Prompt: Just desserts
TO ADMIRE A GAINSBOROUGH PART 4
After Elizabeth had spent a lot of time looking at Mr. Darcy's sketchbooks she had a feeling that she understood him much better - and not at all.
"Sometimes your life appears rather difficult in these books," she said.
"It might give you a slightly biased view," he said. "You should understand that I have mostly turned to sketching whenever I was trying to make sense of a problem or something was troubling me. So there would not be so many pictures of those times when everything was going well."
She had not yet come across any sketches of herself.
"I think you would probably prefer to view the last few sketchbooks in more privacy than the gallery affords," Mr. Darcy said. "Normally I keep them under lock and key."
"Why? Have you drawn my niece in something risque?" Mr. Gardiner frowned at him disapprovingly.
"I have drawn a lot of things," Mr. Darcy said. "Several of them are mere hypotheticals, and I would not wish anyone to get the wrong idea about them. My father always told me that a good planner takes into account many alternative scenarios, and that is what I was trying to do. But if anyone took them for actual events it might embarrass Miss Bennet and I could not have that."
"I do not know if I should be scared or not," Elizabeth said.
"Are you asking me?" Mr. Darcy said. "If you let me decide for you, I should obviously prefer not. But you see why I would prefer to conduct this interview in private."
"A private interview behind closed doors does not sound like something I should allow," Mr. Gardiner said. "Under the circumstances."
"Perhaps we can take some time to think about it," Mrs. Gardiner said. "We should be getting back to Lambton if we are to make our dinner engagement in time."
Mr. Darcy invited them to return the next day, and no hour was too early for him. "Come for breakfast, if you wish."
After Mrs. Gardiner got over the first shock of seeing Elizabeth's pictures she thought that all this was quite romantic, and that Elizabeth should not throw away the chance to be the mistress of Pemberley. "If he asks you to marry him, do not be a fool."
"I think he already asked," Elizabeth said. "But I am not sure it counts as I made him do so."
"Marrying you would be his only honourable choice," Mr. Gardiner said. "If his servants gossip about the pictures you could be in a very compromising situation."
"Mr. Darcy assured me that Mrs. Reynolds is very trustworthy," Elizabeth said.
"Yes but that girl, Molly, recognized you too, and we know nothing about her," Mr. Gardiner said. "I am very uneasy that Mr. Darcy forced you in such a predicament."
"To be fair, he could not have foreseen that I would end up visiting," Elizabeth said. "What are the odds?"
"Do not mention the portraits or the marriage proposal at the dinner party," Mr. Gardiner warned. "We can try to find out more about Mr. Darcy but let us be discreet."
"Of course," Elizabeth said.
They had been invited to dine with the Howards in Lambton. Mr. Howard was the vicar of Lambton, and Mrs. Howard was Mrs. Gardiner's aunt. There was another couple, the Rushtons, who remembered Mrs. Gardiner well from her youth.
"It has been such a long time and it is a delight to see you again," Mrs. Rushton said cheerfully. "And what a pretty niece you have brought."
The introductions were warm and friendly, and Elizabeth felt welcomed. Mrs. Gardiner was asked to tell the ladies all about her children, and Mr. Rushton inquired about Mr. Gardiner's business. Mrs. Howard shared the latest news about her children and grandchildren, the youngest of whom was four years old.
"She is a very bright girl," she said.
Mrs. Gardiner wanted to know how the Rushtons had been for all these years, and whether their children were all married. They were not, but their son had just met a very nice girl and Mrs. Rushton was hopeful that there might be some news to share soon.
"I am so glad," Mrs. Howard said. "They deserve all the happiness in the world."
Then Miss Bennet was entreated to tell them all about her home in Hertfordshire. "Four sisters! What a merry family you must have had! And are all your sisters still at home?"
"My eldest sister has lately married."
The ladies were inordinately interested in the fortunes of people they had never seen, and some time was spent pleasurably describing Jane's wedding, her house and her husband's plans for renovations.
When that topic was exhausted, Mr. Rushton had the happy thought to inquire about their travels. Mr. Gardiner described their route and all the stops they had taken. Mrs. Gardiner exclaimed about some of the magnificent houses they had visited. Elizabeth expressed her pleasure in the beautiful views they had had the good fortune to see.
"My aunt said Derbyshire is the prettiest place in the world and although she might be biased I am not going to argue with her."
"Today we stopped at Pemberley," Mr. Gardiner said. "The finest house in these parts, I understand."
"There are a couple of larger manors," Mrs. Howard said, "but none as well kept. The Darcys have lived in the area for centuries."
"Oh, yes, we saw the portrait gallery," Mr. Gardiner said. "The oldest paintings were Elizabethan in style, I believe."
"And did you admire the Gainsborough?"
"It was certainly interesting," Mr. Gardiner said.
"I did not see it," Elizabeth said.
"I believe Mr. Darcy could sell it for a pretty penny," Mr. Rushton said.
"Yes but I do not think he is interested in selling it," Mr. Howard said. "It belonged to his grandmother."
"Do you know Mr. Darcy?" Mrs. Gardiner asked.
"Yes, everyone knows him in this town," Mr. Howard said.
"Mind you, not very well," Mr. Rushton said. "The boy likes to keep to himself."
"Some say he is very proud," Mrs. Rushton said.
"I think he is just cautious," Mr. Howard said. "He would rather say nothing than say the wrong thing."
"There is nothing wrong with being quiet," Mrs. Howard said. "I expect that a man of his stature needs to establish some boundaries or risk being taken advantage of."
