Chapter 8
Even after he was out of his official mourning period for his wife, Stephen had no desire to return to London. It was there, after all, that Matilda had betrayed her marriage vows, and Stephen could not help but wonder which of his friends had been the father of her child. Even if he knew who it was, he would always wonder if that man was secretly mourning the loss of Matilda or their child.
It was a secret war Stephen had no wish to fight.
So, he stayed at Snowhaven, his estate. He occupied his time by interfering with his steward, all the while making a mess of things and spending more money than he ought to on repairs and maintenance that should have been straightforward.
He also spent far more time with his son, Travis, than most fathers of his station. A part of him felt so guilty that Matilda had been such a poor mother, that he had always tried to be both mother and father to his son.
In the summer of 1811, after Travis turned five, Stephen bought his son a pony to teach him how to ride. Once Travis was sufficiently accomplished at it, the father and son spent every sunny day riding for at least an hour. Stephen took a great deal of pleasure showing Travis the extent of their property for the first time.
Towards the end of August, Stephen began to think it was time to return to London. Though he did not relish the thought of possibly bumping into his wife’s former lover without knowing it, he could not let that fear rule the rest of his life. He had friends of his own that he hadn’t seen in two years, and it was time to return.
He refused to leave Travis behind, however, so he bundled both Travis and his nursemaid, Sally, into the carriage for a very long ride to London. If he was travelling by himself, he would have gone much faster, but travelling with an energetic child required frequent stops, turning a journey that should have taken one and a half days into a three-day trip.
For an entire month, Stephen spent every day at his club and most evenings at various parties. He caught up with all his old friends, and there was much news to share. Any time someone mentioned their condolences on the loss of his wife, he merely shrugged, not really caring what they thought of his response.
A month of such a whirlwind of activity was enough. Ten years ago, Stephen would have found it hard to believe that he would ever find London boring or repetitive, but he did now. Every day was the same, the same people, the same activities, the same boasting, and the same gambling.
He began to think that it might be time to return to Snowhaven even though it wasn’t any less boring. An accidentally overheard conversation stopped him short, however. One day towards the end of September, Stephen happened to hear Darcy talking to his friend, Mr. Bingley, while at their club.
“So, you’ll be leaving tomorrow, then?” asked Darcy.
“Yes,” replied Bingley. “I’m going ahead of the group so I can get the household staff up and running and introduce myself around the neighborhood. I’ll be back in a week or so to collect Caroline and the Hursts. I hope you’ll be ready to go by then.”
“I am afraid business will keep me here in London until the thirteenth, but I will be able to join you after that,” said Darcy. “I may say, Georgiana is quite looking forward to it. I haven’t seen her so happy about anything since this past summer, and rarely even before that. She seems to be quite fond of Miss Bennet.”
“I am only happy to help,” said Bingley. “To be honest Caroline is overjoyed to be hosting Miss Darcy. She keeps talking about how she is looking forward to becoming better friends with her.”
Stephen was surprised to see that this statement elicited a frown from Darcy, but he didn’t respond verbally. Stephen decided it was time to interrupt.
“Going somewhere, Darcy?” he asked.
His good friend and cousin nearly rolled his eyes. “You’ve clearly been listening in, so of course you know I am.”
“Where will you be going?” Stephen directed his question more towards Bingley than towards Darcy. One of the advantages of his status as Viscount was that people rarely told him to go away, even when he knew he was being rude or pushy.
“Hertfordshire,” said Bingley. “I found a lovely house just outside of Meryton that I am leasing for the next year. The grounds are extensive, and there is plenty of hunting and fishing to be had. Darcy and his sister have agreed to be my guests for a few months. Caroline and Louisa will be coming as well, along with Louisa’s husband. We will be a merry little party, I’m sure.”
Stephen squinted his eyes in thought. He had been contemplating going somewhere new instead of just going backto Hilldale since his estate was no less boring than London had become. Here was an opportunity to get some country air without being completely isolated.
He decided to be bold. “It sounds delightful,” he said. “How would you like to issue an invitation to me and my son?”
“Your son?” asked Bingley.
Darcy merely looked at him reproachfully.
“Yes, my son,” said Stephen. “He is only five, but he is an intrepid adventurer. Why only last month, he helped me slay the dragon that was stealing oats from my horses. It was a small dragon, and it looked kind of like a rat, but I can assure you it would have breathed fire if we had let it.”
Bingley laughed. “We can always use such brave knights at Netherfield. I would be happy to have both of you join us as well as your son’s nurse.”
~~~~~
A little more than two weeks later, Stephen was on the road to Hertfordshire. He was riding in Darcy’s carriage with Darcy and Georgiana along with Travis and the nurse. Behind them was Bingley’s carriage with Bingley, his two sisters, and his brother-in-law. Behind that was the Hursts’ carriage and Stephen’s carriage, each carrying various servants, valets, and ladies’ maids.
None of the adults was particularly fond of the idea of stopping frequently to allow Travis to work off his energy, so each of the passengers in Darcy’s carriage had been working hard to entertain the little boy. Despite their efforts, he was truly cranky by the time they got to Netherfield.
Immediately upon their arrival, Nurse Sally whisked Travis away to the nursery. Before the rest of the group could follow suit, Bingley stopped them all.
