After the game, Louisa asked Miss Lydia to play against her, she did not fare any better than Mr Darcy had, but greatly enjoyed being schooled in the game by the youngest Bennet.
Darcy was beaten at chess by another Bennet woman. This game had been very close and was a hard-fought battle. In the end, she had edged him out.
When the ride on the morrow was announced before the Bingleys and Darcy departed, Bennet decided he would join his daughters and neighbours. Neither hosts nor guests wanted the evening to end, but eventually the four from Netherfield Park departed.
Chapter 20
As much as he wanted to attend the ride the next morning, when Darcy arrived back at Netherfield Park, he was handed a missive from his uncle, calling him to London, which had arrived with a Matlock courier while he had been enjoying his time at Longbourn.
Hence, in the morning, he looked on longingly at the two Bingleys riding towards Longbourn while he departed on Zeus for London. Uncle Reggie had said it was urgent, and he was not one prone to exaggeration. There had been no mention of the reason for the summons, so all Darcy could do was speculate as he allowed Zeus to gallop.
When he was not trying to fathom what his uncle required of him, his mind was on the group of riders of which he was not part. Was Miss Elizabeth disappointed by his absence?
The subject of his thoughts was, in fact, missing his presence on the ride towards Oakham Mount. Based on the discussion of horses the previous night, Elizabeth was aware the horse and rider she had seen previously from Oakham Mount had been Mr Darcy on his stallion, Zeus.
She wondered what it was about Mr Darcy that caused her to miss his presence on this ride. It was more than his handsomeness, and he was very good looking. Had Elizabeth been one of those mercenary and shallow women like many in society, those would be the elements which formed the basis for her attraction to Mr Darcy—and she was attracted to him—but she was not like that.
To her, his heartfelt apology, his treating her like an equal, never expecting her to defer to his opinions because of his sex, and his intelligence, were the primary factors which made Mr Darcy interesting to her.
Because she was not some silly girl who would marry the first man to whom she was attracted, Elizabeth was fully cognisant of the fact thatifanything was to develop between them, it would be over time—if and when they found they suited one another. Like Papa, Elizabeth would not consider binding her life to a man’s unless there was respect and deep love between them. Her reverie was broken when Mary’s mare whinnied next to her.
Elizabeth was leading the riders, with Mary close to her, Kate and Lydia followed. Behind them rode Jane and Mr Bingley, and the last pair were her father and Lulu.
Both John and Brian, along with two of their men, were the escorts for the group riding to the mount. Jane had related how she had shared that they all rode astride, which Elizabeth was sure had led to the lack of surprise when the Bingley siblings saw them mounted on their horses. She wondered if Mr Darcy would have been so accepting of their choices.
Lulu told them that Mr Darcy had wanted to join them but had been called to London by his uncle, the Earl of Matlock. It was another point in his favour that Mr Darcy was a very dutiful man.
She looked back and saw Jane in close conversation with Mr Bingley, as close as could be held when two people were atop horses. Behind them, Elizabeth could tell that Papa was enjoying his time with Lulu. When she asked herself how she would feel if it ever reached the point that Papa and Lulu married, with the latter being a friend, Elizabeth found that she would not object. It was not the same relationship shehad with Charlotte. She had to admit, if only to herself, that she was grateful Papa had never looked at her best friend as a possible wife. She did not know how, or if, her friendship would have survived had Charlotte been her stepmother. Elizabeth guessed that with them only knowing Lulu for a matter of days, it made a huge difference.
Further cogitation was banished as they arrived at Oakham Mount.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
A little less than three hours after he departed, Darcy approached his London house. Zeus was the only horse he owned who had the stamina and conditioning to ride the twenty miles without taking a break. Of course, he never galloped for more than ten minutes at a time, slowing to as little as a walk for some of the way. The bulk of the ride alternated between short trots and longer canters.
A groom—alerted by the footman on duty in the front of the house—was ready and waiting to take the stallion’s reins as soon as the master dismounted.
“Bert, make sure Zeus is well cooled down before you allow him to drink much water. Once he is cool, make sure he is cared for as I like,” Darcy commanded as he handed over the reins to the waiting groom. “After bringing me here without any breaks to rest, he deserves to be pampered, and no one is to exercise him until the morrow.”
“Aye, Master,” Bert responded as he led the horse away towards the mews.
Seeing that Carstens remained at Netherfield Park—the decision reflected Darcy’s hope his stay in Town would not be of long duration—Mr Killion, his butler, directed some footmen to fill the bath in the master’s suite. Once Darcy had bathed, the butler assisted him to dress.
With Matlock House on Grosvenor Square, just across the green from his own house, Darcy did not need any form of transport, save his legs, to reach his aunt and uncle’s home.
The butler showed him right into the study, where he found both of his Fitzwilliam cousins with his uncle.
“Thank you for coming so expeditiously,” Matlock boomed.
“You know I will always answer any call to assist, Uncle,” Darcy responded. He turned to his eldest cousin. “I did not realise you and my new cousin had completed your honeymoon already.”
“We put the knocker up at Hilldale House a day ago. As Father knew we had returned, he requested my assistance as well,” Hilldale related.
“So sad you are tired of my new sister already,” Fitzwilliam ribbed.
“Richard!” Hilldale growled.
“That, Richard, may not be the best subject to jest about with a newly married man, one who is besotted with his wife,” Matlock warned with a grin.
