Random Acts of Kindness

A moving sermon and a random act of kindness impacts the lives of the Darcys and changes the course of their story. What will be the final result for Elizabeth and Darcy?

Chapter 2 – Knight Errant

It began as such things usually began: There was an idea; which led to a commitment; which turned into action; which required modification; which finally resulted in a different action. Are you confused yet?

Actually, now that I've summarized the first part of my story, it hardly seems necessary to continue. But since you insist:

Little Lizzy Bennet was in London again. It wasn't that she minded visiting London. In fact, she loved the opportunity to spend time with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner and their children. It was so much more peaceful than her own home, Longbourn. The Gardiners were soft-spoken, dignified, loving to their children… and they doted on Lizzy without spoiling her, which certainly recommended them.

So her consternation wasn't as a result of her being in London. Rather, it was as a result of the reason that she was in London again.

A brief description of Lizzy's home life in the Estate of Longbourn may seems necessary here. Lizzy was the second daughter of five daughters. Her parents were Henry and Frances Bennet. They had no sons. This is a key fact, because the Estate of Longbourn was entailed to the male line. This meant that, when Henry died, his family would lose the estate in favor of a distant male second-cousin.

Everyone in the family, all of the servants, in fact the entire community knew of this entail because it was an oft-repeated complaint of Mrs. Frances "Fanny" Bennet. Her mantra went something like this: "When your father dies, that horrible, vile cousin Mr. Collins (she had never actually met the man, but he must be horrible and vile) will swoop in and toss us out into the hedgerows with nothing but the clothes on our backs! Oh, nobody has any compassion for my poor nerves! Hill! Hill!"

For clarification, Mr. and Mrs. Hill were the head servant and housekeepers of Longbourn. Whenever Fanny shouted for "Hill," the housekeeper knew that she was the one being called… mainly because Mr. Hill always found a speedy exit.

Mr. Bennet had long since given up on calming his wife's nerves and (shamefully) learned to retreat to his book room. This left the raising of his five girls almost entirely in the hands of his nervous and… shall we suggest… not too bright wife. Fanny Bennet was a good woman, but her fears for the future had changed her. This became a problem when her girls began to come "of age," meaning that they would soon be considered marriageable. Put simply, when she wasn't in bed tending to her nerves she was preparing her daughters to catch a husband.

Of course, being of limited understanding, Mrs. Bennet's ideas of the perfect girl were slightly skewed. A girl must be beautiful if she possibly could be. She must have a ready smile, fluttering eyes, a trim figure, and rosy cheeks. She must flatter and flirt. She must never contradict (that could wait for after marriage). She must be demure, but not so demure that she didn't draw attention to her charms. And most important of all: she must not be too clever or impertinent.

And that is why Elizabeth "Lizzy" Bennet was, once again, visiting her aunt and uncle in London. Lizzy loved her mother and her mother loved her, but the two were like fire and hay; get them too close for too long and a fire ignited. Fanny wanted her children to hide their skin from the sun. Lizzy was as tan as a farmer. Fanny wanted her girls to pursue "ladylike" pursuits. Lizzy took long hikes, climbed trees, skinned her knees regularly, and could best the local boys in a fistfight. Most of all, Fanny didn't want her girls to "frighten off" the boys by being too clever and impertinent… and those words described Elizabeth Bennet like no other.

As a result, mother and daughter were often in-conflict. Fanny would scream and scold, complain vociferously to her unconcerned husband, and then collapse in a fit of nerves only to repeat the cycle again the following day. Occasionally Mr. Bennet, whether from concern for his wife's nerves or his own we won't say, would send a letter to his brother and sister-in-law, the Gardiners. Soon after, Lizzy would board a carriage to spend a month or more in London.

