Page 46 of Miss Gardiner
“Nonsense,” insisted Georgiana. “Miss Elizabeth will be amazed at the lengths that Lady Catherine de Bourgh will go to hide her poor financial management. Remember, Elizabeth understands sums and values of goods.”
Rising from the table, Darcy assured his sister that she had his permission to write as many letters as she wanted to Miss Elizabeth, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and himself during August. As he left the dining room, he thought, ‘Mr Banks will empty his franking purse in the next month for certain!’
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Separating from his sister and her companion when they reached the stairs, Darcy kissed her forehead before he walked into his office and spent twenty minutes with Mr Clemmons discussing two letters that needed to be written and sent this morning. Once the letters were complete, Darcy affixed his signature andwished Clemmons well.
“Send every letter to me at Rosings Park,” Darcy instructed his secretary. “You may package bundles of letters and send them every other day or even every third day with a special courier.”
Then he spent ten minutes with Mr Banks, instructing him to remove the knocker from the door, feed the servants well, and for the staff to share a bottle of wine on Saturday night.
“Miss Darcy and Mrs Annesley have use of the formal carriage and team but send both footmen when they go out.”
The butler agreed to the man’s instructions before Mr Darcy stepped from the side door and spoke to his valet and the footman who secured the trunks to the carriage. This was an older carriage kept for Darcy’s short trips, and it was pulled by a team of bay geldings. Now, Darcy and the coachman walked around the team, inspecting the tack, and reins.
“Is all as you expected sir?” asked the coachman.
“Of course, Jameson. I just like to get close to the horses,” Darcy replied. “Will your boy ride Zeus or Ares to Kent?”
“Zeus, sir. We packed two saddles so you and Colonel Fitzwilliam can ride,” the coachman replied. Darcy saw the teenage boy standing with two more geldings behind the coach, one saddled and the other on a lead.
With everything secured on the coach, Darcy and his valet climbed inside, and the coachman set the horses in motion, heading up the side street and away from the tall house in Mayfair. The journey into Kent would take the entirety of the day; it was just over seventy miles to the stables at Rosings Park.
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At luncheon, with Fitzwilliam gone for several hours, Georgiana and Mrs Annesley remained in her suite of rooms and were served their meal there. Mr Banks interrupted their time at the small dining table with a silver salver that carried a letter.
“It is from Miss Bennet,” Georgiana announced after reading the outside of the page. Glancing at Mrs Annesley who did not smile, the young woman sat the letter aside to read after the meal was complete.
“When you read a letter at the table…one that is of great interest to you…you ignore the rest of your meal,” Mrs Annesley explained. “You must complete the meal before giving the letter your attention.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Georgiana agreed. She imagined Miss Elizabeth’s letter discussing her sewing, her uncle’s latest cargo unloading spices and cotton at the docks, or a memory of her sister when they were small growing up in Hertfordshire.
Once the meal was complete and the dishes carried away by the chambermaids, Georgiana opened the paper. She took her time reading the letter, but Mrs Annesley paid no attention to her charge until Miss Darcy began laughing aloud after reading the contents of Miss Elizabeth’s letter.
“What on earth?” inquired Mrs Annesley.
“Please read the letter,” Georgiana said, handing over the paper. After reading the letter, Mrs Annesley sat confused.
“How is this humorous, Miss Darcy?”
“Miss Elizabeth will visit Hunsford, the parish where her cousin, Mr Collins and his wife live. This is the parish that Aunt Catherine sponsors. Well, Rosings Park supervises the glebe that supports the church, parsonage and the parson.”
“And your brother does not know Miss Elizabeth will be in Kent at the same time,” Mrs Annesley said. “You must write to him immediately!”
“No…I shall wait until I hear of how they stumbled across each other; it will be a comedy such as Shakespeare would write,” Georgiana replied.
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Georgiana wrote two letters that afternoon. The first she sent to her cousin Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, visiting at Rosings Park, Kent. In part, the letter read…
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‘Richard, while you are with William, make certain he walks through the park regularly, early in the morning will be best. The past month he has been lethargic and remained within the house most hours of each day. I am certain some exercise will be good for him.’
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She wrote a reply to Elizabeth and send it round to Gracechurch Street with the footman. Mr Banks disapproved when Miss Darcy said she would provide funds for a rented cab, but the young mistress insisted so he provided the footman with the funds from the purse he held forhousehold expenses.
