would like to share with you, but I must do it at Pemberley.”
Lizzy’s mood altered immediately, and she was so bold as to kiss him on the cheek. But Mr. Darcy was even bolder, and he put his hand on her neck and brought her toward him. Her kiss was as wonderful as he had imagined it would be, and he could feel the heat rising. Reluctantly, he let her go, but whispered. “Everything will be decided at Pemberley. Will you come?” Lizzy went to the library to get her father’s permission to go to Derbyshire with Mr. Darcy.
Lizzy had already made the acquaintance of Anne de Bourgh during her visit with Charlotte Collins in Kent in the spring. After Mr. Darcy’s departure from Rosings Park following his awful marriage proposal, Anne had called on Lizzy at the parsonage. She had made no attempt to defend the words her cousin had uttered on that dreadful afternoon but was very keen for Lizzy to hear about the Fitzwilliam Darcy she knew and loved. After listening to her recitation of Mr. Darcy’s many virtues and kindnesses to Miss Darcy, Her Ladyship, and herself, Lizzy could feel the bulwark of her prejudices crumbling, and she immediately developed a fondness for the daughter of the insufferable Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Lizzy’s first meeting with Georgiana Darcy was at Jane and Charles’s wedding. With her black hair and gray- green eyes, she was as beautiful as her brother was handsome. She stood a head taller than Lizzy, and her height accentuated her long elegant line. But there was much more to this lovely young woman than good looks and beautiful clothes. There was a graciousness in her manner and a kindness in her addresses that immediately drew the approval of all who met her, and Lizzy was very pleased that Mr. Darcy was eager to bring them together again and expressed his hope that they would become the best of friends. In that one statement, he revealed that he wanted to renew those attentions he had been paying to her during her visit to Pemberley before the sordid affair between Lydia and Wickham necessitated their separation.
Although complete opposites, Georgiana and Anne were very close—more friends than cousins. Anne loved Georgiana’s enthusiasm for just about everything, while the young Miss Darcy admired her cousin’s composure and grace. But the fragile Miss de Bourgh and the exuberant Georgiana did have one thing in common: They loved Fitzwilliam Darcy, and both had hinted that a union between William and Elizabeth would please them greatly.
On the journey to Derbyshire, their opinion of Elizabeth increased with each passing mile. From the couple’s playful exchanges, it was obvious to Anne and Georgiana how well suited they were to each other. Lizzy frequently teased William and invited the two ladies to join in. He finally held his arms up in mock surrender.
“I don’t have a chance,” he said with the half smile Lizzy so loved. “Three against one and with nowhere to go,” he said, looking out the carriage window at the passing countryside. “But be careful, ladies, when we stop at the inn, I might run into the woods to get away from you.” He turned and winked at his sister and cousin, and they returned the wink with knowing smiles.
When Lizzy got out of the carriage at Pemberley, a brilliant harvest moon was rising in the east. It was a fantastic shade of orange, and the face of the man in the moon was clearly visible.
“We shall have a full moon tomorrow night, Mr. Darcy,” Lizzy said, looking at the lunar wonder.
“No, the full moon will actually be the following night. I have an interest in such things, and I keep charts and a telescope in an attic room.”
“Well, I won’t disagree with you, but I must say that there are few who would recognize such a subtle difference.”
“Yes, but I am one of them.”
Of all the places in England that Lizzy had ever visited, none gave her as much pleasure as the landscape of Pemberley. An English garden and great expanses of lawn gave way to wooded paths with centuries old oaks and chestnuts paralleling them, and at the higher elevations, great towering pines claimed the ground. On her previous visit to Derbyshire, Mr. Darcy had taken Lizzy for a ride in a phaeton and had pointed out all the different types of fauna on the estate. From the humble field mice to red deer with huge antlers, Mr. Darcy knew so much about them, their habitats, and how much meat you could get from each.
“Surely, you are not implying that you would eat a field mouse?” Lizzy had asked. Mr. Darcy did not answer her question directly, but rather he explained how his interest in such things had come about.
“As a boy, I read Defoe’s
“But the only animals that hunt in packs are wolves, and there haven’t been wolves in England for at least a century. They may exist on the islands off of Scotland or in Ireland, but they no longer roam the English countryside.”
“As I said, it was a boy who found interest in such things, but there is something about a wolf that inspires awe. They are powerful and resourceful animals, work well in a hierarchy, and mate for life. There is much to admire there.”
“Wolves mate for life? I did not know that.” Lizzy inched closer to Mr. Darcy, but she could not explain why she had done so.
The following day was most agreeably spent. After breakfast, Anne, Georgiana, and Lizzy went through a maze that was the focal point of the lower gardens. It had been reconfigured the previous season, and even Georgiana found herself getting lost. The fact that they were giggling all the time did not help their efforts to find the exit.
After lawn bowls and a light repast, Mr. Darcy drove the ladies into the nearby Peak District, a favorite of Anne’s. The rugged landscape was so different from anything she could see at Rosings, and Mr. Darcy would stop frequently so that Anne and Elizabeth might get out and view the great open expanses that went on for miles before disappearing into the horizon. He commented on how easy it would be for hunting dogs to trap any animal caught out in the open in such terrain. “They wouldn’t stand a chance,” and he smiled as if he had accomplished such a feat himself.
Georgiana and Elizabeth provided the evening’s entertainment. While Miss Darcy played the pianoforte, Lizzy sang some of her favorite ballads, and at one point, Mr. Darcy asked his cousin to dance. Because she had such weak lungs, this was something Anne rarely did, but with no one other than her loved ones about to make comment, she stepped lively—or as lively as one as frail as Anne could.
The day had been perfect, except for one thing. Whatever Mr. Darcy had wanted to share with her remained a secret, and Lizzy hoped that this would not prove to be the Pemberley equivalent of one of the gentleman’s parlor visits to Longbourn.
Chapter 2
When Lizzy went down for breakfast, the relaxed atmosphere of the previous evening was gone. Mr. Darcy fairly sprang out of his chair to greet her, and there was a nervous intensity in his manner that reminded her of Magic, the family terrier, who jumped up and down in front of the door whenever she wanted to go outside. On the other hand, Georgiana and Anne looked anxious. What was the reason for such a change?
After pleasantries were exchanged and the previous night’s entertainments commented upon, both ladies excused themselves, stating that they “hoped” to see Lizzy later in the day.
“What a curious thing to say. Why would I not see them?” Lizzy asked Mr. Darcy. “Surely, they will be here when we return. After all, we are only going for a walk in the gardens.”
“I think they meant to say that they
Lizzy found that statement to be even odder. What could possibly happen during a stroll in the park that would make Lizzy not want to be in Georgiana and Anne’s company, and she felt a queasiness growing in her
