Page 6 of Regrets

“Are there any plans for you to go to London?” Georgiana asked. “I mean, you will have to have a Season, will you not?”

“I do not know,” Anne said, shrugging again. “I do not think Mother will permit it.”

“What do you do all day, Anne?”

“I take little walks in the rose garden. I work on my French with Mrs. Jenkinson. I take naps. I am sorry, Georgiana; I know it does not sound very exciting. But with you here, perhaps we will think of more things that we can do.”

“Perhaps I might join you when you work on your French? I speak it fairly well, but I know that practice is essential if one is to retain one’s fluency.”

***

Georgiana’s suggestion that she participate in the French lessons was an inspired one. Mrs. Jenkinson had been quite concerned about the arrival of this cousin. Indeed, she had begun to fear losing her employment as a result of this Miss Darcy’s arrival, for what need had Miss de Bourgh for a companion if she had a cousin in residence?

But Georgiana made it clear to her that she would be here only for the summer, and that she was eager to be part of the French lessons.

“And Italian?” Georgiana asked.

“I do not speak Italian,” Mrs. Jenkinson said.

“I do; may I not instruct both of you?”

Anne was eager to learn Italian, and Mrs. Jenkinson saw no harm in it, so the three of them agreed to study languages together. Anne then whispered to Georgiana that she very much wished to play the pianoforte; might Georgiana not teach her?

Georgiana now felt that her decision to stay at Rosings had been entirely right. If naught else, Anne might learn to play!

Chapter Six

Doctor Fleming will come today,” Lady Catherine announced at breakfast the next morning.

Anne immediately dropped her fork. “But, Mother, I am doing so much better, surely there is no need!“

“There is every need,” her mother said. “He has been absent these past weeks due to a prior commitment in London, but now that he is returned, he must come and assess your current state of health.”

Georgiana listened to the interchange with wide eyes. “But Anne is not ill, Aunt Catherine,” she said. “Anyone can see that she is just rather weak.”

“Have you studied medicine, Georgiana?” Lady Catherine asked, tartly.

“No, of course not, but –“

“Then let us leave any diagnosis to the men who have, shall we?” And with that, the subject was closed.

***

Anne had been so upset by the prospect of the doctor’s visit that she had eaten nothing whatever after her mother’s announcement. By the time Doctor Fleming arrived, black bag in hand, she was pale and tired.

Greetings were exchanged, Georgiana was introduced. The doctor apologised for his long absence, saying only that he had had occasion to visit with some colleagues; Lady Catherine graciously accepted his apology.

Anne asked, timidly, “Might my cousin stay with me while you examine me, Doctor?”

“Certainly,” he said, smiling. “I do not doubt that her presence will make you more comfortable, Miss de Bourgh.”

Mrs. Jenkinson insisted on being present as well, so the four of them ascended the stairs to Anne’s room. The doctor was old and moved slowly, but they eventually reached their destination. The doctor had Anne lay on the bed so that he might test the strength of her limbs by moving them about, and then he listened to her heart with a funnel-shaped device that he placed against her chest; the other end was a tube that he inserted into his ear.

He felt her neck, but went no further down than Anne’s collarbone; he also felt the skin behind her ears. “Swelling may occur here if there is illness,” he explained to Georgiana, who was watching closely.

He then took Anne’s wrists and placed his thumbs on the blue veins that could be seen on them.

“You seem a bit stronger than when last I was here,” he told Anne. “Nonetheless, I believe that I should bleed you so that any accumulated humors do not take up permanent residence.”