Wednesday July 14, 1813 – Pemberley

Darcy could look back on the past two weeks with much satisfaction and look forward with considerable relief that the next fortnight would allow him to enjoy Elizabeth's company to a much greater extent than had been possible while the Matlocks were visiting. Their departure early this morning meant that their only visitors were Elizabeth's two sisters and Mr. Bennet . The latter was so comfortably ensconced in the library as to be virtually invisible while Elizabeth's sisters and Georgiana, being much of an age, had found endless sources of amusement without reference to anyone else.

The Matlock visit had been pleasurable. Their avowed purpose, to attend and enjoy Georgiana's birthday, had, if they were to be believed, met all of their expectations. That day had been excessively warm and it was fortuitous that Elizabeth had planned a picnic down by the pond. A canopy protected them from the sun and a day of activities was planned culminating in a special event once darkness fell. The ladies had enjoyed playing paille-maille on the expanse of lawn fronting the pond and even the gentlemen had been convinced to participate. However they did extract a promise on the part of the ladies to join them in a simple cricket game much to the amusement of all. Even Lord Matlock was induced to play and showed that his skills as a bowler had diminished only slightly with age. The two young Fitzwilliam children – Harold and Judith, of seven and 5 years of age respectively – were delighted to be included. The Bennet sisters and Georgiana had paid them particular attention and engaged them in games and activities, only desisting when it was time for them to sleep. The evening continued quite warm and their evening meal was served under the pavilion. Somewhat tired from their exertions, everyone was content to rest and converse quietly as darkness slowly fell.

His aunt and uncle were as relaxed as ever he had seen them. While content to sit on chairs whilst the younger members of the party sprawled or sat on blankets spread on the lawn, they appeared to be thoroughly happy as they murmured together casting amused glances at the others. He, himself, was sprawled on the blanket with Elizabeth sitting beside him, her feet tucked in under her dress and her thoughts very obviously elsewhere.

Softly, as not to gain anyone else's attention, he whispered, "Elizabeth, where do your thoughts roam?"

For a few moments he thought she had not heard him and was going to repeat his question when, she turned to look at him with a slight upturn on her lips, "I was but thinking of picnics I shared with my family at Longbourn when I was a child."

"Did your family picnic often?"

"In the summer, yes. Quite often - usually on a Sunday after church." She paused and her eyes took on that abstracted look once more. Around them everyone else had fallen silent as she began to reminisce with a slight laugh in her voice. "We were a lively bunch, you see. Five daughters and a very lively mother. My poor father. I dare say, his library looked very appealing afterwards but he did not desert us. The picnics I remember best were when I was about ten and Jane only twelve. Lydia was the youngest at five. Before it became clear that there was not likely there would be a son to break the entailment. My mother was lively, not frantic and worried which changed her so much. Quite frequently we would invite a neighbouring family to join us – most often the Lucas family – and merry we would make indeed. Our picnics would be out in the garden behind the house. Trestle tables would be set up up to hold the food. My mother loved to entertain and would always try to outdo herself. With so many children, we could play and chase each other, play games while our parents sat under shade trees and watched us. Looking back, I suspect that their enjoyment drew as much from the wine consumed as it did from watching us children. It was amongst the happiest times I can remember as a child."

Drawing her thoughts back to the present, she looked at her husband, "And you, Mr. Darcy. Did you not picnic?" the slight challenge in her voice was unmistakeable.

Before he could marshal his thoughts, the earl interjected, "I find your family's idea of a picnic … interesting, Mrs. Darcy. My father father would have been appalled by it and horrified at how it was done today. I find I am not in agreement with him. I have much enjoyed this day." The earl began then to reminisce about picnics that he remember when visiting Pemberley while his sister was alive. Georgiana came over and sat at her aunt's feet listening to him and to her aunt's occasional contributions and prompting.

When the earl seemed to be getting close to a maudlin stage, Darcy took up the thread of conversation and chose to respond to the question Elizabeth had raised. "I remember that we held picnics quite frequently when my mother was alive and almost always down here by the pond. My father loved them and my mother humoured him, I suppose. From his comments that I can recall, I suspect she found them to be…slightly uncomfortable. Perhaps she simply wasn't used to them as a child." nodding at his uncle, "I suspect my father of teasing her a bit by holding them."

