Page 98 of May I Have the Pleasure
“Of course.”
“Welcome to Pemberley my friend. We have missed you.”
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“You could have told me Fitzwilliam!This place is everything lovely. You would not have been boasting. I am quite enamoured with Pemberley, and extremely vexed at you for not telling me more about it.”
“I am vexed this is the first time you have visited, so we are even.”
“Insufferable man!”
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“It is good to see you, my friend.”
“Thank you, Fitzwilliam. It is good to see you as well.”
“Was itterrible?”
“Yes… It… I… well…It was in every way terrible. It was far worse than losing my fortune to Wickham. The physician banned me from his bedside and my husband agreed. They were extremely concerned about spreading the disease, so I acquiesced reluctantly, and my good friend died mostly alone.”
“It was his choice, and I concur with his decisions. From a practical standpoint, it would be bone-stupid to risk the protection he had just gone to so much trouble to secure; and I think it would have broken his heart to think he could have made you ill. I know I could not have stood it myself, were I in his place.”
“I can only hope you never are.”
“I can only hope the same for you.”
“I feel it most acutely!He is the only person to leave my life that I miss in the least. I lost a full third of the men I trusted most in the world, and I feel the loss terribly. A piece of my soul has been torn off and trampled underfoot. I also feel the weight of my responsibility. I now have thousands of people depending on my decisions, rather than dozens.”
“You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. You will do well.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your faith.”
“I am simply agreeing with your husband.”
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“Fitzwilliam, I understand you much better than I ever did before. So much that was once confusing, back when I thought you were just an arrogant rich man, now makes perfect sense. So much has been explained. It is all so very clear.”
“I… I… I do not know what to say. I hope you will understand that I would prefer you to be more like the man I am now than the man I was then. In a bit of supreme irony, you are now richer and more consequential than I am. I have faith you will handle it better than I did.”
“Perhaps your earlier incarnation was not to my likingat the time, but I quite like the man you are now.”
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“What will you do now, Elizabeth?”
“I have been the past three months in town looking over the ledgers and reports from the stewards, housekeepers, and men of business. The estates appear to have been managed reasonably well, though not brilliantly. If I did nothing for a year or two, I do not believe anything terrible would happen—but I need to see the land, talk to the people, do the things the master should do. I shall be quite busy for a time—the next year or two at least.”
“When will you go?”
“I hope to prevail on your generosity to ride the estates with me. It is a lot to ask, but I would feel much better with your wisdom to guide me.”
“You do notneedmy advice, but you can always depend on me for anything.”
“I thank you, Fitzwilliam. That means a lot.”
“I also happen to have five purebred horses that could use some exercise. I would be more than happy to ride your lands with you.”
