"Are you quite comfortable, Jane?" Bingley asked, looking down on his precious wife who was seated on a plain wooden chair in the shade of a convenient oak tree.
"I am, Charles. Pray do not worry," Jane answered, smiling reassuringly. In fact, she felt reasonably well at the moment, and the pleasant shade and cool breeze were most refreshing.
"Is it not lovely?" Louisa Hurst asked from her own chair under a neighboring oak tree.
"It is," Jane agreed, looking around. The hunting lodge was a charming, half-timbered building composed of one main block with an additional wing built off the southwest side. It was not large, but it was, like everything else on the estate, well built and maintained.
"The servants will bring out the food for the picnic in about five minutes," Darcy announced, walking up to the party reclining under the trees.
"Good," Hurst grunted, speaking for the first time since they had left the mansion.
"Where are Miss Darcy and Elizabeth?" Miss Bingley asked. She, along with Jane, Louisa, and Mr. Hurst, had traveled in a carriage, whereas Elizabeth and Georgiana had arrived in a phaeton.
"They went to observe a pond situated half a mile from the lodge," Darcy explained. "It is one of Georgiana's favorite locales, and I am confident Miss Bennet will enjoy in it as well."
"I am certain she will," Jane agreed warmly. "Lizzy greatly enjoys observing nature, especially when the sights are new to her."
"Oh yes," Caroline said with a dramatic grimace, "it was apparent on our recent visits to Chatworth and Dovedale that Elizabeth was quite indifferent to the beauty of those great houses, but cared only for the grounds, and the wilder the better."
"There they are!" Jane said hastily, standing up as Georgiana and Elizabeth appeared from behind the lodge. She and Darcy stepped forward to greet the girls, which allowed Charles to rush over to Caroline.
"That will be ten pounds," he hissed into her ear.
Caroline's eyes widened in surprise. "What are you speaking of? I said nothing that was untrue!"
"You sneered when you spoke of Elizabeth's delight in wilderness areas. Do not prevaricate, sister. It was obvious to everyone here that you meant to denigrate her."
Caroline opened her mouth in protest, only to shut it. She had hoped that Charles would think better of his idiotic championship of Elizabeth Bennet, but his determination had lasted two days now, and she was down eighty pounds already!
Heedless of the drama between Charles and Caroline, Elizabeth reached out impulsive hands toward her elder sister and said, "Oh Jane, you would love the little lake up there. There are goldfish!"
"Are there?" Jane exclaimed with more exuberance than was common for the generally placid Mrs. Bingley. "Oh, how marvelous! I love goldfish!"
"Do you?" Georgiana asked, peering doubtfully at Mrs. Bingley.
"I do! When I was a child of six, my dear uncle Gardiner gifted three goldfish to my aunt Gardiner to celebrate their first anniversary. I spent literally hours sitting in the parlor watching them swim around in their bowl. They seemed magical!"
"Did you also enjoy your aunt's goldfish?" Georgiana asked, regarding Elizabeth gravely.
Elizabeth laughed and shook her head. "No, for I was but four when Jane was six, and I confess to being an overly active, even unruly, child. Jane was always far more sensible and sedate. If I had been permitted in the parlor, I am certain the bowl, and its poor goldfish, would have found themselves on the floor in no time!"
"How far is the pond?" Jane asked eagerly. "Perhaps Charles and I can walk there after we dine!"
Elizabeth pursed her lips in thought and said reluctantly, "I fear it might well be too much for you, at least for now, my dear. It is … I do not know. How far is it?"
"I am not certain," Georgiana said. "Brother, how far is the pond from here?"
Darcy found himself struggling to speak, having been strangely affected by the sight of Miss Bennet, her handsome face flushed with exercise, her eyes bright with enthusiasm, a few of her chestnut curls escaping her white bonnet. She was glorious!
"It is a full half mile," he finally managed to say, "and the path is moderately steep in one place."
"Oh, I should not attempt it then," Jane said, obviously disappointed.
"Perhaps you can visit Pemberley in the future," Georgiana suggested with a smile, provoking a surge of amazement in her brother's heart. Georgiana had obviously decided that Mrs. Bingley, too, was a safe friend.
