Adventures at Morecastle
Part 1: Boating
“Oh, Jane!” declared Elizabeth. “What are men to sand
and sea?”
Jane smiled. “I never knew it could be so beautiful,”
she admitted. “The paintings I’ve seen didn’t do it justice.”
“Justice? Not any more than mud pies do Hill’s blueberry
tarts justice!” Laughing, she began to run along the sand, albeit a bit
awkwardly. Jane followed her, clutching her bonnet and joining in her laughter
good naturedly. Lizzy’s own bonnet fell off her head and several of her curls
came undone or clung to her face as she came to a gasping halt. When she could
breathe again she collapsed on the sand with a sigh of contentment.
“Lizzy,” said Jane in mild reproach, “you’ll ruin your
dress.”
“Oh, what is muslin to the superior pleasures of the
earth? Jane, how I wish we had come here earlier. How glad I am after all that my
Aunt and Uncle Gardiner could not go to the Lakes. I could never have gone
there with you, you know, and everything is better with you nearby.”
Jane seated herself in lady-like fashion on a nearby
rock. “It is too bad about little Edward becoming so ill, though. I am sure no
one ever wished to have to go the
coast, or for such a reason.”
“He is well, dearest,” smiled her sister reassuringly.
“The doctor said he was well indeed; he just needs some healthy air and
sunshine to recover completely. It was so kind of Aunt Gardiner to wish to
bring us along! I am just sorry that the whole time I was in Kent you were
dealing with such anxiety.”
“I thank God that none of the others got sick.” She
repeated her frequent comment of the last week. “And I am glad that I was there
to help care for the children while our aunt was so distracted. Were you sorry to leave your friend so soon?”
“Not really. My
time there did pass more pleasantly than I had expected. I enjoyed Charlotte’s
company very much, and the frequent visits from Colonel Fitzwilliam were very
agreeable, but I believe I have had enough of Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine to
last me another year at least.”
Jane looked rather slyly. “You must tell me of this
Colonel Fitzwilliam. He sounds like a most pleasant man.”
“A very pleasant man indeed,” she agreed with a laugh,
and slight color on her cheeks. “A most gentlemanly man, with all the charm and
manners which his cousin lacks.”
“I am sorry you should still dislike Mr. Darcy so much.
Surely he was not uncivil to you?”
“Oh! No more than to everyone else. He was generally
uncivil; generally silent and uncommunicative, that is. I must say he treated
me to his glare rather more often than the others, but at least he never said
anything slighting to me that I noticed.”
“But you enjoyed speaking with the colonel.”
“Oh yes. We talked on all manner of subjects. I don’t
know that I’ve ever had the opportunity to converse with a man who had such a
well-informed mind.”
“And his father is an earl?”
“A real life earl. Now, Jane, don’t start talking like
our mother!”
“Of course not, dear. But I cannot help but wonder if he
might have formed an attachment to you.”
Again she blushed a bit. “I do not think so. Oh, he came
often, but there wasn’t really anything else for them to do, you know. Why even
Mr. Darcy came often!”
“I imagine you
were the main attraction for both of them, Lizzy. Why else would they have
called so often? Surely not only to see the Collinses.”
“Well we shall each agree to think as we please on the
subject. You’ll begin to sound like Charlotte next.” She stood up and dusted
her sandy posterior. Jane joined her arm with hers, and the two sisters began
to stroll back up the beach the way they had come.
“What did Charlotte say?”
“Oh, she tried to make out that Mr. Darcy admired me.”
Jane thought about this. “I do not see why he should not
admire you,” she said. “It seems perfectly natural to me.”
“Of course it does! Dearest Jane!” She smiled
affectionately and squeezed her arm.
“If it’s true that he looked at you a lot I am sure she
was right. Why else would a man want to look at
you but to admire you?”
“To criticize me, I suppose. It’s what I always
thought.”
“I think you are being unkind to Mr. Darcy to be always
suspecting his motives so. “
“Perhaps. But on a day like this, what does it matter?”
She turned her face up to the sun and would speak no more of serious subjects.
~%~
“Do you think she will like it?” asked Charles Bingley
anxiously where he stood on the sea wall.
His friend Fitzwilliam Darcy shrugged. “Well enough, I
dare say.” He seemed a little distracted, almost as if he was searching the
beach for something.
“I still don’t understand why she wants to come here
instead of Weymouth or Brighton, but it is very pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yes, very pretty,” replied the other, who, however, was
not really thinking of the sand and sea at that moment.
“I do appreciate your coming here with me to check out
the houses.”
