Page 90 of May I Have the Pleasure
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Sweetwater—July 1814
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“Fitzwilliam, I believe it is time for you to return to your duties. Charlotte and I shall be quite well here. I will always be grateful for all you taught us, and now it is time for the little birdies to leave the nest again. I hope I manage to fly this time.”
“Are you tired of my company, Elizabeth?”
“Of course not!I have… I have… I have enjoyed it immensely, and you have been a godsend. You have your own life to live though, your own estate to manage, and your sister must be missing you abominably. Lady Catherine has told me her premier is coming soon, and you must see to it. You cannot leave her first season to your aunts, or worse yet, your cousin. I imagine you are obsessively worrying about her court dress for her curtsey. Who will choose the lace if you are here?”
“Still impertinent, I see.”
“I fear it is a character defect sir.”
“I would not call it so, but you are correct, it is time for me to leave. I have enjoyed our time together, Elizabeth.”
“As have I, Fitzwilliam. Safe travels, my friend.”
“Be well.”
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Cheapside—January 1815
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“Good morning, Elizabeth. Miss Lucas, I am happy to see you.”
“Thank you, Mr Gardiner. I am happy to visit.”
“Good morning, Uncle. Thank you for seeing us.”
“Nonsense, Lizzy. It is my pleasure, and I only wish you would agree to spend more time with us. You know you are always welcome as well, Miss Lucas.”
“I have an estate to see to, uncle, but I do appreciate the offer. Charlotte and I have been content at Sweetwater these eight months.”
“How is your estate?”
“Very well!Mr Darcy was kind enough to engage an excellent steward, and he spent a full two months teaching us what we needed to learn, whilst fixing all the tenant cottages and making most of the long-overdue repairs. He left us with an enormous stack of useful books which Charlotte and I are reading voraciously. The old steward was ready for a pension which I gave him, but he was keen to work with the new one for a year or two and try to get the estate back to what it was. He was most distressed by the previous owner’s neglect. My property is being restored to what it should have been as we speak. The past year has been terribly busy, but most rewarding—aside from the dead husbands part—which was not as diverting as it sounds.”
“Excellent my dear. I always believed you would be good at whatever you chose to do. You always were intelligent, and not everything your father did in raising you was wrong.”
“I agree on that score uncle, and I thank you. I am not quite ready to forgive my father his last transgression though.”
“It would be a pointless endeavour anyway. Your father is what he is, and you will reconcile with him or not. I would let your own motives drive that, since he is quite capable of looking after his own desires to the exclusion of all others—as you know better than anyone.”
“I am in no hurry. I hope he lives a long time because I amnotlooking forward to inheriting Longbourn.”
“Let us have some refreshments, and then get down to the true reason you are visiting ladies.”
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“Uncle, I have come to ask if you are willing to undertake a rather unpleasant task. I only trust a very few men, and you are the only one in my family.”
“That is a sad state of affairs.”
“But a true one, you must agree?”
