Page 31 of Mr. Darcy's Christmas Letters
Elizabeth was suddenly afraid that her early morning visit to the kitchen had been discovered, but although her cheeks warmed a bit, she quickly rallied. “We all of us grew up on an estate, Miss Bingley. It would have been strange had we not been trained to run one.”
It was Miss Bingley’s turn to blush. “And yourmothertaught you? How extraordinary.”
“Caroline,” Charles said without any hint of malice, “tread very carefully.”
Elizabeth thought the calmness in his voice more powerful a warning than if he had raised it. Miss Bingley, however, would not be deterred.
“Eliza does not mind, Charles. After all,” Miss Bingley said, “your mother is not from the landed gentry, is she? What could she possibly teach you?”
“She learned how to be mistress of Longbourn from our grandmother Bennet,” Jane said before Elizabeth could respond.
Jane always knew when to step in. Elizabeth reminded herself that Mamma needed no protection from her, any more than Jane did. Mamma, despite her nerves, was a good mistress, and the Bennets were the oldest family in the area. A great house had stood on the same site at Longbourn for close to three hundred years. Caroline Bingley had money and nothing else. Not even the respect of a brother who was likely to rise far above his father’s expectations.
“Your grandmother?” Miss Bingley asked, for once caught off guard.
“Yes,” Elizabeth replied, now more in control of her ire. “My grandmother was mistress of Longbourn for thirty years when our grandfather passed, and she lived with us until her own death five years ago. My mother was very happy to learn from her.”
Her grandmother had taken such pains with them all. She would have been saddened by Lydia’s marriage, but then, had she been here, she might have prevented Lydia from becoming such a flirt in the first place.
“I am sorry for your loss,” Mr. Darcy said, looking directly at her. “It sounds as though she was very much loved.”
“She was.” Elizabeth smiled. “Jane, do you recall her teaching us to sled when we studied the Cimbric War?”
Jane laughed. “She was irrepressible.”
“It sounds as though she was a little like our Lizzy,” Charles said as the soup bowls were removed, and the next course brought in. There were several dishes, and they all smelled heavenly.
“You know, Lizzy,” Jane said after everyone had been served, “now that I think on it, you two were very much alike. She loved the cats in the barn and would take you out there to play with the kittens. Mamma was always unhappy when their little claws snagged your clothes, so Grandmother bought you a special dress to wear out to the barn, do you remember?”
Elizabeth nodded. “It was made of a rougher material, and it itched, but I did not mind, for the kittens could climb all over me and Mamma did not care. And when the puppies were born . . .”
Jane nodded. “And she taught you how to climb trees.”
“You climbed trees?” Miss Bingley’s eyebrows rose almost to her hairline. “How . . . charming.”
“Oh, it was the best way to pick apples, you see. Or throw them at marauders.” Elizabeth glanced over at Mr. Darcy. His expression told her nothing, but the light in his eyes meant that he found the notion of her climbing trees more amusing than shocking.
Jane laughed a little louder this time, which for Jane meant that it could be heard. “You mean the Lucas boys?”
Elizabeth met her sister’s eye. “There are so many of them.”
“And what was their offense, Miss Bennet?” Mr. Darcy asked in a sonorous voice that sent a glorious shiver down her back. Elizabeth broke away from her sister’s gaze to meet his. Her breath caught in her throat at the dark intensity of his stare.
“They were stealing apples, Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth managed to say.
“Perhaps they were hungry,” he replied.
“Didyouever stage a raid on a neighbour’s apple trees, Mr. Darcy?” Elizabeth heard Miss Bingley’s affected gasp, but ignored it, for Mr. Darcy did not look away.
“I must say I did. I believe that is where my cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam learned the skills he now uses against Napoleon.”
“Wereyouhungry, Mr. Darcy?”
“Of course, and the neighbour’s apples always tasted better in any case.” One corner of his mouth curled up slightly. “But surely the Lucas boys knew you would defend your family’s interests with vigour. It is in your nature to protect those you love.”
Her heart raced. Was this an acknowledgement that he did not hold her terrible words at the parsonage against her? They were seated at a family dinner—they were not alone. But it might be a very long time before she had another opportunity such as this.
“Little did they know,” Elizabeth said directly, “that had they simply asked, I would have said yes. For I knew that they would also have been generous with me.”
