Mary Simonsen - A Wife for Mr Darcy

“Sugar is perfect for me. With her wide girth, I feel quite secure.”

“Ah, a wide girth! That puts me in mind of my Aunt Catherine,” and Lizzy stifled a laugh. “That may seem unkind, but every time I look at Sugar, I cannot help but think of the august personage of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, as they are both broad abeam.”

“I have never met Lady Catherine,” Lizzy said, ignoring the colonel’s comment about his aunt’s girth, “but I might possibly in the near future, as my good friend, Charlotte Lucas, is to marry her vicar in a week’s time. I understand he is invited to Rosings Park every Thursday for the purpose of editing his sermons, and he is asked to stay for supper.”

“Good God! You are a relation to Mr. Coggins?”

“His name is Mr. Collins, and he is my father’s cousin. I do not know him very well as he has visited Longbourn only a few times.”

“This is astounding!”

“That your family and mine have a connection through Mr. Collins?”

“No, that his sermons are edited—certainly not for length.”

“Colonel Fitzwilliam, you are making me laugh when I should not.”

“You must understand, Miss Elizabeth, that one needs a sense of humor in order to have an aunt such as Lady Catherine. I have never met anyone who knows so little about so many things and is more than willing to speak about them at length, and her influence is felt far beyond Rosings Park.”

“Is she in the commission of the peace?”

“No, but she is an active magistrate in her own parish, and whenever her tenants are quarrelsome, discontented, or too poor, she goes forth into the village to settle their differences, silence their complaints, and scold them into harmony and plenty.”

“Mr. Collins shared a great deal about your aunt and Miss de Bourgh during his visit to Longbourn.”

“If Mr. Collins was truthful, then you know that mother and daughter are like night and day, Anne representing the day. Unlike her mother, Anne knows a lot about a lot of things and has a wonderful wit. Unfortunately, she is very frail and travels little. I hope you will have an opportunity to meet her because you would get on very well.”

By that time, Darcy signaled that they might proceed, and he helped Lizzy to get on Sugar. “Squeeze the saddle with your legs if you feel as if you might fall off,” and after handing her the reins, he added, “and tighten up on the reins. You hold them too loosely.”

Well, this was a great start as it appeared Mr. Darcy was already annoyed with her, and they had not even arrived at the cave. Just as well, she thought. “I don’t want to talk to you either.” But Darcy was not annoyed with Lizzy, but with his cousin.

“Richard, when we have an opportunity, you will have to explain to me how your flirting with Miss Elizabeth advances my cause.”

“Because if she is talking to me, then she is not looking at your scowling face,” Richard quickly rebutted, “and I readily admit I am attracted to her, but not in the way you think. We are kindred spirits as we both must wait for events to come to us. As a woman, she may not speak freely, and because I am a younger son, I am dependent on the kindness of my relations to keep me out of poverty. And please do not think me ungrateful because your allowance permits me to live in some degree of comfort, but sometimes this dependence on others sticks in my craw. But enough of this complaining. Today is a day for exploration, so onward to the cave!”

The first half mile of the trail allowed for two horses to ride in tandem, and so Richard took the opportunity to ride next to Lizzy. Scanning the expanse before her, she asked if all this land was a part of the Darcy estate.

“Most of it. What is not Darcy land belongs to the Ashtons, and Lady Ashton is Darcy’s aunt. However, if you go back in time, you will find the Darcy family’s holdings were in Hampshire, not Derbyshire, along with a barony. But the Darcys are a stubborn family, which cost them greatly, and that is why I am grateful that I am a Fitzwilliam.”

“May I ask what happened to cause the loss of the title and properties?”

“When it was wise to be a Protestant, the Darcys remained Catholic, an act of conscience and admirable, but they paid a price for it. Because of that, their properties in the south were confiscated during the Commonwealth and never returned to them after the Restoration of Charles II as other people, more important than the Darcys, wanted it. Instead, thousands of acres here in Derbyshire were substituted. But at that time, it was a wilderness, and the family had to start from scratch. As for the title, it went to another.

“Will is no different than his stubborn ancestors and continues the contrarian tradition. When it would serve him well to be a Tory, he remains a Whig. And speaking of wilderness, that is where the Whigs will be for years to come, and when the Prince of Wales ascends to the throne, Darcy will not profit, as he has made it known that he disapproves of the size of the prince’s allowance. He speaks his mind but, as I said, at a cost.”

“Yes, he does speak his mind. I was on the receiving end of it when we first met at an assembly. He mentioned within my hearing that as far as my beauty was concerned he found me merely tolerable and not handsome enough to tempt him to dance.”

“Good grief! Even for Darcy, that is a bit much.”

“Yes, but the next day, he came to my home to apologize, and it has become something of a joke for us.”

“I can assure you, Miss Bennet, that Mr. Darcy now finds you to be much more than tolerable.”

“So he has said on occasion. How much farther is it to the path to the cave?”

“The trail will narrow shortly, and then we will need to walk from there,” and he thought that Darcy had better move quickly. Time was running out, and he was in danger of losing the girl.

It was an easy ride to the trailhead, allowing Lizzy to take in the vista spread wide before her. She had visited many beautiful places in England, but there was something about the rugged beauty of the Peak District that enthralled her. Man’s hand was less evident here, and it was Nature stripped to its essentials that she found so compelling.

