I am hoping to post additional chapter(s) today, so stay tuned.

Chapter 39: My Un-Triumphant Return to Hertfordshire

Following receipt of the Earl's note, I longed to rush to Longbourn and seek Mr. Bennet's permission to marry Miss Elizabeth but knew I should not act so hastily. I still felt some uncertainty that the matter with the Earl was fully resolved, even while I tried to reassure myself that now everything would be well.

I tried to rest, but I simply could not remain still. My fingers had to tap upon my lap, as if each finger was trying to press a key on a piano forte, my legs jiggled, and my teeth in my lower jaw slid back and forth against my upper molars.

Finally, I determined that it might help if I took a ride through the city and, indeed, that did prove somewhat helpful. I must have rode my horse close to two hours (although I do not think I truly saw much of what was before my eyes). I caught myself more than once trying to take a road out of London in the direction of her home, but each time brought my horse about. When suitably tired (or at least convinced that my stallion had earned his feed), I returned. I took a bath and then I tried to nap, but despite my best efforts I was still in a state of agitation. I spent the remainder of the day in my chambers until it was time for dinner.

Most of our dinner conversation was devoted to trying to listen to Anne's recitation of all she had done and seen. For some unknown reason, she seemed most determined that I attentively listen. It took almost more strength than I had to endure it. I both longed to break in and share what had occurred between me and the Earl while they had been gone, and to say nothing for I knew how they would question me and I felt unequal to the task of answering all that they might ask, for I still felt the after-effects of having to endure all that the Earl said with equanimity.

Immediately after dinner, when Anne was finally quiet, but for plucking at the harp-lute, I finally told the women, "While you were touring London, I had a chat with the Earl."

Georgiana immediately came to my side and laid a hand upon my arm. She looked at me with wide eyes and asked, "Is all well, Brother?"

I nodded at her and then gave them a brief summary of what had transpired and the outcome, saying only "I acquainted the Earl about why his plans were all for naught. He challenged me most vigorously, but I think that by the end he had accepted that there was nothing he could do."

Lady Catherine began to ask me questions, which I did my best to answer with single words or brief phrases, but I quickly felt my irritation grow. Soon I told her, and I am sure I sounded quite annoyed, "I am too tired for questions; the matter is resolved and that is all that is important."

Lady Catherine then sidled up to me and enquired quietly. "Did you tell him what I bid you say?"

Georgiana, who was still close at hand intervened then, telling Lady Catherine, "Let Brother be."

"Thank you, Georgiana," I told her.

Then I changed the topic of conversation, told Georgiana and Lady Catherine, "Now that everything is sorted out with the Earl, I have decided to depart for Hertfordshire tomorrow. Georgiana, should you like to accompany me?"

My sister declined, explaining "While I would certainly like to support you, and see Miss Elizabeth again, I should not like to leave the children and I do not think it prudent to take them with us."

Fortunately, I was prepared for this response and immediately I asked Lady Catherine, "Could you remain in London with Georgiana until either she might join me or I return to London? I am hopeful that all is resolved with the Earl, but still I should not like to leave my sister unprotected."

"Of course, Darcy. It shall be my pleasure," she told me. I was well pleased that my aunt agreed.

"Now I think I shall retire for the evening; I plan to leave at first light so I will make my adieus now." Georgiana gave me a quick embrace and bid that I should write to her frequently.

I then paused a moment to speak to Nurse Storey. I told her, "I understand you are departing tomorrow as well, but I doubt you will be about as early as I am likely to be. I am glad you came and I thank you once again for your visit."

Nurse Storey told me, "I have enjoyed my visit. I have written down a few suggestions for some things that might help Abby and Sam and have a few more observations to add. I shall leave my notes for you to see after you return."

I inclined my head and then took myself off to bed. Still, once I gained my bed, I found it almost impossible to sleep, knowing that in a few brief hours I would be away. Having faced down the Earl, I was quite confident that I could likewise face Miss Elizabeth's father, but I also doubted the wisdom of leaving so soon before I had given myself a chance to regain my equilibrium, Still, I was determined to have no further delay in seeing my beloved.

