Several days after they arrived at the Abbey, Mr. Carlyle arrived in the morning. The footman who admitted him asked him to wait in the drawing room while he went to find the ladies. When they went into the drawing room where he was waiting, Lady Elizabeth was the first to greet him. She did this very warmly in an effort to help her friend. She noticed that he was looking around to see who was with her.
"Mr. Carlyle, it is so good to see you again. How did you learn that we were back here?"
Mary and Charlotte came in just after she did. She saw that his eyes immediately moved from her to Charlotte, even as he bowed to Her Ladyship. He then smiled at Charlotte and bowed to her.
"My Lady, surely you know from living in a small village how fast word of anyone's arrival travels. Yesterday I heard that you had returned and I wanted to pay my respects to you as soon as I could."
"May I introduce my sister? Mary, this is our nearest neighbour, Mr. Henry Carlyle. Mr. Carlyle, my sister Miss Mary Bennet." They made the proper greetings. Elizabeth had mentioned to Mary that he appeared to be interested in Charlotte, so Mary wanted to see what he looked like. She approved of his appearance and manners, but did not say this out loud.
"My Lady, I am sure that you are busy with your house, but I hoped that you all would be able to come to tea at my house whenever you are able. Is tomorrow too soon to hope for your company?" He was still looking at Charlotte when he said this.
"You are certainly correct about our still being busy. I was pleased to see how much my staff has accomplished while we were away, but now I am making plans for several other rooms. I am afraid that I am in the middle of some detailed discussions with my housekeeper that will take me several more days, but I could spare Miss Lucas and my sister, if you do not mind my absence." She did not want Charlotte to miss any chance to be with him, even if it was just for tea. She really did not need to stay here, but she thought that her absence would make it easier for them to get to know each other.
She turned to Mary, "Mary, Mr. Carlyle has the two loveliest children that you will ever meet, Oliver and Alice. You will enjoy being with them." She was quite sure that Charlotte would like to go so she wanted to encourage them to accept his invitation.
Charlotte did not want to appear to be too eager. "Lizzy, are you sure you could spare us?"
"I believe so. You know that I will be closeted with Mrs. Greeley and the workers. I expect that I will need to keep doing this for another couple of days. I will not need your advice until I settle with her about our other housekeeping problems. I think you might go with a clear conscience." She smiled when she said this.
Mr. Carlyle looked pleased. "Ladies, I would appreciate your company. I hope it is settled then. Should I send my carriage for you?"
"Thank you for the offer, but I still have Mr. Darcy's carriage that he left for my use until I purchase my own. I will not need it tomorrow."
They settled on the time and he left. As soon as he had gone, Mary exclaimed, "Charlotte! He barely noticed Lizzy and me; his eyes were only on you. How did you capture his interest so quickly?"
Lizzy laughed, "The last time we were here, he also invited us for tea. I think that as soon as he saw how well Charlotte reacted with his children, he was smitten. Apparently his wife died soon after giving birth to the younger child."
Charlotte blushed, "They are delightful children. I know he is looking for a mother for them, but I do like him, at least what I have seen of him. I do not mind getting to know him better."
They continued to tease Charlotte and were rewarded with many blushes. Both Bennet ladies knew that their friend wanted nothing more than to have her own household.
In the morning, they arose to find that the skies were heavy with clouds with just a few flakes of snow falling. Elizabeth wondered what the day would bring. "You should be all right to go there. I hope we do not get much snow. The worst that could happen would be if you do get snowed in and have to stay there overnight." She looked at Charlotte and winked at her.
"Lizzy! Just think how improper that would be. Do not even think such thoughts. Do you really think it is safe for us to go?"
"You should be just fine as it is not far. Go and have a good time."
Not long after they left, the snow began to fall more heavily and did not let up; it just kept falling. Elizabeth wondered if her teasing about their having to stay there overnight might just come to pass. She felt just a bit guilty and hoped that she was not turning into her matchmaking mother.
While she was meeting with her housekeeper, she kept watching the sky that was becoming darker and darker with the wind picking up; she could see that the snow was blowing sideways across the windows and was already beginning to pile up in drifts. She soon began to hear the wind shrieking around the house. Ominous black clouds now filled the sky and snow was beginning to fall much more heavily than it had been.