Accompanying the foursome was a lad of little more than ten. “This young man is Ben Avery, Ellie’s brother,” Darcy said by way of introduction. “He has been given the important job of carrying the torch when we go into the cave.” After tousling the boy’s hair and sending him on his way, Darcy shared with Elizabeth that Pemberley was awash in Averys. “In addition to Ellie, there is a sister who is a maid, their cousin John was one of the footmen who played the fiddle last night, and you practically trip over Averys when you are in the stables or carriage house. However, I imagine having an unlimited supply of Averys will soon change as a flannel manufactory has opened nearby, and one groom has already resigned his position to go to work there. But I believe in progress, and the factory will provide much needed jobs for those in the Derwent Valley.” He then pointed in the direction of the path. “But please allow me to go ahead of you.”

“Do you feel safe with me walking behind you, Mr. Darcy, on such a narrow path and on an incline?” After seeing how he had acted with Ben, her heart had warmed, and she felt the beginning of a thaw.

“Perfectly safe, Miss Elizabeth, as there are too many witnesses about,” and he returned her smile.

It was good to see Elizabeth smile because the whole idea of his coming to Pemberley had been a total disaster. Darcy could not even remember the reasoning behind it. It would have been better if he had remained in London, dealt with Miss Montford, and rode posthaste to Pemberley to be with Elizabeth. Instead, he found himself starring in a bad play with no third act.

And why had he thought it was a good idea to go to a cave? Instead of slip-sliding his way through a wet cavern, his preference would have been to stroll a woodland path. Better yet, he would take Elizabeth’s hand, walk into the woods, make a bed of leaves, and make love to her. Of course, such a thing only occurred at night—every night—as he lay awake in his bed. In his imaginings, Elizabeth and he had made love in every room at Pemberley, and their lovemaking had now moved to the gardens.

When they arrived at the mouth of the cave, Darcy handed each of the ladies their farmer’s hat, and Georgiana and Lizzy broke into giggles at the sight of the horrid things.

“Georgiana, all I can say is that I hope the hat looks better on me than it does on you.”

“Sorry, Lizzy, but you are no example of haute couture either.”

While the ladies were laughing, Darcy and the colonel decided how best to proceed.

“Fitzwilliam, you go first, followed by Miss Elizabeth, and then…”

“I am not going first, Darcy. I am the tallest. The last time I went into that cave, I got a nasty scratch from one of those calcium icicles. I suggest you go first, and if you bump your head, I will know where to duck. Miss Bennet should follow you, then Georgie, and I will protect the rear.”

“Protect the rear? From what? Wayward sheep? Never mind. Let us proceed.”

Little Ben, with his torch, was the first into the cave, and when all were inside, Darcy explained that the front part of the cave was used by shepherds as a place to sleep at night and to shelter during a storm.

“You can see some tally marks scratched into the wall, which I am sure were used to count sheep as recently as this summer. The interesting part is through here.”

Lizzy crouched as she passed through a narrow opening before emerging into a much larger room smelling of minerals and accompanied by the sound of the drip, drip, drip of water. Ben’s torch revealed large cones of calcified water rising up from the floor and bursting forth from the ceiling. Lizzy looked around and was filled with the wonder a child experiences when presented with an unexpected gift.

“Remarkable.”

“Yes, it is, but there is something even more remarkable beyond,” and he directed Ben to proceed. Taking her by the hand, Darcy led her to an inner cavern where there were pictures of animals drawn with charcoal on the walls of the cave. Although the pictures were more representational than realistic, Lizzy got chills thinking she might be looking at something that was 5,000 years old.

“The archaeologists from Cambridge believe this room served a sacred purpose because the animals depicted here are either predators, such as wolves and bears, or animals that would have required great courage to hunt, like elk or wild pig, and the cavemen, with their spears, are definitely on the hunt. There are finer caves with better drawings in England and certainly on the Continent, but I take some pride in this little depository of the history of an ancient people being so close to where I live.”

While Lizzy took her time in studying the sketches, Darcy was thinking about how he could kick himself for wasting such an opportunity. Here he was in a dark cave standing next to the woman he loved, and he was regaling her with stories about wild pigs and a primitive people who lived in caves and wore animal skins. He had done the same thing with Miss Montford. Was it any wonder she had looked frightened when he had discussed the American and French revolutions and the great explorers? And now he was doing it again.

“Mr. Darcy, did you read in the London paper that a young girl in Dorset, I believe her name is Mary Anning, discovered the fossilized skeleton of what appears to be an ancient crocodile? It fell from a cliff following a storm. Can you imagine?”

“You read about such things?”

“Why does that surprise you? Because I am a woman?”

“You are right. I should not be surprised, but there is so much about you that does surprise me.”

Seeing that the couple was getting along famously, Georgiana signaled to her cousin that they should leave. “Will, Richard and I will wait for you outside. There is a steady dripping on my head, and I have seen all of these drawings, but please take your time.”

And Lizzy and Mr. Darcy did. He stood as close to her as he could without scandalizing the young Avery. Even with that ridiculous hat on, she looked beautiful. He watched as the flames from the torch cast her profile in flashes of shadow and light, and he had to fight the urge to take her in his arms. Instead, he shared all that he knew about the cave and the valley below. After they had returned to the first room, Darcy stopped Lizzy before she could go out.