Mr. Darcy's Daughter (25 page)

I
should so like to convey my feelings of utter revulsion at his conduct and that
of his friend, for I am convinced he was involved in assisting Mr. Barrett to induce
Aunt Josie to leave her home and family. Perhaps, if I do so, he maybe persuaded
not to pester me at least, if not to leave the district entirely.

Emma
Wilson had been a source of comfort and counsel before, and Lizzie found it
easier to confide in her, rather than raise the matter with her mother, who had
more than enough to worry about. Emma's sage advice, arriving as it did a few
days before the dance, was exactly what her niece needed. She wrote:
Regarding
the matter of the odious Mr. Andrew Jones, 'twere best, my darling Lizzie, when
all things are considered, including your own welfare and my peace of mind, to
leave the wretched man to his own devices.

Unhappily,
there is no law against the kind of heinous behaviour of which they are guilty.

Do
not, I beg you, become embroiled in any conversation or disputation with him, which
he, for his own wicked purposes, may falsely report or deliberately
misconstrue, in order to denigrate you. It is enough that he and his friend
have damaged one young woman in our family already; I would urge you, my dear
niece, to ignore him altogether.

In
replying to her aunt, whose advice she had sought, Lizzie seemed unsure of her
feelings:

Dearest
Aunt, while I must thank you for your very timely and wise advice, I am already
preparing for you another query, equally vexing.

First,
let me say that I entirely agree that there is nothing to be gained by pursuing
the matter of my Uncle Julian's marriage and Aunt Josie's conduct with Mr.
Jones. But surely, dear Aunt, there must be some way in which the right persons
must bear the opprobrium for what happened?

Our
family, it seems to me, appears ready to forget it ever happened.

Little
Anthony is settled with us, Uncle Julian is gone to France, and that is an end
of it, as far as they are concerned.

What
is to happen to poor Aunt Josie? Is she to go on living with Mr Barrett
indefinitely? Is there no way in which those, who by manipulation and deceit
inveigled her into this destructive adventure, which has forever tainted the
lives of her husband and son, not to mention all her other family connections,
is there no means by which they may be brought to book?

While
I leave you with this puzzle, let me say that, contrary to what may seem to be
the case, I am not eager to begin some vengeful crusade
against Mr.
Jones, even though I find his very presence in this areadisgusting in the
extreme. So you, dear Aunt, need have no fear that I willact impetuously and
confront him; I am too timid for such an undertaking.

But,
I do live in hope that he and his friend will get their just deserts andpray that,
God willing, I may live to see it.

Meanwhile,
I have much more cheerful news for you; see, I am not allgloom and despair.
There are many good and decent people and pleasantthings may yet happen to take
our minds away from the likes of Barrettand Jones.

The
day after tomorrow is the day of the dance, given by Mr. Carr atRushmore Farm,
and we are all attending. It promises to be an enormousaffair, with everyone
for miles around being invited. Mr. Carr's Americanupbringing, which makes him
astonishingly generous and hospitable,appears to have extinguished totally the
traits of his more parsimoniousIrish ancestors.

But
I do not wish to appear critical, for indeed, I am not. He is a verykind,
great-hearted man and my brother Darcy, who counts him as a dearfriend, will
die for him, if need be.

There
is one more thing and I do wish you could have been here towitness it: Darcy
and I are to open the dancing!

Now
is that not something to celebrate?

The
letter was left unfinished for the moment...

When
Emma Wilson received it some days later, it had been concluded after the dance
at Rushmore Farm.

"I
certainly wish I could have been there," she said, and added to herself,
"I would also like very much to know a little more about this Mr. Michael
Carr.

What
manner of man is he?"

Her
husband heard her question, put down his paper, and said, "Do you mean the
young American who has purchased the Camden stud? Darcy Gardiner seems to know
him pretty well," he said, and Emma shook her head, for she doubted if
applying to young Darcy would get her very much more information than she had
received from her niece already. To judge by the letter, neither Darcy Gardiner
nor his sister was entirely impartial, when it came to Mr. Carr.

It
was a fact amply demonstrated at the dance, where Mr. Carr, grateful for all
they had done to ensure the success of the occasion, had made a brief speech to
his guests, thanking them for their attendance and expressing his appreciation
of the help he had received, especially from the Gardiner family. They were, he
told the assembled company, his honoured guests tonight.

Invitations
had gone out to all the families--gentry, middle class, and those from the
farms and villages on either side of his property. Most people had accepted,
whether out of appreciation or curiosity, it was hard to say. There was,
therefore, a great crowd of people gathered at the farm and, with food and
drink in such generous quantities, there was plenty for everyone to do. There
were fireworks and country dancing on the lawn for everyone to enjoy.

Guests
who wanted mainly to eat and drink had no complaints, while those who wished to
dance or watch others dance found themselves accommodated in a large,
tastefully appointed room, with a small but well-practised orchestra providing
appropriate music. When Darcy Gardiner and his sister, who even he admitted was
looking very lovely that evening, opened the dancing, the onlookers were so
enchanted, they applauded and Cassy, her parents, and her Aunt Jane were justly
proud of the young pair.

Later,
Mr. Carr, who had danced the sedate first quadrille with a young lady from the
neighbourhood, sought out Lizzie and led her to the centre of the floor. Lizzie
and her brother had been teaching him the intricacies of some of the new
European dances for some weeks now, and she was about to discover the success
or otherwise of their efforts.

After
they had successfully negotiated one simple popular dance, the orchestra paused
and struck up the opening bars of a Viennese waltz. Mr. Carr turned to Lizzie
and said softly, "Miss Gardiner, you are about to witness my first serious
attempt at the waltz. I trust you are adequately prepared for the
consequences."

