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“No, you are right Lizzie. It is Kitty to whom he is attracted not Lydia.”

“Where is she by the way?”

“In Meryton, with Mariah Lucas. They are calling on my sister for all the latest news.”

Elizabeth smiled, her mother would demand the latest gossip as soon as Lydia returned home.

--

“Mr. Darcy, did you drag your sister all the way to Hertfordshire just so you could have my undivided attention for two hours?”

Despite the teasing tone there was an underlying seriousness to Elizabeth’s question. Especially as the answer was, of course he had.

“My sister has been struggling to overcome a setback from the start of the summer. With the Bingleys not in residence I could take the chance and bring her into the country.”

A perfectly reasonable answer to an entirely different question. Elizabeth and Mary were visiting Netherfield Park, able to do so because Mr. Darcy now had a hostess, and an additional chaperone in the form of Mrs. Annesley. Miss Darcy and Mary were at the piano, starting to practice a duet, a first for both of them. Mrs. Annesley sat in the neutral ground between the two pairs, present but not able to catch all the conversation, especially with the sound of the piano.

“I know I seem to be focused on your poise and confidence Miss Bennet but you can see that they are attributes in short supply with my sister. I wondered if it is innate, or whether there is a way that she can gain confidence?”

Mr. Darcy clearly wanted to hear the story and was not going to be diverted from his task. Elizabeth sipped her tea before proceeding.

“Let me lay out some facts, forgive my candour but the need will become clear over the course of the tale. The estate is entailed only to heirs’ male, meaning this is the last generation of Bennets to live on the estate. After more than 200 years it is bittersweet. You have met four of the five daughters of the house, the only one no longer living at Longbourn is my sister Jane, now Lady Carruthers. Much of what we will discuss can be separated into before meeting Sir David, and afterwards. Three years ago life at Longbourn was perfectly pleasant to outside appearance but there were tensions under the surface.

“The entail has hung over my mother her entire married life. I have not asked her if she was aware of it before her marriage, it seems cruel to bring it up. But as each daughter was born she became more and more scared. When Lydia was born she was told that she could have no more children. Again, I have not asked her, but I am sure that she thought she had failed somehow. Five girls and no boys? It must be the fault of the mother. Now we both know that there is nothing that can be done, it is in the hands of God. But I am unsure that my mother would have listened then.

“Then a decade later, no it was closer to 12 years, Sir David arrives at this very house. He had been wounded quite severely on his last voyage and was on sick leave to recuperate. I found out later that the wound was initially thought to be so severe it might finish his naval career. Fortunately, that proved to be wrong. He did not receive visitors for the first month, six weeks maybe, until he did not need his crutch and was able to walk with just his cane.

“It was at this point that several of the gentlemen of the district visited him. It was close to the Lady Day Assembly and Sir David arrived unannounced. He was planning to dance four of the eight dances, any more would exhaust him. That plan remained in place right up until he met my sister.”

Elizabeth was caught up in the memory, smiling as she thought back to that evening.

“It was the first time we all saw the determination of the man. He could barely hobble at the end of his fifth dance which was his second with Jane. It was not love at first sight, I do not believe such a thing exists. But it was definitely intrigue and attraction at first sight, and it was mutual. We all got to see a brilliant naval officer in action, me closer than most as I was the most frequent of the chaperones. He let nothing get in his way, he dealt with my father, who can turn to the sardonic when the mood takes him, he dealt with Mama and her worries, did not let her excessive effusions get in the way of his courting.

“We all know the phrase, he swept her off her feet, it is a romance novel staple to the point that it is a cliché. Yet I saw Sir David Carruthers do exactly that. And not just to Jane, to the whole family. There is a naval term where the sailors land and try to steal a French ship anchored in a port.”

She looked stumped for a moment.

“Cutting out?”

“Exactly, thank you. Sir David mounted a campaign and cut Jane Bennet out from her family. And she helped him row her away.”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“That was a terribly tortured metaphor. To get back to your original question, I have poise and confident through observing someone who uses it in situations of life and death. Nothing that I face can be anything like what Sir David must as his ship approaches the French. Without embarrassing either of us too much, it is what allowed me to be so calm when upbraiding you that night at Lucas Lodge.”

They both sipped their slightly cold tea, Elizabeth knowing that she did not need to speak yet. It was clear that Mr. Darcy was processing her words.

“Thank you for your honesty, Miss Bennet. It is fascinating to hear another cliché and for it to be perfect. The arrival of Sir David was a watershed moment, a phrase I have used several times yet this is the first time it has applied perfectly. You were not confident when you were younger, before his arrival?”

“Yes I was, but it again as part of our situation before the arrival of Sir David. We were in stasis, and all five of us were afraid to do or say the wrong thing. Perhaps the best way to describe it is I bit my tongue, held myself in check. Since the marriage of Jane and Sir David, I am more honest. With my family most of all.”

“Do you mind my asking these questions Miss Bennet?”

“Not at all. I will answer honestly, all I ask is that you do not take offence at that honesty.”

“Can you give me an example?”

Elizabeth had the perfect opening.

“My uncle is in trade. It is through his connections that we get the superior blend of tea that you commented upon earlier in the week. I am proud of my uncle, just as you are of your own, despite the chasm in social status.”

They had just talked of one watershed moment, and less than 10 minutes later here was another. Darcy pressed forward, he was not about to propose that morning and so he could consider the matter at his leisure. But he did not instantly recoil.

“Do you have any suggestions to help my sister?”

“It is obvious to anyone who spends more than a few minutes in her company that she is shy. From my limited experience with my sisters, it is something that is innate. Mary has always been the quietest, the shyest of the five of us. Lydia is the most brash, and as you know, I am not a shrinking wallflower.”

Elizabeth smiled at Darcy’s blush.

“I tend to treat Mary differently than I treat any of my other sisters. What works with one will not work with another. I suspect that will be the same with Miss Darcy. She is not going to sweep open the doors to a ballroom and make a grand entrance.”

They both smiled at that vision.

“Yes, no one does that. But she will be someone who enters with others. She will be happier, more confident, with those she knows and loves about her. I understand your parents have passed on, so I am using these words generally not specifically, but she needs to be parented for longer. And it has nothing to do with her maturity or her need to learn, it is more the emotional support. You and her other guardian will need to be aware of that.”

Fitzwilliam Darcy had always worried about marrying well, however that was defined. And one of his key reasons for thinking in such a way was to allow Georgiana to make a good match in turn. But as he listened to Elizabeth he realised he did not need to marry well, he needed to marry carefully, choose a woman as his wife who would in turn support his baby sister when it was her turn.

A woman such as the one sitting opposite him.