"When she died, my father did not…he seemed to lose all interest in such…" he paused and Elizabeth could see him consciously take his thoughts away from such memories. When he continued, it was in a deliberately happier tone, "Georgiana and I probably picnic several times every summer, particularly when we have guests."

Georgiana piped in, "But not when the Bingleys were visiting!" her laugh drew a grin from Darcy, "No, definitely not when Miss Bingley was here."

At Elizabeth's questioning look, he smirked, "We held a picnic once when she and Bingley and the Hursts were visiting. Right here, in fact. Unfortunately, the day was quite warm, there was a breeze to disturb one's hair, there were insects flying around, birds were making a racket – I am trying to recall if there was anything that she did not dislike."

"She was not unhappy that you were there, Brother!" Georgiana's tease drew a burst of laughter from everyone, including Darcy whose only comment was, "Poor Miss Bingley."

Elizabeth could see it was time to turn people's attention to the reason for the picnic, "I think it is time we embarrass my new sister and shower her with presents." Saying which, she rose and walked to a table covered by a white cloth which she removed. Selected a gaily wrapped package, she handed it to Georgiana before returning to sit by her husband. Everyone was quick to follow her example and soon the pile of presents had been transported from the table to be piled in from of Georgiana.

Embarrassed at being the focus of everyone's attention, she found herself overwhelmed by the variety of gifts she received; A new ball-gown from the Matlocks, jewelry from Lord Fitzwilliam and his wife, a copy of Sense and Sensibility from Elizabeth, sheet music from Mary, a book of poetry from Mr. Bennet, a personal sketch from Kitty and a diamond necklace from Darcy which had been her mother's.

Elizabeth could see that Georgiana was almost overwhelmed by the attention she was receiving but that she was able to retrieve her composure quickly. Waiting until there occurred a brief quiet, Georgiana, with some hesitation and then with increasing confidence, albeit accompanied by a most appealing blush, addressed them all, "First, I must thank each and every one of you for these marvellous gifts. I cannot remember a more enjoyable birthday. Truly I cannot."

She turned our gaze on her brother, "Then I must thank – what a totally inadequate word that is – my brother for gifting me with the most wonderful sister." Facing Elizabeth, she enveloped her in her arms and with teary eyes, continued, "From the moment we met, she has made my life happier, and…" looking at Kitty and Mary, "…gifted me with two more sisters that I have come to know and love dearly."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "The truly wonderful thing is that I can now view the upcoming London season with much less trepidation than I did even six months ago. I cannot explain why, but it is so."

By this time, the sky had completely darken and Darcy rose to command their attention, "I have a special treat planned which will begin shortly. Some of you have been wondering what those rafts are out in the lake. I can now tell you or rather…." Looking at his pocket watch under a canopy lamp, "…show you." Moments later a steak of light ascended into the night sky and then their ears were assaulted by a sound akin to a gunshot, only much louder, followed by a burst of colour as, high above their heads, the rocket burst. For a half hour the assault on their ears continued albeit with diminishing impact as they grew accustomed to the noise - as the sky was rent by a myriad of colours. Even Elizabeth, who had been forewarned about the fireworks, had initially sought refuge and comfort within her husband's arms as the display began. There she remained, more for comfort than refuge, as the show continued. When it was complete, the exclamations of pleasure from all were more than sufficient to convince Darcy that it was worth repeating in the future.

Elizabeth had been uneasy about how well her father and Mary would be received by the Fitzwilliam family. The earl, she knew, was sufficiently quick of mind to realize he was the object of her father's wit should the latter decide to exercise it on him. She could no more expect her father to restrain such exercise should the opportunity arise than expect the sun to rise in the west. Fortunately, the earl was not inexperienced in dealing with country gentleman such as Mr. Bennet and the latter was so bemused by the library that he had little attention to spare for other amusements such as tweaking an somewhat arrogant earl or his equally arrogant son. As a consequence, they were in each other's company but rarely and, when such an unhappy event did occur, Mr. Bennet's contentment with his situation was such as to render him less acerbic than was his usual wont.

