Scotch and Sirens - Lizzy and Darcy - Scotch and Sirens

“You are a good and kind teacher, Holly. I have always felt that about you. You seem to know what your students need and when they will need it,” she said, as Holly came into the bedroom with two cups of warm milk later that night.

Lizzy sipped hers while Holy gazed at her sympathetically. She could read her cousin’s thoughts quite easily enough, since any emotions she felt were always right there on the surface like words on a page, in big, bold print. She now fretted that she had shared too much. The last thing she wanted was to worry Holly. But she had never expected him to show up here – yet here he was, and she knew she would now have to deal with both her own feelings and also Holly’s concerns for her.

Lizzy returned the doleful scrutiny for some time before the corner of her lips began to turn up, and when that had no effect on her friend, she finally broke out in exasperated laughter.

“I am well! Really I am. I have sorted it all out and come to a conclusion, which I shall now share with your most patient self. It is quite simple really. I met a gentleman whom I greatly misjudged initially, and in my efforts to mend this first deplorable view in my mind, I simply went too far and gave him more credit than he deserved. That is all. He was only human after all. He is maybe not the gallant man I wanted him to be, but that view was really not fair to begin with, was it? I mean, men such as that are far and few between. Why would I be so lucky as to run into one in my lifetime?”

She sipped more of her beverage and took in the look on her cousin's face.

“All right, so he did leave me standing there in my worst moment, but what man of his wealth and pride would not? He is simply not the one. That is all. I should care nothing for him, and it is obvious he cares nothing for me. Seeing him once again has only made me realise this is the choice I should make once and for all. So it is done! I am determined not to misjudge for a third time. I am right this time, I am sure!” she proclaimed.

“There is something I did not share with you yet of great import though. I did not tell you that when he asked me how I shall occupy my time while I am here, I told him I intended to try my hand at golf,” and she carefully looked over the rim of her cup at Holly.

“Lizzy, I do wish you would stop calling me your teacher. You make me feel at least 100 years old, and you know we are only two years apart. You will be sorely disappointed if you are to be my student in affairs of the heart, you already know my feelings on the subject. An unfeeling man like Mr. Darcy is not worth your regret. And an unthinking man like his friend is not worth our notice either. They are few and far between who are noble and honourable.

“Wait one minute! Did I hear you right? Golf????”

It took a while for Lizzy to stop laughing long enough to answer. It was contagious enough, and Holly joined in the laughter at the thought of her cousin being interested in the sport.

Still giggling, she finally said, “Yes! Golf! Can you imagine? I do not know what possessed me. Really, I do not. It was rather wicked of me. But it was clear that he was only talking to me because he felt some sort of social obligation to. He could not seem to come up with any topic for extended conversation, and I was not very helpful I must admit. I mostly answered his questions and then asked them right back! But when he asked after my parent's health for the second time I could not help myself.

“He said,” and here Lizzy deepened her voice and attempted a fair imitation of Mr. Darcy, “And what are you planning to do while in Scotland?

“Holly, what can one do if one is a woman alone in the countryside? So I told him I would do the normal things, and then added on impulse that I had hoped to try my hand at golf, but that I was not sure if my Aunt had the equipment available for the sport. Please tell me you do not! I do not think he knows how to take a jest, Holly. He just excused himself and walked away right when it could have become interesting.”

“You may put your mind at ease. As far as I know, we have no sporting equipment here whatsoever. Golf will be out of the question unless we are invited to join the illustrious gentlemen in a game!” At this both girls burst out laughing again.

Lizzy continued, “And you need to stop assuming that Lord Brougham is an unthinking man. Being Mr. Darcy's friend cannot be considered a crime, you know. He seemed quite intelligent to me, although a little eager to get on with your mother. He thinks she is some kind of fountain of information on noble causes. I tried to warn him that she would not be easy to get to know, but he is determined! He knows who your father is by the way."

"So, Lord Brougham knows who Papa is? Well, that raises him ever so slightly in my estimation. You know, Lizzy, I would almost be able to tolerate their presence at dinner just to see Maman set him down in his eagerness. But not soon I hope, I have had quite enough of the both of them for the time being.

“But...” and here Holly’s expression grew playful, “the grounds surrounding Clyne Cottage are wild and beautiful. I particularly remember, when I was little, sneaking out to a pool by the stream where I had great fun splashing around and playing in the summers. Let us go tomorrow, and I will show it to you!”

Seeing the worried look on Lizzy’s face, she hastened to add, “Oh, do not worry. It is on the very edge of the property in the wilds. They will never come out that far, we can come and go and they will be none the wiser.”

Lizzy gave Holly a stern look. “Sure,” she said, “you can promise what you will, but the last time I was given similar assurances that I would not run into a man on his own property taught me to put little faith in such promises!” She considered for a moment and then said, “But since I care nothing for his fine opinion, I will venture a walk there if you wish.”

