A Companion For Miss Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Page 9

  They were fine lips. Well shaped, attractive . . .

  Goodness! thought Elizabeth suddenly. I hope I am not going to turn into one of those foolish young ladies who fall in love with the master of the house! Those young ladies have their place, but only in novels!

  She was roused from her mischievous thoughts when she rounded a curve of the river and let her gaze rest on the stepping stones which crossed the water. She saw a young lady jumping across the stones and remembered many occasions on which she had enjoyed the same game. But suddenly her smile was replaced with a look of alarm, for the young lady slipped and fell awkwardly into the water.

  Elizabeth immediately sprang forward and went to offer her assistance. Once she reached the stones, she saw they were wet and slippery and she crossed them with great care. The water was no more than thigh deep, but there were stones on the bottom of the river and an awkward fall could result in a sprained ankle or worse.

  The young lady was by now attempting to climb out of the water, but she had hurt her ankle and she could not step up onto the nearest stone. Her simple white muslin gown was clinging to her, and her beautiful white gloves were covered in mud.

  As Elizabeth drew closer, she could hear that the young lady was sobbing.

  Why, she is not so very old, despite her height, thought Elizabeth.

  She had at first thought the young lady was twenty years old or more, for she had a womanly figure and a woman’s height. But now she guessed the lady was younger than herself by some years.

  Elizabeth quickly crossed the stones herself, in order to reach the young lady. She was used to them, but even so she balanced speed with caution. When she drew level with the young lady, she held out her hand.

  ‘Here, let me help you,’ said Elizabeth.

  The young lady looked up at her with tear-filled eyes, but then wiped them bravely and took Elizabeth’s hand.

  Elizabeth pulled gently, but the young lady winced in pain and Elizabeth realised this would not do. There was only one way to help. She would have to get into the water and help the young lady to wade back to the river bank.

  Without a thought for her clothing she lowered herself into the water.

  ‘Here,’ she said, offering her arm to the young lady. ‘Lean on me. It is not far to the bank. We will soon have you out again.’

  The young lady expressed her thanks and took Elizabeth’s arm. She leaned against her heavily and together the two of them waded to the river’s edge. The bank here sloped gently and, with Elizabeth’s aid, the young lady was able to climb out. She flopped down on the grassy bank and rubbed her ankle. After a few minutes, the expression of pain on the young lady’s face lessened and she stopped rubbing. She pulled her skirt down over her feet and looked at the floor.

  ‘You must think me very foolish,’ she said is a small voice.

  ‘Not at all,’ said Elizabeth robustly. ‘The stones can be very slippery, and they are difficult to manage if you do not know them. The gap between the stones is wider where you fell and it is easy to misjudge the distance. Everyone hereabouts knows it and so they can take especial care at that point, but you were not to know.’

  The young lady looked up and met her eye. She looked less miserable and there was a hint of colour returning to her cheeks.

  ‘Have you ever crossed them successfully?’ asked the young lady.

  ‘Many times,’ said Elizabeth. ‘There is a sense of freedom in jumping across them on a bright sunny morning, and you will be able to do it once you learn the different distances between the stones.’

  ‘Oh, yes!’ agreed the young lady, her enthusiasm caught. ‘Freedom! That is how I felt this morning, free! I wanted to make the most of it, for in a few days’ time that freedom will disappear and I will have a companion again. I will never be alone, never able to indulge myself in light-hearted moments. I will have to remember my deportment and my languages and my dance steps and a hundred other things, and never have a moment to myself. I am so glad you understand. It is good to have a friend like you, even for a moment - someone I can talk to, someone who understands what it is like to rise on a fine morning and go out of doors before the world is astir, leaping across stepping stones – even if it does end in disaster,’ she finished ruefully, looking down at her wet clothes. ‘My brother promises me that this companion will not be like the last. She is young, he says, and has a cheerful disposition. But I have never yet met a young, cheerful companion. They are all old and crabby.’ Then she blushed, as if she had said too much. ‘Forgive me, that was uncalled for. It is very good of my brother to take care of me, and I know he does his best. I am sure my new companion will be very suitable.’

