Happy new year everyone! I hope this quicker update is a harbinger of things to come. I plan to complete a chapter weekly going forward. Thank you for following along and encouraging me with your feedback.
It had taken two weeks for Mary's ankle to be well enough for her to venture out again. Mr. Adams had declared the sprain a mild one and prescribed plenty of rest. Georgiana and Miss Baxter visited and helped entertain the patient nearly every day. Then came tentative walks about the room, supported by her sister and friend, and finally longer attempts out of doors. It was during one of these sojourns into Barlow Hall's main gardens that Georgiana proposed the expedition to paint Pemberley's lake. Mary was delighted at the prospect. The Gardiners were persuaded when the use of the carriage was confirmed. It was settled upon by the next day that they adventure would take place three days hence.
The elder Mr. Darcy arrived with the Darcy carriage at the appointed hour. He was to escort the ladies, minus Miss Baxter who was in bed with a minor ailment, to the lakeside where he would leave them to their artistic endeavours for several hours at which time the younger Mr. Darcy was to pick them up and return the ladies home.
The day was bright and warm, and the ladies quickly established themselves with their easels at different points on the lakeside. The younger ladies chose spots near one another in a small grove. Lizzy chose to set up on a small rock formation further down and away from the road. The lake was still as glass and reflected almost perfectly the trees which lined its shores all along the west and north sides. A pair of swans glided around a small cluster of rocks which jutted out near the centre of the small cove along which Lizzy tsood attempting to begin her work.
It did not take long before she was frustrated at her inability to translate to the canvass either the breathtaking sights before her or even her own feelings in having it all set before her. Her canvass contained nothing more than several pots of blue and green and two white dots – the swans.
As Georgiana and Mary continued to focus on their paintings Elizabeth decided she had had enough. Putting down her brush and removing her smock she looked about for somewhere to explore. Behind her a small stream extended from the lakeside back into what appeared to be a small copse of buses and small trees. She decided to follow it.
As it turned out it was not just any bushes. She immediately recognized the fragrance and followed her nose to find the source. Alongside the stream, which was considerably wider as it swept past her as she stood at the mouth of a semi-circle of green-leafed bushes full of light purple blossoms. Almost squealing with delight, she rushed to inspect this new grove of lilac bushes. It was considerable larger than the one in Pemberley's home garden. There were dozens of bushes, two or three deep, arranged in a horseshoe. At the centre was a small cluster of flowering trees. Their pink blossoms combined with the green and purple of the lilac bushes created such a beautiful scene that Elizabeth wished she was talented enough to capture it in that very moment as sunlight broke through the larger trees of the forest behind, leaving small snatches of light across the tress, bushes and their blossoms.
She flitted from bush to bush cupping and smelling the flowers. As she pondered how she might bring lilacs to the gardens of Longbourn Lizzy heard a carriage approaching. Turning she saw that the lovely weather had tempted Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy to come to fetch them in the landau with the hood down. He sat in the back front facing seat and turned to watch his sister and Mary as the conveyance took the bend in the road and came to a stop beside the rocky shore where Elizabeth's easel still rested. Lizzy watched as he took in her abandoned perch and then turned clearly searching for her. His eyes soon found her and she raised a hand to wave. She had thought he would go his sister and Mary, but it became apparent after he looked in their direction and turned away that he was coming to her. Thankful for the distance which concealed her blush and made it impossible for him to hear her racing heart which she was certain was as loud as the nearby stream tripping over rocks and branches. Lizzy took what she hoped was a calming breath.
By the time he was before her Lizzy was as prepared as she could be. She knew that while the sight of him set her off his nearness would bring an entirely new riot of reactions within her. Really a gentleman should not be allowed to be so handsome, so tall, to smell so divine or have a voice like velvet. It was really unfair.
"I see you have found another of Pemberley's lilac clusters," he observed.
"I have," she confirmed. "Are there more? Can I request a map to show me where they all are located that I might visit each one before the summer's end." Her voice quavered slightly, and she thought madly for what to say next to keep his attention and not appear foolish.
"There are many more. While I could probably provide directions to most, I imagine there are some even I have not seen."
Though tempted to take the opportunity to praise his knowledge of Pemberley Lizzy forced herself to instead say -
"Perhaps I will take that as a challenge – to find those that you have not yet discovered."
"I have no doubt you will succeed," he told her causing her heart to race just as she had talked it into some semblance of a normal rythum. "If you are finished with your painting of the lake, we could gather some of these blossoms for you to take back to Barlow Hall."
"I would love that," she said clapping her hands together. "You would not mind? They are so perfect it seems almost a shame to pick them."
"They bloom for so short a time; it may only be a week before they begin to die. Likely no one else will be by here to enjoy them so we should pick as many as we can."