"The Darcys usually worship in Kympton but he was very generous when the Lambton church needed some renovations last year," Mr. Howard said. "He paid for the roof tiles and donated the new altarpiece. It catches everyone's eye."
"I look forward to seeing it next Sunday," Mr. Gardiner said. "Who painted it?"
"I do not know," Mr. Howard said. "It is unsigned, and Mr. Darcy said the artist was not looking for personal fame."
Mrs. Rushton approved. "Quite right, for it is the message of the painting that should be the focus in God's house."
"What is the message?" Elizabeth inquired.
"Beatius est magis dare quam accipere," said Mr. Howard.
"It is more blessed to give than to receive," Mr. Rushton translated.
"Young Darcy has certainly taken that to heart," Mr. Howard said. "If there are needy souls in the parish he is always ready to help."
"He was a kind boy even when he was a child," Mrs. Howard said.
"We used to see more of him when I tutored him and a couple of other boys from the neighbourhood in history, Latin and Greek," Mr. Howard explained. "Before they went to school."
"Margaret's little Johnny might benefit from your tutoring as well," Mr. Rushton said. "If you were of a mind to take on more pupils."
"I had not planned to, but sometimes I do miss it," Mr. Howard said. "Young children have such a fresh outlook on things, and sometimes one has to think about things from a new point of view in order to answer all their questions."
"What were some of the questions you remember?" Mr. Gardiner asked. "My eldest son wants to know why people should learn Latin if no one speaks it now, and I have been at a loss to explain it to him properly."
"Oh, I remember my pupils asking about that also," Mr. Howard said. "Young Wickham in particular thought it was a waste of time to learn something that was only useful in reading dusty old books. I dare say he has not read any in his life, so he may have been entirely correct."
"Young Wickham?" Elizabeth asked.
"Oh, George Wickham was his name," Mr. Howard said. "He lived at Pemberley at the time."
"I have met him, I think," Elizabeth said. "He is an officer in a militia regiment that recently stayed near my home."
"Oh, he has found honest employment?" Mr. Rushton said. "We are so glad. It is two steps above a horsethief at least."
"Young Wickham was such a polite boy but he had no head for languages, and no interest in any kind of studying," Mr. Howard said. "I think he copied his homework from his friend. They always made the same mistakes, until I started giving everyone different assignments. Then he complained to the elder Mr. Darcy that the homework I gave him was far too difficult. But I told Mr. Darcy that George Wickham's assignments were more elementary than anyone else's."
"He always was looking for the easy way out," said Mrs. Howard. "He was the kind of child who was never hungry for the soup and ate just his desserts."
"In that he has changed, I think," Elizabeth said. "He ate very generous helpings of all my mother's courses whenever he dined at Longbourn."
"A prudent man does not spit at free food," Mrs. Rushton said.
"Lessons one can learn from history," Mr. Howard said. "Reading about famines has certainly made me more appreciative of my wife's fine table."
"Mrs. Howard, I dare say I speak for all of us when I say we are all appreciative of your fine table," Mr. Gardiner said.
"I am so happy to have you all here," Mrs. Howard said. "And I hope we can meet again, while you are in the area. Have you made many plans for your stay in Lambton?"
"Our plans are not quite fixed," said Mr. Gardiner. "But tomorrow we thought to tour the grounds at Pemberley. We only had the time to view the house and the housekeeper told us that there are several lovely footpaths that we should not miss."
"Yes, the views are very picturesque from what I remember," said Mr. Rushton. "Although it has been many years and I have not seen the park at Pemberley during the current master's reign. I am afraid that my hiking days are over."
"I do not think he has changed the scenery much," said Mr. Howard. "He always had an eye for natural beauty. He once painted me a lovely portrait of Alexander the Great surveying the kingdom from the top of a mountain."
"Oh, he was of an artistic bent as a child?" Mr. Gardiner succeeded in displaying an admirably mild degree of polite interest, and Elizabeth was grateful to him because it kept Mr. Howard talking about the subject of her recent fascination.
"I recall he also drew a picture of Socrates drinking the poison," Mr. Howard said. "He wanted to know why, and I did not have a good answer for him."
"A lot of history is rather upsetting," Mrs. Howard said. "Those classical tales are often very dark as well."
"Murder, mayhem, and betrayal," Mr. Rushton said. "It is very hard to know who one can trust when anybody can be a god disguised as a swan."
Everyone laughed.
"I think I still have some of his drawings somewhere." Mr. Howard went rummaging through his bookshelves and eventually found the drawings between the covers of a large atlas.
The drawings were childish in style and some had written assignments in Greek or Latin on the other side.
"The other boys complained about the Greek letters and said learning to spell English was hard enough. But young Darcy liked the shapes and had very beautiful handwriting in Greek."
"I struggled with the letters myself," Mr. Rushton said.
"My goodness," Mr. Howard said. "I had forgotten the elephants."
Elizabeth saw the picture of Alexander the Great on the mountain top. The view before him was a flowery valley, like a piece of paradise. But Alexander's troops stood behind him, riding ferocious war elephants, ready to pillage and destroy.
"Is there blood on their teeth?" Mrs. Gardiner asked.
Another picture was a chaotic scene of an emperor facing an angry crowd. The caption was drawn like a carving in stone, and said, "ET TU BRUTE".
When Elizabeth looked closer at the details she saw that the emperor was busy being backstabbed. The characters were all ancient Romans clad in togas, yet the backstabber's smirk reminded Elizabeth inexplicably of Mr. Wickham's smiles.
"Mind you," said Mr. Howard. "I do not think these elephants are an accurate depiction."