The Resolute Suitor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Page 5

  Col. Fitzwilliam watched the emotions cross his cousin’s face, wondering if Darcy truly believed all he was saying or if it was just a wall Darcy was constructing to protect himself from further disappointment with regard to Elizabeth. The truth was, his statement he intended to court Elizabeth was a spur of the moment decision to see if he could get a reaction from Darcy. What he got was less than he expected. Maybe this last experience with her really had made Darcy rid himself of any desire for her. As he thought about her, he wondered if there was any truth to his statement. Would he like to court her? Could he deal with her candor and independent spirit? He had always envisioned himself in a far more traditional marriage than Darcy. He thought he wanted a wife whom he could love and respect but who would be much more compliant and would recognize he was the master of the house. However, he had never met anyone quite like Elizabeth, who was so intelligent and strong-minded—a woman whom he might be willing to treat as an equal partner in the marriage. English society of the time did not tend to encourage those characteristics in a woman and Elizabeth was indeed unusual in that respect. Perhaps his cousin’s misfortune was his good fortune. He would have to think about that.

  Chapter 6: Visiting Georgiana

  The next day, having received no word from Georgiana that the visit had been cancelled, Elizabeth dressed in her finest day dress and sat on the window seat in the parlor, looking out the window for the Darcy or Matlock carriage. There was a rather heavy rain falling and she hoped the bad weather would not affect the decision to have her visit. She was very much looking forward to seeing the townhome of which she might have been mistress had she accepted Darcy’s proposal.

  She need not have worried. Shortly after 1:30 a carriage pulled up in front of the house on Gracechurch Street and a footman leaped off the back and came toward the door. Elizabeth hurried to the foyer to get her rain cape and was donning it when the footman knocked on the door. The footman escorted her to the carriage under an umbrella and helped her board. Inside she found a young lady who introduced herself as Leila, an upstairs maid at Darcy House.

  The ride to Darcy House took almost half an hour in the heavy rain and Elizabeth found her riding companion to be a very pleasant young lady. She learned she was the granddaughter of the housekeeper at Pemberley and was in training to be a lady’s maid. When asked how she enjoyed her work, she stated that working for someone like the Darcys was exactly what every maid wanted. Mr. Darcy was the best master Leila could imagine.

  Elizabeth was disappointed because the rain restricted her view of all the grand houses they passed on the way to Darcy House, but she hoped she would have plenty of opportunity to see them in the coming weeks. Eventually the carriage stopped in front of the entrance to a rather large house and the footman came down the stairs with an umbrella to escort her into the foyer. Darcy House was one of the widest townhouses on the street and an astounding five stories high. When Elizabeth was led into the foyer by the Darcy’s housekeeper, she was impressed with the understated elegance of the house. She had not really known what to expect of Darcy. He had certainly not impressed her as one who would have ornate or flamboyant decorations, but she had expected something more ostentatious than she saw.

  The housekeeper, Mrs. McGregor, helped Elizabeth off with her spencer and then led her up the stairs to the first floor and down a rather long hall to what was clearly the family area. She stopped in front of a door and said, “This is Miss Darcy’s sitting room and I believe she is waiting within to serve you tea.” She then opened the door and led Elizabeth within, where Georgiana, who had been reading a book, arose and hurried across the room to greet Elizabeth.

  “Good day, Miss Elizabeth. I hope the journey in the driving rain was not too uncomfortable.”

  Elizabeth had to laugh at her concern. “Miss Darcy, I dare say that no matter what the weather, it would be comfortable to ride in that magnificent coach. The only thing about which I was sorry was I could not clearly see all the beautiful houses as we were passing them. I am sure they are quite spectacular.”

  “I think they are. I must admit I am so used to going up and down the street now I do not even notice them except occasionally during the spring when all the flowers are blooming. I shall have to try to look at them as if I had never seen them before. Come, sit down, and let us get to know each other better over a cup of tea.”

