Anne was a little doubtful. What would her mother think of her wearing such thin, fashionable muslin gowns—she would call them flimsy and unseemly—as Georgiana was wearing?
“Oh, but everyone wears them,” said Georgiana firmly. “Do but try, let us go back to the house and try. It would oblige me so much, for I made several foolish purchases in London, and I have a green sprig muslin that does not suit me at all, and a dark blue silk, and I know that they would look pretty on you, and I would not feel so badly about having spent my brother's money; not that he cares, for he would buy me anything that I wanted. And you know, Anne, your mother need never know!” They did indeed look very pretty, even with the hems trailing past her ankles, and onto the floor, and the sewing maid promised to alter them as rapidly as might be.
Then Mrs Darcy's maid, who, it seemed, had very little to do, got at her hair, and created a new, very becoming style for her. Mrs Annesley offered to teach her to play the piano. Her cousin Darcy gave her the freedom of his library. And Colonel Fitzwilliam, quite unprompted, pointed out that Mrs Darcy could not, in her present circumstances, exercise her mare—such a gentle creature!—and offered to teach Anne to ride, thus raising Mrs Darcy's hopes quite considerably.
Chapter 9
The making over of Georgiana's clothes, for such a small lady as Anne, proved quite difficult, for Georgiana was sturdy as well as tall. However, Mrs Reynolds, the Pemberley housekeeper, got to hear of the matter. She had loved lady Anne Darcy, who had always been very well dressed, and thought it a great pity that her niece should be wearing unfashionable clothes that did not become her at all; the Pemberley ladies should be elegant! she produced several lengths of silk and muslin, bought at one time or another but never used. If Miss did not object to quite a simple style, she said, a couple of day dresses and an evening gown could be very quickly made up. And as for the style—yes! maybe in France, where they did nasty things, the ladies wore them with so little underneath that the unseemly creatures must surely catch their death, but Miss would see how comfortable such dresses were, and quite proper, with a nice thick English petticoat underneath!
The dresses were ready before the Caldwells arrived. Anne was delighted with them; they suited her well, and with her newly styled hair, she was able to play her part in the initial dinner party with a confidence she had seldom felt before. Visitors Came to Pemberley almost every day, and many had been very agreeable, but to see them again was so comfortable! She could talk with parents and son alike, with as much ease as if they were old acquaintances. Mr and Mrs Caldwell treated her like a daughter, and it was amazing how many of the same books she and Edmund liked!
The first evening, as they were all sitting together after dinner, Georgiana suddenly said, “Do you know, brother, that Anne says she cannot dance?”
“Not dance? Why, how is this?”
Anne admitted that she had, of course, been taught to dance, but being out of practice, unwell, and shy, she had not been able to the last time she was at a ball.
“That will not do at all,” said Mrs Darcy. “We are going to the Lambton assembly quite soon. What can be done?”
“If you would like, Madam,” said Mrs Annesley, “I would be very happy to play the piano, and we could walk Miss de Bourgh through a few figures, at any time.”
“Oh!” cried Georgiana, “let us dance now! We could make up, let me see… we are one… three… five women, and four men. We can make up three couples, if Mrs Annesley will play for us, and Anne can watch.”
“I have a better idea,” said Elizabeth. “I will play, you can make up four couples, and Anne can join in,” and she sat down at the pianoforte, and began a country dance.
It was strange, but after one walk through, Anne had no trouble at all in picking up the figures! Among friends, in whom she had confidence, her shyness vanished. She turned, and cast, and set, and curtseyed, and yet had leisure to notice that Colonel Fitzwilliam was by far the best dancer, and Edmund Caldwell the worst.
After this, they danced every evening. There were walks every day in the park, but soon everyone became ambitious, and a walk to the celebrated fossil face was proposed.
“How far is it?” Anne asked.
“I think it cannot be more than two miles,” her cousin Darcy said.
“A little more, I believe,” said Mr Caldwell. “Edmund, the fossil rock face—is it not about two miles distant from here?”
“I think so,” his son said. “It is a while since I walked it, and then it was from my own home; but I think it cannot be much more.”
“Two miles! Oh, that is nothing,” said Georgiana.
“Yes, but wait a moment,” her brother said. “It is not a ride, remember, you were talking of a walk.”
“Yes, but two miles, we walk almost that far when we go into the village.”
“But that is there and back.”
“Oh! I had forgot, we must come back.”
“Yes, but you will be coming downhill,” said Mr Caldwell.
“There is quite a steep uphill slope to get to the face.”
“It is all very well for most of you,” Mrs Darcy said, “but I confess that I have not, at this moment, such a burning interest in rock faces, as would lead me to walk four miles, in total, for the reward of seeing one. I think that I will be quite happy to stay at home.”
“And I will stay, and keep an eye on you,” Darcy said, “for I have some business matters that cannot well be put off. My steward has been looking at me reproachfully for several days now.”
Mr and Mrs Caldwell, however, were not to be held back, and constituted themselves the party's guides and principal mentors. “Indeed, my mother knows far more than I do,” Edmund Caldwell said. “And my husband knows more,” Mrs Caldwell said, “than both of us together.”
“I know very little of such matters,” said Colonel Fitzwilliam, “and my lack of knowledge embarrasses me; but if you will have me along, I will promise to be an attentive, if not an apt, pupil.”
Since arriving at Pemberley, Anne had gained a good deal of strength, but walking still fatigued her, and she much preferred to ride. Colonel Fitzwilliam was very pleased with her progress, and she delighted in her morning rides, which allowed her to see a great deal of the beauty of the park. She did not like to say that she was not up to a walk of four miles, but clearly, Colonel Fitzwilliam did not intend to go on horseback: suppose she started out, and could not complete the distance? Would she not be better advised to stay at home? Or would she be able to ride? Perhaps Georgiana or a groom would come with her? These thoughts had scarcely begun to occupy her mind, when Mrs Annesley proposed a plan. “that is too much of a distance for me,” she said, “but is the road fit for the pony carriage?”
“Perfectly,” Darcy said, “as long as the weather is fine. It is a pleasant country lane, except for the last few hundred yards, when you must leave the path, which is but a track by that time, and walk—or rather scramble—up to the face. We did it easily when we were boys, and even now it would not be too difficult for anyone wearing good stout shoes.”
“If I were to drive the little carriage,” said Mrs Annesley, “It could be useful to bring something to drink, and perhaps some sandwiches, for I think—am I not right?—that the countryside is quite remote, and there are no villages, no inns or taverns. And if any of the ladies are afraid of fatigue, one of them could take a seat with me, at any time, or ride with me for the whole of the way.” Anne immediately closed with the offer, and it was agreed that they should go together.
Chapter 10
The day dawned fine, with a gentle breeze. Anne's enjoyment was assured from the start by the knowledge that she was looking her best. It was Georgiana who had remarked that Anne never looked well in a bonnet. Neither close-brim, wide-brim, nor poke suited her small, delicate features; she merely looked “as prim as a governess,” said Georgiana. She had insisted on Anne trying on all her hats, and on giving her several. The one she was wearing today had been agreed by all to be the prettiest, with its wide, shady brim and green ribbons, and went very well with her new cambric gown.