The staff members who had been at the Abbey for some years told her and Mrs. Greeley that these conditions almost always meant that a blizzard was coming and that no one should be sent out on any errands. In just a couple of hours the snow had formed into substantial drifts that appeared to be too deep for a carriage. The temperature had dropped noticeably so the housekeeper told the staff to keep the fireplaces blazing. She was glad that she had listened to her staff's advice and had not sent anyone out for any reason. She had experienced similar storms in Derbyshire but did not realize they might occur here as well.
Elizabeth finally gave up on the work she had planned to do as she was worried about her sister and Charlotte, even though they had plenty of time to get to Mr. Carlyle's estate before the conditions had become too bad. She was sitting in the drawing room with the fire blazing, watching the snow pile up outside the windows while enjoying a nice hot cup of tea. Blizzards as fierce as this one were completely unknown in Hertfordshire although she had heard about them occurring in the northern parts of England. She could not believe what she was seeing and hearing outside the windows.
It was just beginning to get dark when Lady Elizabeth heard some thumping that seemed to come from the front door. She was not sure what she was hearing because of the wind noise. She turned to the senior footman, James Curtin, who was standing by the drawing room door. "James, was that the front door? See what it is. I hope no one is out in this storm." She worried that it might be Mary and Charlotte.
He went to the front door with Lady Elizabeth following him, curious to see what it was, if anything. When he opened the door, the snow began to blow in, but they could still see that someone, no two people, were slumped against the door and fell in when it was opened. They could see that it appeared to be a man with a woman in his arms. She hoped it was not Mr. Carlyle. They were both covered in snow and did not move from the floor. They had so much snow on them that she could hardly believe how they could have survived being out-of-doors in this blizzard.
Elizabeth ran to them. As she reached them, she turned to a maid that had appeared behind them. "Help me with the woman! James, bring the man in. Quickly now! Then get this door closed." Already she could feel the cold wind blowing in.
With the maid's assistance, Elizabeth pulled the woman inside and James, now joined by another footman, dragged the man in. The two footmen managed to shut the door against the wind and snow. Elizabeth turned to the maid, "Get Mrs. Greeley. Now! Tell whoever you see to come here to help us." She began to brush the snow off the woman, disregarding the cold in her hands. She could see that it just a young woman and that it was not Mary or Charlotte. The girl began to moan softly. "She is half frozen. We need to warm her up. I wonder who she is."
Just then, Mrs. Greeley arrived in the front hall. "Mrs. Greeley, these people are freezing. I have no idea why they were out in this storm. Have them take this girl up to a bedroom and get these wet clothes off her. Get her into a warm bath, not too hot, then into bed if she is not awake. Use my warmest nightgown." The housekeeper ordered a footman to pick her up and carry her up the stairs. She and another maid followed them.
Elizabeth then turned to the man, who was also now moaning, even though he seemed to be in worse condition than the girl. James had managed to get most of the snow off him and she could now see his face. She was shocked to see who it was. "Mr. Darcy! What are you doing here? You are half frozen."
She knelt down to him to rub his face, which was ice cold. Her heart went out to him. She did not know what to do to help him, so she kept gently rubbing his face to try to warm it. She did not think that this might not be appropriate for her to do, especially in front of her staff.
She heard him whisper. "Please help us. Carriage stuck in the snow. I came to get help."
"Are there more people there?"
"Yes. Help them."
She turned to the footman. "James, go get as many men as you can, including coachmen and grooms. Make sure they are all dressed warmly. Go find the carriage. It should not be far. Get all the people back here. Bring them into the house. If you cannot move the carriage, leave it and just get the horses into the stable. Hurry now!" He ran off.
Elizabeth turned to Mr. Darcy. "Mr. Darcy, we will look after you and everyone else. Do not worry about anything." She turned to the one footman who was still there. "Help him up to a bedroom. I will show you which one."
The footman managed to get Darcy onto his feet while holding him tightly. They slowly walked to the stairs with the footman almost carrying him. Elizabeth went ahead of them. She could see that Mr. Darcy appeared to have no strength in his body at all; he was almost completely limp. As she reached the top of the stairs, she saw a maid standing there, eyes wide in shock. "Have a bath drawn in the blue room, but not too hot. Then get the fire going there. Get it roaring. Run!"