  Elizabeth’s eyes twinkled.

  ‘I am not so sure about that. I think your new companion might join you in your early morning rambles, and might even encourage you to leap across the stones – making sure she teaches you how to do it first, of course,’ she said.

  ‘That would be wonderful!’ said the young lady. ‘But alas! it is not likely to happen.’ She stood up and shook out her wet skirts. ‘I must thank you for your assistance, and beg you for your arm a little further. I am not sure I can walk back to the house unaided. So thank you, Miss —?’

  ‘Bennet,’ said Elizabeth, with a gurgle of laughter. ‘Miss Elizabeth Bennet. And unless I miss my guess, you are Miss Darcy.’

  ‘Miss Bennet?’ gasped the young lady.

  ‘Yes,’ said Elizabeth, her eyes sparkling with mirth. ‘I am your new companion!’

  A wide smile broke out on the young lady’s face.

  ‘But this is wonderful! Oh, most excellent brother! He has truly found me a friend as well as a companion. I am so pleased. I suppose after the last time —’

  Here she broke off in confusion.

  Elizabeth was surprised. She waited, hoping Miss Darcy would continue, but it was evident that Miss Darcy felt she had said too much already.

  What happened to the last companion? thought Elizabeth. Why did Miss Darcy not like her? Why is she now embarrassed to speak of her? There is some mystery here.

  Out loud, Elizabeth said, ‘I did not expect you so soon. I thought Mr Bingley was not taking up residence until the end of the week.’

  ‘The house was ready early and Mr Bingley was eager to move in,’ said Miss Darcy. ‘His own carriage needed repairs and so my brother offered to bring him to Netherfield Park, together with Miss Bingley and myself. I am so glad my brother thought of it. He said the change would do me good and he was right. I have a beautiful home in London, and an equally beautiful home in Derbyshire, but sometimes it is good to have a change. London and Derbyshire remind me of . . .’

  Again she broke off, and again Elizabeth had the feeling there was some mystery she did not understand. But then Miss Darcy shivered, and Elizabeth was reminded that her new charge was soaking wet from the thigh down, and needed to return to Netherfield at once so that she could wash and change her clothes.

  ‘Can you stand?’ asked Elizabeth.

  Miss Darcy stood up gingerly and tested her weight on her injured ankle.

  ‘Yes, I can. There is no very great harm done but it is still very sore.’

  Elizabeth gave her an arm. Miss Darcy favoured her good foot and leant on Elizabeth. Slowly they began to walk back to Netherfield Park.

  ‘I believe you have lived in the neighbourhood all your life, and that you know Netherfield Park,’ said Miss Darcy.

  ‘Yes. I have often visited it,’ said Elizabeth.

  As they continued on their way, Elizabeth told Miss Darcy about the neighbourhood. In return, Miss Darcy told Elizabeth about her life. She spoke of her tutors and governesses, her dancing masters and drawing masters, but she said nothing of friends. She had led a sheltered life and Elizabeth felt sorry for her. Miss Darcy had everything that money could buy, but she did not have the laughter that filled the Bennet household, or the deep affectionate relationship that Elizabeth had with her sister Jane.

  Miss
Darcy had a brother, it was true, but he was so much older than her. She had no one of her own age to talk to.

  Elizabeth realised that Mr Darcy had chosen wisely in offering her the position of companion. He had not just been motivated by kindness, or a desire to give Miss Bingley a set down, but by a genuine understanding of his sister and her needs. It was an aspect of his character she had not previously considered, but she warmed to him. He had allowed her to help her own sister, Jane, and in doing so he had provided help for his own sister.

  Miss Darcy stopped for a moment and rested her ankle.

  ‘It is not far now, Miss Darcy,’ said Elizabeth encouragingly.

  ‘Please, call me Georgiana.’

  ‘That will not be suitable in company. When we are with other people I must call you Miss Darcy, but I will gladly call you Georgiana when we are alone,’ said Elizabeth. ‘And, when we are alone, you must call me Elizabeth.’

  They set off again.

