“I do not believe our plans are fixed. Our sole purpose was to ascertain the arrival of Mr. Collins’s package from London.”
“Can I entice you to accompany me to the inn for a small repast? Mr. Collins has sung the virtues of the Hunsford Inn’s apple bread, and I confess, I am curious to its merit.”
Georgiana’s head snapped up with the first hint of pleasure Darcy had witnessed in their recent acquaintance. “Apple bread is my favorite.”
“Is it?” he asked, with a knowing smile. “Extraordinary.”
Elizabeth approached Jane and informed her of his invitation, and they then set out, basking in the sunshine. Darcy began to hum but tempered the joy he felt at his sister’s upturned spirits. Miss Elizabeth glanced at him from the corner of her eye with a crooked grin.
They walked companionably along, Mrs. Collins catching up as Darcy held open the door for the three ladies,and they took a seat at a table in the corner. A young girl played an old Scottish folk song on the nearby piano, when unexpectedly both Darcy and Georgiana said in unison, “My mother used to play this song.”
They looked at each other, one smiling and the other in shock.
“I wonder if our mothers played this as a duet,” Georgiana said. “Did you not say our parents knew one another? You even remembered Sir Lewis’s pointer’s name.”
Darcy swallowed the lump in his throat and gave a weak smile. “Quite possibly, yes.”
“Would you tell me what you remember of my parents? I love to hear stories of them.”
He watched as his sister’s features eased.Thiswas his Georgiana, and he would fulfillanyrequest she asked of him. “Of course. Our fathers were friends from Cambridge. They were in the same societies, and our mothers had known each other from the women’s seminary in London.”
“How lovely.”
“Yes.” Darcy swallowed again, trying not to wander too far from the truth lest he was called upon to recount the story at another time. “I remember visiting Pemberley as a child and sliding down the bannisters of the grand staircase.”
“That is one of my favorite activities from my youth too,” Georgiana said, a soft lilt in her voice.
“I also remember your housekeeper, a Mrs. Reynolds, I believe, taking me down into your kitchens when I fell from the tree in the garden and hurt myself.”
“The willow?” she asked with excitement.
“The very one. Our parents were at an event at Lord Malvern’s estate, and, although I was not too terribly injured, she knew there was nothing a warm scone from Mrs. Roger’s kitchen would not fix.”
“Mrs. Roger’s scones,” Georgiana said with more feeling than he expected. She then whispered, “How she cried when I married.”
For no other reason than to bring his sister joy, Darcy persisted in the same vein, intentionally ignoring the pain in his heart at his sister’s statement, and reminisced about his true childhood at Pemberley.
“If I might ask,” Darcy began, “does Mrs. Roger’s still reside at Pemberley? If not, I might have to attempt to steal her and her delicious cooking away.”
Georgiana offered a weak smile. “I do not believe so. She retired shortly after we took up residence in Kent with my cousin Anne.”
“You no longer reside at Pemberley then?” he asked with more calm than he felt.
“Not at this time.”
He recognized the expression which crossed her features. He had seen it twice before, in another life: once upon the death of their father, and the other at the death of her innocence at Ramsgate. He determined not to press the issue but instead seek out information from different sources.
“Well, then my own cook is in luck, and her job is secure, until I can find Mrs. Rogers again.” His jest carried the mood as he had intended, and the three women began to discuss local topics and interests, as well as the delicious apple bread.
“This is delectable,” Elizabeth said, finishing her slice.
“Yes. It reminds me of home,” Georgiana said before reaching for her gloves. “So very little does now. I feel it is just a wisp of memories I have conjured up.”
He strained to hear her final words as a sadness crept into her voice.
“I hope it is a pleasant memory?” Darcy asked as the ladies stood.
Georgiana shook off her doldrums, and her face brightened. “This whole afternoon has been one pleasantmemory after another. I thank you, Mr. Fitzroy, for giving me a moment of my childhood back.”
