Wednesday, March 3, 1813 – Pemberley

When Elizabeth looked out her window, it was obvious that walking outdoors would not be an option today. A brisk wind was blowing and the rain almost looked like ice. She dressed and wandered downstairs anyway and found Darcy waiting for her as he had the past two days. "Good morning Miss Elizabeth! I think you will agree that a walk outdoors is not to be pursued this morning. I was going to suggest we stroll around the conservatory instead. Does that suit?"

"It suits very well indeed, Mr. Darcy."

Offering her his arm, he led her through a circuitous route which prompted her to exclaim, "I see you are trying to ensure I cannot find this conservatory without your direction, sir!"

"You have uncovered my plan, Miss Bennet. Having seen it once, I know you will want to visit it often and will have to call on my services to guide you there." Saying this, he then led her through a passage way and into the conservatory. It was a very large building and quite warm even in the early morning. Elizabeth released his arm and began to walk by herself stopping every few steps to admire another flower or smell a blossom. Darcy explained that they grew mainly flowers and fruit in the conservatory. Greenhouses, which lay just beyond the conservatory, were where they grew vegetables and greens for the kitchen. Their wanderings eventually brought them to an area with a fountain and several benches and a table. Darcy invited her to sit and joined her in listening to the sound of the fountain in a companionable silence. Finally she turned to him, "I believe I have a question for you, Mr. Darcy."

"Indeed, I await your interrogation Miss Bennet."

"There will be no interrogation this morning, sir. I am requesting, not questioning. Speak to me of you childhood, what manner of boy were you? What did you do? Who were your friends? I would know the young Mr. Darcy."

Darcy felt acutely uncomfortable. His habits of privacy were such that he had rarely talked of his childhood with anyone. He could see Elizabeth watching him closely and was quite certain that his reluctance to disclose this part of himself was obvious to her. Yet if he expected to win her affections, he knew he could have few secrets from her. Not that there was anything particular bad about his childhood, it was simply that he was not comfortable talking about it. "Miss Bennet, I am sure you can see that I am uncomfortable talking about my past. At the risk of boring you to tears, I will attempt to do so."

"Thank you Mr. Darcy. I am not that easily bored."

"So be it. Never accuse me of not warning you." He paused for a few seconds, "I do not have any memories until I suppose I was about four or five years of age. My parents were very traditional and I was in the nursery until I was twelve, I think. My earliest memories are of Christmas. I do not remember if it was at Pemberley or Matlock, since we spent alternate years at each. I can remember the Christmases mainly because my cousins were there and I had someone to play with."

"You had no others to play with?"

"Not that I remember. Wickham was a playmate, though a year or two younger but not always available. During the summers my parents and I would visit the Matlocks for extended periods or they would visit us. I seem to remember spending whole summers in their company. James was three years older than I and Richard, a year older. Frances was three years younger and a proper hoyden as I remember her as a child. We all would roam Pemberley or Matlock on horseback as we got older."

"When did you learn to ride?"

"I believe my father began my lessons – he taught me himself – when I was breeched at about six years of age. He and my mother both loved to ride and as soon as I could stay on my pony they often took me with them. I can still remember how proud I was to be allowed to ride by myself – well, almost by myself, since a groom always accompanied me – it was freedom to roam Pemberley where I willed. I think I may have spent most of my time, when not being schooled, on horseback. I did not realize it at the time but my father began schooling me about Pemberley as soon as I could ride."

He became lost in thought and his contemplation lasted for several minutes before Elizabeth gently returned him to the present. "And how did he do that, Mr. Darcy?"