"Yes! You can take some to Pemberley as well. We could put a bunch in Miss Baxter's room. They will no doubt cheer her up and Mr. Barlow too –he would love them. And Daisy as well – she has been so melancholy since . . ." Elizabeth stopped abruptly, covering her mouth with both hands. "I am so sorry – "
"There is no need to apologize, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy interrupted. "I admire your thoughtfulness, but who is Daisy?"
The pair moved toward the bushes and Darcy showed Lizzy how to break the small branch of a cluster to get the most flowers for each bunch.
"Daisy is an upstairs maid at Barlow Hall. Her mother is Mrs. Rhodes, the housekeeper. Since my first summer she has always been so kind to me. She is so beautiful and good – last week she received a letter that upset her." Elizabeth paused to wrestle with a particularly difficult stem. Her hands were nearly full. Between what they had both picked she imagined she could fill several vases.
"The letter contained bad news?" Darcy asked.
'What?" Lizzy looked up form where she was rearranging the flowers she held to make space for a few more. "Oh yes, there was a gentleman, whose name she never told me. She cared for him and he recently wrote to her to tell her he had joined a southern militia unit, and she should no longer consider herself bound to him."
Elizabeth noted that Mr. Darcy was blushing ever so slightly, and she belatedly realized the inappropriate nature of what she had shared. Before she could apologise, he said, "then I hope the lilacs will lift her spirits."
"Yes, indeed."
When they each had their arms full, they moved to the carriage. Elizabeth could see Georgiana and Mary were packing up their things.
"James, would you be so good as to lay the blanket in the back so that Miss Elizabeth and I might place on treasures atop it," Mr. Darcy asked the coachman who stood a few feet from the conveyance tossing rocks into the water.
"Of course, Master Darcy," the young man stepped quickly to retrieve the blankets from under the driver's seat and then placed it in the space in the back of the box.
"Thank you, James," Darcy said as he unloaded his flowered covered branches. Turning to Lizzy he asked, "May I?" she nodded, and he took hers and put them on the blanket as well. Placed that way Lizzy could see how very many they had collected. The pile of lavender flowers, green leaves and grey branches took up the entire space behind the carriage box. She was delighted by the sight and the amazing aroma.
"Look at all the lilacs!' Georgiana exclaimed as she and Mary came to stand by Lizzy and Darcy. "What will we do with them?"
"Miss Elizabeth intends to share them with everyone from Pemberley to Lambton," Darcy declared matter-of-factly.
"How delightful," Georgiana declared.
The ladies showed their paintings, and Lizzy sincerely admired them both. Each one displayed not only a gift at the art of painting but seemed to capture something real about what they saw.
"Where is yours?' Mary asked.
"I left it on my easel – I will go fetch it."
While she did this James and Darcy helped set up the easels by the trees where they could continue to dry. Someone would be sent to fetch them later. Rather than bring hers to show the others Elizabeth set her easel up next to the trees beside her sister's blue and gold streaked canvas and returned to the carriage.
"Will you not exhibit your work for us?" Mr. Darcy asked, a glint of mischief in his eye.
"Yes, Lizzy we would like to see," Mary insisted, and Georgiana agreed. Though the easels were set up only twenty feet from them, across the small lane, Elizabeth had angled hers to face not the road, but the lake. She was not exactly embarrassed by her very poor attempt but nor was she eager to watch everyone examine it and try to find something complimentary to say. Before the other ladies could make the small journey to see it for themselves Darcy came to her rescue.
"It seems there will be plenty of time to see all three works once they are properly dried. James will come back later today, and the next time you ladies are together you can mount your own exhibition."
While Mary and Georgiana assented to this plan Lizzy looked to Darcy with a smile of gratitude. He nodded at her before offering his sister his hand to assist her into the carriage. The ride back to Pemberley was spent in companionable silence. The time spent in the sun combined with the gentle sway of the carriage had affected the youngest members of the party.
Lizzy watched Georgiana's lids slowly close. Her head bobbed forward a little before Mr. Darcy gently pulled her to him. Her head then dropped onto her brother's shoulder. It was not a minute before Lizzy felt a weight on her own shoulder and heard the familiar soft wheezing of Mary at rest. They had been on the road but five minutes. Looking over at Darcy they shared a smile. In that moment she felt less of the frenzy and agitation his presence usually caused. He was an older brother and she an older sister feeling affection for their siblings.
The peaceful connection she felt was shattered a few minutes later when he laughed at the increasingly discordant noises their sisters were making in their sleep – it sounded almost coordinated. Though she had become accustomed to his small smiles and clever teasing over the past few summers, his laughter – which she had only heard once before – was not something she was prepared for. It was at once deep and soft and when she looked up at him upon hearing it the accompanying smile and brightness in his eyes were almost her undoing.