I fell asleep imagined riding to Longbourn bearing the Earl's letter. I believed it was a capitulation of sorts and it would be my proof to Mr. Bennet that there was nothing to fear.

That night I dreamt I was in a church, standing up with Miss Elizabeth to say our wedding vows. I felt so very happy, just standing there beside her. All was right with the world and there was nothing else I desired. I was opening my mouth to respond when I heard a sudden scream behind me. I turned and spotted George in the corner of a back pew, partially hidden from view, with a lady beside him, facing away from me, her hair and face concealed beneath veils. He was grabbing at her, putting his hands all over her as she struggled to get away; I did not recognize her dress, but there was something familiar about her.

Miss Elizabeth yelled, and indeed she was so near to me that her words hurt my ears, "Help me, help me, Mr. Darcy; he has Lydia!" I tried to respond that I would retrieve Miss Lydia, but my mouth did not seem to work. Miss Elizabeth continued to voice her concerns even as I tried to make my way toward the veiled woman. I heard Miss Elizabeth ask "Where did Mrs. Pope go? Will no one stop Mr. Wickham?" There was a sea of people in the way and my pace felt as slow as if I were trying to walk through water. Directly opposing me were Aunt Matilda, Governess Hayes and Mrs. Younge.

Then I felt ill because I knew why the lady looked familiar. Finally my voice worked and I said, "It is not your sister, but mine! It is Georgiana, I must get to her!"

I heard many voices chanting, "He must marry her." I tried to protest but Miss Elizabeth and I were shoved back and to the side so that they could take our place to say their vows.

Then the woman turned in my direction, and the veils slid from her head and instead of Georgiana it my mother and instead of George Wickham holding her tight, it was my father. Two of their hands were joined with rusty manacles. She screamed and fought but could not break free. The harder she fought, the larger his smile grew until it was a grotesque caricature.

I tried to protest, but I could not speak, no words came out of my mouth. I tried to write my objection on a piece of paper but my quill had no ink and broke. Despite everything I tried to stop it, the ceremony to marry them continued to its completion.

I heard a large rumble of the crowd offering congratulations and best wishes as my mother sobbed. These sounds were too much for me and I covered my ears. However, I now saw that she no longer struggled. Instead, she was meek and let my father lead her away. But rather than lead her to a waiting carriage he prodded her onto block and attached a band around her neck from which dangled a chain which he held with his hands. Then he asked for bids. My mother's skin grew dark as she was now a slave, and he was a slaver. The man holding the chain was no longer my father but instead he was the Earl though he looked like Edwin.

Many men were holding out coins to show their bids. He signaled his acceptance to a short man who leered at her chest. The man threw twenty pieces of silver at the Earl's feet. As my uncle stooped to pick them up, he became a large rat. The rat stuffed each piece into his mouth and swallowed them, distending his belly. The rat slowly inched away, his belly dragging on the ground, making a clinking sound.

I woke in a sweat. The images started to fade away and I knew my sleeping mind was trying to warn my waking mind that there might yet be dangers to address. However, the only danger perhaps remaining was that posed by George. Whatever potential scandal there had been regarding my parents, there was nothing to be done about it now. The slave trade had been abolished (although there were still slaves in the West Indies). The disgusting man who sought my mother when she was a slave must have represented the Marquess of- but I have met the current Marquess and he is younger than I am, so his father must have passed away.

I knew then that one of my first priorities after returning to Netherfield needed to be finding out whether Colonel Forster had seen fit to do anything about George Wickham, for by my calculations the militia had yet to depart.

It was still full night, so I lay back in my bed and tried to gain some more sleep. Finally, I drifted off and slept until past nine o'clock. If I had any dreams in this interval, I did not remember them.

After breaking my fast, I briefly visited with the children in the nursery and explained (from a respectful distance away) to Abby, "I shall be going on a trip for a while, but Georgiana will stay in London with you. God willing, I shall soon have a wife and before the worst of the heat we shall all depart for the country together."

Abby wrinkled her forehead and asked, "What is the country like? Is it like a grassy park?"

