“Need you ask? With six females in the house?”
Mr. Darcy could only shrug.
“Have you no female relatives, Mr. Darcy?”
“Only a younger sister, sixteen years of age,” Mr. Darcy replied. “And she is a quiet girl, not prone to histrionics or dramas of any sort.” Here he winced a bit, recalling all too well the drama of the previous summer, when Georgiana had almost run off with George Wickham. But he put all thought of that aside.
“Your mother?”
“Dead. Father as well.”
“Oh, dear. I am sorry, Mr. Darcy; it was not my intent to dredge up painful memories.”
“It was some time ago, Mr. Bennet, and it no longer troubles me.”
“No longer troubles you? Why, how long ago was this?”
“My mother died when my sister was born, and my father two years ago.”
“Just two years? And it no longer troubles you? I do congratulate you, sir, on the control you appear to have over your emotions.” Mr. Bennet’s voice was doubtful.
“It was my father who taught me the philosophy of Descartes,” Mr. Darcy said.
“Cogito, ergo sum,” Mr. Bennet quoted.
“Precisely; my esteemed father would not want me to grieve long over his death.”
“Interesting,” Mr. Bennet said, thoughtfully. Then he straightened and said, “Very well, then; put that mighty brain of yours to work, for I intend to trounce you quite thoroughly.” With that, the two men bent over the chessboard.
The first game went to Mr. Bennet, though it was a close game. “Again?” he asked.
“Yes, indeed; I must have a chance to even the score,” Mr. Darcy said.
The second game went to Mr. Darcy.
“It is a tie now,” Mr. Bennet said. “Either we play another game now, or you return tomorrow.”
Mr. Darcy looked out the window; the skies were threatening. “I walked here, so I think it best that I start back now.”
“Have you no horse?”
“Oh, I have my carriage horses, and two of them are broken to the saddle; I simply choose to enjoy the air.”
“You like the out of doors?”
“Very much; I am really just a farmer, Mr. Bennet.”
“As am I, I suppose,” Mr. Bennet sighed.
“But you do not like it?”
“No; I was supposed to be a tutor at Cambridge.”
“Really! What happened?”
“My parents and elder brother died of scarlet fever. It was my brother who was supposed to inherit Longbourn, not I.”
“I am sorry to hear of it. And you have not yet learnt to enjoy your new role, I take it?”