She had finished the last of her drink and, looking at Holly once more, added, “And Lord Brougham did not seem to mind if we wandered onto his property. In fact I am sure he would be most happy if your mother came along. Although we both know what she would say to that!”

“Yes, indeed, I do!” Holly grew serious, deepened her voice and made her back ramrod straight. “A five mile walk? Why ever would one wish to walk when they could ride? Is that not why man invented the wheel and we have carriages? Really, girls! You do try my patience with your youthful follies.”

It was some time before their laughter died down.

After Brougham had pressed and kissed all the hands, and smiled all the smiles while he had uttered all the niceties and courtesies, the two gentlemen bowed and were shown out to the hall where they took their final leave. As the carriage door closed on them, and Miss Bennet and Miss Tournier stood in the doorway bidding them farewell, Darcy settled back willing the carriage to leave as soon as possible, whereas Brougham still leaned out of the window despite the rain and gave a final nodding farewell. And so the journey back to Clyne got under way.

Darcy sat back in his seat and fell silent. Slowly his consciousness absorbed the events of the day. His reason still could not comprehend how it could have happened at all. Odd, Miss Tournier had said, and indeed, it seemed odd. It seemed like Elizabeth’s presence would haunt him every time he strove to forget. It was so tempting to grasp onto those few pleasant memories of her charming smiles at Pemberley. It seemed so easy to follow the glitter in her eyes. He was so close to taking her politeness for love. If not for the London air, so different and sobering, he would have gone to Longbourn as soon as Wickham had married and would have taken a chance again. But no, he knew that further tormenting himself would bring nothing good. It was better to leave it that way and try to forget. Brougham’s cottage was to bring the necessary seclusion…

Brougham’s shifting in his chair caught Darcy’s notice. His friend did not seem to appear in a quiet mood at all. It would be better to start a conversation before Brougham’s temper was worn.

“How did you like the visit? It seems Mrs. Tournier wishes to have us dine with her in the near future.”

“Yes, indeed! And that is one invitation I fully intend to honour, let me tell you! I was serious; it was a very pleasant stay and very interesting, too. I must admit I am quite envious of your long talk together with Mrs. Tournier. You must relate what she said! I can imagine she gave you a hard time, did she not? Your frown was to be felt all the way across the room!”

Brougham laughed and shook his head. He quieted down just a trifle as he saw his friend demonstratively staring out the window again despite the fact that it had already become so dark the trees were fast growing foreboding along the roadside. Brougham thoughtfully eyed him.

“Well, Miss Bennet is all that is lovely and engaging, and very intelligent as well in that lively manner of hers. You have my leave to like her, since I already do so profusely! I shall even go as far as to engage the Tournier ladies to spare your company for more pleasant audiences. But it is no sacrifice, I assure you. Now, if Mrs. Tournier was twenty or even ten years younger I would be in real danger, I will wager. But as it is I vastly enjoy her company. No one but a fascinating woman could be so devoid of tact and manners and so frank in her opinions. And the life she has led! I could sit with her for hours! And the way things are going I do believe I shall.

“Now, the daughter is another kettle of fish all together. Is it just my address, or do you think my general appearance and the cut of my coat is offensive to her sensibilities? Well, that shall be my little project. Not that I cannot give a pretty good guess already. Every bit the stern schoolmistress, is she not? It would not surprise me if she would produce a ruler to rap my fingers if I say something particularly inane in her presence. I declare I will stick to Mrs. Tournier if I only get the chance!”

Darcy, smiling slightly at the deluge of speech produced by his friend, could not help but say, “Miss Tournier? Ah yes. We had been talking about her paintings, and now that you mention it I recall her saying that a school uniform would suit your posture much better.”

Brougham gave a bellowing laugh at his friend.

“She said so, did she? Well, well, well! I am sorry to say she does not look anything like the Matron or the Masters up at school when I was a boy, I can tell you that! Maybe being rapped with a ruler and being caned would not be so bad if one had had more schoolmistresses like the formidable Miss Tournier, eh?

“Oh, I was bad, I know I was! I certainly deserved the punishment she meted out to me. Let us see if I cannot reform until we meet for dinner next time. Although, I shall count it as a grave defeat if I do not manage to wiggle myself into a seat between the niece and the mother instead.”

“Brougham, do you never stop? Of course she did not say it, though you were asking for it. Certainly there must be some things she is more interested in than taxing young fops in her parlour. I doubt if she even gave you a second thought. You, however, would do much better to keep your tongue behind your teeth. I really hope that the time spent in your Scottish harbour did not make you lose your social prowess all together. One does not offend their host.”

This statement seemed to be enough for his Lordship to rumble on in his mirth quite uncontrollably for several minutes, and he needed quite some time after that to collect himself to the degree that he could answer his friend intelligibly.