  Each young woman told the other a little about themselves. As Georgiana was finishing telling about her school, to which she would return in the fall, she said, “Oh yes, and I meant to tell you that my brother, who had intended to be gone while you were here, chose not to go out in the inclement weather. However, he assured me he would leave us alone and not discomfort you with his presence.”

  Elizabeth was certain she could surmise why Darcy would not want to see her, but from Georgiana’s tone of voice and the way she said he did not want to discomfort Elizabeth, she got the impression Georgiana thought he would like to see her, but thought she did not want to see him. “I am curious. Did he say why he thought it would discomfort me?”

  “No, but he seemed sure it would. He told me much the same you told me in the bookstore--the two of you had some differences of opinion while you were in Kent and he thought because of that, it would be best he not see you. I told him I could not imagine what differences of opinion would cause you to feel that way, but he seemed so sure they would.”

  Elizabeth smiled at Georgiana’s obvious desire to get information about what had happened in Kent. Elizabeth was certainly not going to tell Georgiana what had happened, but she did say, “You can tell your brother he is wrong, Miss Darcy. I thought about it last night and I realized he and I are adults and even though we had some rather uncomfortable differences of opinion, they should not cause us to completely avoid one another. It has long been my philosophy to remember the past only in so much as it brings me pleasure. I do not dwell on those occurrences that made me unhappy.”

  She was rewarded by a big smile from Georgiana. “I knew you were that kind of woman, from just the little I have seen of you. Would you mind if I sent for him to join us for tea?”

  “Of course not. I would be happy to clear up any misconceptions he may have.”

  Georgiana rang for Ellie and sent her to fetch Darcy. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and then Darcy entered the room. “Miss Elizabeth, it is good to see you, although I must admit I was not sure you would want to see me.”

  “As you can see, you are wrong, Mr. Darcy. We may have our differences of opinion, but I believe we often had very stimulating conversations. Besides, I wanted to pass along some information to you which I think will probably be no surprise to you. I received a letter from my sister Jane last week in which she said Mr. Bingley was reopening Netherfield Park and intended to spend time there with his widowed aunt, who would act as his hostess. It seems he had some falling out with his sisters and has sent them away. I thought you might have more information about that.

  “I will admit it is not a surprise to me, but I did not know he had already made arrangements to reopen the house at Netherfield. I do know he was more than a little upset to learn his sisters had visited and been visited by your sister when she was in town in the winter and they chose not to tell him.”

  “I can imagine he was and I want to thank you for whatever you did to help clear up that situation. I do believe it will make two people very happy, perhaps for the rest of their lives.”

  Georgiana, looking puzzled, said, “What situation is she talking about Will? You never told me about a bad situation involving Mr. Bingley. I assume it has something to do with why he left Netherfield unexpectedly last November and is now returning.”

  “I will tell you about it later, Georgie. Would you please pour me a cup of tea?”

  Georgiana took a cup from the collection that was sitting on a shelf of one of the bookcases in the room, filled it with tea, and handed it to Darcy. “Please just answer one more question. Was this one o
f the disagreements you had with Miss Elizabeth in Kent and did you do something to cause the situation?”

  Darcy frowned at his sister and then said, “I will answer what were actually two questions and then hold you to your promise about not asking more questions. The answers are ‘yes’ and ‘yes’.”

  A clearly frustrated Georgiana said, “That is all you are going to say--just ‘yes’ and ‘yes’?”

  Darcy smiled at her. “That is all. As I said, we will talk about it at some other time.”

  Georgiana looked at Elizabeth. “You see how frustrating he can be. ‘We will talk about it later’ really means he does not want to talk about it at all and we will probably not talk about it later unless I hound him relentlessly, which I promise you, Will, I will do in this case.”