This time there was a legitimate reason, beyond Longbourn's peace, for Lizzy's visit: Mrs. Madeline Gardiner was with child and soon to go into confinement. Jane had wanted to go as well, but Fanny liked to keep her favorites close. Jane was all of the things that Fanny described in a perfect potential-bride except for flirtatious. And with Jane having just turned fourteen her mother was already grooming her for catching a rich husband. Jane sometimes wished that she had a little of Lizzy's impertinence so that her mother would focus elsewhere. Sadly, she was too shy for that, so she stood on the steps of Longbourn and waved her twelve-year old sister goodbye.

oOoOOoOo

Lizzy experienced her first crush during that visit: Reverend Thomas Hawkins. He was young, handsome, and almost radical for his time. He didn't just read from the sermons of others and he only briefly read from the Book of Common Prayer. Instead he spoke from the Bible and from his heart about brotherly love, of faith in action, and of works of service. On the first Sunday of Lizzy's visit, he spoke about how most people had few opportunities for great works, but how everyone could do little things to help others each day. He called these "random acts of kindness."

It was like a clarion call to Lizzy. When she returned home with the Gardiners she immediately launched into her task. She cleaned her room and those of her little cousins. She weeded the garden. She tried to clean the dishes for the cook. She tried to do everything, getting under foot everywhere, until Madeline Gardiner called her to her room. "Lizzy, we are all thankful for what you are "trying" to do, but you are getting in the way of the servants' work, you're neglecting your little cousins, and you'll tire yourself out in no time.

"Here is what I propose for you: It is good to do these acts of kindness, but for now I want you to restrict yourself to one kind deed per day. For the rest of the time I want you to help with the children and enjoy your visit… Agreed?"

Naturally, Lizzy agreed. But what Mrs. Gardiner said and what Lizzy heard were two different things. Whenever she played with then neighborhood children at home, she always took on boy roles, such as a warrior, a constable, or a knight. Her favorite stories as a small child were of knights and quests. So Madeline Gardiner's "kind deeds" became Lizzy Bennet's acts of valor.

For the first week this wasn't a problem. There just weren't any great acts of valor to perform, so Lizzy had to content herself with kind deeds.

One day, about two weeks into Lizzy's visit, Mr. Gardiner completed his breakfast, wiped his mouth, and smiled at Lizzy, "Well my dear niece, you've explored every nook and cranny of our park with little James and Julia. How would you all like to explore Hyde Park today? I have to meet with a customer in Grosvenor Square. If Jenny the maid will act as chaperone, then you can take James and Julia and explore the park until I am done. We'll even stop for a treat afterwards. What do you say?"

Naturally, Lizzy, James, and Julia were happy to comply.

They were dropped off with the usual safety instructions. James and Julia were told to mind Lizzie and Jenny. Lizzy was told to listen to Jenny and watch out for strangers. And then Mr. Gardiner left for his meeting. They fed the ducks, made twig boats, and chased each other around trees. After about twenty minutes they decided to take a walk along the trails.

It was then that Lizzy heard a little girl's cry for help. Quickly looking around, she saw the girl splashing frantically in the water. Knowing that James and Julia were safe with Jenny the maid, she ran. Lizzy could out-swim any of the boys back at home, so it was the work of a moment to reach the struggling girl. Just as quickly she had the girl from behind, pulling her to the shore, where a tall older man helped them both out onto the grass.

While the man hugged his daughter, Lizzy walked back to her group. James looked exited. Julia looked frightened. And poor Jenny was wringing her hands in worry about what Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner would say this time.

Lizzy just smiled at the trio and turned back to the man and wet little girl, "Well then, Sir, I've done my good deed for the today. We should find my uncle and go home so that I can change. Good day." Just like that, she turned to lead her group back to their drop-off place.

"Wait! Please Miss, may we have your name?" George Darcy stood up, Georgiana sitting in one arm and looking wide-eyed at her rescuer. "My name is George Darcy, and this little lady is Miss Georgianna."

"Oh, forgive me," Lizzy curtsied as best as she could in her wet dress, "My name is Elizabeth Bennet, these are my cousins James and Julia Gardiner, and their maid and nurse, Jenny."

"May I ask, do you live nearby?"

"No sir, my uncle's place is on Gracechurch Street, near Cheapside. He is meeting with a customer in Grosvenor Square, so he let us come along to enjoy the park."

