Page 58 of Miss Gardiner
The next morning, George Clark left Rosings Park, and the household anticipated the afternoon arrival of Arthur Lincoln for his visit. Colonel Fitzwilliam had no objection to George Clark except that the man was left-handed. Again, a childhood prejudice that war and battle tried to beat out of him, unsuccessfully this time.
Mr Lincoln from northern England came from a family in law and his mother had brought a sizeable dowry to her marriage and this formed the foundation of his fortune.
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The second day, Darcy returned to walk with Elizabeth and after a short distance, he noticed her step growing slower.
“Perhaps we should sit for a time,” Darcy said, motioning toward a fallen tree.
“If you wish,” was her simple reply as Henry began climbing in the canopy of the fallen tree, shouting occasionally about spiders.
“I am very sorry about the inquiry,” Darcy said after they were seated on the log.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam is only trying to protect Miss de Bourgh,” Elizabeth replied. “I only wish someone had protected Jane. If I had been at Longbourn, they would been properly…”
“We can every one of us imagine different events,” Darcy said. “I have nightmares imagining what might have happened if Mrs Banks had not sought verification from Mrs Young’s previous employers herself. Young might have taken Georgiana to Ramsgate where Wickham could have preyed upon her innocent nature.”
“I am glad that I do not…you will not bring that man out to ride, will you? I shall hide in my room the whole of the time he is here,” she said.
“No. I shall not bring him out to ride.”
Seeing Darcy’s concerned look, Elizabeth assured him, “I am not afraid of Bingley but if I see him, I shall tell him what Ithink of him, and if suitable crockery is within reach, I shall endeavour to leave him with a broken head.”
“Use a pitchfork Miss Elizabeth,” suggested Henry Jones from his seat on a limb above them. “Fork’ll put two holes in him and hold him off’n ya.”
“How do you know this, Henry?” asked Mr Darcy as Elizabeth nodded in agreement with the boy; she knew what a pitchfork was.
“Our old goat charged me sister in the barn one day. Da had pitchfork in his hands and ran it into th’ goat and pinned him to th’ wall.”
“Was your sister well?”
“Yes, but that goat was too tough to eat. Th’ old buck was not worth skinning. Me and Da fed most of the carcass to the pigs.”
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Speaking at length with Mr Lincoln, Richard could find few things about the man to be objectionable. They discussed his journey to Rosings Park and Lincoln added, “My coachman reported that every coach stopped in Maidstone to water and rest the horses before traveling further into Kent. There is no place between Maidstone and Ashford to stop.”
With Mr Bingley planned to be the next gentleman caller for Miss de Bourgh, Colonel Fitzwilliam decided to ambush the man before allowing him close to Anne de Bourgh, or Elizabeth Bennet. When Darcy shared Elizabeth’s ‘plans’ for Bingley and Henry’s suggested approach to handling an old goat, Richard laughed for the first time in two days. Then he turned to his cousin and explained, “After much thought and I have decided we should meet Bingley in Maidstone and turn his carriage back to London and turn his carriage back to London.”
“You intend to keep him away from Rosings Park?” asked Darcy.
“And Hunsford,” Richard replied, nodding his head once. “Mr Lincoln reminded me that Maidstone is the best place to stop and water horses between Gravesend and Ashford.
That evening, with Darcy distracting Aunt Catherine with another argument about monies, Richard asked Anne about her impressions of Mr Lincoln. His cousin glanced about to make certain her mother was absent from the room but then explained, “I liked Mr Lincoln every much. He plays thepianoforte and enjoys playing cards with me.”
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Chapter 14.Mr Bingley’s Unhappy Day
At the end of Mr Lincoln’s visit, one that Cousin Anne seemed to particularly enjoy, Richard and Darcy rode out an hour after Lincoln’s carriage, determined to intercept Bingley’s carriage in Maidstone. To avoid overtaking Mr Lincoln’s carriage, Darcy and Richard rode across empty meadows during their trip to Maidstone. Zeus and Ares seemed to enjoy jumping fences this morning. When the riders and their mounts finally settled into travel on the road, Richard asked, “What did you tell Miss Elizabeth about this morning’s trip?”
Darcy replied, “I told her you planned to ambush Mr Bingley with a pitchfork.”
“The pitchfork again?” asked Richard, beginning to tire of the story.
“Young Henry brought one to the parsonage the next day to demonstrate how to stab an old goat. There were several bushes mangled during our walk that day,” Darcy explained.
“I thought pitchforks were to throw hay and straw, not destroy the shrubbery?”