Mary, she thought, would be glad of the company of Georgiana and Kitty; and, indeed she was. Her retiring nature fit well with that of Georgiana with whom she shared a love of music. Georgiana's technical competence she quickly found to be superior to her own but it was a gentle and tentative suggestion by the younger girl about the type of music she played that had the most profound effect. No one had really impressed upon Mary that the real purpose of performing was to provide pleasure to her listening audience and that technical superiority was a poor substitute for music that did not entertain. Elizabeth had noticed a small improvement after only a few short weeks and wondered at her own inability to have prompted such a change. As it was, Georgiana and Mary had, between them, managed to charm everyone with pianoforte duets and their solo efforts in the evenings. The other aspect of her sister's character that she had dreaded was Mary's ability to interject biblical homilies at the most inopportune times and while this trait had been somewhat tempered by the events of the past year, it had not been eradicated altogether. Fortunately, Mary had been sufficiently impressed by the consequence of the Fitzwilliams as to be reluctant to venture any opinions in their presence.

Mrs. Reynolds had not been slow to express her delight with the incursion of guests and, in opposition to her master, was very much anticipating the even larger number that were expected the following month. As she succinctly expressed to Elizabeth one morning, "Pemberley, in my opinion, has entertained much too little over the past ten years or more."

Shaking her head at the sad memories involved, she reminisced, "Ever since the death of Mrs. Darcy, the Master's mother, there have been few such activities and those that have occurred, involved only a very small number of guests."

Elizabeth smiled, "I believe that is changing."

"For the better in my opinion, Mrs. Darcy. The dinner that you held for our neighbours provided excellent training for the extra staff that we hired. I think your suggestion to have Darcy House send several of its staff to Pemberley to assist when the Darcy families are visiting next month will prove provident."

The dinner itself had been flawless. Five of the more notable families in the area had been invited to dine with the company already present. They had come to acquaint themselves with the new Mrs. Darcy and, she realized, to assess her performance as hostess. They had left content in the knowledge that Pemberley was once more to be a presence in Derbyshire society. It was agreed by them all that Mrs. Darcy was everything that was amiable, beautiful and interesting and none been had left in any doubt of her husband's affections. Mrs. Reynolds had observed the pride with which the Master had beheld his wife as she moved effortlessly to ensure the comfort and pleasure of their guests. The only thing that was lacking, she thought, were children and she suspected that lack would be of short duration.

Darcy was particularly happy to see his uncle's gradual thawing towards Elizabeth. He could not be sure that either would ever be entirely comfortable in the other's company but his uncle's demeanour was much more relaxed. As Elizabeth had acknowledged, "I no longer feel as though I am under constant scrutiny." When Lord and Lady Matlock departed, the earl had taken his leave of Elizabeth saying, "I believe my nephew has chosen his wife wisely, Mrs. Darcy. Our stay here has been quite enjoyable and we hope to return the favour by having you visit us in the near future."

Elizabeth had simply nodded and replied, "Thank you, your Lordship. It will be a pleasure."

The earl looked at Elizabeth for a few moments before apparently coming to a decision. His next words caught Elizabeth quite by surprise, "I think you must call me Uncle Henry from now on and I shall call you Elizabeth."

Elizabeth's surprise elicited a small wintry smile from the earl, "I assure you, Elizabeth, you will get used to it."

"I will try Your…" At the earl's raised eyebrow, Elizabeth rolled her eyes and laughed, "…Uncle Henry."

"Better! Much better!"

The countess stepped towards Elizabeth and embraced her, whispering in her ear, "Welcome to the family." Releasing Elizabeth, she bestowed a kiss on Darcy's cheek and taking her husband by the arm, they entered the carriage to return to their home.