  ‘I hope we can reach my room without being seen. I do not want to appear in front of my brother and his friends in this condition,’ said Georgiana. She looked at Elizabeth’s dress apologetically. ‘You must let me lend you a clean dress to wear. It is my fault you are in this condition.’

  ‘It is no one’s fault,’ said Elizabeth reassuringly. ‘But I will gladly accept your offer of something dry to wear.’

  The house was drawing closer. They would soon be there.

  ‘We will not go in the front door. We will go in the side door, then we can reach my room without being noticed. We will not seek company until we are fit to be seen,’ said Georgiana.

  Elizabeth agreed.

  They turned their steps to the side of the house. It was still early and it seemed they would escape detection. They had only a short distance to cover before they reached the door, but when they were almost there they heard voices. A man’s voice drifted towards them on the breeze. Elizabeth did not recognise it. But then a woman spoke. It was Miss Bingley. Elizabeth’s heart sank.

  Answering Miss Bingley came another voice. With a sinking feeling, Elizabeth recognised it. It was Mr Darcy. What would he say when he found his sister with her new companion, and both of them soaked to the skin? It was the worst possible way for Elizabeth to meet him with her new charge, but there was no way of avoiding it. She would just have to see it through.

  Chapter Nine

  Mr Darcy, unaware that his sister had been out for a walk, had just been to look at the stables with Mr and Miss Bingley. All three of them were pleased with their early occupancy of Netherfield Park and the smoothness with which the move had been managed. Mr Bingley, now recovered from his toothache, praised everything about his new home. His naturally cheerful temperament rejoiced in everything it saw.

  Mr Darcy, too, was glad to be in Hertfordshire. He was pleased that his sister had new scenes to amuse her. She had been in low spirits since Mr George Wickham, a villain and a rogue, had tried to elope with her a few months before. She could not escape thoughts of him in the London house, nor at Pemberley, as Mr Wickham had visited both establishments. He had been a childhood friend of Mr Darcy’s, and his father had been the Pemberley steward. He had therefore lived on the Pemberley estate, and had often visited the London house with his father. There he had also met Georgiana, and he had used that friendship recently to shameful effect. He had attempted to elope with her when she had holidayed in Ramsgate, so that he could gain her handsome dowry. So it was important that Georgiana should have a break from the places in which she had known Mr Wickham.

  Miss Bingley was delighted with her new home. She had the pleasure of an autumn spent in Mr Darcy’s company to look forward to, and she also had the pleasure of Miss Darcy’s company. She liked this, not only for her own sake, but also for her brother’s. It was the dearest wish of Miss Bingley’s heart that she herself should marry Mr Darcy, and it was the second dearest wish of her heart that her brother, Charles, should marry Miss Darcy.

  The only fly in the ointment, thought Miss Bingley, is Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

  She had taken an instant dislike to Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Some instinct told her that Miss Bennet was someone to be feared. There was a naturalness about Miss Bennet which showed to advantage next to Miss Bingley’s falseness, and Mr Darcy seemed to find it attractive. He said nothing about it, and did not by any great word or deed make it known. But his eyes followed Miss Bennet when he thought no one was watching, and there was an admiration in them which was missing when he looked at Miss Bingley. Indeed, at their first visit to Netherfield Park, when they had been looking over the house, Miss Bingley had seen in Miss Bennet a rival.

  It had not unduly troubled her to begin with because local gossip said that Miss Bennet was soon to move to London. However, Mr Darcy had put a stop to that by employing Miss Bennet.

  It was the one cloud on Miss Bingley’s horizon.

  However, when she turned the corner and saw Miss Bennet, dripping wet, supporting Miss Darcy, also dripping wet, she felt the cloud disappear. Miss Bennet had just shown herself to be the most incompetent companion imaginable, and Mr Darcy was there to see it!

  Whilst Miss Bingley gloated over the sight, Mr Bingley said, ‘Upon my soul! What have you been doing?’

  Miss Darcy looked at the floor, embarrassed at her unseemly state.

  Elizabeth squeezed her arm to give her courage and Miss Darcy looked up, meeting her brother’s gaze.

  His voice, when he spoke, was cool and matter-of-fact.

