Mr. Darcy spent the rest of the afternoon closeted away with Papa. Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Jane spent some time with Miss Darcy getting to know her.
It took a bit of work, but gradually, the two sisters managed to convince Miss Darcy to open up. Elizabeth realized, to her shock, that much of Miss Darcy’s shyness came from a lack of confidence. Given Miss Darcy’s status, this seemed utterly impossible. Miss Darcy must have grown up in a situation where every need and many of her wants were filled without her even asking. It only seemed natural that such a situation would lead to confidence.
Yet, confidence in herself and her ability to please those around her was exactly what Miss Darcy was lacking. As Elizabeth realized this, her initial reaction was to think that Mr. Darcy must be a harsh guardian, but she immediately withdrew that opinion.
She had heard him speak about her with affection often enough at Rosings to know that such a thing was impossible. Shecould think of nothing else that would create such timidity in a young lady who should expect the world to be handed to her on a silver platter.
After a while, Elizabeth put such thoughts out of her mind and focused on chatting with the young lady and getting to know her.
Miss Darcy had all the typical interests of a young lady. She loved to shop, not just for clothing but also for little knickknacks and other items that caught her attention. She enjoyed trying her hand at designing her gowns, though she had not yet succeeded in creating one that her dressmaker completely approved of.
Her primary interest, however, was in music. She played both piano and harp, and she practiced for many hours every day.
After the three young ladies had chatted for a while, Elizabeth suddenly remembered that they had a piano in the music room. After mentioning it, she asked, “Shall we go see if it is any good? If it is, you will be able to practice even while you are visiting with us.”
“I would not wish to put you out in any way,” said Miss Darcy.
“It is no bother, I assure you,” said Elizabeth as she stood up. “I play piano as well, as does my younger sister, Mary. We would need to take a look at it sooner or later anyway.”
The three ladies headed to the music room. It was a fairly small room just off the largest drawing room with the two rooms being connected by a large pocket door.
The piano had a prominent place in the middle of the room. It was a beautiful instrument. Its glossy black color made it somehow both stand out and blend into the backgroundsimultaneously. The general shape was perfectly normal, but there were plenty of scrolls of decoration carved into it wherever possible, and the feet had been carved into the shape of cat paws.
Elizabeth approached the piano nervously. It was clearly very old. She wondered when it had last been played. Which duchess had purchased it and played it? Did she love music, or was it simply a chore?
She ran her hand along the top before lifting it and propping it up, which would allow the sound to travel properly. She was pleased to see that, just like everything else in this enormous, empty house, it had been kept free of dust.
She turned to Miss Darcy and gestured toward the seat. “Would you like to do the honors?” she asked.
“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly, Lady Elizabeth,” she said.
Elizabeth had planned on insisting, but when Miss Darcy used her new form of address, Elizabeth remembered her station. She realized it would be very unkind to force Miss Darcy to take precedence over herself in her own home.
“Very well,” said Elizabeth.
She sat down on the bench. Like every other piece of furniture, it was faded and worn, but at least there were no holes in the fabric. She lifted her hands to play one of her favorite tunes which had a short dancing sort of melody.
Within only a few bars, however, she stopped playing. The noise coming out of the beautiful instrument was absolutely horrid.
“Oh my,” she said. “That is quite something.”
“Yes,” agreed Miss Darcy. “That was definitely something.”
After glancing at each other, clearly seeing both the shock and dismay on each other’s faces, they each burst into giggles while Jane looked on with a smile.
Once the laughter was gone, Elizabeth said, “I believe we will need to have the strings completely replaced, possibly a few hammers as well. We may even need to simply replace the instrument completely. What do you think, Jane? Should we try to repair it or replace it?”
Jane ran her hand along the side of the piano. “I think it would be a shame to replace such a beautiful instrument. Let us see if it can be repaired.”
“I agree,” said Miss Darcy. “Though it is probably not my place to say my opinion, I must at least admit that I have never seen a more beautiful piano. It would be a shame for such workmanship to be consigned to the fire. If you do plan on repairing it, there is a craftsman in Derby who we call in occasionally to tune the two pianos at Pemberley. We have never had any issue with his work.”
“Thank you for the information, Miss Darcy,” said Jane. “I will let my father know.”
~~~~~
Elizabeth didn’t see either her father or Mr. Darcy until dinner. Once they were all seated for dinner however, she asked, “So, how did things go with the ledgers today?”
She was looking at her father when she asked, but she was curious how Mr. Darcy would respond. Out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that he was rather surprised that she would ask such a question.
