Page 5 of Mr. Darcy Comes to Town

“Who is Darcy?” asked the turtle.

“Yah, yah, yah?” the birds chirped.

“Very well, so she hasn’t met him yet,” Jeffry said slowly. “What about Bingley? Has she met him?”

“She has,” the fox replied.

“Good, good. Won’t be long, then,” Jeffry whispered.

“You know I’m a fox, right? I can hear you from twenty-five bounds away.”

Jeffry ignored the fox’s derision and nibbled on a raisin, thinking.

“We have to watch out for that cat,” he said to no one in particular.

“I don’t like cats,” a mouse squeaked.

The fawn leaned over the guinea pig enclosure and stole some of Jeffry’s food, mumbling, “Tell us about the cat.”

Jeffry obliged, scooting back from the hay.

*

Darcy left Netherfield with his friend, Bingley, right after they finished a hearty morning meal. He felt a gaze on his back and turned around, expecting to find a servant or Miss Bingley standing on the threshold. Instead, it was Miss Bingley’s gray cat. He stared at Darcy with unblinking orange eyes.

“Your sister’s cat has an eerie way about him,” Darcy observed to his friend.

Bingley shrugged. “Basile is extremely attached to my sister. Any man who wishes to marry Caroline will have to make friends with her cat first.”

“I do not recall him being quite so…I cannot say what it is,” Darcy admitted. “I like cats, but if they were all like that one, I would have to say I prefer dogs.”

“Do not let Caroline hear you say that,” Bingley cautioned. They approached his dog cart. “Do you wish to tool my bay?”

Darcy waved away the invitation. “Where are we going?” he asked as he attained his seat. He felt a thump behind him, through the seat back. “Why are we bringing a dog?”

“That, my friend, is not a dog. It is a lamb.”

“You put a live lamb in the dog box behind the seat?” Darcy asked, incredulous. “Why?”

“His mother died not long ago. He is not thriving, poor chap, even though he has been weaned,” Bingley explained. “We are taking him to Longbourn to see if Miss Elizabeth Bennet can do anything with him.”

“And who is Miss Elizabeth Bennet?”

“She is Miss Bennet’s next youngest sister—there are five sisters in all,” he clarified with his usual level of insouciance. “Our shepherd suggested I take the lamb to her. It seems Miss Elizabeth has a way with animals.”

“Perhaps you need a new shepherd,” Darcy remarked. “Someone more knowledgeable. By-the-by, when did you get sheep?”

“It is only a small flock,” Bingley said. “Twenty strong—Leicester Longwools. Netherfield does not have many acres of pastureland, but there are enough for sheep. Perhaps you did not know of my fondness for the animals. I prefer them to cattle.”

“I did not know. So, you are dipping your toe into the farming pond?” Darcy asked, grinning. “I will be calling you Farmer Charles before long.”

Bingley chuckled. “One must diversify.”

“True. Where does this Miss Elizabeth live?”

“At Longbourn House, in Longbourn Village. It is a mile beyond Meryton.”

“Is her father a gentleman farmer?” Darcy asked, eyeing with pleasure the pleasant, slightly rolling countryside between Netherfield and Meryton.