Mama’s mouth dropped in a gasp, but then she stiffened and shook her head. “Oh, Mr. Bennet, how you tease me! You see, do you, what I put up with?” she lamented to Aunt Gardiner. “He is forever trying to get a rise out of me, but I say, I will not have it! No, indeed, I shall not be baited into excitement over something six months away that no one can even tell for certain. Everyone knows I am the model of patience, and he is trying to upset me.”
“Indeed, my dear, for I like nothing better than to hear and see you in a perpetual state of agitation.” Papa sipped his wine, raised his brows, and saluted my uncle with his glass. “An excellent vintage.”
“You approve?” Uncle Gardiner asked. “I only just had it brought in from a little winery in Kent. It is nothing to the French wines, of course, but more than passable. The weather is favorable for growing, and the distance easy, which saves a great deal on the cost, of course.”
“Yes, you see, Brother, that is precisely what I have been saying!” Mama lamented. “The weatherisfine, and it is an easy journey. I have been telling him he ought to take us sea bathing, but will he listen?”
“My dear, you mistake my refusal to go to Kent for failure to listen. Be assured, I have, indeed, heard you. I simply choose not to exert myself to the journey.” He sipped a little more wine. “And expose myself to ridicule,” he mumbled under his breath.
“What, ridicule! Only if you donottake us. Mr. Bennet, your daughters’ health! Sea bathing is essential this year to withstand the heat and bring the blush to their cheeks. Why, all the fine young ladies partake. Think of our complexions.”
“I daresay their complexions already spark envy, my dear. Shall we risk a county-wide scandal?”
Ignoring him, Mama turned to Aunt Gardiner. “Sister, you see the benefits, do you not? A change of air! There is nothing to it. Why, you ought to come with us.”
Aunt Gardiner held up a hand, shaking her head. “I am afraid I cannot. We are off to Lambton next week, actually.”
“Lambton?” My head snapped up, and my heart fluttered against my ribs. I had not heard the name of that dear town in years, and I gazed at her as if she had just cracked my soul open.
Aunt and Uncle both glanced at me, then shared a look. “Yes, Lizzy. I had a letter from my sister Helen. She married Mr. Westing of Farthingdale three years ago, and she is in need of some… assistance.” She glanced at Uncle again. “We intend to travel on Wednesday. Your uncle shall return directly, but I may remain until autumn.”
I swallowed. “And… and where is Farthingdale, exactly?”
She thinned her lips and sighed. “About three miles from Lambton, just north of the old Turnditch Road.”
My stomach twisted, and my breath caught. “That is not far from Pemberley.”
“Elizabeth,” Uncle warned. He said no more, but the shake of his head was enough to still the words of denial I saw simmering on Aunt’s lips. She did not wish to say them any more than he did, but they appeared to be unanimous in their opinion. I should not be asking about Derbyshire, or Lambton, or Pemberley.
“Come, come, Lizzy, you look as if you would ask to go along,” Papa scoffed. “What of all the officers I just mentioned? Should you not prefer to set your cap somewhat closer to home?”
I bristled. “I am not thinking of ‘setting my cap’ for anyone. It is only that I have not seen the Peaks district since I was almost too young to remember it, and perhaps I could be of some help, Aunt. Did you not say your sister had a young daughter already?”
She hesitated. “Anne Rose is two, but she already has a nurse.”
My shoulders sagged. “Please, Aunt?”
“It is not a holiday, Elizabeth,” Uncle Gardiner added. “There will be precious little time for pleasure and no entertainment for you.”
“Entertainment! I offered to help, Aunt. Surely, there issomethingI can do. And if we brought Jane as well,” I offered archly, “you needn’t be at any pains to exert yourself for my amusement. We know how to make ourselves useful and discreet, do we not, Jane?”
Jane’s eyes widened, and she sat back in her chair. “Oh, Lizzy, I do not know. To invite myself, I cannot…” She shook her head.
Aunt sighed and gave Uncle a long look. “To be quite truthful, Helen did say that Anne Rose’s nurse wished to travel to see her mother—apparently, she is ill. Helen agreed, so long as the nurse returned before the new baby arrived. I suppose…” She leveled a cautious look at me, her mouth quirked into a frown. “You twocouldbe very helpful if Helen agrees. My dear?”
Uncle Gardiner wiped his mouth and raised a brow at me. “Lizzy, you may well find things… very different to what you recall. Things are never quite the same as we remember in our childhood.”
I leaned forward with a grin. “Uncle, I am counting on it.”
He sighed and frowned, then turned to Mama and Papa. “Well?”
Papa shook his head. “If they prefer the rocks and trees of Derbyshire to the officers of Meryton, what am I to do on the occasion?”
Mama gasped and swatted at him with her handkerchief. “How you tease me! Mr. Bennet, did you not hear the name ‘Farthingdale?’ Why, with such a fine name, surely there will be good company and perhaps even single gentlemen in the area. And if not, they will be home well in time to meet these officers you claim are coming to Hertfordshire.”
I sat back in my chair and smiled at Aunt. She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Very well, Lizzy, you have got your wish. I will write to my sister.”
Three
