Page 20 of Miss Gardiner
“You are welcome, Mr Darcy,” Miss Gardiner replied. “And there is a long list of furniture. Lady Anne purchased three different styles of dining room chairs that do not match the set in your dining room here or at Pemberley.”
With a quizzical look upon his face, Mr Darcy began to ask Miss Gardiner how she knew the style of dining room chairs here and in Derbyshire, when the young woman anticipated his question saying, “Miss Darcy and I examined the chairs here in the ballroom, and she took me to your dining room where we found them to not be complimentary at all. Miss Darcy then drew a detailed sketch of one of the chairs from Pemberley.”
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The next time Elizabeth made an interesting discovery, it was a cache of original prints by an engraver named Hogarth. Mr Darcy was less impressed with the prints, but Miss Gardiner provided a reference to a gallery in the City and to the British Museum where the curators would purchase the prints. This discovery spurred a long conversation between the man and woman about the past exhibits they had seen at the museum, including paintings and statues. MissDarcy brought her brother to the ballroom the next day where the three of them had a discussion on music; Lady Anne had stored two trunks filled with sheet music among her treasures.
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On a Saturday afternoon when Elizabeth was free of duties at the Darcy house in Mayfair, Uncle Edward took her into his small library to discuss a new purchase.
“Lizzy, you know that your aunt and I need your opinion on an important matter. My warehouses are close to the house and Gracechurch Street is perfectly situated to allow me to come and go so easily. But we have run out of rooms; Andrew, Rebecca, Margaret and Hannah require a classroom and bedrooms, and the servants are packed into the kitchen and attics.”
For a moment, Elizabeth thought she would be exiled to Longbourn, but Uncle Edward relieved that fear with his next statement, “My business continues to grow and do well, so I have purchased the house next door. I shall make my new office on the ground floor in the dining room and front parlour will be where my clerk works and gentlemen and merchants wait. The best tradesmen I know are coming on Monday to cut doorways on the first floor and on the third between the houses.”
Shortly, the family gathered to explore the new house. Mr and Mrs Gardiner with Elizabeth and their children walked out the front door and then up the steps to the next house and entered. The layout of the house was the same as their current house. After finding the appropriate areas on the first and third floors for the connecting doors, Mrs Gardiner mentioned with great interest that they should have an additional door to connect the two kitchens, and Elizabeth suggested that her uncle have the staircase from the ground floor to the first floor enclosed with a door at the bottom of the stairs.
“Men who come to your office for business cannot slip away and enter our house if this staircase is closed and the door locked,” she explained to her uncle and aunt.
After hearing her niece’s idea, Mrs Gardiner declared that additional locks would be added to the door leading to the kitchen and back staircase. Mr Gardiner agreed to all their ideas, and he suggested that Mrs Gardiner discuss hiring an additional girl in the kitchen and consult with their footman about his promotion to the position of butler and hiring another man to the household staff.
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At the Darcy home, Elizabeth noticed Miss Darcy’s mood was darker for a few days but did not mention it. Eventually the young woman asked, “Miss Gardiner, did you ever have a lady’s companion?”
Watching the workmen for only a moment before replying, ‘Miss Gardiner’ replied, “My sisters and I never had a nanny. There are five daughters in my family and our housekeeper helped Mamma correct our behaviour whenever necessary. My father is an educated man, and he taught us to read and do sums. I love reading and spent many happy hours lost in books from our library.”
Miss Darcy nodded once and continued, “Early this year, my brother hired a lady to be my companion, but she was let go quickly–Mrs Young created false references and plotted with a rake to get close to me.”
“Truly? False references? And a ‘rake’?” Miss Gardiner asked. “Miss Darcy things such as that happen in novels but never to anyone I knew. Were you much affected?”
“I was scared for several days but Fitzwilliam made certain that Mr Banks locked the doors at night and that I had the key to my room.”
“Now I understand why Mr Banks and the footmen are so vigilant at the doors,” Elizabeth nodded in understanding. “I think it perfectly natural.”
“My brother selected Mrs Annesley to be my lady’s companion and Mrs Banks approved of this one.”
Endorsing the statement, Elizabeth said, “Mrs Banks is a very smart woman who understands people very well. And where is Mrs Annesley this morning?”
“She has a cold and keeps to her bed today.”
The younger woman sighed, “Mrs Annesley and I disagree on the value of studying Shakespeare’s sonnets. She thinks they are lovely, but I find them harder to fathom than the plays.”
“The sonnets are more about emotion,” Miss Gardiner replied immediately. “They talk about love and loss.”
“I do not understand love and I do not remember my parents, so it is hard to relate to loss.” Georgiana’s next question surprized Elizabeth, “Why do men believe women cannot think? Why are we thought to be stupid?”
Elizabeth’s quill stopped moving over her notes and again, she glanced at the workmen who were on the other side of the room. Then she whispered, “I do not understand men, Miss Darcy. I think women spend their entire lives tryingto understand them.”
Miss Darcy frowned but turned toward the painting of her mother, “My mother and father were married for seventeen years but no one speaks of them being happy. But my brother tells me that my mother was happy that I was coming, and she loved me.”
“It shows in the painting Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth assured the girl. “The artist may not have completed the background but anyone looking at your mother’s portrait can see that she was happy.”
“Mrs Annesley will be better tomorrow, and we shall continue our study of the sonnets. May we come and discuss them with you?”
“I should like that very much,” Elizabethagreed. “We can try to discuss them in French.”
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