Good evening and happy weekend. Extra chapter today. Loving the nice weather in the uk. Hope everyone else is well. We were supposed to be off to the lovely costa Blanca in Spain, but coronavirus ruins everything! At least D/E will keep us going! Oh, and the M chapters are later in the story!
Love to you all! Stay safe!
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Chapter 10
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Elizabeth returned home from her morning calls to find the footmen moving around the house with purpose. She could see something was amiss. She contemplated waiting to find out, but delay was not in her nature.
"Come in" the steady voice responded to her knock.
"Is something the matter?" She got straight to the point as she entered the study. Darcy's usually tidy desk was a mess of paper work. He was evidently hurrying through as much work as possible.
He finished scribbling on a price of paper before folding it, setting it on a stack and tossing another price of paper in the growing pile of waste.
"I must away to Pemberley."
"Now?"
"Yes!"
She waited a minute but there was no more forthcoming information, Darcy had reached for another piece of paper and started scribbling again. She moved around the desk and placed a hand on his arm. She felt the familiar tingle but ignored it.
"What is the matter?" He tone was gentle, one might use it on a scared horse. "Please sir,"
He looked up in to her eyes and found himself drowning in them, as usual. The deep dark irises that were so often alight with laughter and could streak with any colour depending on what magic she was wielding. Her eyes were so beautiful as well as being completely unique.
"There has been significant flooding, many of the servant's families are without a home. Some of the tenants farms are completely inaccessible."
Elizabeth nodded "then we must away."
"No!" She startled and he gentled his tone. " I must travel alone, the roads are damp after the rainfall, a carriage would be difficult."
"You cannot ride all the way to Derbyshire on horseback."
"No, of course not, but I can travel the worst parts."
"And so could I, if needs be, but you know I can improve the roads." She interrupted his next protest "and besides, how would it look if the master returned without his new mistress in Pemberley's time of need?"
Darcy looked like he would protest but he saw the fiery determination in her eyes and he sighed.
"We leave in the carriage in half an hour."
"I need an hour, and you need the extra thirty minutes to visit your aunt and explain why we are not heading to Matlock."
He nodded acquiescing to her logic.
Elizabeth went directly to her room and called for Betsy. She gave her instructions and then called for the carriage, not the one being prepared for departure, to take her round to the Bingleys. She was announced and was immediately greeted warmly by Jane.
"Oh Jane, I am so pleased to catch you at home."
"What is it Lizzie?" Jane asked ushering her to a seat.
"Yes Eliza" a sneering voice joined in "what is the matter?"
Elizabeth hid the scowl hat threatened to cross her face at the sound of Caroline Bingley. She had never reconciled herself to Jane having to be nice to Caroline. Although the she was pleased to see that Jane did keep the Bingley sisters at arms length.
"Oh Caroline, I had not known you would be here."
"I was visiting with dear Jane to see if she needed any assistance before the dinner tonight."
"I am certain her dinner will be excellent" Elizabeth turned back to Jane and only she could see her eye roll "that is what I must talk to you about, I am afraid I must cancel on behalf of Mr Darcy and myself."
"I do hope nothing is the matter?" Jane was all concern
"Of course dear Eliza, we do hope there is nothing wrong between yourself and Mr Darcy." Elizabeth almost laughed at the hopeful sound in her voice.
"I am afraid there are some problems at Pemberley, the weather is not being kind in the North. Both myself and my husband feel our tenants would benefit from our presence."
Jane smiled and gave her a reassuring pat, Caroline seethed at the stress Eliza had placed on the words 'my husband'. She rose and excused herself.
Jane immediately turned to Elizabeth "is there anything I can do?"
"No my dear, and I am not sure how much I can do without using talents I should not display." Jane nodded in understanding "but our place is there until our tenants are well cared for."
"And you Lizzie, are you happy to be leaving London?"
Elizabeth smiled "I confess I have enjoyed town" She gave her a sly look "would you be very cross if I admitted that I long for the country?"
"No indeed." Laughed Jane. "I hope it will restore your spirits"
Elizabeth frowned in confusion "whatever can you mean?"
