A Weekend with Mr. Darcy (12 page)

Reluctantly because she didn't feel like sharing a small space with Jace, she got into the car. ‘What is it?'

Jace turned around in his seat and looked at her. His face looked pale as if he'd had an argument with the sun and refused to see it ever again. His hair was messy too and looked like it hadn't seen a comb for a number of weeks.

‘I've been bored out of my mind,' he said. ‘There's nothing to do down here. Hertfordshire's boring.'

‘Hampshire,' Robyn said. ‘We're in Hampshire.'

‘Well, Hampshire's boring.'

Robyn frowned. ‘What have you been doing?'

‘Dunno,' he said with one of his shrugs. ‘Hanging around, mostly. Talking to the barman.'

‘Oh, Jace!'

‘What?'

‘There's so much to see around here.'

‘Like what?'

‘Why don't you go to Chawton? We're going there tomorrow.'

‘What's at Chawton?'

‘Jane Austen's cottage.'

‘What do I want to see some old cottage for?'

‘Because it's beautiful and interesting and was the home of one of the most famous writers in the world,' Robyn said, but she could tell that she wasn't making an impression. ‘Well, what about Winchester? You could go shopping.'

‘On my own?'

‘Why not?'

‘Because it's boring,' he said sounding very much like a whining child. ‘Why don't you come with me?'

‘What?'

‘Come with me to Winchester tomorrow. Come now and stay at the B and B with me.'

‘Jace, I can't.'

‘Why not?'

‘Why not? Because I'm enjoying myself here. I've been saving up and looking forward to this weekend all year. You know I have. I'm not about to walk out and stay in some crumby B and B when I've got a great room here at Purley.'

‘Well, let me stay here with you.'

Robyn sighed. ‘You know I can't.'

‘Aren't you bored?' he asked, scratching his messy hair.

‘No.'

Jace tutted. ‘I just want to be with my gal.' He reached across and picked up her hand.

‘But we never talk when we're together,' Robyn said and then swallowed hard. She hadn't meant to say something that confrontational. Not that night. Not in the middle of her Jane Austen weekend.

‘What do you mean?'

‘Nothing,' she said quickly.

‘No, Robyn. You meant something by that. I'm not thick. What did you mean?'

‘Jace, I've got to get back.'

He wouldn't let go of her hand. ‘I know what you're thinking,' he said. ‘I'm not good enough for you, am I? I'm not smart like all those people in there who read all those posh books and know which knives and forks to eat their soup with.'

Robyn tried not to giggle; he was being deadly serious.

‘You've always thought that, haven't you? And you're right. I know I'm not good enough for you. But I was once, wasn't I? When you needed me. I was good enough for you then when there was nobody else, wasn't I?'

‘Jace, don't.' She pulled her hand away from him. ‘Don't talk about that. Not now.'

‘You never want to talk about it.'

Robyn sat perfectly still for a moment. This was horrible. He was putting all sorts of bad memories into her head and she didn't want them there. This was her special weekend away from all that. It was a time to escape into the safe and beautiful worlds of Elizabeth and Darcy and Elinor and Edward. She didn't want it to be about Robyn and Jace.

‘Look,' she said at last. ‘I've got to be back for the quiz. It's one of the highlights of the weekend.'

He stared at her for a moment and she couldn't tell if he was going to let her go without a quarrel or if he was going to start up again.

‘All right, all right,' he said after a protracted silence. ‘I know when I'm not wanted.'

But did he? Robyn wondered. Did he
really
?

She got out of the car and Jace did too. It was terrible timing because across the front lawn, walking out of the lengthening shadows, was Dan leading a grey mare with Moby and Biscuit following behind. Robyn watched and it seemed that everything was happening in slow motion as Dan raised a hand and waved across to her, a smile lighting up his tanned face.

‘Who the hell is he?' Jace demanded.

‘Dan.'

‘Dan?'

‘He works here.'

‘He's that bloody horseman, isn't he? The one that nearly half killed my car.'

Robyn rolled her eyes. ‘Night, Jace,' she said and walked as quickly as she could back to the hall before he could even think about kissing her good-bye.