Lizzie
laughed, aware that they were one of only three couples on the floor and the
cynosure of all eyes. "For shame, Mr. Carr, after all the practice you
have had, I expect you to waltz perfectly well tonight or you will have to
explain how it is that a man who can perform that silly barn dance they call a
polka cannot master something as graceful as a waltz," she said, hoping to
tease him into responding.

He
smiled but said nothing. However, when they began to dance, her eyes widened in
surprise, for he was leading her smoothly in the most perfect waltz.

As
they went round the floor, she declared, "You are a fraud, Mr. Carr; this
is too good to be the result of a few weeks' practice. Either you are a
practiced dancer and were simply teasing us or you have had other
lessons."

He
promised faithfully that he'd had no other teachers than her brother and
herself.

"In
which case," she said, "you must be the best student of dance in the
country. Truly, this is good, very good."

He
smiled again and remained modestly silent as they danced, and Lizzie decided
she would simply enjoy the experience. When the music ended, he led her to her
seat and thanked her with a deep bow. He was elated at her words, however
lightly spoken, and as if to underline them, there was applause for the couple
from those observing them around the room.

In
the days that followed, many members of the family would speculate about the
night of the dance at Rushmore Farm and wonder at the consequences that flowed
from it. The party from Pemberley had been very impressed with the success of
the occasion. Recalling that Mr. Carr had thanked the Gardiners at the outset,
Elizabeth and Jane put it down to the talent of the Gardiners, who were always
good at that sort of thing. Mr. Darcy expressed his admiration for the splendid
organisation and generous hospitality of their host.

Cassy
thought her children had excelled themselves, especially Darcy and Lizzie, to
whom congratulations must be due, she said, and her husband declared that Mr.
Carr had proved an excellent host. Young Darcy Gardiner thought he had never
seen so many pretty girls in the one room before and wondered where, among the
dales, they had all been hiding. While Laura Ann, who had fallen asleep in the
carriage on the way home, woke up momentarily to tell them that she had heard
the people watching the dancing say that Miss Lizzie Gardiner was the loveliest
girl in the room. She then went right back to sleep again.

And
Lizzie? Well, Lizzie blushed at the compliment but kept her thoughts mostly to
herself, though confessing, when pressed, that she had enjoyed herself more
than she had expected to, though she was very tired and was looking forward to
bed.

However,
when she got home and into bed, she said a little prayer.

"Dear
God," she prayed, "please do not let me make a fool of myself, or
make a terrible mistake as my Aunt Josie did. Please let me think clearly and
do what is right, because, dear God, I do believe that I am in very great
danger of falling in love with Mr. Carr!"

Having
made the confession to herself as well as to the Almighty, she kept turning it
around in her mind. Whichever way she considered the proposition, she could not
deny its truth.

Unable
to sleep, she rose and concluded her letter to her aunt, Emma Wilson.

The
dance was a great success. I do not believe there was anyone who didnot enjoy
themselves. As for Mr. Carr, he has won universal praise for hisgood humour and
generous hospitality. It has been, for him, an exceedinglysuccessful
introduction to the people in this part of the county. Those whoknew him are
confirmed in their good opinion of him and those who didnot are most pleasantly
surprised.

As
for me, dear Aunt, before you ask, yes I do like him, I think I likehim very
much; he is like no other gentleman I have met in my life.

Your
loving niece,

Lizzie.

Following
the dance, the remaining weeks of waning Summer slipped swiftly by. During most
of this time, Cassandra was increasingly occupied with matters pertaining to
the Pemberley Estate and, in particular, providing to her father the information
he needed to make decisions about the work set out for the following year.

Mr.
Darcy's steward and manager were frequently surprised at the extent of her
knowledge and the depth of her understanding of their work, as well as the ease
with which she could deal with their tenants. They were forgetting, no doubt,
that as a young girl, Cassy had spent a great deal of time with her father,
riding all over the estate, learning all that she needed to know, so she could
teach her young brother Julian everything she had acquired, preparing him for
the day when he would take over his inheritance.

Meanwhile,
young Lizzie, who saw less of her mother than before, found herself alone, with
a multitude of thoughts and feelings that had begun to preoccupy her mind.
Strangely, almost every one of them seemed to involve Mr. Carr. The gentleman
had called on the family a day or two after the dance, ostensibly to thank them
personally for their contribution to the success of the function and, finding
only Lizzie and Laura Ann at home, he had taken tea and, having sat with them
for half an hour or so, departed.

Lizzie
was grateful that he had made no particular difference in his treatment of
herself and her sister. She was anxious to avoid the questions that might follow,
if Laura Ann were to become aware of her feelings. And yet, she wondered
whether, if he had any particular feelings for her, he might not have indicated
it by some discreet sign, a look, a glance, or a word, perhaps taking the
opportunity to speak when Laura Ann had gone to order tea. He had not and that
set up yet another worrying trend of thought in her mind, which restlessly
returned to it over and over again. Was she imagining it all?

Thereafter,
they did not hear from him for almost a week, leaving Lizzie in a state of
dreadful uncertainty, wondering if he had been looking for some encouragement
from her at their last meeting and, not finding it, gone away believing her to
be indifferent to him. She had no way of knowing.

*

As
the days passed, with no one to confide in, since even her brother Darcy was
once again gone to London, Lizzie was beginning to fret and even her mother had
noticed. She appeared to have lost her appetite and seemed restless, which was
most unusual.