Jane smiled gently "I can see there is something not quite right, I may not be able to see auras like you can but I know you better than anyone. You were missing something after Hunsford, a lightness, I think it was to do with Darcy. Then it got worse after Lydia. I had thought it was better when we were all in Hertfordshire together. Is there something new? I do not wish to pry, you should keep your own council if you think it is best." She trailed off.
Elizabeth embraced her tightly "it shall have to be a conversation for another time dearest. I do not have time now and we shall not be alone for long." The door opened and Elizabeth smiled "you must come to Pemberley in the new year!"
Caroline exclaimed "oh Pemberley, how I long to see it again, it was delightful in the summer. I am certain Spring shall be lovely. Jane I shall have to show you around, Tis such a beautiful house."
Elizabeth ground her teeth in frustration, she had only meant to invite Jane and Charles, but it was too late now.
"I must away. I will write when I reach home. Take care dear Jane, pass along my best wishes to your Mr Bingley" she smiled and turned giving Caroline the barest of curtseyed and a "good day to you Miss Bingley, I hope you enjoy winter in town."
When she returned home she found that the carriage was loaded and ready. Georgiana had elected to stay in London and travel when the weather cleared slightly.
Elizabeth and Darcy settled in to the coach, the door shut, and they were off. It was at this point that Darcy seemed to realise he was alone with his wife. Elizabeth settled against the side of the carriage, watching the streets go by, Darcy was fidgeting, not something Darcy ever did. Elizabeth noticed before too long and watched him through her lashes. He kept shooting her surreptitious looks and looked very nervous. Elizabeth could not understand.
She decided to break the tension
"How did the conversation with your aunt go?"
He jumped "it went well, I thank you. She was disappointed obviously but understands the call of duty. She suggested we may be able to travel to Matlock on Christmas week, if the weather and the issue with the tenants both allow. A shorter visit may be in order."
"Would it make sense for Georgiana to travel to Matlock with your aunt then, and we could collect her when we travel?"
Darcy looked surprised "I did not think of that, but yes it may make sense. I will write when we next stop."
Elizabeth smiled "We had flooding in Hertfordshire, but I imagine it can be worse in Derbyshire?"
Darcy frowned and looked out of the window "yes, flooding can be devastating, especially if the floods come off the hills. It can be a river running down where no water usually does. I've seen it wash away barns and even brick houses. Thankfully it usually just causes damage, for all the good that is. But it can trap people and often the after effects are concerning also. I am sure they are the same in Hertfordshire. Water-ways that were once clear can be poisoned, new rivers form, bridges need repairing and illness is frequent." He sighed, so many people lose so much.
She reached over and put a hand on his "we shall do what we can to ease their suffering."
They smiled at each other and for a moment the world around them stilled. Then Darcy stiffened and pulled his hand away from hers and went back to looking out of the window. There was an awkward silence for a minute. Elizabeth was confused but did not wish to break it, she decided to leave the trouble of conversation to him.
"Uh" after a long pause he appeared to realise he should try something "did you see Charles whilst you visited with Mrs Bingley?"
"No, but I may have inadvertently invited Caroline to Pemberley in the spring."
Darcy's look was half amusement, half exasperation, he didn't say anything merely raised an eyebrow.
"I was inviting Jane and Charles, and she overheard and assumed it extended to her!"
He chucked "yes, that has happened to me before too" they shared a laugh and some of the tension was dispelled.
They were not long out of London before the roads became boggy. Elizabeth concentrated on the ground underneath the carriage wheels, with a smoothing shield of magic she could push some of the wetness down and then even out the drier ground. It used a combination of water and Earth magic and took concentration and no distractions. Darcy watched her work and could see the streaks of green and blue in her aura, which was also evident in her eyes when they were open. He was caught staring at one point and Elizabeth pulled a face at him, he smiled and asked.
"Can you teach me how to do that?"
"How good is your water magic?"
He winced "not very good, but I can push it around, is that enough?"
Elizabeth lifted a delicate shoulder "it might be, shall we try?"
He smiled and sat next to her, both facing forward. She showed him how to use earth magic to flatten the ground. It was made trickier by the fact that they couldn't see the ground they were moving but she taught him to judge things based on how the earth magic felt, then form a smooth line of earth magic to act as a barrier, like a plough moving through snow it would push the excess to the side leaving a stretch of flattened ground for the wheels to pass over.
