Elizabeth shook her head. "I confess I felt rather neglected. Jane received an entire catalogue of maternal wisdom, while I was entrusted with the honour of not disgracing the family."
"I think," said Mr Bennet, returning calmly to his book, "your mother has long accepted that instruction would probably prove ineffective."
Elizabeth chuckled and turned back to the window. Beyond it, the road stretched away between high hedgerows towards a partof England she had never seen. Her mother might already have settled Jane's future, but Elizabeth's own seemed, for the first time in many months, entirely unwritten.
Chapter Four
The journey stretched for some four days. But as the afternoon lengthened on their last day of travel, the countryside began gradually to change. The broad, cultivated fields gave way to steeper pastures divided by dry stone walls instead of hedgerows. Great outcrops of grey limestone thrust through the earth as though unable to be contained, while ancient ash and oak clung stubbornly to the slopes above swift, sparkling streams. It was a sterner landscape than the one Elizabeth had left behind, yet there was a grandeur to it that caught her attention immediately.
She leaned a little farther towards the carriage window. "It is beautiful."
"It is," agreed Mr Bennet. "I had forgotten how much the country changes once you come north."
"Is Chaffley Hall much farther?" asked Jane.
"An hour at most, I should think. Though Lady Hortensia's drive was nearly as long as Longbourn complete, if memory serves."
Elizabeth settled back, though not for long. Every few moments something else caught her attention. The road itself had grownbusier than at any point during their journey. Smart travelling carriages appeared around bends with regularity, some passing at a brisk pace while others drew aside to allow swifter horses through. Gentlemen on horseback cantered between them, while servants perched precariously atop towering stacks of trunks.
"I think this must be the rest of Lady Hortensia's guests," said Jane.
A handsome travelling coach swept past, its polished panels reflecting the afternoon sun. Two blonde-haired young ladies within looked scarcely older than Lydia, both dressed in pale blue and peering eagerly from opposite windows in search of their fellow travellers. One caught sight of Elizabeth and smiled before disappearing once more behind the fluttering curtain.
Another carriage came into view some distance ahead, climbing steadily towards the crest of a hill. A gentleman rode beside it upon a dark bay horse, his hat pulled low against the sun. They were still too far away for Elizabeth to distinguish his features, yet there was something striking in the ease with which he sat his horse. He neither urged it on nor held it back, but seemed perfectly at one with the animal beneath him.
Mr Bennet leaned forward slightly. "Well," he said after a moment, "that is curious."
Elizabeth followed his gaze. "What is it, Papa?"
"I cannot be certain at this distance." He smiled faintly. "Though I would wager that young gentleman is a Darcy."
Jane looked from the rider to her father in evident confusion. "You know the gentleman?"
"No."
"Then how can you tell?"
"I knew George Darcy, he attended the Challenge the same year as I did. A good man, not the usual stuffiness of the upper gentry. And that young man has such a similar bearing and appearance that it must be his son or some other close relation."
Elizabeth looked again. The rider had moved off and was once more little more than a dark figure against the hillside.
"I suppose we shall discover whether you are right soon enough."
The road climbed steadily for another quarter of a mile before turning sharply between two great pillars of weathered stone, each surmounted by a reclining lion whose features had been softened by generations of wind and rain. Wrought-iron gates stood open between them and, beyond, a broad avenue disappeared amongst towering beeches.
A wooden board had been fastened neatly to one of the gateposts, with text painted in an elegant hand:
CHAFFLEY HALL
Ladies vs. Gentlemen Challenge
Proceed With Spirit
Elizabeth laughed.
"It seems rather less serious than I expected."
"I have no doubt Lady Hortensia is behind it," replied Mr Bennet.