The Jane Austen quiz night was always entertaining and as soon as dinner was over and desserts had been consumed and coffees drunk, everybody made their way to the library, where chairs had been placed around little tables.

‘Groups of three!' Dame Pamela shouted above the excitement. ‘Groups of three.'

Katherine and Warwick looked at each other in despair.

‘Where on earth can Robyn be?' Katherine asked, her hands on her hips as if she were searching for a naughty student rather than her new friend.

‘I think she's been abducted by that mad boyfriend of hers,' Warwick said.

‘Don't say that,' Katherine said. ‘I'm sure he's capable of such a thing.'

The figure of Mrs Soames appeared in the library doorway and they watched in undisguised horror as she made her bosomy way across the room towards them.

‘Oh, no!' Katherine said to Warwick.

‘Lord preserve us!' Warwick said.

‘We've
got
to find another partner. Quickly!'

It was too late.

‘Ah, there you are, Dr Roberts,' Mrs Soames said. ‘I thought you'd have approached me by now to make up a team.'

Katherine physically blanched at the cheek of the woman.

‘
My
team always does well in the quiz,' she continued, manoeuvring her bosom with all the menace of an army vehicle.

Katherine looked up at Warwick as if he might be able to find a way out of their predicament, but with a miraculous sense of timing, she saw her saviour.

‘Robyn!' she yelled across the room, waving madly to catch her attention before she was grabbed by somebody else. ‘I'm terribly sorry, Mrs Soames, but we already have a team.'

Mrs Soames turned around to see the approaching figure of Robyn. ‘That slip of a thing?' she said in disgust. ‘She can't possibly know as much as I do.'

‘But
she's
our friend,' Katherine said pointedly.

Mrs Soames's mouth wrinkled up like a pug's bottom. She turned around as fast as her enormous bosom would allow her and walked away in search of somebody else to harass.

‘Boy, are we glad to see you,' Katherine said, squeezing Robyn's arm. ‘Where were you?'

‘Trying to get rid of Jace,' she said.

‘Everything okay?'

Robyn sighed. ‘For the moment.'

‘Well, you've just saved us from the dreaded Mrs Soames,' Warwick said.

Katherine nodded. ‘There's a quote from
Mansfield Park
that I always remember in the presence of Mrs Soames. “We must prepare ourselves for gross ignorance, some meanness of opinions, and very distressing vulgarity of manner.”'

They all burst into laughter.

‘Girls,' Warwick said, ‘we'd better find a table before the quiz starts.'

Robyn looked a little uncomfortable. ‘Are you two sure you want me in your team? You'll probably know so much more than me!'

‘Rubbish!' Katherine said.

‘You're as much of a fan as we are,' Warwick said, leading them to a table by the window at the far end of the library. ‘And it's my experience that fans know far more than professionals.'

‘What's your profession?' Robyn asked him.

‘He's an antiquarian,' Katherine said.

‘Then you'll know
far
more than me,' Robyn said.

‘Take your seats!' Dame Pamela called across the sea of heads. ‘There should be pens and paper on each table.'

‘Gosh, I'm quite nervous,' Katherine said.

‘
You're
nervous?' Robyn said.

‘Let me tell you a secret,' Katherine said, and three heads leant in close together. ‘I may be a lecturer, but I always get nervous before every single lecture—every single seminar. It never gets any easier.'

Robyn's mouth dropped open. ‘Really?'

‘Really,' Katherine said.

Dame Pamela, who was standing underneath an enormous portrait of herself on one of the few walls in the library that wasn't covered in books, held her hands up for silence which came instantaneously.

‘Ah, the power of a dame,' Warwick whispered.

Dame Pamela beamed a smile around the room as she let the question sheet flutter in her hand. ‘This is probably my favourite part of the conference weekend,' she said, ‘but I'm sure to say that about the trip to Chawton tomorrow and the dance the day after that. There's something very special about our quizzes, though, and just to whet our appetite, the prize tonight is a special collector's edition of Jane Austen's novels for each team member.' She held up one of the beautiful box sets of white and gold books. There were sighs of appreciation and people picked up their pens in anticipation. ‘And a signed and framed photograph of me in the role of Lady Catherine de Bourgh.'

