Early Tuesday morning Darcy House
Elizabeth woke early on Tuesday, despite falling asleep very late. She was still tired but knew she would not get any more sleep now.
She dressed quickly without disturbing Jane. Elizabeth planned to sit in her favourite chair in the library and work on her story.
Hunger was her first concern, but it was way too early for any food to have appeared in the breakfast room. Once downstairs, Elizabeth found a footman and requested a cup of tea and a roll to be served in the library.
Early Tuesday morning Darcy House library
It was not long before her breakfast, much more than tea and a roll, arrived.
"Good morning, Miss." The maid deposited a tray on the low table in front of Elizabeth.
"Hello" said Elizabeth "Thank you. That's lovely."
"I'll just do the fire."
"Oh, thank you!"
It was much easier to think after an excellent breakfast in front of a warm fire.
Elizabeth worked on her story for a while, then thought about everything that had happened since arriving in London.
After that, she fell asleep. Curled up in her chair, its back to the door, Elizabeth was invisible to anyone entering the library. Voices woke her.
"Where's the list?" said one voice.
A paper crackled "Here" said another.
A few moments silence.
"I've never heard of any of these, Charles."
"You may not have them, Darce. Matthew said they are ones to look out for. They would be very valuable."
"Mr Darcy" thought Elizabeth "and Mr Bingley." She resisted the temptation to peek around the edge of her chair and see that perfection of face and hair. Would his hair be down or tied back today?
"Really old ones can be valuable too."
"Why wouldn't Matthew come with us? It'd be much easier if he were here."
"I think he has an aversion to selling books."
"Why? It's not his library!"
"A general aversion, not a specific one. "
"He doesn't have tight fisted and greedy people controlling his life! You never had trustees, did you Charles?"
"No." said Charles "Matthew said if you didn't spend so much, you wouldn't need to sell your books."
"Since when does he know or care about my expenditure?"
"He suspects you gamble to excess."
"Not as much as he."
"He wins."
"So do I, sometimes. Life's one big gamble. How does someone like Matthew know so much about books?"
"He reads a lot."
"I read, but I don't know what's valuable. Matthew said you already have a claim on one of those Miss Bennets. Which one? It'd have to be the beautiful blonde, knowing you, although Miss Elizabeth has her charms."
"The blonde."
"So, I can't pursue her, can I?"
"No, you can't."
"Luckily, I am just teasing you. My heart belongs to Caroline."
"Now I'm certain you're teasing. You have no interest in my sister."
"I think there are some old ones in this cabinet, Charles. Some are falling apart."
"They should be in reasonable condition to get a good price."
"Look Charles, I found one that's on the list! I'll just grab a few more from the same shelf."
Still and quiet in her corner, Elizabeth heard the sound of books being stacked on a table.
Darce called the nearest footman "These need to go to Graingers, like before."
"Of course, Mr Darcy, I'll get a box."
Soon after, the men and books departed, and all was quiet again.
"More gaps on the library shelves" thought Elizabeth. Of course, Mr Darcy had noticed Jane. Mr Bingley did not believe Mr Darcy was enamoured of his sister Caroline, no matter what he said. Mr Darcy's praise was gratifying, she supposed, but very hard to take seriously. Say one thing, mean something else. He is so beautiful but, there is definitely a but.
Elizabeth remained in her chair until it was Darcy House breakfast time. As she walked towards the door, she noticed a small book left behind on the floor. She picked it up and placed it on a nearby shelf.
Tuesday morning Darcy House breakfast room
Elizabeth arrived at the breakfast room just as everyone was sitting down. Never adverse to a second breakfast, she greeted everyone and fetched a cup of tea and a delicious looking pastry.
"Georgie" she said "I was in the library early. It was very comfortable, and I fell asleep. I woke to the sound of voices. It was Mr Darcy and…"
"Oh dear…not again!" said Georgie
"He was taking books to sell, wasn't he?" asked Anne. "Did he speak to you?"
"He didn't know I was there."
"What a poor excuse for a brother I have!"
"Georgie!" said Anne, then sighed and shrugged with a small laugh. "No, it's the truth. No point hiding it. He is poor, in every sense of the word."
"I don't know why he is always needing money."
"How could your brother be short of money?" asked Elizabeth "You mentioned he has two estates."
"He has more than two estates, but Darce won't fully inherit until he is 25 so his trustees have him on an allowance."
"I see."
"I fear for Pemberley when he does inherit. He has not been there for years. Darce has no interest in the land and the tenants, only the money it makes."