I tried to imagine what it must have been like for her to live in London for her whole life. I explained, "The country is where the food is grown, so there are fields for wheat, fields of grass where livestock grazes, you know, animals like sheep, and forests where timber can be cut down to build houses, carriages, so many things. On my estate, there is a large house and there is much room to run and play, and even a stream where fish live. I hope you shall both be happy there."

"When we go, can we bring the kittens?"

I wished to simply say "No" but forced myself to consider the matter. I imagined having to confine the mother cat with all of her kittens inside a carriage. I did not think that the cat would like that. But then as I tried to calculate out if all went well how soon I might be married and then be able to depart for Pemberley. The kittens would be much older then and might not need their mother any longer.

"Perhaps," I told her, "especially if you have tamed them enough to tolerate three days in a carriage. However, I do not think we would need to take all the kittens. Surely one kitten would be enough."

"But one kitten would be so lonely." She looked over at Sam as she said this. Then she looked back and me and bargained, "One for me and one for Sam?"

"I suppose," I allowed. "Especially if they be fond of each other." Certainly, Sam and Abby belonged together, so perhaps two kittens did as well. "But just like here, they must live in the barn."

Satisfied, I suppose, Abby went over and began playing with the porcelain doll that Lady Catherine had gifted her.

Then I went and spoke to Sam. I told him much of what I had told Abby as I helped him stack some books. I did not know if he understood anything I said, but I certainly did not wish to assume that he did not.

Soon after that, I departed, a bit regretful that neither my sister, Anne, Nurse Storey, nor Lady Catherine were yet up. I rode ahead of my carriage, with two outriders while my valet Jeffrey rode in the carriage. We made good time, and at our last stop, just outside of Meryton, I bid the carriage driver and outriders go straight to Netherfield Park while I diverted to Longbourn.

I made good time on my ride to Mr. Bennet's home and soon enough was at his door. I knocked and a woman I assumed must be the housekeeper answered. I was almost certain she must be Mrs. Hill, for her eyes and eyebrows were very like those of Mr. Hill.

I asked, "May I please see Mr. Bennet? You may tell him that Mr. Darcy is calling."

She told me, "I know who you are, Mr. Darcy. I wish I could admit you, for my son, Mr. Hill, has spoken well of you, but we are all under strict orders that you may not enter."

Unwilling to simply leave, I suggested, "Perhaps Mr. Bennet would be willing to meet with me for a few minutes outside?"

Mrs. Hill told me, "I am sorry, but he is unavailable."

Then I asked, "May I speak to Mrs. Bennet, or perhaps the Miss Bennets?"

She shook her head and explained, "The family is not at home." I left my card and bid she ask Mr. Bennet to return my call.

I turned to depart, and as I did, I faintly heard gentle tones and louder giggles. I paused, believing the ladies were within and likely their father as well. My supposition was confirmed when Mrs. Hill explained, "We have been instructed that none of the family is to be at home to you. Still, I wish you much success."

Frustrated with myself as I had not thought I would be refused entrance, though it made all too much sense as Mr. Bennet must still be ignorant of the Earl's change of heart, I decided to visit Mr. Hill at his nicknackatory. Perhaps he could visit in my place and assure Mr. Bennet that there was nothing more to fear.

Fortunately, Mr. Hill was at his shop and graciously welcomed me. We talked again in his back room, and I explained the matter to him. Although he agreed to be my envoy after his shop employee returned from an errand, he told me, "I am not at all convinced that your brief missive from the Earl shall be sufficient to gain you entry. Likely Mr. Bennet will require something further."

I found myself quite frustrated and annoyed at the delay in gaining permission for my engagement to Miss Elizabeth. It had not occurred to me to demand reassurances be sent from the Earl directly to Mr. Bennet and I did not know whether my new "Uncle Matlock" would remain biddable long enough for me to send him a message and receive a reply for Mr. Bennet. I was still considering the best way to proceed in obtaining reassurance to persuade Mr. Bennet to admit me, when Mr. Hill interrupted my thoughts.

"Begging your pardon, Mr. Darcy, but might you have more success if you met with Miss Elizabeth and tried to get her to persuade her father?"

The answer was so obvious I wondered why it had not occurred to me, but I was happy to have it nonetheless. "I think you have the right of it."

