Page 18 of Regrets

In this manner, the days slipped by quickly.

Georgiana had changed a good deal since coming to Rosings. Anne’s weakness required Georgiana to be strong; Anne’s shyness required Georgiana to be bold. In trying to help her cousin become stronger and bolder, Georgiana had herself become stronger and bolder. And she prided herself on how well she had succeeded in making their lives more pleasant! Mrs. Jenkinson left them alone as often as they wished, and now they had this lovely little phaeton for their pleasure!

Georgiana sometimes thought that she, like the many flowers that filled Rosing’s gardens with their perfume, had truly blossomed under the warm sun of southern England.

***

One afternoon, Anne whispered to Georgiana that they might take their little phaeton to the nearby village of Hunsford.

“How far away is it?” Georgiana whispered back.

“I think it will take us about half an hour to get there,” Anne replied, still speaking quite softly.

“And another half an hour to get back. What will your mother say if we are gone so long?”

“She is visiting tenants today,” Anne whispered, gleefully.

“So we only have Mrs. Jenkinson to be concerned about,” Georgiana murmured. “What do we tell her?”

They stared at one another for a long minute, and then Anne whispered, excitedly, “I will tell her that we are going to look for wildflowers while we are riding through the Park in order to press them into an album!”

“So we may be gone longer than usual as a result of stopping for the flowers! Brilliant!”

Their plan worked. Mrs. Jenkinson thought the idea of an album of pressed flowers perfectly lovely. “I will look for an album,” she said. “There is certain to be one in the schoolroom that can be pressed into service! Oh! I made a joke, did I not? Pressed into service?” She was delighted with herself.

The two girls laughed, as they knew they must, and then they hurried out. “We must bring a footman, you know,” Georgiana said. “Or people will stare at us.”

Anne thought for a minute. “Jack will keep our secret; wait here.” She was back a minute later with a young footman; his eyes were twinkling at the idea of being part of this escapade. “I promised him that I would take all the blame if my mother finds out,” she assured Georgiana.

“We will have to find some flowers, you know,” Georgiana said. “Or Mrs. Jenkinson will suspect us.”

“Oh, we are certain to see some on the road,” Anne replied.

“There are shops in Hunsford, are there not?” Georgiana asked.

“There most certainly are; have you any pin money?” Anne asked.

“Yes, two quarters’ worth,” Georgiana said. “Do you?”

“Yes, as I never seem to have occasion to use what I am given. Let us go shopping!”

***

To ladies accustomed to Bond Street, Hunsford would have been a great disappointment. But to two girls who had not been outside the grounds of Rosings Park for many weeks, it was paradise.

The phaeton took them to Hunsford with no difficulty at all; Jack tied the phaeton and Socks to a rail, and walked behind the two girls as they wandered the main street. The shopkeepers seemed to know who the girls were, though Anne could not recall the last time she had been to Hunsford, and treated them with respect. It was not long before Jack was carrying parcels for them.

They stopped for tea at a café, and Anne gave Jack a coin so that he might purchase a drink for himself at the pub across the road.

Georgiana noted the position of the sun and said, worriedly, “We had better be off, Anne.”

They collected Jack and went back to Socks and the little phaeton. They made for Rosings Park with all possible speed, stopping now and then to quickly gather flowers.

When they finally pulled into the gravel drive that led to the house, Anne was beginning to feel nervous. Were they too late? “Quickly, Jack, take the phaeton round the back and bring the parcels into the house!”

Jack did so with great speed, and it was just in time, for Lady Catherine’s carriage came around the bend and into the gravel drive as the front door closed behind them. Fenworth stared at the two of them, shaking his head, but when Georgiana put her finger on her lips with a pleading expression on her face, his own visage changed. He smiled and nodded, mimicking her gesture.

***