"Ah, sorry. I was just remembering. My father rode out regularly to inspect the estate – probably two or three times a week. Unless there was a matter of great urgency, he would bring me along. I rode in front of him on his horse when quite young and then beside him on my own horse as I became more proficient. We would visit the tenants, inspect fences, I even remember visiting the grist and saw mills. I did not realize it at the time but he was tutoring me about Pemberley just as my governess was teaching me my school lessons. He would talk to me about Pemberley, its history, my ancestors. As I grew older, he would talk to me more about the estate proper: the people - I believe he knew the history of every tenant and their family - the crops, the land – which areas were best for grazing and which best for crops, which areas always had drainage problems - the minutiae of managing an estate. He was an amiable man. I can remember him getting down off his horse and talking for an hour or more to a tenant farmer about his problems."

"Do you do this?"

"Of course, how could I not? They must know me and be confident in my abilities and concern for their welfare. I believe my father must have known that he was quite ill since he gradually turned most of the management of the estate over to me the summer before his death. I was to have a Grand Tour after I finished Cambridge but my father put it off for a year, citing a concern about war in Europe. Since he died that year in the fall, I suspect he wanted to prepare me as much as possible."

"What were your parents like?"

"My mother was quite beautiful. Georgiana looks much like her but mother was even more attractive. I think Georgiana and I both received her shyness, her reserve. She was most unlike her brother and sister. You have met my Aunt Catherine and can attest to her lack of reserve."

"Indeed, I can. She bears comparison to my mother in that respect," laughed Elizabeth.

"I had not thought of that. I think I prefer your mother's silliness to my aunt's proclivity to advise and importune every one she meets."

"What memories do you have of your mother? You were twelve or so when she died were you not?"

"I was thirteen, I think. I had been sent to school – Eton – Georgiana had been born but it apparently was a difficult birth and my mother developed a fever and died shortly thereafter. I was at school at the time. I can remember my father coming to the school and bringing me home."

"Were you close to your mother?"

"Oh yes. I can remember, if there was not company for dinner, she and my father would eat with me and include me in their discussions. Those are probably my fondest memories of her….oh and Christmas, of course. She loved Christmas. Decorating the house, her family visiting or visiting them. It was always a happy time. I remember her playing the pianoforte and people singing and playing games."

"What was your father like?"

"He was quite amiable. He had no problem talking to anyone. Both he and my mother were quite conservative. Theirs was an arranged marriage but one of the better ones. A truly strong attachment, affection developed between them and my father was distraught at her death. I sometimes wished he had remarried, Georgiana and I really missed a mother. He was an excellent father but could not replace our mother. Georgiana never knew our mother and my memories are a poor substitute. She was but nine when father died and he did not talk to her much of our mother. Perhaps the memories were still too painful."

"What are some of your best memories of your father?"

"There are quite a few. The times we rode the estate tend to blur together and, as I got older, created a great bond between us. Even now I can be riding the estate and recall my father and me at a particular spot and discussing something, sometimes a problem but often not. There is one thing we did every year and that was to travel to our estate in Scotland for the salmon fishing. We would stay a fortnight and often my uncle and cousins would join us. The manor house is quite a bit smaller than Pemberley, more akin to Longbourn perhaps. I truly enjoyed those times. I would like to take my son there and perhaps Mr. Gardiner could join me. I know he loves to fish and there is nothing to compare to fighting and landing a ten pound salmon."

"I am sure nothing would give him greater pleasure. I never thought to ask but do you have any other estates?" Elizabeth did not mention her thought that she and her Aunt Gardiner would enjoy the trip also even if fishing were not their object.

"I have a small estate in Ireland which is where our horse breeding takes place. I have not visited it in a couple of years and will probably have to do so soon. I also have a house in Ramsgate which is being let at the moment. I will probably sell it because of the poor memories attached to it."

Elizabeth nodded in understanding and thought to divert his attention. "I have met your aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Was your mother much like her and is your uncle much like her?"

Darcy paused and thought for a moment, "Is your mother like your uncle, Mr. Gardiner?"

"Point taken…..but my question remains."