That finally caught Mr. Darcy’s attention. “Really,
Bingley,” he said, “you must have greater confidence in your ability to make
your own decisions. Surely you can rent a house at the sea shore without
requiring a second opinion!”
Mr. Bingley grinned back, not in the least offended.
“But how should I get your company if I did not always need your opinion?” he
asked.
“By asking for it, of course.”
“Well, but you do
give the best advice, Darcy. Why, without you I would have taken that house in
the middle of town!”
“That’s because you didn’t consider how little your
sister would like to have every passer by staring into her parlor window.”
“Exactly! I never think of these things, but you always
do!”
“That’s because I’ve been arranging my own affairs for
rather longer than you have,” said Darcy, in a gentler tone. “Would you care
for a walk along the beach?”
“Oh, yes, what a fine idea!”
They set out immediately, although they weren’t really
ideally dressed for walking through the sand. Darcy wondered for the hundredth
time just how big a fool he actually was being, even if as he could not help
but peer at every female figure they passed.
It had been a considerable shock to him when Miss
Elizabeth Bennet left Kent earlier than planned so that she could join her
uncle and his family at the sea shore. He had been just on the verge of
proposing to her, holding out with a sense of virtuous reluctance even while he
daydreamed about married life with her, when the news had arrived. It had
arrived over his morning eggs and coffee, too, which was an added aggravation.
The decision, apparently, was the work of little more than a day. According to
Mrs. Collins, when he and his cousin had visited the parsonage to get details,
Elizabeth had been very anxious over the welfare of a young cousin who had
taken ill shortly after her arrival in Hunsford. Then one day a letter arrived
saying that he was much improved but the doctor thought they should take him to
the coast for a holiday, so the whole family was going, including the elder
Miss Bennet, and would Elizabeth like to come too? She liked very well, and had
written immediately to accept, and then been gone before the gentleman even
realized she was going.
Darcy had been more than a little put out. What did she
mean, leaving like that, without even bidding them goodbye? Didn’t she know
that he was only seeking an opportunity to speak to her? Nor could Mrs. Collins
even recall exactly which seaside town they were to visit—she thought perhaps
it hadn’t been determined yet when the letter arrived. He was as petulant as a debutante the first
day, thinking himself ill-used indeed.
The second day the reality of the situation dawned.
Elizabeth was gone. She was gone—out of his life entirely, if he didn’t take
some measure to actively pursue her. At first he tried to persuade himself that
it was for the best. He had been about to make a dreadful mistake and had been
saved. But that opinion did not outlast the third day.
By the time he had left Rosings and returned to his
house in London, Darcy was determined to find Elizabeth Bennet. If need be, he
would wait until her holiday at the sea had come to an end and go to Longbourn.
Maybe he would even go to Longbourn now, get her father’s permission and find
out from him where she was. But he shrank from declaring his intentions to her
father before he had declared them to her and hesitated. While he was
hesitating, Bingley had written to tell him that his sister had made up her
mind to spend the summer in Morecastle, and was anxious that they choose a
house early before they all were taken, and would Darcy like to come with him?
Besides the fact that he disliked disappointing his friend (especially after
his earlier, greater disappointment the November before), the coincidence
seemed too fair, too Providential, to be overlooked.
But now, trudging through soft sand past one unfamiliar
face after another, he felt ridiculous. Why, of all the sea side towns in the
south of England, should Elizabeth be in this one? Not to mention the fact that
he was here with Bingley, which couldn’t help but be awkward if they did meet.
His early optimism fading quickly, he began muttering imprecations under his
breath.
All of a sudden the man beside him halted abruptly.
Looking up, Darcy was blinded for a moment by the glare off the water, but as
his eyes adjusted they came to rest on a pair of flushed, familiar young women
walking merrily over the sand in their direction. He drew a deep breath.
“Miss Bennet!” exclaimed both men at once.
~%~
Elizabeth experienced a sense of irritated shock. He! What was he doing here? Was she never to be rid of him? “Mr. Darcy!” she
replied, and heard Jane’s voice saying, “Mr. Bingley!” at the same time. Only
then did she notice the other young man who was staring at her sister in a sort
of awed wonder.
The greetings were awkward.
“Miss Elizabeth.”
“Mr. Bingley.”
“Miss Bennet.”
“Mr. Darcy.”
“Mr. Darcy.”
“Miss Elizabeth.”
“Miss Bennet.”
“Mr. Bingley.”
Having now established that they all knew each other’s
names, they fell silent. Elizabeth was too busy watching Mr. Bingley watch her
sister to realize how Mr. Darcy was watching her. “Good day,” said Bingley at
last. “How are you? What brings you to the sea shore?”
