Chapter 10: When Darcy Met Lizzy
The morning after Mr. Darcy's first sighting of Miss Elizabeth outside Longbourn Manor, he rose early and again rode toward Oakham Mount. He told himself that he needed to exercise and so did his horse, and Oakham Mount was as good a place as any especially now that he knew the way. As he drew near the hilltop from the direction of Netherfield, he heard what he could only call an ethereal voice that was exercising the scales. As the notes went higher, the voice got fuller and clearer. After a brief pause, a song burst through:
Lascia ch'io pianga
mia cruda sorte,
e che sospiri
la libertà.
Il duolo infranga
queste ritorte,
de' miei martiri
sol per pietà.
[Let me weep over
my cruel fate,
and let me sigh for
liberty.
May sorrow shatter
these chains,
for my torments
just out of pity.]*
*from Wikipedia entry
Darcy was mesmerized. He had heard this famous piece by Handel a few times and that was why he instantly recognized it. The singer also had very clear diction so that he had no trouble picking out the lyrics in Italian. The way the song was tugging at his heart made him know without a doubt the identity of the singer. He could not vouch for her technique, but who would even think of technicality when one's soul had been touched? He felt goose bumps all over, as if the air all around him was vibrating and caressing him with her entreaty and longing.
As he tried to move closer to the singer, a loud bark startled him and the singer simultaneously. He heard a voice shouting, "Buc!" and then some indistinct scolding. Soon after, all was quiet. As he urged his horse to the summit, he could just see Miss Elizabeth disappearing around a corner with a large black hound following at her heels. He stayed on Oakham Mount a little longer, contemplating on why Miss Elizabeth's song created such a resonance in his mind. He never realized that he too yearned for freedom – freedom from doing what his family name had imposed upon him; freedom from the care for his sister like a father; freedom to marry where he wanted – now where did this one come from? He was perfectly content to have his uncle drawn up the list of ladies for him to choose as his wife. Somehow, he now felt that perhaps delegating such an important part of his life to somebody else, even one he revered and trusted implicitly, might not be prudent.
Later in the morning back at Netherfield, he expressed his wish to Mr. Bingley to visit the gentlemen in the neighbouring estates whom he had not yet met. As it turned out, the only gentleman who was not at the assembly was Mr. Bennet. Mr. Bingley did not have to be asked twice to accompany Mr. Darcy to Longbourn to make the introduction.
Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley were promptly shown into Mr. Bennet's bookroom, where the master of the estate appeared to be reading an ancient-looking book with silk gloves and a magnifying glass. Mr. Bennet greeted the two gentlemen cordially after Mr. Bingley made the introduction of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, Derbyshire.
"Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, welcome to Longbourn. Mr. Darcy, I have long admired from afar the library at Pemberley. It is reputed to house one of the best private collections of books and maps of all England."
"Thank you, Mr. Bennet. From the small glimpse I have had of your library on my way to your study, you also own an enviable library yourself. As a matter of fact, the book you have on your desk appears to be a rare treasure indeed."
"Mr. Darcy, you do your library collection justice by recognizing a rare book with just a casual glance. Let us not bore your friend Mr. Bingley here with all these talks of old prints on old paper. I invite you to visit my library at your leisure."
He then turned to Mr. Bingley," Mr. Bingley, I trust that this small corner of Hertfordshire agrees with you, and your estate is to your liking?"
"Mr. Bennet, indeed, I like both Netherfield Park and the people around here exceedingly well. Darcy is here to help me learn the ropes of managing the estate. With the harvest behind us, we can deal with estate matters in more depth and at a pace more to my level of understanding. Mr. Bennet, Longbourn is such a well-managed estate that I hope that you will also be generous with your advice whenever you see you neighbour bungling when Darcy is not watching over me."
"It would be my pleasure, Mr. Bingley, to offer whatever assistance you deem fit. My steward, Mr. Pickering, is likely a better resource if you ever have questions about tenants' relations, drainage concerns, vermin epidemics and so on."
"I have seen Mr. Pickering riding the estate, Mr. Bennet. Do you share Mr. Pickering with another estate, or does he work only on Longbourn?"
"Mr. Darcy, I suppose your unasked question is why a modest estate such as Longbourn should require a steward?"
"Forgive me, Mr. Bennet, I mean no disrespect. I am just curious about all manners of estate management. I am certain that you have good reasons to utilize Mr. Pickering's help in the most efficient capacity. Since Longbourn appears to be expertly managed, I would like to see whether I could glean some learning from this."
"No offence taken, Mr. Darcy. You are just more discerning than most estate owners with whom I have had the pleasure to be in company. Longbourn is actually more than what you see here. Some years ago, when Longbourn began to produce a surplus, I followed the advice to use the extra income to buy acreage closer to town. Every year after that, Longbourn expands further, but not here in Hertfordshire. The Bennets, as you may not know, are from a very old family and we are spread all around just outside London. It is fitting that I should want to reclaim some land that had been in the family. We maintain a modestly large dairy operation there. We keep cattle here as well, but most of them are in Middlesex. Longbourn supplies the more affluent part of town with much of its milk and cheese consumption. If I were a betting man, I would wager that what dairy products you serve at your house in town come from our farm. Mr. Pickering oversees all the operations of the entire Longbourn estate. In addition, as a solicitor trained in civil law, he also works for Mr. Phillips, my brother who runs a solicitor practice in Meryton and manages other concerns. He is quite a busy man."