With water magic she would set the level a little lower pushing the water down and away from the topsoil, making the ground harder and smoother for the carriage wheels.
It took a while for Darcy to master even the earth magic as it was a tricky and new way of using it. It was even longer before he mastered the water magic part of the process. With all this distraction Darcy and Elizabeth barely noticed the first leg of their journey and they were stopping for supper before long. Days were short but they pushed through the darkness for a few hours before stopping to sleep. By the next morning they were both refreshed and ready to go and they began their journey at first light.
They arrived in Derbyshire on the third day of travel. Both Lizzie and Darcy were travel weary and magical deplete. Even Elizabeth's considerable power was diminished after spending nearly all the journey using it.
When the Darcys alighted from the carriage the staff were lined up waiting for them. Elizabeth gasped in shock and it took all of her effort not to lose her composure. She had seen Pemberley when touring the peaks with her aunt and uncle the previous summer. But then the staff had been mostly invisible, she had only really seen the odd maid or footman and had only conversed with the housekeeper and the gardener who had been tasked with showing them around.
Now here were all the staff lined up to greet her.
Darcy noticed and covered her hand with his.
"Looks far more daunting than it needs to be," he whispered "but do not fret, they will all love you as I do. I did not ask for the line up, the staff have enough to do"
Elizabeth smiled up at him "I am sure they do, shall we make this quick?"
He nodded and they walked past the staff, Mrs Reynolds introducing a few key members. The head upstairs maid, the cook, the door footmen, the head groomsman and so on. Elizabeth nodded and once reaching the top of the steps turned.
"It has been lovely seeing how many people help make Pemberley such a beautiful place to live. I look forward to getting to know you all as time permits but please do not let me keep you now. I am aware that things have been difficult lately and I would not wish to be a distraction. We came to help not hinder." She smiled around at everyone and Mrs Reynolds gave a signal for everyone to go back to their tasks.
When all the staff had dispersed Darcy turned to the butler
"Mr Reynolds, can you tell me where my steward is?"
"I believe Mr Crane is over in the north fields at the Millers' farm. They have suffered some losses and he was looking over the buildings"
Darcy looked grim "they have not long since recovered from Mrs Millers' demise, do you know the losses?"
"I would not like to say sir, Mr Crane knows them best."
"I should like to speak to him before I head out, might you send for him, if it is convenient of course? We could all meet in my study in half an hour?" He addressed Mr and Mrs Reynolds, they all nodded.
"I will show Elizabeth to our rooms, if you would send up some tea and refreshments we will wash the road dust off and then I will return.
He offered Elizabeth his arm and set off.
"Do you remember much from your tour last year?"
Elizabeth smiled a cheeky smile "enough to find the study in half an hour."
Darcy looked a little shocked "I would think you would prefer to rest."
They reached the mistresses suite and stopped outside the door, Elizabeth laid a hand on his arm.
"Darcy, you have all of your staff working hard to identify and rectify the problems caused by these floods. What sort of mistress would I be if I sat around brushing my hair and designing gowns whilst everyone else was suffering? I need to hear how bad things are so I can help give aid to the families most in need."
He thought for a moment, she made a good point "but the topics of conversation are not fit for a ladies ears."
"I understand, but I cannot help if I do not understand what your... Our people, are going through."
He looked at her determined face and his heart softened. "Of course my love, now may I show you your rooms?"
She smiled "I would be delighted."
The mistresses rooms were lovely. Beautiful old furniture, light and airy colours. Once again Elizabeth was impressed with the similarity in hers and Lady Anne's tastes. She took note of the few pieces of furniture that needed changing, or re-upholstering but filed them away for a later. She went to the basin and splashed some water on her face, as well as attending to her other needs, before she heard Darcy leave his room, she walked in to the corridor and met him on his way.
"Are you certain?"
Her face reflected her determination and he couldn't decide if he wanted to sigh or smile at his lovely stubborn wife. He resolved on the former and offered his arm before leading her to his study to hear the extent of the damage.