Chapter 7

Mrs. Annesley arrived at Darcy House the next day, along with her luggage, and soon she was settled in a room near the nursery. Darcy made sure she had a nice bedroom, at Lady Northmore's suggestion, and was not housed near the servants.

That next week Georgiana spent several hours each day with her new governess, and Darcy was closeted in his study, trying to finish the business matters he had neglected since coming to London. He wished his father were there. He would know what to do in some of these difficult cases. But he also knew that his father had trained him well. He could find solutions if only he set his mind to it.

At first Georgiana complained about having to study for hours each day; but soon she began to enjoy learning, as Mrs. Annesley made it fun for her. And every day after their hours of working, she and Darcy met together for supper and each told a fond story of their father that they remembered. It helped keep his memory alive in their hearts and soothed their grief.

After that first week of frenzied working in his study, Darcy was able to relax a bit. He wanted to see Lady Northmore again, and he was sure that Georgiana wanted to see her friend. Lady Northmore had sent them an invitation to go see a children's play with her and her family, and then to go for a picnic in the park afterwards. Georgiana was excited when she learned about the outing, and eagerly requested that her brother accept the invitation. Darcy needed no urging. Even if all her family were there, he would get to spend time with the lovely widow.

He was no longer in doubt about his feelings for her. He was in danger of falling in love with her. But would a widowed countess, a mature woman, be able to fall in love with a man seven years her junior? The age difference meant nothing to him; it was clear she still had many years in which to bear children. But might she see him as too young for her? He resolved to try to repress his feelings for her.

But he could not resist the lure of spending time with her.

Darcy quickly finished his work that morning so that he would have time for the outing. He had given Mrs. Annesley the day off, and she thanked him very properly for the free time.

In the carriage, Darcy asked Georgiana what she had learned that week. Georgiana told him all about her reading and writing lessons. "She took me up to the library of Darcy House and together we picked out books to read," she enthused. "It was almost as fun as reading with you, Fitzwilliam! But I do not like the arithmetic. Perhaps you could tell Mrs. Annesley that I do not need to learn it?" she asked hopefully.

Darcy held back a chuckle. "I do not think so, Georgiana. Arithmetic is important for you to learn. When you grow up and marry, you will be mistress of your own household. Then you must know how to keep the accounts, and make sure no one takes advantage of you or steals from you."

Georgiana sagged her shoulders. "Very well," she said resignedly.

"And if you do not wish to get married one day, you can stay and live with me at Pemberley," he added, fearing she might think he wanted her away.

She perked up a little at that. "I think that would be better, Fitzwilliam. Boys are yucky. Did you know Sarah's cousin Michael brought a garden snake into the house and put it in her bed?"

Darcy smothered a laugh, and looked out the window so she would not see him smile. He had a feeling she would change her mind when she grew older. "That was very wrong of him," he said, trying to make his voice serious, "but I suppose Sarah must have played a trick back at him."

Georgiana's shifty expression told him that Sarah had, indeed, been revenged. He bit back another smile.

When they arrived at the address Lady Northmore had given them, Darcy was surprised to see that it was an outdoor theatre. There were many children with their nannies or parents there already. Darcy was slightly shocked to see that there were children of all different stations of life there. He was not sure if it was appropriate for Georgiana to mingle with the children of servants or shopkeepers. However, just then he saw Lady Northmore waving and smiling at them, and he forgot everything else. He took Georgiana's hand and led her forward through the crowd.

"It is delightful to see you again! I have saved us seats toward the front," said the countess.

"Thank you very much," said Darcy. They followed her to the seats she had saved, and Darcy saw that Lady Northmore was accompanied by her two blonde sisters and their children. He briefly wondered if her other sisters had blonde hair too, or were brunette, when the other ladies greeted them. Georgiana at once took a seat beside Lady Sarah, and they were soon deep in conversation. Darcy was fortunate enough to squeeze in next to Lady Northmore. He was glad she had thought to bring blankets to sit on. His trousers and Georgiana's dress would have been covered with grass stains otherwise.

"You are just in time," Elizabeth said, speaking over the noise of the crowd. "It is about to start." She handed him a slip of paper like a pamphlet that had the information about the play on it. It read: Sleeping Beauty, and had a drawing of a knight with drawn sword fighting a dragon. Beneath that it had a list of the names of the actors and of scenes and acts.

A few minutes later, a middle-aged man dressed in the clothes of a minstrel came out onto the upraised wooden stage, and everyone in the audience quieted.

The actor playing the minstrel began, singing a verse introducing the setting and characters. He told of a king and queen, desperate for a child. The birth of their daughter, fair Aurora, was followed by the curse of a witch. The familiar story followed, and Darcy was amazed by the ingenuity of the actors and the costumes. When the dragon appeared, it had a large, terrifying head with big fangs probably made of painted wood, and the body seemed to be filled out by several actors moving in tandem under the red fabric. Georgiana gasped and grasped his hand at the sight of the fake monster, and Darcy was worried that this might be too frightening for her; but soon she was cheering when the "prince" stabbed his "sword" into the dragon, and it collapsed to the ground in a heap.

When the prince and the princess were married, all the children cheered again, and the play ended. Georgiana looked to him with shining eyes. "Oh, that was so wonderful, Fitzwilliam! Have you ever seen such a marvellous play?"

Darcy thought of the flawless Shakespeare performances he had seen at theatres in town, and tried circumlocution so as not to lie to his sister. "It was very well-done," he replied.