Luckily, Mr. Hill had pen, ink and paper, which allowed me to write the following unaddressed and unsigned short note: Meet me at the clearing as soon as you can. Make sure to bring someone with you. I will wait until evening.

My wax and seal were packed away, likely now at Netherfield, so I satisfied myself with folding the note. I was sure I could trust Mr. Hill to get the note passed to Miss Elizabeth. However, he himself had wax and a seal mark of his shop, so I watched as he sealed it. It was perhaps better that it did not bear my mark. As he did not believe his employee would return for some time still, I resolved to ride to Netherfield and refresh myself before walking to the clearing we had met at before, which was close to the divide between the two estates.

While I took the time to bathe and dress, and instruct the housekeeper as to my stay, I still set out before it was likely that the missive had yet been delivered. I resolved to walk at a leisurely pace as I did not (once again) want to appear to meet Miss Elizabeth with a disheveled appearance as had always seemed to be the case at the Hunsford Parsonage. When I arrived at the clearing it was as I had expected, she was not yet there, and though I had known this would be the case, I could not help but be disappointed.

I must have waited an hour or more before it occurred to me that perhaps she would not come or could not come. In my mind I began to imagine all sorts of reasons for her continued absence. Images from my dream intruded in a most disconcerting manner. This time it was Miss Elizabeth in the shackles as a grinning George hauled her away, Miss Elizabeth on the slave block, Miss Elizabeth publicly compromised and already married to another.

That last thought was somehow worse than all the rest. Though I rationally knew that would not happen, that Miss Elizabeth would not consent to wed another, my mother in the dream had been unwilling also. I began to pace and brood, and as my anxiety grew, I knew I had to do something to quench it.

I found a stick which was perhaps twice the thickness of one of my thumbs, seated myself upon the ground and with my pen knife began to remove its bark, to reveal its smooth surface underneath. The motion was repetitive and rhythmic; it allowed me to relax. I even considered trying to whittle something, though I had no particular talent in that respect.

Fortunately, before I began what was sure to be a crude attempt at whittling, I heard soft voices and had enough time to put my knife away, stand up and brush myself off before I beheld a most glorious sight. It was Miss Elizabeth, accompanied by her sister Miss Bennet. They were walking arm in arm. They looked most proper in their day dresses, although I could not tell you now what Miss Bennet wore. As for Miss Elizabeth, she wore my favorite yellow gown, the one that matched her token, though her straw hat with a green ribbon was not one that I recognized, and she had on white gloves.

When Miss Elizabeth saw me waiting, an indecorous smile showed her teeth and her eyes alighted on my own. She broke away from her sister and approached me at a trot. Having no care for decorum myself, I hurried over to meet her. Before I was within ten yards of her, I was already imagining whether she might be willing to embrace me.

Unfortunately for me, I was not paying particular attention to the ground beneath my feet. I must have caught a rock, or perhaps only a large clod of dirt, but suddenly the ground rushed up to meet me as I fell. My knees hit first even as my arms were reaching out to brace myself. Although my hands tried to catch me, they did not fully forestall my forward movement, as they slid forward on the damp grass. I felt my neck half-choked as my cravat pulled tighter. A moment later, I found myself fully sprawled near her feet.

"Mr. Darcy!" I heard her yell from above me. "Are you quite alright?"

"Yes, quite," I immediately reassured her from my location on the ground. Despite throbbing pains, which I hoped would quickly fade, I determined that I must quickly gain my feet before I alarmed her further. But, as I began to get up, believing nothing much was hurt but my pride, I felt a stinging sensation on my knees that worsened with the movement and a similar hurt on my right elbow and hand (and too a lesser degree on my left). Instead of getting up, I rolled to the side and gained a seat on the grass. "I just need a moment."

I felt a modicum of embarrassment; once again the unknown curse had struck that making me not look my best as I saw her. I recalled calling on her at the parsonage when soaked with sweat, proposing when we were both dotted with mud.

"You are not well," Miss Elizabeth announced. "You are hurt."

