Chapter 3—The Gentlemen Ride and Caroline Takes Notice
Darcy broke his fast in his room at eight as was his custom on late nights. He had sent word via Parker to have his black stallion, Challenger, ready for a run in the fields and lanes around the estate. Charles should go with him on this first ride to begin his education as a landowner. He dearly hoped Charles was awake. Challenger needed exercising every day and Darcy preferred to be the one providing it, if possible. His groom was capable of handling the horse, of course, but Darcy used the ride to settle his thoughts and ready for the day. Parker had him dressed in his riding clothes in minutes. He knew his master was not one to overly fuss in his dress; efficiency was just as important. He handed Darcy his riding crop and cast a quick look at Darcy's boots to check the shine.
Darcy chuckled. "Parker, Challenger will think me handsome and well turned out, I am certain. My boots shall dazzle him and blind my friend Bingley in their glory."
"Of that I have no doubt, sir" Parker answered, "I am well-acquainted with our host's valet and his limited abilities." Parker smirked and turned back to the dresser.
"Well, maybe you should take the man under your wing and help him along, Parker. I am certain my friend would appreciate it."
"Maybe I will, sir, if the youngster is properly grateful for the tutelage." Parker's superior tone reflected his willingness to train the young valet but within limits. "It would not do to tell him all of my secrets."
"Darcy laughed out loud at the man who had been with him since he was sixteen and his father had first taught the young man the way to interview and hire personal servants. It was part of his broader education in running the massive estate and other holdings that made up Pemberley and its investments. He left his bedroom and poured himself another cup of coffee and sat in the attached sitting room pondering the previous night.
Looking into the swirling depths of his black coffee, he was reminded of the dark-eyed miss that had cut him last night. The ton would have been scandalized at her effrontery. He dearly hoped that Caroline would not spread it to her friends in London. The poor girl would be on everyone's lips and not in a good way.
He could not get past it. She was offended by his behavior and he had concluded she was correct. He wondered if she had noticed he had danced afterward. He was angry, but as much as with himself as with her. She had called him out and been absolutely right about him. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. Parker opened it and told him Charles was without.
"Come in, Charles, have you breakfasted?" Darcy asked.
His red hair still slightly mussed, Charles appeared dressed in riding clothes and slapped his riding crop against his leg and replied, "Yes, yes. I am ready to see what I have leased and begin my lessoning. We have delayed long enough with it. If you do not hurry, Caroline will be awake and we will have a devil of a times escaping the house." Charles said with a grin. He was a fair-faced man in contrast to Darcy's dark looks, and green-eyed. He stood but two inches below Darcy in height at just six feet tall but was well-formed and carried himself well. His ever-present smile and genial expression masked an intelligence that many discounted. He always seemed poised to move, giving the impression he was in a hurry to see the next thing.
In contrast, Fitzwilliam Darcy was a tall man with dark, nearly black hair that was cut long but stopped at his collar. What fascinated women was his startlingly blue eyes that seem to change with his mood. He was very fit as only a man who worked his estate every day could be. He rode, worked with his tenants when needed and kept in trim with his sword work. He was dark with exposure to the sun and his movements were deliberate and graceful. His demeanor was reserved, and some would call it proud, but others might think him shy. The truth was a mixture of both with a protective shell added. Few could claim to truly know Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Darcy raised a brow, "Possibly you may have difficulties escaping your sister's company but I assure you I do not. You are head of your household, Charles, and as such you sister is under your guidance and control. It is for you to decide what happens in your home, not Miss Bingley. How will you manage an estate if you cannot manage your household and its dependents?" Darcy asked for not the first time. Darcy's experience with a much younger sister did not match what Charles had to contend within his sister. But managing contentious tenants and other personalities at Pemberley and in town gave him a greater experience with people.
"I know Darce, but let us just take it one thing at a time for right now. If Caroline catches us before we get out of the house, I give you leave to extract us from her any way you wish."
Darcy smirked at Charles using the nickname from Cambridge. He used it when he was appealing to Darcy as an almost brother. The two men left the house for the stables and were quickly mounted and on their way. Bingley's gray gelding was waiting calmly in the stable yard, his bridle held by a groom. Darcy's stallion, however, was impatient. He was snorting and pawing at the ground. When Darcy walked up to him he pulled his head up and pushed it towards his rider. "There my boy," Darcy told him, "I have brought you a bit of apple to start the day." Darcy ran his hand over the horse's head and took control of the bridle rom the groom. Challenger calmed down a bit and chomped at his treat before Darcy grabbed the pommel and mounted. Neither man realized he chose to favor horses with temperaments opposite his own.
