faring and the improvements that Mr Greene had planned for the cottage.All the while, Darcy watched his wife with tender fascination. The Greenes could not have known that he and Elizabeth were married in name only at the present. When Mrs Greene had suggested that she might be in the family way, he had felt the same embarrassment that had brought such bright colour to Elizabeth’s cheeks.
Yet the suggestion had also made him wonder. What would it be like to share his life with Elizabeth, not just his name?
When they returned to Pemberley after having visited four of the neighbours, Elizabeth seemed to glow with renewed energy. Perhaps he should not have left her on her own for such lengthy stints after bringing her home to Pemberley. He had thought she would want some time to settle in and recover from the long journey.
“Oh, that was wonderful. Thank you for taking me out with you today,” she said as they walked up the front steps into the house. She handed her wrap to a footman with a nod of thanks. “I did not realise how much I missed being out in the community.”
“You were much engaged in your village, I presume?” Darcy asked, pleased that she showed an interest in their tenants and neighbours. After all, her duty was not only to him and to the estate, but also to their neighbours. Pemberley owed its position to the people who worked its lands and paid its rents as much as to the family that led it.
“I was,” she said, a little regretfully. “We walked to Meryton almost every day when the weather was fine. I greatly enjoyed visiting our neighbours and friends.” She huffed thoughtfully as they walked into the drawing room, where teawas already laid out for them. “I suppose it will be much more difficult to walk to our neighbours, with everything so spread out as it is? Although I am very fond of walking, to be sure. I used to spend hours walking about the countryside.”
“It is much more convenient to go by horseback,” Darcy said. “However, there are many fine sights to see if you are inclined to walk. I should like you to take a footman with you for your protection if you intend to walk far from the house.”
She raised her eyes to his. “Would you come with me sometimes? I would be most interested to hear the history of the surrounding areas.”
Darcy felt his heart warm in his chest. For the life of him, he could not think why so simple a request could affect him so deeply. “I would be most happy to escort you around our fair countryside.”
Elizabeth’s face brightened, and she leaned forward to pour the tea for them. “Excellent.”
They drank their tea in companionable silence. The lack of conversation was welcome, for Darcy was glad to have some time to gather his thoughts. He was surprised by his rush of appreciation for his new wife, but thought it better not to show emotions so little understood. She had been so enthusiastic about their calls that morning, and it had been strangely delightful to see her excitement shining on her face. Perhaps the stony silence that had weighed between them in their first days following the wedding had been only a reaction to the shock of their compromise and sudden marriage. Perhaps it would prove to be as little characteristic of Elizabeth’s true nature as Darcy hoped his nearly brutish abruptness was of his.
As he sat beside her, studying her lovely profile, he could not help but feel something akin to hope. Perhaps the arrangement would not be so dreadful after all.
Chapter 10
Elizabeth suppressed a sigh as she looked at the shining banisters and spotless treads of Pemberley’s grand staircase. A fine staircase spotlessly polished and kept up ought not to have been a cause for discouragement, and yet it was so. Everything in Pemberley was flawless — a most daunting standard for a young woman from a comfortably run-down estate in Hertfordshire. To be mistress of Pemberley was a great undertaking. It would not do to give the house anything less than her best, for Pemberley simply was not used to anything less than perfection.
Perfection, however, was a daunting task. She wandered the halls, taking note of each room she passed, looking in at the myriad bedrooms, galleries, and airy sitting rooms. There was something to learn everywhere, for it would not do to remain unfamiliar with her own house.
Upon entering one of the back stairwells from the second story of the house, Elizabeth stopped suddenly. The sound she heard must surely be someone crying, their breathing turned into a series of muffled gasps and snorts in their distress.
Elizabeth hesitated a moment. The unknown person would want privacy, surely, and yet she could not bring herself to simply leave as though she had not heard them. The tears had the sound of real distress to them. As Elizabeth had just been at great pains to remind herself, she was the mistress of Pemberley now. Whoever was crying must be one of her people, and if she had any duty of greatest importance, it must surely be to help anyone and everyone belonging to Pemberley when they were in need.
Her decision made, Elizabeth listened carefully. It did not take long to locate a young woman leaning against the wall in a dark corner of the stairwell.
“Are you well?” Elizabeth asked gently.
The young woman startled, turning up her face in surprise and alarm. Elizabeth had a struggle to conceal her own surprise, for she recognised the girl as the same maid who had deliberately sneered at her when she first arrived — Stephans’s younger sister, though Elizabeth could not recall her given name.
But in the end, it did not matter. The maid evidently disliked her, but that did not make her need any less. Hopefully, she would take help even from the hand of her supposed enemy. “Will you not tell me what is wrong?” Elizabeth asked her directly.
The girl only looked frightened and tried to back away — to little avail, as there was nowhere for her to go. She pressed her back against the wall, shaking her head. “No, mistress. There is nothing amiss.”