Georgiana seemed happy with this answer, and asked if they were going to go on their picnic now. Darcy could hear her stomach grumbling, and felt rather hungry himself. Lady Northmore declared that they could walk to the park from here, and so they made their way through the crowd until they came to the street.

"Thank you very much for inviting us, Lady Northmore," Darcy said. "I would have never thought there were plays for children like that."

"Indeed, neither did I at first. My husband introduced Sarah and me to them before he grew too ill. We used to come see plays every time we were in London. They even perform some for the village children in Staffordshire."

Darcy thought this type of play was quite different from one he would see at a fashionable theatre. At the theatre, for one thing, people came mostly to see and be seen. They wore their finest clothes and gossiped about others, watching to see who arrived with whom, and who sat in which box. Darcy had grown weary of all the pretention. He still enjoyed going to professional plays, but ignored the social aspect of it. He wondered if Lady Northmore enjoyed Shakespeare. He decided to ask her.

"I do love Shakespeare, although I tend to enjoy his comedies more than his tragedies or his histories."

"Which is your favourite Shakespeare play?" he inquired.

She thought for a moment, tilting her head to the side. Hugh was holding her hand and skipping along beside her. "I would have to say A Midsummer Night's Dream. The antics of Puck and Bottom have me in fits of laughter every time."

Darcy smiled. "That is a good one."

"Which is your favourite?"

"I have many favourites; but probably Hamlet."

She made a sound of agreement. "That is another good one. Shakespeare was so clever with words, was he not?"

They spent the rest of the walk discussing Shakespeare, and after about fifteen minutes they arrived at the park. Darcy saw that their carriages had followed them.

"Let us lay out the blankets," said Elizabeth. "Jane, will you help me?"

The two sisters set out a place for everyone to sit and eat, and the footmen brought the baskets of provender from the carriage. Lady Northmore's cook had clearly outdone herself. There were little meat pies, small enough to fit in a child's hand, roast beef, cold chicken, cheeses, two types of salads, fresh fruit, sponge cakes, sweetmeats, lemonade and wine. The three sisters made sure their children all had plates filled with food and glass jars of lemonade. Lady Northmore even fixed Georgiana a plate. Darcy warmed to see how motherly she was treating his sister, as if she were one of her own children.

He himself was very hungry, and ate voraciously. He could see all the others tucking in as well, and surmised that the play had gone on longer than he had realized. There was a little quarrel among the children about the sponge cakes; but after their mothers declared they could only have one a piece or they would go home immediately, they ceased grumbling.

After their repast, Darcy simply wanted to lie back and take a nap in the sunshine; but the children were imbued with fresh energy. Lady Northmore rose and began to organize a game for the seven children. They all voted that they wanted to play cricket, and so Elizabeth, clearly foreseeing this, ordered the footman to bring the bats from the carriage.

"I get to go first because the bats are mine," declared little Hugh.

"Now, Hugh, remember your manners. You are to share and be generous with others," reprimanded his mother.

"Yes, Mama."

As they formed teams, Darcy was surprised to find that Lady Northmore planned on playing with them. The problem was that all the children wanted to be on her team.

"I will wager that Mr. Darcy will want to play with us," said Elizabeth, glancing over at him with a playful gleam in her eye. "Who would like to be on his team?"

"I would!" cried Georgiana.

"Oh, so would I!" declared James Crandall.

Darcy supposed that he had been drafted into playing; but he could not complain much. Seeing Lady Northmore's bright rosy cheeks and hearing her laughter as she lifted her skirts to run was worth it. She turned out to be a stellar player, and Darcy's team, which consisted of Georgiana, Hugh, James Crandall, and Belinda Winthrop, beat them only by a narrow margin. Darcy of course had played cricket for years, but Lady Northmore's talent rivalled even his. Kitty and Jane watched with baby Alice from the blankets, and clapped every time someone shattered the wickets.

Darcy looked at his sister's shining face as they celebrated their victory and thought he had not seen her have such a wonderful time since the last time they went skating with his father at Christmas. Lady Northmore was giving her a hug in congratulations, and Georgiana looked up at her with a kind of awe and adoration. The widow would make a wonderful mother for Georgiana, he thought.

All of the players were covered in grass stains by the time they were finished, and Darcy thought that his valet would certainly have something to say about the state of his clothes. Lady Northmore had lost hair pins and pulled up her hair into a simple bun, putting the pins back in herself as if she had done it every day of her life. He had never met a woman quite like her.

After their game of cricket, Darcy and the countess were allowed to sit back on the blanket and watch the children play tag, foot-racing, and follow the leader. Sarah invariably took the lead in all these games, claiming that she was the eldest; and he soon saw Georgiana following her example. Once Georgiana even told her that she had to wait to go second, for Georgiana was a year older than she. Darcy was about to reprimand her for rudeness when he saw Lady Northmore's smiling face.

"Do not be too hard on her," she said. "This is her first time among her children her age. She needs to learn to spread her own wings."

Soon the day faded into evening and the temperature dropped. The mothers declared it was time to go, and although all the children whined, he could see little Hugh, Randolph, and James drooping. Doubtless they would be going to bed early tonight. Georgiana seemed tired but happy. He was proud of her when she went over to their hostess with no prompting and said, "Thank you very much, Lady Northmore, for the wonderful day. I enjoyed the play and the picnic."

Elizabeth leaned down and gave the girl a hug. "You are very welcome, Georgiana. I hope we can see each other again very soon."

That evening as Darcy was getting ready for bed, he had to admit to himself: he was in love with Elizabeth Hampton, the widowed countess of Northmore.

He did not know what he was going to do about it.