Having seen his guests off, Darcy had removed to his study and was sorting through the letters which had been placed on his desk. Reynolds had already separated out those for the other residents including one for Mr. Bennet. Now he, Darcy, must sort his own into business and personal letters. Today there were only three of the latter – including one from his Aunt Juliana in Cornwall which likely had to do with their planned visit in August. Bingley had also written but it was the third letter that was of most interest. It was from James Simpson. It was addressed to Darcy House in London and sent on to Pemberley by express. He wasted no time in opening the letter and, having scanned it quickly, immediately opened the door to his study to request a passing maid to find Mrs. Darcy and have her attend him in his study. As he waited for Elizabeth to arrive, he read the letter once more - slowly.

Kingston, Upper Canada

May 17, 1813

Dear Sir,

I fear you must have begun to despair of receiving any communication from me. I can only plead that circumstances have been such as to prevent an earlier response. I hope that the explanation which follows satisfy such concerns as you may have.

The voyage from London to Halifax took some five weeks. We were fortunate as to the winds and neither Miss Lydia nor I were poor sailors, a circumstance that many of the other passengers could not claim. Once landed in Halifax it became a concern as to how to reach our destination. The route most favoured during the winter was through the United States. We could, of course, not avail ourselves of that route however, and we perforce had to wait in Halifax for the St. Lawrence river to unfreeze. It might have been possible to travel by sleigh up the river but I did not want to risk such a venture. We left Halifax on April 23 since the river appears to have thawed somewhat earlier than was usual. We arrived in Montreal a fortnight later to be told that troops from the United States had invaded Upper Canada. We were advised that it was reasonably safe to travel as far west as Kingston and to there we did go arriving some ten days later travelling by sleigh the whole distance.

Once in Kingston we learned that the United States Army had burned York with most of the population having fled east to Kingston. Among them was your agent, Mr. Alcock, who we encountered by accident. Once informed of your wishes as contained in the letter we provided, things were speedily resolved. Miss Lydia and I were married a fortnight later in Kingston. The letter to her parents was posted at the same time as the one you now hold. I can only assume both letters will reach their destination similarly. Given that the marriage took place in Kingston rather than York, we have re-written the letter accordingly.

Our plans are now to continue on to York as soon as it may be safe to do so. Mr. Alcock proposes to travel with us and will assist in locating a workable farm or acquiring such land as might be available. With the destruction that has resulted from the hostilities, I surmise that the chance of acquiring a good farm, from someone discouraged by such hostilities, to be quite good. The one enduring memory of our trip so far is the vastness of this country. We have spent but a month of travel to reach Kingston and would require several more to reach the western boundary. It is vastly different from England or Scotland with settlements widely scattered and travel dangerous, not because of brigands or animals, but from the ice and snow. There is vast amount of land and few people to work it. I cannot but see this as a great opportunity for myself and the family that we hope to create.

I will write further when we arrive in York and have more information to impart. I would add that Miss Lydia – now Mrs. Lydia Simpson – seems content in the marriage and that I have had no cause to repine.

Your obedient servant,

James Simpson

By the time he had read the letter twice more, Elizabeth had entered the room concerned that some matter of urgency had arisen. Upon being told to shut the door, she did so and came to stand at Darcy's shoulder. He passed her the letter saying only, "From James Simpson – finally."

Taking the letter, Elizabeth walked over to the chair by the fireplace to read it in comfort. After several minutes, Darcy joined her and sat opposite in the other chair. Finally she looked up at him, "I take comfort that Lydia is finally married and seems not unhappy. Are they in any danger?"

"I do not really know. From what I can determine, Kingston should be safe enough since it is the main army and navy centre."

"I suspect that a letter should be arriving for my father shortly." At Darcy's quiet nod, Elizabeth released a sigh, "I cannot help but admit to a certain degree of comfort that Lydia is finally married. To my shame, I also concede a certain satisfaction that she is separated from us by an ocean and is not likely to embarrass us further."

Darcy smiled, "I believe your father is planning to encourage Mrs. Bennet to visit them as soon as may be."

"Oh, Papa." Elizabeth was pensive for a few moments before continuing, "Thank you for sharing this with me. I am easier in my mind. Now, the day is beautiful and I have no hostess duties to speak of. A brisk long walk is my wish. Can I entice my very handsome husband o accompany me?" Saying which she rose and held out her hand.

