Page 3 of The Blackmail of Mr. Darcy
A footman stationed near the front door was able to tell her that the library was the fourth door on the left, and she soon found herself in the lofty, well-lit room. She expected it to be quite chilly, but there was a fire burning merrily in the fireplace, and Elizabeth immediately saw why: Mr. Darcy was ensconced in a comfortable looking wingback chair, and a woman was seated near him. Elizabeth felt a disagreeable and puzzling pang at the sight of him with a woman, and she wondered who she was. She looked quite young; too young for Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth blushed and wished she could turn around and flee back to Jane’s room, but of course Mr. Darcy and the woman had already seen her. Mr. Darcy rose, still holding the book he was reading, and bowed courteously.
The man was unpleasant, but let it never be said that he was not polite. Except that one time, at the Meryton assembly, of course! That night, the first night she had ever laid eyes on him, he was rudeness personified.
“Excuse me,” Elizabeth said, for no reason at all. She glanced around at the bookshelves, which were only sparsely filled with a scattering of books.
She decided to start to her left but was arrested by Mr. Darcy’s oh-so-polite voice, “Miss Elizabeth, may I present my sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy?”
Oh. Of course. Elizabeth had heard vaguely that Mr. Darcy had a much younger sister. But she had thought that the girl remained at his country estate, which was far away somewhere in Derbyshire.
Well, it appeared that she was here now. Elizabeth approached, smiled at the now-standing girl as warmly as she could, and said, “I am very happy to make your acquaintance.”
Miss Darcy was a bit taller than she was; she had a very womanly body, but her rounded face and shy expression marked her as still quite young. The girl lifted her eyes to meet Elizabeth’s but dropped them immediately. She barely whispered, “How do you do?” They bobbed slight curtseys to one another.
Mr. Darcy asked, “How is your sister faring, Miss Elizabeth?”
“Tolerably, Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth blushed at her use of the wordtolerably; would shealwaysthink of Mr. Darcy’s cutting remark about her being only tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him to dance? She hurried to add, “She has a cold, but no fever, and it has not gone into her lungs. She seems to be sleeping peacefully right now. I thank you for asking.”
He cocked his head and asked, “You were able to ascertain that her lungs are clear?”
“Well, she has been sick in her lungs before, so I knew what to listen for. Her lungs emitted no troubling noises: no whistling, rattling, crackling, or gurgling.”
He nodded. “I am impressed, and I am glad to hear that she is not feverish. Should we be calling for a physician as a precaution?”
“Meryton has no physician. If her fever goes up or she begins to sound worse, I will ask Mr. Bingley to send for the apothecary.”
Nodding again, Mr. Darcy said, “Yes, that is an excellent notion.”
All this time, Georgiana just stared at them, looking from her brother to Elizabeth and back again. She said nothing, but it was clear to Elizabeth that her reserve was not arrogance; she looked miserable rather than proud, tongue-tied rather than condescending.
Elizabeth decided to try to draw her out. She said, “Miss Darcy, my sister sent me to the library to get a book to read toher when she is awake. I see that there is not the largest selection of books here. Do you have any expertise about Netherfield’s library to help me in my search?”
Georgiana lifted her head and said, “Oh! Well, yes, I…I think I can help you.” She led the way to some shelves to the right. “I found five novels here, and I decided to read one of them. Do any of these four that are left suit you?”
Elizabeth smiled warmly and said, “I was going to start way over there; you have saved me, Miss Darcy. I am so grateful.”
Finally, Miss Darcy smiled. The smile flitted onto her face and then off again, as quickly, but Elizabeth felt a sense of satisfaction from the fact that she had gotten Miss Darcy to talkandsmile.
Elizabeth looked at each of the four books before choosingEnnui, by Maria Edgeworth. Since Miss Darcy was still with her, she explained, “I quite likedBelinda, and this is by the same author.”
“I likedBelinda, too,” Miss Darcy said. She was still talking softly, but it was more than a whisper.
“Now,” Elizabeth said, “for my own reading, I think I would like to try a history or biography. Do you know where I might find such a book?”
“Oh. I…I am not sure.”
Mr. Darcy walked over to them and said, “I can show you the selection, such as it is. This way.” He waved Elizabeth towards some shelves nearer to the fireplace. There were perhaps a dozen books spread out over three shelves, and Elizabeth smiled at the contrast between the Netherfield library and her own father’s much smaller bookroom. Her father likely had ten times the number of books filling a fraction of the number of shelves.
“Depending on your interests, I can recommend this volume on Roman history, either of these books on world expeditions, and this book about the history of India. Many of the others areoutdated or, in my opinion, poorly written and quite dull,” Mr. Darcy said.
Elizabeth was surprised. Mr. Darcy seemed to be going out of his way to be helpful, which was uncharacteristic of him, and he was treating her like an equal, as if she might be interested in and capable of reading about all sorts of topics. Other than her father and Uncle Gardiner, she was not used to men acting in this way.
“I thank you, sir,” Elizabeth said. She opened the books, read the first paragraph of each, and decided on a book about Alexander von Humboldt’s expedition to Spanish America. She looked up into Mr. Darcy’s steady, dark gaze, and she swallowed nervously before saying, “Thank you again. This looks very interesting.”
“I found it fascinating,” Mr. Darcy said.
Sending a quick smile his way, and holding the two books she had chosen, Elizabeth said, “Good day.” She turned and walked as quickly as was proper away from the library and up to Jane’s room.