Warwick grinned at Katherine.

‘She gives those out every year,' Katherine whispered. ‘I think she had too many printed.'

‘We'll start off with some easy questions to warm you all up,' Dame Pamela said.

‘You be the scribe, Robyn,' Katherine said, pushing the piece of paper towards her, together with the pen.

‘Where was Jane Austen born?' Dame Pamela asked.

Robyn beamed. ‘I know that one!'

‘Go on, then,' Katherine said, ‘write it down.'

‘Steventon—here in Hampshire,' she whispered, and Katherine and Warwick nodded in agreement.

‘Question number two,' Dame Pamela said. ‘Still nice and easy. How many brothers and sisters did she have?'

‘One sister,' Robyn whispered.

‘I knew you'd be good at this,' Katherine said with a grin.

‘But I'm not sure how many brothers. There were lots, weren't there?'

Katherine nodded. ‘Six,' she whispered, and Robyn wrote down the answer.

‘Imagine sharing a house with six boys,' Katherine said, shaking her head.

The questions continued, getting progressively harder. It seemed that the collector's editions of the Jane Austen novels and the signed photographs of Dame Pamela weren't going to be easily won.

‘Now for the next section,' Dame Pamela announced. ‘It's our quote quiz, where you have to name the speaker and the novel the quote is from. We'll start with a nice, easy one. “He is a most disagreeable, horrid man, not at all worth pleasing. So high and so conceited that there was no enduring him.”'

‘Mrs Bennet!' the whole room chanted, and there was a ripple of laughter as pens scribbled down the answer.

‘I did say it was easy,' Dame Pamela said. ‘Just to warm you up for the tough ones. So here's the second quote,' Dame Pamela said. ‘“One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.”'

‘Emma!' Katherine said without a moment's hesitation.

‘From which novel?' Warwick asked with a grin.

She pulled a face at him.

‘Next quote,' Dame Pamela said. ‘“It is a great comfort to find that she is not a poor helpless creature, but can shift very well for herself.”'

‘That's about Catherine in
Northanger Abbey
, isn't it?' Warwick queried.

‘But who said it?' Robyn asked.

‘It's her mother,' Katherine said. ‘Mrs Morland.'

Robyn wrote down the answer.

‘And the last quote,' Dame Pamela announced. ‘“This is always my luck! If there is anything disagreeable going on, men are always sure to get out of it.”'

‘Oh,' Robyn said. ‘Is that Mrs Bennet?'

Katherine shook her head. ‘Too astute for Mrs B. I think it's Anne's sister in
Persuasion
, the one who's always complaining.'

‘Mary? Mary Musgrove,' Warwick said.

‘The very one,' Katherine said, and a smile passed between them that had quite the effect of banishing Robyn's very presence.

‘You've all survived the quote round, but the questions are getting a little tougher now. We have a real mixed bag in this section so be warned. In the previous section, you should have written the number of brothers and sisters Jane Austen had. Now you must name them all.'

‘Oh, lordy!' Robyn said.

‘No, no,' Katherine said. ‘We can do it. There was Cassandra—obviously.'

Robyn nodded. ‘And Edward—the one who was adopted by the Knight family. Who else was there? We need five more names.'

‘Charles,' Warwick said.

‘Yes and Frank—or Francis—and George,' Katherine said.

‘And Henry and James,' Robyn said. ‘I remember that because it's like that American writer's name.'

‘We've got them!' Katherine said. ‘Well done, team.'

‘Okay, everyone?' Dame Pamela asked after a couple of minutes. ‘Was that enough time? Right, next question. What was the original title of
Northanger Abbey
?'

‘Ah,' Katherine said, ‘it was
Susan
.'

Robyn scribbled down the answer, hoping it was right. She wanted to win those books.

‘Now,' Dame Pamela continued, ‘this will test even the most dedicated Janeite. In
Pride and Prejudice
…' she began.

‘I thought she said it would be hard,' Mrs Soames was heard to say from her table. ‘There's nothing hard about
Pride and Prejudice
. A true Janeite like me knows it inside out.'

‘So you might think,' Dame Pamela said. ‘In
Pride and Prejudice
, Mr Collins reads to the Bennet girls after dinner. What is the name of the book he reads from? And there's an extra two points if you can name the author of the book.'