  ‘You had better go upstairs and change,’ he said. ‘We will speak when you have done so.’

  Elizabeth did not know what to make of his cool voice. She found it impossible to read his expression. Was he angry? Compassionate? Irritated? Worried? She did not know him well enough to be sure.

  Miss Darcy curtsied in acknowledgement of his words

  Then she said, ‘Miss Bennet must come with me. I have promised to lend her a clean, dry gown to wear.’

  Miss Bingley spoke.

  ‘You are too good, dear Georgiana, but Miss Bennet will do very well until she gets home. There is no need for your assistance.’

  Elizabeth felt all the spite behind Miss Bingley’s smug words. She knew that Miss Bingley was enjoying her discomfiture. But a moment later Mr Darcy rescued her, and his sister, by saying, ‘On the contrary, there is every need. Miss Bennet will catch a chill if she remains as she is. You are quite right to lend her a gown, Georgiana.’

  Miss Bingley flushed, chagrined at his set-down.

  Elizabeth and Georgiana both curtsied and then hurried on their way.

  Elizabeth felt all the awkwardness of the situation as she continued to support Miss Darcy. There could not have been a worse meeting. She only hoped Mr Darcy would still be willing to employ her. The accident had not been her fault, but it was not the best start for a companion. Her fears were only heightened when Mr Darcy called after them, ‘Miss Bennet?’

  Elizabeth took a moment to summon her courage. Then she turned round.

  ‘Yes?’ she asked.

  ‘Be so good as to join me in the library when I have spoken to my sister. There are some matters we need to discuss.’

  ‘Very well,’ she said.

  As she turned away, she caught sight of Miss Bingley’s face. The odious woman was delighted, obviously thinking that Mr Darcy would dismiss her before she had even started. As she started to walk away she heard Miss Bingley, now behind her, speaking again. Miss Bingley’s voice was false and full of apparent distress, but Elizabeth heard an unmistakeable note of glee beneath it.

  ‘I am so sorry you had to see that,’ Miss Bingley said to Mr Darcy. ‘But Miss Bennet is clearly a bad influence, and it is better to see it now than to see it later.’

  Mr Darcy’s voice was cold, and Elizabeth could not guess his feelings.

  ‘We do not yet know the circumstances, and until we do it is useless to speculate,’ he said.

  Elizabeth heard her saying, ‘There can be no doubt
about it. Miss Elizabeth Bennet is not a suitable companion for Miss Darcy. In fact, she is a menace.’

  To this, Mr Darcy made no reply.

  Some five minutes later, Mr Darcy found himself seated in the drawing-room. He was growing increasingly irritated with Miss Bingley. She was not a wise woman and she had not realised it would be better to let the matter drop.

  ‘Dear Georgiana would never get into such a state by herself. Miss Bennet is clearly a bad influence. Did you see the state of her gown! It was not just wet, it was dirty. Her petticoat was six inches deep in mud! I was frankly horrified to see your sister in a similar condition. Miss Darcy, to appear in such a state! I dread to think what your feelings must be, Mr Darcy.’

  ‘I thought my sister looked unusually alive,’ retorted Mr Darcy.

  His eyes flashed a warning, but Miss Bingley failed to see it. She had never been good at judging other people’s moods and she blundered on.

  ‘I declare Miss Elizabeth Bennet had mud on her face as well as her petticoat. I have never seen such a sight!’

  ‘Nor I. Her face was indeed unusual,’ said Mr Darcy.

  Miss Bingley almost purred.

  But she soon lost her satisfied expression when Mr Darcy made his meaning clear by saying, ‘Miss Elizabeth Bennet’s face was not reddened by her exertions, as might have been expected. Instead it showed only a healthy pink blush, and her eyes were brightened by the exercise.’

  Miss Bingley turned purple.

  ‘It is a pity she did not use her bright eyes to see the river before she fell into it,’ she said spitefully.

  ‘Come now, Caroline!’ protested Mr Bingley.

  Mr Darcy stood up. He had had enough of Caroline Bingley for one morning.

  ‘I will wait for my sister in the sitting-room,’ he said.