"Gracechurch Street is quite a distance. Darcy House is on Grosvenor Square. Please allow us to accompany you so that I can meet your uncle. Perhaps you could all come to my home and you could dry off. I'm sure that my Georgiana would like to get to know her rescuer better."

Lizzy was convinced that a knight errant usually didn't stay around to be thanked, but she couldn't find a way out of this invitation, so she graciously thanked the man. When they returned to the entrance where Mr. Gardiner had first left them, he was there waiting. When he saw Lizzy he just shook his head, sure that there would be a fascinating explanation.

He was more surprised when the very well-dressed gentleman stepped forward, still with a wet little girl in his arms, and introduced himself. William Gardiner was pleased to meet George Darcy and to hear of Lizzy's brave rescue. He quickly agreed to his group following the man home. After the staff got Lizzy and Georgiana dry, the shy little girl led the children to the nursery, a large, sprawling room with toys from several generations. While James and Julia played, Lizzy and Georgiana became friends.

Downstairs the two men talked and quickly found many similarities in their personalities and interests. While a lifelong friendship was beginning in the family wing, a partnership of sorts was beginning in the Darcy library.

Madeline delivered Edward, a healthy baby boy, six weeks after Lizzy's arrival. Lizzy remained an additional three weeks until Madeline was fully recovered and moving about comfortably on her own. Throughout her stay there was a near-constant traffic between Grosvenor Square and Gracechurch street.

When Lizzy finally boarded the Bennet coach to return to Longbourn, Georgiana was there with the Gardiner family to tearfully wave goodbye. As soon as Lizzy returned home, the letters began to flow. On every visit to London, the friendship continued and grew.

Mr. George Darcy was a changed man after that morning at the park. It took almost losing his precious daughter for him to finally wake out of his stupor to become the father he was meant to be. Sadly, he contracted a very virulent form of influenza that passed through Derbyshire three years later. His passing was sudden and devastating to his children.

Lizzy had just arrived for a visit to her Uncle's house when the news arrived. The Gardiners were packed and ready to head north by the following morning. Lizzy was amazed at the sight of Pemberley, but she promptly forgot her awe when she saw her forlorn little friend all dressed in black. It was hard to spend any time with Georgiana with so many relatives and well-wishers about, but Lizzy did what she could.

She also saw Georgiana's brother for the first time and thought him the handsomest young man she had ever seen. She even liked to imagine that their eyes had met once.

It was only a short visit… Aunt Madeline explained that the Darcys needed time with their own family.

When notice of the bequest arrived, it came to Mr. Gardiner. He and George Darcy had spoken often enough about the Bennets that the elder Darcy recognized the danger of sending the bequest in that direction. Mrs. Bennet might use it for her favorites or split it between her daughters. So when Mr. Darcy updated his will, shortly after the incident in the park, he made sure that the bequest went through the Gardiners.

Elizabeth had already returned home when the news of the bequest arrived. She was returning three months later, so Mr. Gardiner waited to inform her. When he did, she immediately protested. She didn't do little acts of kindness for any reward! It just wasn't right. Edward finally pulled Henry Bennet into the discussion. After much argument, Henry reluctantly gave in to his stubborn daughter.

The letter was sent. The bequest returned.

oOoOOoOo

… and so you see, Mr. Darcy, that while I am most humbly grateful for your father's generosity, this bequest is entirely unnecessary. To do an act of kindness for a reward would entirely defeat the point.

I thank you for your kind consideration.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Anne Bennet

(The author should note at this point that Elizabeth did not go into great detail about her family or write about her ongoing friendship with Georgianna. Just the facts about the event as she saw them)

Fitzwilliam Darcy shook his head in bemusement. He lifted his gaze from the letter and saw a similar expression on his solicitor's face. "As you said, a most remarkable young woman, Mr. Williamson. Have you ever met her?"

"No sir, I'm sorry to say that I have not."

"Perhaps I will someday. There is a shortage of truly good people in this world."

Shortly after this, Darcy became embroiled in a conflict at one of his estates and forgot about the young lady… for a while at least.