Anne said "You should write to his trustee, again. That works for a while."
"Our father was the same and books were also involved!" said Mary "He did nothing to improve his estate or save money. Over time, good tenants left, and his income lessened. All Papa wanted to do was hide in his study and read all day. He spent a lot of his income on books, leaving his family impoverished and at the mercy of Mr Collins."
"Another example of how we are dependent upon the quality of the men in our lives" said Anne.
"Indeed" agreed Mary.
"Can you get the books back?" asked Elizabeth. "I know where they were going."
"Graingers?" asked Anne
"Yes" said Elizabeth.
"It's a difficult situation" said Georgie "Darce's trustees didn't want to contact the bookshop due to the potential for gossip. They really can only remind Darce that he does not yet have the right to sell anything from the estate without the trustees' permission."
"I see." said Elizabeth "You know how we went to see our aunt's uncle and aunt the other day."
"Yes" said Anne
"I don't think we mentioned their names. They are Albert and May Grainger of Graingers Bookshop."
"Oh, I see."
"With the Gardiners away, the Graingers were our only London contacts, until we met you of course!"
"So, Mr Grainger is helping you with your story? What a great contact to have."
"Yes" said Elizabeth "I have almost finished making the changes he suggested so I will visit him again soon."
"How amazing it would be to write a book that gets published" said Anne "You must be very clever, Lizzy."
"Thank you, Anne. I am mostly just determined to support us. Who knows what the publishers will say? I am hopeful, but there is a long way to go!"
Tuesday morning, Hurst House
Miss Caroline Bingley was concerned. She had not seen nor heard from her brother Charles in several days, almost a week!
Caroline cast her mind back. The last time Charles had disappeared he was infatuated with the entirely unsuitable Miss Alice Baker. That was well over a year ago.
In the past year Charles had been very attentive, visiting his sisters and brother every couple of days and happily squiring Caroline to various social events. He had not shown any interest in the several suitable ladies Caroline had introduced him to, which was frustrating, but at least there was no apparent interest in any unsuitable ladies. Now, Caroline wondered what Charles was up to.
The other disadvantage of a disappearing Charles was that Caroline had received no recent information about her personal target, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Fortunately, Caroline had her sources of information. She expressed her concerns to her sister Louisa Hurst and asked her to summon her maid, Emily, who was sister to a footman who worked at Mr Bingley's house.
"I don't like it, Caroline" said Louisa "You know Reg does not like us gossiping with servants."
"Oh Louisa, how is he going to know? Anyway, what's the point of having strategically placed servants if one doesn't make use of them?"
Caroline prevailed and Emily soon arrived in the sitting room.
The maid did not disappoint. She was aware of Miss Bingley's expectations.
"On Wednesday, early, Miss Darcy came to see her brother, but he was out."
Caroline stared. That was most unusual. "Was she alone?"
"No. There were two other ladies with her."
"Two. I see." That would be Miss de Bourgh and their companion. "Mr Darcy was out, you say?"
"Yes Miss, my brother thinks Mr Darcy went out with his uncle, the earl."
"What happened then?"
"Mr Bingley came out of the breakfast room. He was surprised to see the ladies but invited them for breakfast. Joseph heard one of the ladies say they needed help. The ladies went into the breakfast room with Mr Bingley. Mr Avery was there too. Moments later there was another caller, a soldier, Captain Fitzwilliam."
"Captain Fitzwilliam!" So, the earl's third son was back from war. Caroline nodded. "Continue" she said.
"Joseph tried to hear what they were talking about but couldn't. Soon Mr Bingley called for the carriages, and they all left."
"Where were they going?"
"They didn't say but later the carriage driver told Joseph they all went to Fitzwilliam House and Miss, when they came out again, they had Mr Darcy and three more ladies with them!"
"Three more ladies!" Caroline could not help her surprise. "Who were these ladies?"
"The carriage driver didn't know, Miss. They all went back to Darcy House."
"I see. Did Joseph report anything else unusual?"
"Just that the gentlemen all went to dinner at Darcy House, that evening. Oh, and Miss, Captain Fitzwilliam is now staying at Mr Bingley's house."
Dinner. Darcy House. Caroline silently fumed at her Not Invited status. She shook it off. The servants had done well. She rewarded the girl, told her to be sure to share it with Joseph and dismissed her.
Caroline and Louisa were not sure what to make of all this, but Caroline suspected that one of these mysterious ladies was the reason for Charles' disappearance.
Caroline wrote a note to her brother asking him to call soon and sent one their footmen around to Darcy House to see if the knocker was on the door.