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“Indeed, I am glad it is so,” Darcy replied. “Georgiana’s shyness has never been well understood, even by those who wish her well. I had hoped—in fact, it was part of my design in bringing Georgiana hither—that with the abundance of young ladies she might find someone with whom she might feel at ease. I confess it is a selfish desire, for when she is at ease, I am as well.”
Elizabeth let out a laugh. “If that is selfish, then I am the most selfish creature ever to live. I find pleasure in things far less noble than the improvement of a beloved sister’s society. I adore my sisters, to be certain, but I am made quite content by a novel or a walk in the countryside.”
“You mock me, Miss Elizabeth, for you know that I find delight in such things as well.”
Elizabeth arched an eyebrow at him. “Then you do not only read novels to ensure they are suitable for your sister?”
“I never made such a claim,” Darcy replied. “I said that I read many more now that I must ensure they are suitable for my sister, not that I did not read them before.”
Elizabeth met this confession with a smile of genuine warmth. “I am glad to hear it, sir, for I have sometimes thought it a pity that gentlemen—often so educated in the classics and serious subjects like the law—deny themselves the pleasure of a good story.”
“And yet, their understanding of the law would be enhanced by a further knowledge of human follies,” he agreed.
“You are very reassuring, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth replied. “I shall keep you as a friend, for you take my part so often.”
A smile touched his lips, but it was brief and did not reach his eyes. He looked down for a moment, as though gathering resolve to speak, but an exclamation from Kitty, who walked ahead of them on the path, caused his attention to be turned in a different direction.
“I am stuck, Lizzy!” she called out. “My boot is stuck!”
The pair quickened their step until they came upon the source of Kitty’s lamentation. There, in a patch of boggy ground, Kitty stood balancing precariously on one leg, looking very much like a stork. On either side of her, Georgiana and Maria hovered, unwilling to abandon their friend but also unable to help lest they become similarly trapped.
“Do not pull her upward,” Darcy said sharply, stepping to the edge and eyeing the dense clay. “The weight of the earth is holding her fast. If we simply haul on her arms, the shoe will stay anchored in the mire, and she will wrench her ankle.”
“Then what shall we do?” Kitty asked, alarmed.
“You shall have to remove your boot, Miss Catherine. It can be dug out later.”
Although Darcy spoke his words soothingly, Kitty did not receive them as such. She gave a cry of dismay and protested that she could do no such thing. “My stockings will be ruined, Lizzy! And it is so cold, I shall catch my death!”
“Kitty, you must. You may muddy your stockings, but they can be cleaned or replaced. It is better to face a little discomfort than to remain in your current predicament. How long do you believe you can balance on one foot? You are already unsteady.”
At Elizabeth’s words, Darcy went to Kitty’s side and reached out his arm until he could grab her hand. She clung to it with both of hers until he instructed her that she must manage to bend over and loosen the laces of her boot. Kitty wobbled dangerously as she bent forward. Mr. Darcy reached further across the mire to steady her, but to lend her sufficient support, he was obliged to stretch his taller frame far beyond the solid edge of the path. His inclination was so great that his own boots threatened to lose their purchase on the soft earth.
Elizabeth stepped forward and took Darcy’s other hand, grasping it firmly and leaning in the opposite direction to provide him the steading weight he required. “Maria, come, you must ensure that when Mr. Darcy pulls Kitty free, I am not sent flailing,” she said.
Georgiana and Maria were instantly in front of her. Maria seized Elizabeth by the waist while Georgiana braced Maria from behind, anchoring their weight firmly upon the dry earth of the path. Kitty again leaned forward, this time managing to loosen her laces, before standing straight again.
“Now, do not try to balance, Miss Catherine,” Darcy commanded. “Take my hand with both of yours. Then throw your weight towards us.”
Kitty obeyed, and a moment later, she was standing on the dry path, rather muddy and missing one boot, now sunken into the mud. She looked as if she might cry, as much for the lost footwear as the ordeal.
“I cannot walk back to Longbourn like this!” she declared.
“Do not be so dramatic,” said Maria, though her tone was not unkind. “If you hop upon Mr. Darcy’s arm, he may return you to the house before you perish of cold or mortification.”
From Kitty’s accounting of the event later, one might have thought that she had only just survived. Yet, she caught no cold, and her boot was retrieved later the same day by a servant, needing only to be scrubbed free of the mud.
And so the days passed, each one much like the last, yet curiously full, for there was ever some small errand, a fitting, a letter to be written, or a walk in company to occupy the time.
∞∞∞
Christmas, Elizabeth was relieved to find, brought some relief from the flurry of planning that so overtook Longbourn. The Gardiners arrived on Christmas Eve, bringing with them their children and many gifts for the couples.
Mrs. Gardiner, who hailed from Lambton in Derbyshire, was immediately a friend to the Darcys, particularly when she told them what little she knew of their parents. Having not moved in the same circles as the Darcys, and being yet young when they died, she could offer little by way of deep acquaintance. Yet she vividly remembered seeing Lady Anne as a child, and thinking how beautiful and elegant she looked. This, she might have forgotten with time, had Lady Anne not also possessed a kind word for all she met, even the youngest daughter of a town merchant. Pemberley, of course, Mrs. Gardiner knew well, and she told Elizabeth how well she supposed the walking paths would suit her.
“I am sure it is lovely. I hope we may visit it someday when you return to see your father,” was Elizabeth’s reply.
Mrs. Gardiner looked with incredulity at her niece, then to Mrs. Ellington, the only other occupant of the room. Mrs. Ellington merely offered a knowing smile over her needlework, though she wisely kept her counsel.
