Elizabeth had been shocked to learn that George Darcy had demanded a large proportion of Mrs Darcy’s jointure for board and lodgings for herself and Georgiana, and the mere fact that she was now allowed to keep it all seemed to settle her remaining doubts.
Elizabeth was writing of this to her husband one day in early March, Georgiana and Mrs Darcy were conning their books, and the house was full of the smell of new bread. There was a knock at the door, and the ladies raised their heads from their work when they heard a gentleman’s voice talking with Hephzibah. Elizabeth pulled the bell rope, which rang in the stable to alert Anderssen.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam,” said Hephzibah, and a tall gentleman of perhaps one- or two-and-thirty entered the room, his reddish curls almost brushing the lintel as he did so.
He bowed generally and said, “Am I addressing Mrs Darcy—Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy?”
Elizabeth got to her feet and curtseyed. “Please, sir, do sit down.” Her heart was pounding. She wondered whether this wasanother attempt to reclaim Georgiana and wished she had had the presence of mind to send the girl from the room.
“I do not know whether your husband ever mentioned me. I am his cousin Henry Fitzwilliam. I got your direction from the Admiralty?—”
Elizabeth went cold. “Has something happened to my husband?”
“No, no,” he hastened to reassure her. “Although I do bring bad news.” He glanced at Georgiana. “Of a sort. I am sorry; I am making a poor hand of this.” He took a deep breath and started again. “I regret to have to tell you that your husband’s brother, Mr George Darcy, died in a fire two weeks ago.”
Georgiana gasped and went white. “Was anyone else hurt?” she whispered.
“No, no,” he replied. “And very little damage was done to the house, considering. Luckily, the fire was seen, and someone told Mr Parker, the local magistrate. He went round with some of his people and secured the house. Some rascally servants tried to break into the plate cellar, but he collared them before too much was stolen.”
Elizabeth pulled herself together. Surprising news was no excuse for a lack of civility, so she offered her guest tea, which was gratefully accepted. “It is a longer ride from town than I thought, and when I called in at the King’s Head to leave my horse and enquire where you were, I was not made at all welcome.”
“I am afraid that is my fault,” said Elizabeth, and she explained about her spies.
The colonel thought this an excellent joke and complimented her on the diligence of her network. “We could do with someone like you in Spain,” he said. “Half the time, the French know what we are about before we do.”
Over tea, he explained how he had become involved. “Mr Parker knew my father was Mr Darcy’s uncle, so he sent word, and my father went over with some of our people to see what was to be done. He knew I was in London and sent me to the Admiralty to get my cousin’s direction. It was there that we found out he had married.” He bowed to Elizabeth. “My heartiest congratulations, by the way.
“Since there is no will, your husband inherits the lot, and since it seems you have your husband’s power of attorney, we can do nothing without his or your say-so.” He looked uncomfortable but ploughed on. “I must admit, for some no doubt foolish reason, I did not expect such a young lady, but the fact remains that there are things that must be decided upon and soon. I came to request you to come to Pemberley with me, though I can see now that this would be most unsuitable.”
Elizabeth considered for a moment. This was her husband’s inheritance, and quite apart from the need to preserve it, she was possessed of a powerful curiosity to see the place from which he had sprung. “Colonel,” she said, “if I can find a suitable escort, would you be prepared to accompany us to Pemberley?”
“Who did you have in mind?” he asked warily.
“Lieutenant Grace is an old shipmate of my husband’s, and he and his wife are both neighbours here in Hatfield. If I can persuade them to accompany me, for they are neither of them young, would you come with us?”
At this point, Georgiana interposed that she too wished to go home, and it took the combined efforts of Elizabeth and the colonel to persuade her that this would not be a good idea. “Really, Miss Darcy, the house has been dreadfully neglected,” he said. “There are hardly any bedrooms fit for use, and anyone who visits now will have to live in a house on its ears. According to my father, all the family rooms smell dreadfully of smoke.”
“There will be nothing for you to do and no one to talk to but me, and I am afraid I shall be very busy,” added Elizabeth and it was eventually agreed that Georgiana and her mother would visit Longbourn, at least for a while.
It only remained to agree to meet again in a week’s time to begin the journey north.
In the end, it was not Lieutenant and Mrs Grace who went north with Elizabeth. Two days after the visit from Colonel Fitzwilliam, her uncle Gardiner arrived with a travelling bag and a letter from Mrs Parker, wife of the Lambton magistrate and faithful correspondent of Mrs Gardiner since they were girls together in the village.
“Your aunt Gardiner has told me, quite firmly too I might add, that you are sure to wish to visit Pemberley and that it is my duty to accompany you,” he said, insisting that this was a quiet time of year for his business and that he could easily spare two, or even three, weeks to visit Derbyshire. He also brought further details of the fire. “I am sure the colonel was only seeking to spare your feelings, and it would probably be as well if Miss Darcy did not learn of it, but it seems that the poor man set fire to his bed whilst overcome with drink and was unable to save himself.” No matter his sins towards his family, this was shocking news indeed, and Elizabeth could find it in her heart to pity him.
Georgiana, though she did not know the details, seemed very little grieved. Indeed, Elizabeth was obliged to reassure her that her fear that she was exhibiting an unnatural indifference to the news was unnecessary, and that she was, in fact, demonstrating the natural reaction of someone treated as she had been for the last few years.
Elizabeth decided not to write to her husband until she had seen his boyhood home and could report in detail about what she found there. She made careful arrangements to have anyletters forwarded by express as soon as they arrived and wrote to subscribe to theNaval Chronicle, also to be posted direct to Pemberley.
Mr Gardiner spent the intervening period at Longbourn, suffering with his usual kindly grace the complaints of Mrs Bennet and consulting with Jane about the business of the estate. Mr Lester had been his efficient self during the winter, and all was set fair for the coming months; indeed, that gentleman indicated that such was Miss Bennet’s administration of the estate that he felt himself surplus to requirements, and unless there were any objections, he would look about for another position and engage for the estate a rather less well-qualified man to do what little work remained.
Georgiana and Mrs Darcy left for Longbourn, accompanied by Anderssen and the newly arrived Haslam, for no one knew the whereabouts of the miscreant clergyman Wickham. Puttnam stayed at the house, for it would have been cruel to drag him away from his garden, and it was thought as well to have a man stay to keep watch. Elizabeth had never seen herself as a target, and she was confident in the escort of her uncle and of the colonel and his man.
They set off on a bright Tuesday morning. The colonel proved himself to be an easy travelling companion with a fund of interesting conversation about his travels in Spain and Portugal. Mr Gardiner had considerable interests in the Oporto wine trade, and their mutual familiarity with the country soon broke down any reserve there might have been. Elizabeth had been slightly worried that the colonel might not have taken to a man, no matter how gentlemanly his bearing and behaviour, who made his living from trade. Mrs Gardiner’s correspondent in Lambton had informed her that the colonel’s father, and consequently her husband’s uncle, was the Earl of Matlock, and many men in the same position as the Honourable HenryFitzwilliam would have been much less friendly and conversable than the colonel.
As she wrote to her husband in the latest portion of her letter/journal,
Your cousin has been all that is helpful and courteous and has made what might well have proved an uncomfortable journey almost pleasant. My father wrote that every travelling party should include a naval officer, to which I can add that an army officer is of equal utility.