Indeed, I was, and I knew it myself. I could see a bit of blood soaking through the knees of my buckskin breaches, along with grass stains. I was grateful I had been wearing my gloves as while they were mightily scratched up, I believed they had spared my hands from the worse of it. And at least I had fallen on grass and not on a cobblestone street or a gravel drive, for then I might have been hurt much worse.

From my seated position with my legs mostly extended (for the idea of bending them then enough to rise was most distasteful, for they hurt enough as it was), I looked up at Miss Elizabeth who was now by my side and looking down on me with evident concern. With a gloved hand, she touched my cheek and then stroked through my hair. "You had a bit of grass and clover in it," she explained. Still, her hand lingered on the back on my head for a few moments. It was then that I realized my hat must have gone flying when I fell.

"My cravat is too tight," I told her, and indeed it was pressing tight to my throat in a horribly constraining manner. Undoubtedly, I should have loosened it myself, but my hands hurt, seemed to throb along with my pulse.

Miss Elizabeth ran her thumbs along my collar, and I could feel her tug it looser. "That is better," I told her even as her hands withdrew and I tried to fix in my mind how it felt to have her touch my cheek, stroke my hair and loosen my cravat. There was an intimacy to all these little touches that I craved having the opportunity to experience again. It was unfortunate that the pain I was feeling had detracted from the experience.

I tugged off my gloves to inspect the damage, first the right and then the left. While the right had a small scrape, the left was only skinned a tiny bit. While my gloves were undoubtedly ruined, they had protected me. Miss Elizabeth pulled my right hand toward hers and then began dabbing at it with her handkerchief, before pressing it firmly against the small wound and instructing me to hold it there. "I wish I had something better to cleanse it with, but I think there is nothing to do right now but sop up the blood."

"Do not worry," I told her, pleased that she cared. "It is nothing. Jeffrey will attend to it later."

"And the rest of you?" Miss Elizabeth took a step back and surveyed me. "Oh, your knees!" She knelt down carefully beside me, her skirts forming a rough circle around her, as if she were some kind of blooming flower. She began to draw up the edge of my buckskin breeches. It hurt a bit as the blood had begun drying against the material. Still, to have her touch my breeches, if only at the bottom edge of the legs because I was hurt. . . well, she had never touched me in like manner before.

"Jane" she called, and it was with some effort that I remembered her sister was there, too. My thoughts had only been of my injury and Miss Elizabeth's prodigious care of me. "Have you another hanky? Perhaps two?"

Miss Bennet had only one, but by now my hand had stopped bleeding (for it was only a trifle of an injury, certainly compared with my knees), she was able to tend to my knees with those two. But again, there was nothing much she could do after she plucked a bit of grass out of the one wound, but to press the handkerchiefs against my knees. It felt good to have her tend to me, but it was not what I had hoped for from this encounter. As she continued to press at them, we began to talk.

I told her, "This is not how I imagined being reunited with you. I thought, just perhaps, given the length of my absence, that we might embrace, that we might hold hands." I left unsaid that my lips were most desirous of kissing her. But as I was sitting down as she tended to me, I could do none of it. "But instead you are having to tend to me like a little child. Still, 'tis nice to have your care."

"I . . . I do not know what I would have done had we reached each other before your accident. I know we should be most prudent in all things. I hoped that having Jane with me would have reined in some of my more impulsive and impetuous tendencies, but now I shall never know." She wiggled her eyebrows a little, gave me a half smile.

"Still, thank you so much for meeting me here," I told Miss Elizabeth.

"It seemed it must be a matter of urgency for you to plan a meeting for today. I am glad you are back, but is anything the matter?"

"No," I responded, "everything is right again. Things have been resolved with the Earl and I was most impatient to see you. Much too impatient, apparently. Did you receive my letters?" Somehow in my anxiety to figure out how to speak with Mr. Bennet, I had not even thought to ask Mr. Hill whether he had delivered my most recently mailed missive to her.

"Yes, two of them. I received the last one yesterday from Mrs. Hill. As to the first, I am so glad you wished to help those children and rather than just having such a passing thought determined to do something and did it. Yes, it is a rather large and serious commitment, perhaps much larger than you could envision when you acted, but it was undoubtedly the right thing to do. Still, there is so much poverty, so many children who do need rescuing, that it is overwhelming. But if that boy be like you, well you are the most apt person to do something for him in particular."