She guided the footman and Darcy into the blue room. "Get his wet clothes off and into the bath as soon as it is ready. Then put him into the bed to keep warm." She turned to the maid who was lighting the fire. "Make sure the fire keeps blazing. We need to get him warm."
Elizabeth went out of this room and to the door of the room where the girl was. She saw that Mrs. Greeley and another maid were taking her wet clothes off and kitchen staff were already filling the tub. She looked at the girl and saw that she was now awake and seemed to be much more alert than Mr. Darcy had been. She said to the maid, "We will need dry clothes for her. She is about my size, so go tell Emma to bring her whatever she needs from my closet. Just make sure it is warm." She then thought that she would have to ask the footmen to lend their clothes for Mr. Darcy. She hoped they could find some that would fit him as he was so tall.
Elizabeth thought that they would all need something hot to eat, so she left as she saw the girl was in good hands. She went down to the kitchen and was pleased to find that the cook was there. "You heard about the problem with Mr. Darcy's carriage being stuck in the snow? I told James to go get the staff from it and bring them here. They will all need something hot to drink as soon as they get here. Can you get some hot broth or hot soup ready as soon as you can? I am not sure how many there are, probably six or eight. We have two of them upstairs already and the others should be coming in soon. Our staff will also need something hot after being outside in the storm. It is the worst blizzard I have ever seen. I hope they will be all right out there."
The cook immediately gave orders to her helpers and the kitchen began to bustle with activity. Elizabeth knew they would find something hot for them all as soon as they arrived. She left to go back upstairs. First she went into the room where they had put the young girl. She found that her staff had already put her into the tub in the adjoining bath room. She almost walked into that room as she was used to doing this with her sisters, but thought that the girl may not be used to such intimacy. Stopping at the door, she looked in and saw that Mrs. Greeley was pouring water over her head.
"How is she?"
The girl was the one who responded as she turned her head when she heard Elizabeth speak. "Are you Lady Elizabeth? My brother said that we met in Ramsgate but I am not sure that I remember you."
"I am. Are you Mr. Darcy's sister?" Elizabeth's impertinence could not be resisted. "You look a bit different from what I remember at Lady Morley's tea party." She was surprised to see that the girl was so alert as she had seemed to be almost frozen when she found them at the door.
"Yes. Miss Georgiana Darcy. My Lady, thank you so much for looking after me. I am feeling better already. This warm water feels so good! I have never been so cold or frightened in my life. Fitzwilliam was so worried. How is he?"
"My footmen are looking after him and he is likely in a tub as well. That should warm him up. Can you tell me what happened? Why on earth were you out there in this blizzard?"
"When we left Pemberley this morning, it was gray but not snowing. It started to snow soon after we left and just fell heavier and heavier the farther we went. Fitzwilliam knew we would have to find shelter before the carriage got stuck and he said that we were near your estate and that you would look after us. I have no idea how he knew where we were as it was snowing and blowing so much. The snow was so thick that it had built into big drifts and the carriage finally did get stuck. The horses could not move it no matter what the coachman tried. My brother thought we were close to your house and he wanted to go for help, but I would not let him go without me, so we started out together. I got so cold I could not walk; my legs just would not move, so finally Fitzwilliam had to carry me. I think we just made it to your door as he was collapsing when we reached the steps to your house.
"Wait! Our staff! They are still at the carriage waiting for us."
"Do not worry. I sent my people out to get them and bring them into the house as quickly as they can. They may have to leave the carriage there, but I told them at least to get your horses into our stable. Your people should be all right. I expect everyone will be here very shortly.
"I also told the cook to get hot soup ready for when they get here. They will need it, as will my staff. It is not fit for man nor beast out there. We will look after them."
Just then her maid came in with an armload of clothes. "Miss Darcy, I saw that you are about my size, so my maid found some of my clothes for you until yours can be dried. If you are feeling up to it, come down for tea when you are dressed. If you would prefer, just rest in bed until you feel better. The most important thing is that you get warmed up as soon as you can."
"I am feeling much better already. This bath was just what I needed. I believe I will come down. Thank you so much, My Lady." With these words, she sank lower into the tub.