  Darcy, shaking his head, looked at Elizabeth questioningly. “I can see that she will be relentless on this. Do you mind if I tell her?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “When Bingley first went to Hertfordshire, he became immediately enamored of Miss Elizabeth’s sister Jane, but did not know whether she reciprocated his feelings. He wanted to court her, but his sisters were against the idea and when Bingley asked me if I believed Miss Bennet returned his affections, I stated my opinion she did not. As you know, Bingley values my opinion probably more than he should and he decided my assessment of Miss Bennet’s feelings must be correct. In disappointment, Bingley left Netherfield Park, thinking there was no reason to stay. Miss Elizabeth discovered my part in causing Bingley to leave and when we met in Kent, she chastised me for being partly responsible for separating Miss Bennet and Bingley, because she was sure I would have known the effect my opinion would have on Bingley. She thought I should have more carefully evaluated her sister’s state of mind before expressing such an opinion, because, in fact, her sister, according to Miss Elizabeth, still thinks very highly of Mr. Bingley. After I returned to London from Kent, I thought more about it and realized my opinion may have been wrong and when I next saw Bingley, I told him I thought I may have been wrong about Miss Bennet’s feelings for him. Apparently Bingley still cares very much for Miss Bennet and my admission of error was enough to cause him to reopen Netherfield, where, I am quite sure, he will once again renew his attentions to her. I hope I have righted a wrong and that my actions have made Miss Elizabeth forgive my mistake.” He looked directly into Elizabeth’s eyes. “Have I indeed been forgiven for my misjudgment Miss Elizabeth?”

  She smiled at him. “You have. As the bard says, ‘All’s well that ends well’.”

  Georgiana looked frustrated. “Miss Elizabeth, you do understand the fact that my brother misjudged your sister’s affections and communicated his misjudgment to Bingley when he was asked about them does not seem to be sufficient grounds for a major rift between the two of you?”

  Elizabeth looked at Darcy. “Did you tell her there is a major rift between us?”

  “No, I just told her we had some major disagreements and that the memory of them might make you not want to see me today.”

  “It was not what he told me, Miss Elizabeth. It was what my cousin Richard implied when I talked to him about Kent.”

  Darcy stood up. “Georgie, I think we have talked enough about this subject. I think you and Miss Elizabeth should get to know each other better and work on the music you bought at the bookstore. I am looking forward to hearing the outcome of your collaboration.”

  Turning to Elizabeth, he said, “Once again, welcome to Darcy House and know you are always welcome to visit Georgie anytime that she wants.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Darcy. I look forward very much to getting to know her better and to working with her. And let me assure you, Mr. Darcy, I only dwell on those things in the past that give me pleasure.”

  “I will remember that, Miss Elizabeth. I wish I shared your views. Now I bid you farewell.” And he exited the room.

  Elizabeth was somewhat dismayed by his last statement, which implied he did dwell on past unpleasantness and probably could not forgive the way she had insulted him. She was not certain why she was so dismayed, except for Georgiana’s sake she hoped she and Darcy could at least act friendly to one another when she visited Georgiana. Certainly she did not expect him to renew his attentions to her; nor did she want them because she was quite certain she could not love him.

  Shortly after Darcy departed, Georgiana and Elizabeth took a short tour of the main rooms of the house, which ended at the music room. Elizabeth had expected a much simpler, utilitarian decor, she thought might better suit its owner. However Georgiana assured her most of the decoration of the house had been accomplished by her mother before her death 15 years earlier and she and her brother had found little reason to change it. There have been some minor changes to the master bedroom and sitting room and to Georgiana’s bedroom, but the rest of the house was as it had been for many years.

  Georgiana had purchased works by Handel, Bach, Carasimi, and lesser-known composers, some of whom had set some of Thomas Moore’s poems to music. After they had practiced for about 15 minutes, Georgiana began to wonder if the collaboration had been a mistake. There were several times when she played a note on the piano and could hear that Elizabeth had not been on pitch. She was going to say something about it, when Elizabeth said to her, “Georgiana, this is not going to work very well unless we can get your piano tuned correctly. There are several notes in this piece for which the piano and I do not agree on the pitch. Please play an F for me.”