“Oh, how I have missed company! And oh how I have missed being out in company with you, my friend! Dear oh dear, how excessively entertaining! Against all odds the fair Tourniers and the charming niece bring out the worst in us when in their company and the best in us when we are safely bundled up on our way home again. Promise me no long sessions in front of the fire tonight, you have quite exhausted me already.”

He settled back against the soft seat and leisurely rested his foot upon the opposite one.

Darcy looked at his friend in slight irritation. This insupportable manner of Brougham’s to ridicule everyone was a lot too much for this evening.

“Brougham, pray, I do not understand you. You profess a great interest in Mrs. Tournier, but she did not seem to return it. In the meantime you managed to dishearten her daughter, and you spent the greater part of our time there talking to Elizabeth – who is not like her aunt at all. What exactly did you expect from that encounter?”

“Lum-di-dum, lum-di-dum-dum-dum, and the girl with the red stockings on”, his Lordship was humming to himself drumming his fingers on the windowpane. “Sorry? I was pleasantly transported elsewhere, forgive me!

“Do you know, I think women should be taught to be more impertinent. The greatest bore there is is a woman who has spent hours and hours in a schoolroom only to be taught what she knows must not be shown, and what she wants must never be understood. Would that not be fun? And then, when you finally married the least disagreeable of them, you could rest in the knowledge that you could only be pleasantly surprised for the rest of your life.

“Anyway, you were saying something about what you were expecting from the encounter?”

Darcy felt that the carriage was getting too small for both of them.

“No, I asked you about your expectations. As you will recall, I had none, though yours were endless. Pray, which one of the ladies inspired your need for impertinence so much?”

Without losing his good humour one bit, Lord Brougham said, “All three of them to be sure!”

This did not seem to humour his friend, so they settled down into quietness for the rest of the journey. Both of them seemingly lost in his own thoughts, but surely ones of very different character.

Darcy reflected on Elizabeth and all that he knew about her. The various encounters with members of her family were adding bits to his knowledge. She certainly possessed her father’s wit, but without the bored manner of a cynic he used to entertain so often. She had all the delicacy and tact of Mrs. Gardiner, but spiced with the liveliness that even her sister Jane, though equal in sweetness, was lacking. Perhaps her impertinence could be traced to Rosefarm Cottage, but again, unlike her cousin’s, who seemed to live in the shade of her mother, Elizabeth’s impertinence was not just the effect of having a living example of one too freely indulging in one’s own want of importance that Mrs. Tournier seemed to be guilty of. Elizabeth’s remarks, even if sharp in their frankness, never bordered on the edge of good taste, and her curiosity of the world never turned into nosiness. No, she was very much unlike her aunt. There was nothing vain or loud-mouthed in Elizabeth, nothing repulsive; just the sparkle in her eye that wanted him to open to her for her further inspection, that made him yearn for her interest, search for her eye, hoping for her smile. Elizabeth had courage. The courage to choose from others only what she wished and what added to – not contradicted – her own disposition. The effect was priceless, and her charm irresistible.

There was a single light left on in the hall as the coachman deposited the two gentlemen outside Clyne Cottage some time later. The McLaughlins had the evening off, and as Darcy and Brougham arrived hours after the appointed dinner time they had given Mrs. McLaughlin, all that waited for them were some cold cuts on the kitchen table along with a bottle of wine. Lord Brougham sent his valet off to bed, and feeling the events of the day in all their weight now, he rubbed his eyes.

“Well, Fitz, I think that is an order I could do well to follow myself. I am exhausted and happy, and that is the best state to go to bed in! But you take advantage of Mrs. McLaughlin’s arrangements and the library. She will hide her concern behind copious offences if all that food is still there when she wakes up, and I would not want my good mood to be wasted on her. Good night! And thank you for an excellent day all in all!”

His Lordship gave his friend a grin and a wink and happily sauntered down to his quarters.

Thankful for his friend’s disinterest in any further conversation, Darcy snatched the bottle of wine and went to his chambers. He threw his jacket onto a chair and untied his necktie. He struck the bottom of the bottle firmly enough to pop up the cork. He gulped a good amount of the liquid and stopped only to get his breath. He opened the window wide and sat on its sill. Night had come, eager to shed its skin for chills in the drowsy dew. Silver air froze Darcy’s lungs. His eyelids slowly covered his murky eyes, more foggy now than he would care to admit.

“Elizabeth… why do you haunt me, Elizabeth?

Were I to meet you again for the first time,
But in a different orchard, in a different wood—
Perhaps for us the trees would sigh differently,
Extended into infinity under a misty hood...

Perhaps among the furrowed green you'd reach your hands
For other flowers, trembling as they were birds—
Perhaps from your undiscerning, unknowing lips
Would fall some other words—some other words...

Perhaps into a cascade of flaming roses
The sun would force our souls to burst for good,
Were I to meet you again for the first time,
But in a different orchard, in a different wood...”

poem by Boleslaw Lesmian

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