"My mother was shy, reserved and not greatly fond of large crowds. She was, I think, rather position or status conscious. She would not, for instance, have befriended your Aunt Gardiner but would have been polite in her company. She was conscious of social rank but not to the extent of my Aunt Catherine. My father was probably more conservative and more conscious of rank. He was truly amiable amongst his peers and to those for whom he had a responsibility but since I rarely saw him outside that circle I cannot say how he responded. In the Derbyshire society, he seemed comfortable and got on well but that society did not encompass a large number of families. That he was quite conservative I know, much more so than I. He probably would be quite disturbed at some of the changes I have made here at Pemberley and in the management of the Darcy fortune. He was a staunch believer in the primacy of land as the only solid measure of wealth and prestige."

"I do not understand. How do you differ?"

"Well, without getting too deep into the subject area, I have introduced crop rotation which he was reluctant to do and I have taken much of the Darcy investments out of the Funds and into manufacturing and trade where the returns are much greater. Georgiana's dowry is the only portion still retained in the Funds."

"Is it the returns alone that have dictated your decision to invest in trade? Or are there other reasons? Do you mind my asking?"

"I am delighted you would ask. Not many women would think to inquire. The change simply makes the most sense. I believe the future will depend more on manufacture and trade than land. I have read the treatises of a number of political economists – Smith, Ricardo – and when you consider the amount of wealth being accumulated by people in trades, one would have to be wilfully blind to ignore what the future portends. As well, the wars have inflated the value of everything including agriculture. I have concerns for the future of landowners."

Elizabeth really did not want to get diverted to a discussion of political economy, as interesting as that might prove with someone of Mr. Darcy's intelligence, "I know only your cousin, the Colonel, and your Aunt Catherine. What are your other relatives like?"

"The Darcy family is quite limited. My father was an only son and I have but two aunts, who were much older than my father, and only a couple of Darcy cousins. One of my aunts was quite estranged from my father. She married poorly in his opinion and I don't remember ever meeting her."

"Poorly?"

"Yes, although I do not know all the particulars. He was a gentleman, I believe, but with a very small estate in Cornwall. I believe she married against the wishes of her family but don't know the particulars, as I said. My other aunt had but two children, both girls, and I have not seen them for ten years or more. They are both much older than I." He thought for a moment or two. "Perhaps I should attempt to reconnect with my aunts."

"And your mother's family?"

"My Uncle, Henry Fitzwilliam, Earl of Matlock is very like my father in most respects. They met at Cambridge and it was probably that connection which led to my father's marriage to his sister. I respect my uncle greatly, he has been very supportive since I took over responsibility for Pemberley. I doubt he would agree with some of my initiatives but also suspect he will adopt those that he believes will work. I know he is planning to introduce crop rotation as an example. The results at Pemberley have been too good to ignore. My investment advice, he is less likely to follow since it would necessitate more contact with people in trades."

"His first son, James, is much like him. He was married several years ago and has two children although I have had little contact with them. His wife is a product of the ton and not someone I enjoy meeting. Again, theirs is an arranged marriage but not one in which I can detect much affection. The Colonel, Richard, you know. I believe him to be the best of the Fitzwilliams and he is like a brother to me. I suspect his career in the army has rubbed most of the conservatism from him. He is truly one of the best men I know. I just wish he did not have to continue in the army. We fear for his safety now that he is with Wellesley."

"What is your Aunt like?"

"Countess Matlock? She has been the closest I have to a mother since my own died. She is truly a lovely woman and would like you a great deal. Her background is rather similar to yours in that she had little exposure to London society before her marriage. She has been trying to find me a wife for several years now. Her daughter, Frances, is very much like her and I have asked her on a couple of occasions to act as hostess for me. She has no discomfort in meeting people from trade and has all of Richard's amiability."

There was one question that Elizabeth longed to ask "Will your family accept me?" But she knew that this was not the time to ask that question. Given the little that Darcy had told her of his relatives and her experience with his Aunt Catherine and himself in Meryton, she was not sanguine that they would ever accept her. That question would have to wait and instead she grinned, "Tell me, were you ever punished? Did your father ever take a hairbrush to you?"