"I understand. Some other time, I would love to talk to you about how you chose such an unconventional way to grow your estate."
Mr. Bennet understood immediately that Mr. Darcy was perplexed by his choosing the branch of farming that was considered less profitable. He did not tell him that the cheeses from his farm were of the connoisseur varieties which commanded much higher prices than usual, especially when the import of delicacies from the Continent were much curtailed during war time. They were also his wife's creations. More importantly the investment was in the land, which would surely increase in value far more significantly than land further away from town as the industrialization of the country appeared to be roaring ahead– at least that was the assessment of his brother Gardiner.
"It would be my pleasure. Now I think perhaps you would like to visit with the rest of the Longbourn residents. Most young men visiting me humour me for just long enough so that they could be in company with my daughters and still handsome wife."
Mr. Bennet gestured to the two gentlemen to move ahead of him to the door. Just when they passed the open doorway to the library, they heard a peal of tingling laughter coming from the depths of the room. Mr. Bennet stopped and said to the gentlemen:
"Please go on ahead to meet the family in the parlour across the hall without me since you have been introduced at the assembly. I would just go fetch my second daughter, Elizabeth. She is so engrossed in reading 'Don Quixote' that she has not realized that we have company."
While Mr. Bingley did go ahead to the parlour, Mr. Darcy followed Mr. Bennet instead into the large library. Mr. Darcy was quite awed, which surprised himself because he thought he had seen too many splendid rooms in grand estates to be impressed by a mere library in a modest manor house. He could not help but exclaimed, "How delightful! You must be so proud, Mr. Bennet."
"Thank you, Mr. Darcy. High praise indeed coming from you. It is of course the work of many generations. I would be happy to show more to you some other time if it is of interest to you."
"I am most interested. I would be honoured."
When they were wending around a corner formed by some free standing book shelves, they heard a loud and most unladylike guffaw coming from the young woman sitting in a window seat with her feet tucked underneath her dress, her empty slippers on the floor in front of her. She was holding her stomach with one arm and her head was thrown back in abandoned laughter. Elizabeth Bennet was laughing so hard that tears were slipping from the corners of her eyes. Mr. Bennet very loudly cleared his throat and Elizabeth was startled by the sound. When she saw her father and the gentleman visitor behind him, she was more than a little rattled. She did not realize that both gentlemen thought she made such a charming picture that her father did not have the heart to stop and herd the visitor out of the room. Mr. Darcy was stunned by this somewhat incongruous but perfectly enchanting picture of beauty and mirth. Elizabeth was able to stealthily lower her feet into the slippers while her father distracted Mr. Darcy by pointing out to him that Miss Elizabeth was reading 'Don Quixote' in Spanish using the English translation as a guide. Once Elizabeth was again calm and presentable, Mr. Bennet asked the gentleman and his second daughter whether they had been introduced.
"I have not had the opportunity," said Mr. Darcy, a bit sheepishly at the same time that Miss Elizabeth said with an arched eyebrow, "I have not had the honour."
Mr. Bennet felt that there might have been a story behind their interactions but duly made the introductions. Mr. Bennet then turned and let the young people go out to the parlour before him. When Mr. Bennet retreated to his study to put away his treasured book, Mr. Darcy seized the opportunity to apologize for his blunder at the assembly.
"Miss Elizabeth, I am very honoured to make your acquaintance at last. To atone for my inexcusably rude and patently untrue comment, and uncivil behavior at the assembly, I would be willing to make any amend, including fighting off giant windmills."
Elizabeth was a bit surprised that the proud Mr. Darcy was almost flirting with her. She could not help herself and flirted back, "Would you be wearing a basin as your helmet and riding a donkey while charging at the fierce giants?"
"Gladly at your command, my lady!"
Elizabeth could not help but burst into a large heart-stopping grin. "That would be a fine sight to see, sir, you riding a donkey."
"If that would erase my poor impression on you, I would be honoured to do it ten times over."
At that point, they entered the parlour. Before Elizabeth went to sit with her sisters, she turned slightly to Mr. Darcy and said softly, "Pleased to meet you, my own errant knight."
This entire exchange, though performed with the utmost discretion, did not escape the notice of the lady's father, who observed, but did nothing.
The visit with the whole family lasted the usual fifteen minutes. Before the gentlemen left Longbourn, Mr. Darcy asked to visit Mr. Bennet to see the library. It was arranged that the gentleman from Derbyshire would visit two days hence. Mr. Darcy rode away with a heart so light that he could not comprehend the cause of it.
Chapter notes:
The scene of Don Quixote charging the windmill hallucinating that they were giants is probably the most famous scene in the whole book, at least to me. Elizabeth must have really enjoyed the book because she loved to laugh at follies and nonsense!