"Yes, I suppose," I told her. "Still, even though it is a rather new duty, I do not think I am doing my best with it. I feel unprepared for the task and have somewhat shirked it, leaving it to the servants and Georgiana to decide what best to do. My sister is a wonder, she has taken it as her mission to see to them. The boy, Sam, may be like me, but he does not talk, does not know how to use the necessary. He is rather worse than Anne ever was from what I can recall. Still, I hope that much can be done with him."

"Those deficits are most serious," she observed, "but he has lacked many advantages that both you and Miss de Bourgh had. Living out of doors as a beggar, with only a younger sister to tend to him, to have no mother, perhaps once he knows he is safe and cared for, much may improve. But if it does not, you have the resources to at least make sure he is safe and does not lack all the necessities of life."

We spend a few more minutes with me telling her more about the children and my observations thus far. When I told her about the kittens and Abby's request to take them with her, Miss Elizabeth commented, "I cannot say that I have ever held a kitten. Of course, there are cats on Longbourn as well, they help to keep the mice down, but they are wild and skittish around us and have their kittens . . . well not in our barn, where they might have them I do not know.

"Lydia tried to grab one of the cats once, she was most determined in her quest. She did not succeed, though, only ended up clawed for her trouble. She still has two thin scars upon one arm from its claws.

"And, oh, as to your second letter, I have been most curious as to how things went with your uncle, but I scarcely had time to contemplate that when I received your note. But you said it is all resolved. You must tell me all about it, but first I must know, have you come as my fair knight, having successfully vanquished the dragon to win this maiden's hand?"

"Yes, certainly. But as for winning your hand, I've been attempting to do so but your father will not see me as he has banned me from your house."

She nodded, "Yes, in that regard Papa must know nothing of how things have changed. How have things been resolved?" She asked, explaining, "The more information I can bring to him, the more likely he is to alter that dictate."

I told her all about my discoveries from my mother's journals and my discussions with Lady Catherine about the Earl's friendship with Ed, and learning how my paternal grandfather was like me and yet somehow neither the Earl nor Lady Catherine had truly understood that, the Earl wildly misinterpreting his mother's actions. I left out the details of my mother's and grandmother's marital intimacies, my desperate need to make water during the one conversation with Lady Catherine, and Lady Catherine's instruction about how I should tell the Earl about Ed's pole. I also detailed what I had learned about the land I inherited and the solution I had come upon in regard to protecting Georgiana, and how I had been able to use all this knowledge to successfully oppose the Earl. I glossed over the worst of the threats concerning my sister, as Miss Elizabeth's sister was there (although I had barely glanced in her direction through this conversation, I knew she remained close at hand). Finally, I showed Miss Elizabeth the Earl's note of concession.

"And so, you stood up to him and he capitulated?"

"I suppose it amounts to that. I showed him he had no power over Georgiana or me. I also showed him things about himself that I am sure he would have rather not faced. I do not know if these revelations will change him or only make him seek an easier target for his machinations."

"The note is a good start," Miss Elizabeth offered, "but my father will likely remain intimidated. He may think the note to be false or to not have the meaning you have attributed to it. Do you suppose there is any way he could get a direct assurance from the Earl or from Mr. Wilmington?"

"I do not rightly know. I know, however, that I am not eager to ride back to London to demand something further of the Earl as that would take me away from you once again, which is something I cannot wish for, and I do not wish to think about how much my knees would hurt further from such a ride. I also fear it would make him think that he still holds some leverage over me."

"I shall endeavor to convince Papa." She turned her head toward her sister and asked, "Jane, you have heard our conversation, in light of that and this note," she held it out in front of her sister, "do you think Father will agree to see Mr. Darcy?"

Miss Bennet considered the note, her countenance serene, "I am not sure it will be enough, however perhaps we can enlist Mother's help by explaining about Mr. Darcy's return and his intentions toward you. She can often wear Father down on other matters, so why not this one? With all her ambitions for us to marry well, I believe she will be a formidable ally and Mr. Darcy's very sister laid the groundwork. It must be a dozen or more times that while Mr. Darcy was yet at Netherfield with his sister that Mamma hounded Papa to call upon Mr. Darcy. He made excuses and never told her why he would not go to Netherfield."