  Georgiana played the F, remembering it was one of the notes she had noticed that Elizabeth had sung out of tune. Elizabeth then sang a note less than a quarter of a step higher. “That is the correct pitch. Do you have a tuning fork with which we can verify my claim?”

  Without saying a word, Georgiana went to a cabinet, opened the door, and picked up a small box. She brought the box to the piano and gave it to Elizabeth. Elizabeth opened the box and discovered several tuning forks, one of which was tuned to F. “Now play your F while I sound the tuning fork.”

  When Georgiana played the note and then listened to the tuning fork, she was amazed to discover Elizabeth had been right and that, in fact, the note Elizabeth had sung was exactly the same as the tuning fork.

  Elizabeth took another tuning fork out of the box. “Good, here is a B flat. Play your B flat please.” Georgiana played B flat and then Elizabeth sang a very slightly higher pitch. “This is where it should be,” and sounded the tuning fork to support her claim. “I could sense you were becoming frustrated hearing I was not singing the same pitch as the piano at times. It is because when I am reading music, my mind will only let me sing the exact pitch of the note at which I look, regardless of how the accompanying instrument plays that note. Once I know the song and the idiosyncrasies of my accompanying instrument, I can adjust my pitch and sing on pitch with the instrument, but I first must learn the song. I am sorry if it is bothering you.”

  “Do you mean that you can look at a note and sing the exact pitch without hearing it first?”

  “Yes, it is a capability I seem to have that is both a curse and a blessing. However, in the long run I believe it helps my singing. But you can see why I often sing unaccompanied rather than with an instrument with which I am not familiar.”

  “That is extraordinary. I do not think I have ever heard of anyone having such a capability. Are there other notes on the piano that are out of tune?”

  “Yes, there are seven. I have marked them on the music. Do you have a tuning wrench so that we can adjust the pitches of the piano strings?”

  “As a matter of fact, we do. It is in the same place I got the tuning forks. I assume you know how to use it to adjust the pitch of the piano strings.”

  “Yes, it is something I have had to do often.

  After taking several minutes to tune the piano, Georgiana and Elizabeth once again went through the musical compositions they had intended to practice. This time it went much better and Georgiana could better appreciate the excell
ence of Elizabeth’s voice. Elizabeth was also impressed with how good a pianist Georgiana was for one so young. By the end of the practice, they were both very pleased with what they had accomplished and each was hoping the other would like to have more sessions together.

  “I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have, Miss Elizabeth. I have never had a chance to work so closely with a singer. To be able to do it with one who is as good as you are is a pure pleasure.”

  “I have enjoyed it, Miss Darcy. However I do think we should make one change. If we are going to work together quite often, I would prefer you call me Lizzie rather than Miss Elizabeth, and that you allow me to call you Georgie as your brother does.”

  “I would like that very much.”

  “Good. Now with that settled, I think it is time I leave. Could you arrange for the carriage to take me back?”

  “Certainly. Come, let us pop in and tell Will that you are going. Can we tell him you will be returning? Perhaps you could come next Monday?”

  “I believe I could come in the afternoon. I usually help the bookstore on Monday and Thursday mornings.”

  Georgiana led her down the hall to an open door. Inside the room they could see Darcy sitting with his back to them, feet up on the foot rest, reading a book. When Georgiana knocked on the open door, Darcy quickly took his feet off the footstool and turned to them. Seeing who it was, he stood and walked over to them. “May I assume you are ready to leave, Miss Elizabeth?”

  “Yes I am, Mr. Darcy, and may I say it has been a very enjoyable afternoon. Also, I am very impressed with your house. Your mother had excellent taste.”

  Mr. Darcy bowed his head to her. “Thank you, Miss Elizabeth. In the past I have been impressed with your discerning taste, so your unsolicited praise is thankfully received. May I call the carriage for you?”

  “I will go do that,” said Georgiana. “Perhaps you could escort her downstairs to get her wrap.”