Darcy started to laugh, "Oh yes, I could get into my share of trouble particularly when my cousins were around although I never remember a hairbrush being involved. I think the harshest punishment I received was when I spoke meanly to one of the servants. I don't remember the particulars but I think he did not do something I asked of him and there was a good reason for his response. Anyway my father first gave me a lecture on the proper treatment of servants and then had me muck out the stables for the next five days. That lesson stuck."

"Did you ever get into mischief type trouble?"

"You mean the kind of trouble one gets into by bringing a frog to the dining table?"

"Exactly! What happened?"

"I must have been seven or eight and vastly interested in frogs and snakes. I probably caught the frog down by the lake and, I presume, thought it would be a fine idea to share it with my parents. Bringing it out and displaying it on the table did not go over too well. I believe it jumped into my mother's lap. She shrieked and it went flying. I was so busy trying to capture it, I missed what happened next but I think some china hit the floor. Anyway by the time I captured it again, my father had me by the scruff of my shirt and the frog, I, and my father proceeded outside. The frog got his freedom and I, a dozen of my father's best on my bottom. I do not think I was allowed back to table for a week, not that I could sit well anyway." He chuckled. "I believe my parents eventually got a great laugh out of it."

Elizabeth laughed."It is good to see you do something that I might have done." She sobered and looked at him carefully, "You know, apart from your cousins, I have not heard you mention friends. Did you not have any?"

A rather pensive came over his face, "I have friends, of course, but not a great number of them. I may have made several at Eton and quite a few more at Cambridge but I was generally very reserved and did not enjoy many of the activities of my peers. Those friends I did make, I still have today. I would like them to meet you; they would like you and envy me. Wickham, of course, you know about. We were rather close as children but as we got a little older I sensed a change in him which I failed to understand at the time. It is now clear that, perhaps due to his mother's influence, he began to resent our relative positions. I found him to be increasingly spiteful and inclined to disparage me when the opportunity arose. When we entered Cambridge, he quickly adopted the more dissolute ways of the richer students. Of course he did not have the income to support his endeavours and frequently used his Darcy connection to incur debt. I was forced on several occasions to pay his debts and, in one case, to indemnify a father for his daughter's …. ah …. distress. I did so to hide his behaviour from my father who was quite ill and wished to think well of Wickham. Perhaps that was a mistake but it seemed best at the time."

"I cannot fault your decision, sir. Particularly when your father was ill and additional distress would have made his condition worse. Now I believe it is your turn to question me."

Darcy consulted his watch, "I think our time has lapsed for today. I will importune you tomorrow morning, if you agree. It is almost time to break our fast." Offering Elizabeth his arm they strolled back to where breakfast was being served. Georgiana was at the table and greeted them with delight, bubbling with plans for the day. While Darcy had to meet with his steward for several hours, Georgiana and Elizabeth made plans to practice a duet on the pianoforte and for a picnic lunch in the conservatory afterwards. Due to the rainy conditions, riding was not a possibility.

Dinner that evening was a quiet affair. Jane and Amos did join them for the meal and a pleasant hour was spent afterwards in general conversation. The Stovalls retired early and since Elizabeth wished to visit the library, Darcy and Georgiana joined her to spend several hours in reading poetry and discussing books. It was time well spent, both enjoyable and rewarding as they each became more familiar with the thoughts and opinions of the others. For Georgiana, in particular, it was a revealing insight into the woman she was sure would become her sister and, as well, into her brother who she thought, perhaps because she was getting older, seemed less like a parent and increasingly like a brother. For them all, there was no little delight to be found in their similarities of taste and opinion and, as much again in their differences, which could provoke debate and argument. If the latter flowed from strong opinions, the manner of expression never less than respectful; the winning of such arguments being insignificant compared to the pleasure of the exchanges themselves.