Elizabeth’s old routine returned once she was home and Mr. Harley provided as good a service as any Nanny. She quite thought he was even better though she did not say as much to the man. Elizabeth did not think he might like to be known as Nanny.
When summer came at last, a familiar visitor appeared in Meryton. Elizabeth had agreed to walk to town with her sisters as they always had, though there was little in their small hamlet that captured Kitty or Lydia’s eye now that they had shopped in Mayfair.
Major Wickham came upon the sisters as they approached their Aunt Philips’s home. Elizabeth was caught by surprise and attempted to hide her dismay. She had not thought to see him again until returning to London.
He made a grand bow and her sisters clustered around him. Elizabeth had to admit there was a distinct lack of young gentlemen in Hertfordshire since their return.
There was not a one of their former beaux that still held any appeal and only a handful of redcoats had remained behind as the regiment decamped to the south for the summer.
Major Wickham spoke with her sisters but his eyes were ever on Elizabeth. He seemed to want her on his arm. That shall never be, she thought.
Since Charles had told her of the trouble between Mr. Darcy and Major Wickham, and verified Mr. Darcy’s account of the matter, Elizabeth had become quite bothered with her dismissal of Mr. Darcy’s concerns.
She had written to Miss Darcy and hinted at the whereabouts and doings of her brother without outright asking after him.
The letters she had received over the weeks relayed every detail of each ball and how in love Miss Darcy was with her viscount Elizabeth had met at both the Matlock Ball and the one she held at Fitzwilliam House. She hoped to become better acquainted with the young man in the future.
Her sisters had left Major Wickham on their walk back to Longbourn and he offered his arm to Elizabeth. She moved away and picked a wildflower from along the road to keep her hands busy.
Major Wickham dropped his arm and moved closer to her. “It was a terribly long spring without you in London, Elizabeth. I wish I might have come earlier, but I have leave to stay in Meryton for a time. I hope to see your son again, and your parents.”
Elizabeth gave him a tight smile and demurred about her plans. “I do not know whether I might stay for the entire summer as the Matlocks have written to express how dearly they miss Richard.”
“Would you return to Town on their whim? That does not seem like the Miss Elizabeth Bennet I once knew. Perhaps they might come to Hertfordshire instead?”
The major thought himself clever but Elizabeth thought him presumptuous. He had no place in her life to suggest a thing about her life or her relationships. Her nerves prickled as he prattled on and on thinking he was quite charming.
By the time they arrived at Longbourn, her nerves fairly jangled with irritation. She wished to return to Netherfield but would not risk him walking with her all the way there.
“Perhaps we may see you again soon, Major,” she said as she pushed open the front door of her childhood home. Lydia took the man by the arm and led him inside past Elizabeth.
“Oh la, Lizzy, he must come in and sit with us for tea. Mother would be so upset to know he had come and we did not invite him in.”
Elizabeth watched them nearly drag the man into the parlor before making good on her escape. She stepped outside quickly and closed the door behind her. Crossing the lane in front of Netherfield, she hurried up a small hill and down into the fields that separated Longbourn from Netherfield.
Her mother would fuss at her later for her lack of social graces, but Elizabeth did not care. She was in no mood to entertain the likes of Major Wickham. She thought she might do well to warn her father of the man’s true nature before too long.
At Matlock House in London, Lady Matlock sat with her nephew in the salon. “I believe we might impose upon Mr. and Mrs. Bingley. He was friends with Richard for some time and we are his nephew’s grandparents. There is a family connection there.”
Mr. Darcy regretted mentioning his plans to visit Hertfordshire. It had not been so that his aunt and uncle might join him and make Elizabeth’s escape to the country miserable instead of pleasant.
“They will return to London soon, Aunt Margaret, and I thought you might prefer your estate in the north of Derbyshire for the summer.”
Lady Matlock looked over her book at Mr. Darcy. “What have we to anticipate there, Darcy? No, we will go where our grandson goes and find whether he is being cared for properly in the little hamlet of Meryton.”
It was exactly as he feared. “You must stop this nonsense over his care. Elizabeth is a fine mother and the servants of Fitzwilliam House and Netherfield Park dote upon the child. Do not become a threat to Elizabeth or you may see less of the boy.”
Lady Matlock bit her tongue. Her husband had said the same but a country chit like Elizabeth Bennet Fitzwilliam could never stand against the power of the Matlocks. Her time to take over would come when young Richard was older or if his mother failed to protect him.
She turned the tables on her nephew. “Let us speak of why you wish to spend the summer there instead of Pemberley. Is it because you are fond of Elizabeth?”
It was entirely because he was fond of Elizabeth. Truly it was more than fondness, but there was no need to share such detail with his aunt. “Georgie wishes to see Elizabeth and Richard. I promised we would go to Hertfordshire last week and so we shall. It is a very lovely place even with the lack of sophisticated society. I will find it refreshing after the ballrooms of London.”
“Then we shall all go together! Write your friend and see if he is amenable to such a party at his country home for a time. We shall leave as soon as we hear from him.”
Lady Matlock stood and closed her book. She quit the salon before Darcy might continue his argument over her summer plans.