"Perhaps we will," Bingley agreed, coming up and beaming down at his bride. "However, I would be overjoyed to buy you some goldfish for Netherfield if you would like it."
Jane flushed with pleasure and said, "Oh I would, very much, Charles, though not at the expense of the Millers' house…"
"Darling, we are entirely capable of rebuilding a tenant house and buying some goldfish," Charles said fondly, then glanced at Darcy and explained, "I received a letter this morning that one our tenant families lost their house to a fire."
"Was anyone harmed?" Elizabeth asked worriedly.
"They escaped without injury," Jane said, "but lost everything but the clothes on their backs. Charles sent an express letter to our steward this morning instructing him to provide temporary shelter in the back stable, but that will not do for long."
Caroline, bored with this talk of tenants and their tiresome needs, chose this moment to approach the group and interject, "Oh, how delightful this is, Mr. Darcy! I declare there is nothing as enjoyable as eating out in nature under the blue skies of heaven!"
Darcy, noting that the servants had by now placed platters of food on a simple trestle table, said, "I believe it is time for us to sit down and dine. Shall we?"
/
The meal was an unqualified success for everyone but Darcy.
Mr. Hurst, who considered himself something of a connoisseur of fine food and drink, was pleased by the cheese pastries, sausage rolls, mushroom pies, apple tarts, and cold lemonade.
Jane Bingley and Louisa Hurst both of whom felt queasy, were delighted with the fresh strawberries and clotted cream.
Bingley, Georgiana, and Elizabeth ate heartily of the various dishes while they discussed Robinson Crusoe, with a particular focus on the more absurd aspects of the plot. Jane, who adored the book, argued cheerfully with her sister over certain points, which Georgiana found inspiring. She had never observed two people debating vigorously but not antagonistically. She had not even known such a thing was even possible.
Caroline Bingley, smarting from her recent argument with her brother, was elated to snatch the seat next to Darcy, and she used the opportunity to monopolize and flatter that gentleman ceaselessly through dinner.
His companion's simpering compliments were, of course, why Darcy did not enjoy the meal as much as he hoped. He was thankful, however, to observe Georgiana's contentment. He had never seen his sister so comfortable nor so ready to speak with anyone outside her immediate circle.
It was only after the meal was over and the ladies and Mr. Hurst had returned to the carriages, and Bingley and Darcy to their horses, that Darcy realized that he had watched Miss Bennet as much as he had Georgiana. The lady's piquant countenance and verbal repartee with her elder sister had caused him, more than once, to lose the thread of his conversation with Miss Bingley. That was no great loss on his part, but he prided himself that he always behaved in a gentleman like manner. Based on Miss Bingley's smiling face as she climbed into the carriage, she was not distressed, so he ought not to concern himself.
Nonetheless, he was unsettled – not about Miss Bingley, but about Miss Bennet. All day yesterday, his sister's words had rung in his ears. Elizabeth Bennet was a most remarkable lady, and Georgiana seemed well on her way to adoring her. He himself was strongly attracted and even entranced by Miss Bennet's unusual vigor and views and by her intelligence, graciousness, and kindness. But could he, should he, marry a woman with relations in trade, a woman totally unknown by the Ton in London? Was that fair to Georgiana, to his estate, to the Darcy name?
He sighed to himself as he directed his favorite stallion, Phoenix, to fall in behind the carriages as they began rolling back toward Pemberley. He wished, suddenly, that Richard Fitzwilliam were here. His cousin, as the son of an earl, was born into the cream of society; however, as a second son and an army colonel, Richard had more respect for those of supposedly lower birth. Indeed, Colonel Fitzwilliam had often railed at the idiocy of upper class officers while also applauding the courage and diligence of simple privates.
Yes, he would very much like to speak to Richard, who perhaps could advise him on his conundrum.
/
/
Author Note: I hope you all are doing well. My family and I are all on the tail end of having covid again after a couple difficult weeks. Thankfully none of us had any of the possible scary symptoms, and we all appear to be on the mend. Thank you for reading my story and take care! - Laraba