“My cousin. Good day. Very well,” answered Jane, not
very lucidly.
He didn’t seem to mind. “That’s excellent. I—um,” he
swallowed. “How is your family?”
“They are perfectly well,” said Elizabeth on her behalf,
when Jane didn’t immediately reply. “And you? How are your sisters?”
“V-very well. We are—that is to say, my sister Caroline
and I are to take a house for the summer here. Will you… be here for the
summer?”
“A few weeks. We are not yet certain how long it may
be.”
“Indeed.” After which word he and Jane promptly lost all
civility in admiring gazes.
Elizabeth was much too pleased to be offended, but she
was surprised to suddenly find Mr. Darcy at her side, and smiling down at her
in a way that made her vaguely uncomfortable.
“Well met, Miss Bennet,” he said softly.
Thrown off guard by his warm tone, she said, “I… did not
expect to see you here.”
“Yet here I am,” he replied, looking rather smug. “In
truth I did wonder if this might be the town you and your family had removed
to. I am relieved to find it so.”
She blinked. Relieved?
He was relieved? “And your reason for
being here, sir?”
“I came to advise Bingley.” And search for you.
“Oh.” Of course.
Did the other ever make a move without him?
Down the beach a few paces, Mr. Bingley was slowly
recovering his wits, and had the presence of mind to offer a deeply blushing
Jane his arm. “May we escort you to your destination, Miss Bennet?”
“We should be honored, sir. We were about to return to
the house.”
“Of course. This way?” It was not, in fact, that way,
but Jane was not paying attention and merely nodded. They began to walk,
forgetting entirely about the couple behind them. Before she knew it, Elizabeth
found herself on Mr. Darcy’s arm, being tenderly escorted over the beach. Most
unnervingly of all, he had placed his hand in proprietary fashion over hers.
She told herself that he was just trying to give her that little bit of extra
support, but it was all she could do not to jerk away.
“Your friends at Rosings were surprised to find that you
had departed our company so quickly, and without notice,” said Darcy.
She almost gaped at the hint of hurt in his tone. “I
meant no offense to Lady Catherine. It was simply that my aunt was to depart
almost immediately and I had to hurry if I was to join them.”
Darcy frowned at her apparently deliberate
misunderstanding. “Lady Catherine was not the only one at Rosings.”
“I am afraid that Miss de Bourgh and I never had a
chance to develop much of a friendship,” she replied sweetly, “but I hope
Colonel Fitzwilliam understood why I had to leave.”
His frown grew. “He was surprised, but not certainly not
angry. Fitzwilliam has many ladies among his acquaintance, you know, and
although I know he enjoys female company I do not believe he has ever held one
particularly above another.”
She nearly gasped at this pointed cut. “I did not
suppose he held me particularly high, if that’s what you mean,” she said
tartly, “but I am certain he considers me his friend.”
“I am certain he does,” he replied in a gentler tone.
“But you must know he was not the one to whom I was referring.”
She was about to say something about her not having any
other friends at Rosings—which doubtlessly would have gone down very badly
indeed—when Mr. Bingley turned. “I say, Darcy!” he called back. “Miss Bennet
and I have had the most capital notion! We should get up a boating party!”
“Are you sure you can row well enough, Bingley?”
“Well of course I am! I may not have won acclaim at
Oxford for my rowing skills, but I can get a boat around well enough. What do
you say?”
“I am agreeable, if Miss Elizabeth is.” He looked at
her.
She blinked in surprise, looked at Jane’s imploring
face, sighed and said, “Of course. I should be delighted.”
The rest of the way back to the house—once Elizabeth had
pointed out the correct street—was spent discussing the finer particulars of
their proposed outing. She was further surprised to discover from Mr. Bingley
that Mr. Darcy had, indeed, won several prizes in the course of his university
career for various athletic events, boating among them. Mr. Darcy himself
appeared rather embarrassed at this intelligence; she supposed it was because
he thought it beneath his dignity to participate in such plebian pursuits.
It was a very surprised Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner who
greeted the entire party. They had long been curious about Mr. Bingley in
particular, though of course they had heard of Mr. Darcy as well. Both men were
more or less exactly as they had been described: Mr. Bingley the picture of
affability, Mr. Darcy of reserve. Oh, he
said everything that good breeding required, but no more, and looked around the
modest rented house with a most critical gaze. However, he seemed bent on
accompanying their nieces and his friend on this expedition, so they must
suppose he was not as fully disapproving as he appeared.
x2
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