Darcy looked over his desk. There was nothing of immediate concern and he had little desire to deal with anything else. "If I am not imposing myself on you, I would desire nothing more than to walk with you." Moving to take her offered hand, he let her lead him from the room.

"You, sir, are never an imposition."

The letter that arrived for Mr. Bennet was indeed from his youngest daughter. Since Mr. Bennet had, for the most part, forgotten her existence, the letter had caused him some surprise. She had long been the least favourite of his children and her absence had been more a blessing than otherwise given the diminution in noise at Longbourn that was the fortuitous result.

Recognizing her hand, he had little doubt of the contents and while his usual preference would have seen the letter placed on the pile of correspondence that he would read at some later date, in this instance he chose to open and peruse it directly.

Kingston, Upper Canada

May 17, 1813

Dear Papa,

I hope this letter finds you and Mama well. I have news of some import for my family. As my last letter imparted, Mr. Wickham and I planned to travel to the Canadas to settle there. We reached York before Christmas and decided to settle there for the nonce. However a great misfortune occurred. My dearest George ventured out with a few friends one evening and failed to return that night. I did not discover what happened for two days. George was most shabbily treated by his friends who plied him with strong drink and left him to find his own way home. The constables here say he must have fallen asleep and died of the cold. No one found his body for two days. I am sure that there is some carelessness on someone's part for how could such a thing happen.

Fortunately I had sufficient funds left that I was able to live comfortably although I did not know what I should do with myself. While York is a dreary place, the society is quite lively and I was able to dance several times. I do not like mourning clothes and not being able to be out in society is too dreary for words. I was enjoying meeting several handsome young men when I had to flee York along with most everyone else because an army from the United States burned York. Why ever would they want to burn such a dreary place, I cannot understand. Anyway I was able to find a means to travel east to Kingston where most of us stopped. While there I met a Mr. James Simpson who is so very handsome and has five thousand pounds to buy an estate in Upper Canada. He is unmarried and was looking for a wife. After courting me for several weeks, he made an offer of marriage and I accepted. We were married two days ago and plan to travel back to York now that it is safe to do so. I am surprised to admit that I found Mr. Simpson's company much preferable to that of George. I think we will be quite content together.

I will write further when we have settled permanently in one place.

Your Daughter

Lydia Simpson.

To his amazement, Lydia's letter also contained a short missive from his new son-in-law which he read with no little enjoyment.

Kingston, Upper Canada

May 17, 1813

Dear Mr. Bennet,

Let me begin by offering a humble apology for not seeking your consent before marrying your daughter. I can only plead the exigencies of our situation that prevented me from doing so. Be assured, sir, of my utmost respect for you and your responsibilities as her father but separated as we are by months of travel and cognizant of our need to settle and establish a household, I did not see how I could do otherwise than offer to marry your daughter as soon as was possible.

I hold your daughter in the utmost respect and affection and I have every reason to believe she holds me in similar esteem. I am possessed of sufficient monies – some five thousand pounds - as to be able to purchase a sizeable property and construct decent accommodation upon it. I make no pretence that it is comparable to a property in England but I have every hope that, with diligence and hard work, we might be able to attain modest affluence.

I wish – or rather, hope – that you will extend your support and blessing to our union. Despite the manner in which this marriage has been undertaken, I have not treated your daughter with anything less than the strictest propriety. I know that she joins with me in desiring your blessing on our marriage.

I cannot, in good conscience, suggest when we will be able to return to England. It is quite possible that we both will end our days here. I will endeavour to keep you and your family apprised of events in our life. My wife informs me that she is an indifferent letter writer so I suspect that burden will fall on me. It is one that I willingly assume. I cannot as yet provide an address to which any letters may be directed but I would hope to be in a position to do so within the next few months.

Most Sincerely,

James Simpson

Mr. Bennet took some few minutes to consider this news before venturing forth to impart to his daughters, the intelligence which they contained. He would urge Lizzy to write Mrs. Bennet to apprise her and the other inhabitants of Gracechurch Street of the tidings from Lydia. He had little doubt that his wife would not delay to write her Sister Philips to impart the good tidings and that it would be known throughout Hertfordshire shortly thereafter.