Miss Bennet turned toward me then, and then directly addressed me. "Mr. Darcy, my father bid my sister keep her silence on the matter so as not to needlessly scare my mother and my sisters. However, now that the matter is resolved, we surely would not be countermanding Father's commands if we told Mother 'Mr. Darcy has returned to court Lizzy.' She will surely then do all in her power to forward such a promising match."

Miss Elizabeth seemed to brighten at her sister's words and said, "What a capital idea, Jane!"

"And what a subtle devious streak you have been concealing Miss Bennet." I told her, silently also thinking to myself that perhaps she would be a good match for Edwin.

As if my thinking of him conjured up the memory of him to her, Miss Bennet asked, "Mr. Darcy, how is the Colonel and the rest of your family?"

"Georgiana is well and currently in London with Lady Catherine and my cousin Anne at my townhome. The Colonel was having some difficulties with his father and is currently in Derbyshire at my family estate."

"So, the Colonel shall not come here," Miss Bennet said almost to herself, looking down, her previous smile now absent. I wondered if I accurately detected a sadness in her voice and countenance. "But perhaps your sister may join you later? My mother will be disappointed not to see Miss Darcy again."

Miss Elizabeth then responded, "You should have heard how our mother praised your sister! I dearly hope that Miss Darcy may soon meet our younger sisters. No doubt she would be a good example of how a young lady ought conduct herself. I also wished to thank you for the suggestion of a governess for them. Mrs. Pope seems to be just what they need."

"Yes, indeed," Miss Bennet added. "She has already curbed their behavior some. And though Mrs. Pope has the title of companion, her enthusiasm for all the womanly pursuits has spurned them to new efforts and additional time at crafting items has given them new things to occupy their thoughts. And while I know she was not hired for me, she set us all to sketching, which I have found to be an enjoyable activity."

"And what Jane is too modest to add," Miss Elizabeth noted, "is that of the lot of us, she seems to have the most talent when it comes to pencil drawings." I glanced in Miss Bennet's direction and saw that she had a slight blush and was looking down.

I told them both, "It is Lady Catherine, not me, who deserves your accolades for securing Mrs. Pope. I am pleased, however, to hear of good results. Has she managed to keep your younger sisters away from visiting the militia?"

Miss Elizabeth answered this question, "No, indeed, Mr. Darcy. That would be a feat for a sorceress and not a mere mortal. However, I believe there has been less general revelry at Mrs. Forster's residence. I have heard no new tales of dressing up Chamberlayne in women's clothes or anything of that sort. If the number of men in attendance grows too large, or they begin overly indulging in drink, Mrs. Pope hurries our sisters home. Mrs. Forster has begun to catch on and as a result her parties are more reserved. Father has even been considering allowing Lydia to go to Brighton if both Kitty and Mrs. Pope were to be invited as well, though I think Colonel Forster would not have the room to host them all."

I did not know who Chamberlayne was, and though I hoped he was a large hound rather than a young soldier, I was not sure I wanted to know.

We exchanged a bit more conversation and then Miss Bennet brought me my hat and then entreated Miss Elizabeth that they must leave. I reached out my hand toward Miss Elizabeth and she grasped and held it for some moments. With my three squeezes of her hand, I told her that I loved her. She whispered softly, "Shall I assist you to rise?"

I shook my head "no" and when she let go of my hand, I gingerly bent my knees, placed my hands on the ground (avoiding touching the ground with the scraped portion of my right hand) and rose. I was determined to bid Miss Elizabeth goodbye on my feet, reassure her that all was well. I grabbed her hand once more, this time bending over her and bringing her gloved hand to my lips so that I could drop a kiss upon it.

Then, I bid them a pleasant walk back and they left, Miss Elizabeth holding the Earl's note. She glanced back one last time before my view of her was obscured by the trees and I tried to memorize the look on her face, the lines of her body as she half-twisted in my direction, clothed in the yellow dress I liked the best.