The riders left the stable yard and started their inspection tour. Bingley looked around and indicated a direction. "I did take a tour with the steward before I signed the lease, Darcy, so I have seen something beyond the accounts books the steward and the leasing agent showed me. They were surprised I wanted to see so much of the lands and workings until I told them this was going to be my school room for the next year. My orientation went beyond the usual location of the coveys and fishing streams."
"I am happy to hear that, Charles, Where are we to go first? I am at your service in this." Darcy looked beyond the yard and the edges of the gardens he could see.
"That way," Charles pointed, and they rode on.
"Well." Charles asked as they rode through the near fields to the house.
"Well what?" Darcy was a bit perplexed but knew he would be enlightened shortly.
"What did you think of Miss Bennet? She is everything a young woman should be. I quite like her, Darce. I plan on calling on the Bennets tomorrow. Will you accompany me? You could argue with Miss Elizabeth again, if you wish."
"Firstly, I never spoke or was even introduced to Miss Elizabeth last night so your suggestion is irrelevant. Secondly, Charles, try to rein in your enthusiasm just a little, please? You do not know that Miss Bennet is everything a young woman should be based on one half hour of a dance." Darcy huffed. Sometimes when Charles spoke Darcy had an image in his mind of a litter of puppies scrambling in every direction at once, unrestrained.
Charles only laughed and they began their riding tour of the Netherfield two friends had reached the far side of the estate to the border between Netherfield and Longbourn when they spotted a young woman in the distance walking briskly across the as she walked. As they watched, her pace picked up and with a loud whoop, she raced to the fence and jumped on the bottom rail. Without looking about to see if she was watched, she scrambled up and over the fence and jumped to the other side, continuing her momentum forward with a laugh.
Darcy was stunned. He had never seen a young woman act thus but her enthusiasm was so charming he was finding it difficult to find fault with her behavior. They watched as she turned from the field and entered a path in the wood and lost to their view. Charles was quicker than Darcy.
"That looked to be Miss Elizabeth Bennet enjoying a walk. We must be," and he twisted in his saddle to check his bearing. Seeing the steeple of the church in the distance, he confirmed his location. "Yes, yes, we must be near the border between Longbourn and Netherfield. Longbourn is the Bennet estate, Darcy."
"I am surprised to see a gentleman's daughter walking about unchaperoned, without a groom or maid, at least! She is unprotected in those woods." Darcy could not imagine allowing his younger sister to wander the fields without someone, a footman, at least, to insure her safety.
Charles laughed. "Well, it looks like they would have a time keeping up with her, wouldn't they? Come, let us return to the house. My sisters and brother will be at breakfast by now and I am certain Caroline is missing your company." Charles laughed as he turned his horse around began to cantor home.
Caroline Bingley checked herself in the mirror. Her hair dressed suitably for a country morning, she was assisted into a fine muslin day gown and matching slippers in a darker shade of blue suitable for autumn. The color should stand out nicely against the cream walls of the breakfast room this morning, directing Mr. Darcy's attention to her immediately when she entered the room.
"Annette, I think the day is cool and I will need the cream-colored shawl today." Caroline presented a calm demeanor that reflected none of her thoughts of the previous evening.
What did the chit do to entice MY Mr. Darcy to dance with her? Mary Bennet is so plain! But she is younger than I am. She looks but seventeen, if that. I will have to learn more about his attraction to her and find ways to sully her reputation. Yes, she is a country miss, after all. They all have no decorum and probably romp in the haystacks with the farm boys. Caroline's thoughts were moving faster in her head. He did dance with a few others before me, but why did he stride so forcefully across the floor after looking at HER! She is nothing! He has never singled me out like that. Youth? Maybe that is the attraction. Caroline looked at her image in the mirror critically. No, she had not lost her bloom.
She walked to the window and looked down into the garden. To her right, she could just see her brother and his friend trotting out of the stable yard on their way out to ride the estate. She hit the window frame in frustration. She had missed them at breakfast. They may have even left their rooms to break their fast. They could not stay out all day, could they? Caroline made a note to remember to quiz the housekeeper. If they did not ask for food to take with them, they would return to the house needing a light repast put out on the sideboard to last them until dinner. It seemed they were going to be keeping country hours while living in this wilderness. But she would make certain all attention would be paid to these details. She must demonstrate to Mr. Darcy her impeccable hostess skills, in addition to her girlish charms. Lud, this is going to be so vexing! I must deal with this chit quickly and redirect his attention where it belongs.
Caroline began planning on how to get to the Mary chit. She giggled a little. Mary Chit was a good name for her. How could she expose her for what she was? Planning was needed, lots of planning.