Silence fell upon the library. Even Mrs Soames looked stumped.

‘I told you it was for true Janeites,' Dame Pamela said with a silvery laugh.

Katherine frowned at Warwick and he frowned right back at her.

‘I have absolutely no idea,' Katherine said, ‘and I thought I knew that book inside out.'

‘That's what everybody thinks,' Warwick said. ‘Robyn? Any ideas?'

Robyn bit her lip and then smiled before writing something down on their answer sheet and passing it to the two of them.

Katherine read the words she'd written. ‘
Sermons to Young Women
by Dr Fordyce.'

‘Really?' Katherine said, impressed. ‘I had no idea, and I've read that novel so many times.'

‘How did you remember that?' Warwick asked.

Robyn gave a little smile. ‘I read it in
Jane Austen for Dummies
just last week.'

Katherine and Warwick grinned.

‘Fordyce's book was terrible,' Robyn continued in a whisper, lest any other teams hear her answer. ‘It encouraged women to be submissive and everything.'

‘Like that's never a good thing, you mean?' Warwick said and received evil glares from both Katherine and Robyn.

A few more questions came and went and Robyn's writing hand was beginning to get sore, but she battled on for her team and for the chance to win those books.

‘And final question,' Dame Pamela announced at last. ‘We all know the opening sentence of
Pride and Prejudice,
but what's the last sentence? It's a long one, I know, so we don't expect it to be word perfect, but the person who gets nearest to it will get five points.'

There was much intaking of breath from around the room.

‘Over to you, Katherine,' Warwick said.

‘Don't leave it to me! I'll need all the help I can get,' she said. ‘Okay, it's about the Gardiners and Derbyshire. I remember that much.'

‘And how much Darcy and Elizabeth love them,' Robyn chipped in. ‘I'll write that down.'

‘And there's a lovely phrase about them coming together,' Warwick said.

‘How does it go?' Robyn asked, her pen hovering hotly over the paper.

Warwick's mouth became a firm line of concentration. ‘Something about the Gardiners bringing Elizabeth to Derbyshire and so “uniting them.”'

They each took it in turns to examine the strange sentence they had cobbled together.

‘Does this look right?' Warwick asked.

Katherine looked at it again. ‘It looks like it could pass muster.'

‘And that's the end of the quiz,' Dame Pamela said a few minutes later. ‘Make sure you have your group's name on the top of your paper before handing it to Higgins,' she said, motioning to her right-hand man who, that evening, was wearing a mustard-coloured waistcoat with the brightest gold buttons ever created.

‘We haven't got a name!' Robyn said.

‘It has to be Austensian,' Katherine said.

‘Of course,' Warwick said. ‘How about The
Pride and Prejudice
Posse?'

‘Eeew, that's really awful,' Robyn said with a giggle. ‘What about Darcy's Girls?'

Warwick cleared his throat.

‘Ah, yes sorry.'

‘We want something that's fun but that encapsulates the whole feel of Austen,' Katherine said.

They sat pensively for a moment.

‘I know. How about Bennets and Bonnets?' Katherine said with a grin.

Warwick grinned and Robyn nodded as she wrote the name proudly in block capitals across the top of their answer sheet and then handed it to Higgins the butler when he came around.

‘Well, that's that,' Robyn said. ‘Our fate is sealed.' She might as well have been talking to herself because Katherine and Warwick were staring at each other as if nobody else in the room existed, least of all Robyn.

Glasses of mulled wine were served together with the prettiest of chocolates as Dame Pamela's team of quiz markers got to work and Robyn sat sipping and nibbling, her eyes trying to avoid the lovebirds before her.

How amazing the library was, she thought, staring up at the great height of the bookcases all around the room, her eyes taking in all the coloured spines. They looked like real books too—books that Dame Pamela had bought individually and actually read—not books she'd bought by the metre to impress guests, as some country house owners did. How Robyn would love to have such a room! At present, her little terrace could accommodate only a couple of modest-sized bookcases, but they were her pride and joy, filled with books that she thought of as her friends. And how she would love to add the collector's editions to her little family.