The Pemberley Chronicles (27 page)

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Elizabeth wrote to her father, inviting him to Pemberley in the Summer of 1820. She had heard from Jane that their mother was going with her sister Mrs Philips to Ramsgate, both sisters having decided that they deserved a holiday from their respective families!

On mentioning this to Mr Darcy, I have been urged by him to write immediately to invite you, Papa, "to take the opportunity to escape the domestic scene and visit Pemberley, where the pleasures of fishing, shooting, and plenty of reading" await you. I should add to this the company of at least two of your daughters--for Kitty is but ten minutes' walk across the park or fifteen by road, two sons-in-law, and your grandchildren, of course! Pemberley is at its prettiest from late Summer to early Autumn. Could you ask for more? We are engaged in planning for a new school that Kitty and Dr Jenkins want to set up for the younger children on the estate. Mr Darcy is providing the building and the furniture, converting and restoring a hall which stands in the grounds of the Rectory, and the teachers will at first be volunteers from the community. You will not be surprised to hear that I shall not be teaching drawing or painting--how wretched were my early efforts at home--but have agreed to assist with singing and reading. Mr Darcy believes that it will help in building a community spirit to counter the destructive effects of the enclosures that have created so much misery for the poor people in these parts. On the other side of the district, Colonel Fitzwilliam and the Gardiners are attempting something similar--at Kympton, with the assistance of the parish council. More when you arrive, dear Papa, we do so look forward to your visits. Mr Darcy asks that you send a message giving the time of arrival of your coach at Lambton, and the carriage will be there to meet you.

Cassandra sends her love. She looks forward to more of the stories you read to her when you were here last year. I think we can be confident that she will make some calls on your precious time.

Mr Bennet's response was short and to the point:
My dear Lizzie,

Your letter has convinced me that it is quite useless to spend even another day at Longbourn. Mary has already gone to Jane. I shall be on the coach on Wednesday. Do tell your husband that his offer of a carriage to meet me at Lambton is, as usual, happily and gratefully accepted. I look forward with great satisfaction to reading with Cassy; indeed I have acquired a new book with just such a purpose in mind.

Throughout that Summer and into Autumn, the families remained in the country, unless there was an absolute necessity to travel to London. The pleasant Autumn weather and the relative peace of the countryside provided ample reason to stay at home, while recent reports from the city offered every argument to avoid it.

Colonel Fitzwilliam, who had gone to London to lobby members of his Reform Group, wrote to the Gardiners:

. . . You are right to avoid London, for it has become a veritable madhouse--with the populace and the Parliament involved in an unseemly battle, as to who was the more disreputable, the King--as yet uncrowned or his unwanted and unloved Queen.

Darcy, Elizabeth, and Mr Bennet were dining with the Gardiners that evening. Fitzwilliam was to join them later. Caroline read, with appropriate dramatic emphasis, parts of his letter, which had arrived a day or two ago:

The streets are filled daily with a rabble, who support one side or the other--marching, shouting, waving banners, molesting innocent passersby, and generally causing mayhem. Many feel we are close to revolution-- but I cannot believe that we are to become involved in such an exercise on the back of such a dreary cause as this . . .

Mr Gardiner pointed out that Fitzwilliam was in London to lobby the Reformists for support with the plans they had for providing schooling and health care for the poor. "There is hope that the Whigs will support a new bill to let municipalities play a part in running some of these services. It will depend on the support they can get from the Reform Group, of course."

Mr Bennet, who had been very impressed with the work that Kitty and her husband were doing at the Rectory at Pemberley, was interested to hear how the plans at Kympton were proceeding. "Caroline is very much involved," said her father, very proud indeed of the role his daughter was playing, "She and Emily are to start a singing class for the young children and Mrs Tate, who manages the
Review,
will help Mrs Gardiner with the reading and writing classes." Mr Bennet, who had often expressed outrage that English children were left to grow up illiterate, unless their parents had sufficient money to have them privately taught their own language and literature, indicated that he was suitably impressed, though he remained outraged at the government's lack of interest.

Caroline continued, from Fitzwilliam's letter:

I cannot get a sane word out of anyone in the Parliament on the subject of reform either. The Romantics of the last decade--Sir Walter Scott, Coleridge, Southey, and would you believe, my dearest Caroline--your favourite Wordsworth--have all turned into ardent Tories and are demanding more repression and harsher penalties for the poor if they dare to question their masters. Wordsworth has even called for a police force to curb the people and laws to control the press.

There was at this point a yelp as if she had been bitten, and Caroline cried out, "I shall never again read another novel by Scott or a poem by William Wordsworth." Everyone laughed; surely that was one promise she could not keep, they said, but Caroline was quite determined. "How could they want more repression of the people, and why would a poet like Wordsworth call for control of the press? It would be a betrayal of everything he believed in." Impressed by her passion, Elizabeth ventured an opinion, "Dear Caroline, many a youthful romantic has turned into a boring conservative with age. Wordsworth is no different to many others."

"Well I shall not," said Caroline, in a spirited voice, "And if a poet cannot speak for the people, what chance have the rest of us?" Then turning to Mr Darcy, she asked, "Mr Darcy, do you intend to turn into a boring old conservative, too?" Her mother gasped, but Darcy laughed and proceeded to answer her quite seriously, "Caroline, I am conservative, by nature, I prefer to preserve the best features of our society, and I value our traditions, but that does not mean I support injustice and repression. I am uncomfortable with this government, which supports the demands of the privileged and represses the poor. I do not accept that age or birth has anything to do with it; it is a question of having a sense of responsibility for your fellow men. I have always believed, as my father and grandfather did, that those of us who are fortunate in life must play our part in helping those who are not. I don't mean just doing charitable deeds and giving to the poor--all of us do that. I mean taking responsibility to contribute materially to the improvement of their lives, because it also improves the community in which we all live."

"Do you mean by that, Mr Darcy, building schools, libraries, and hospitals?" asked Mrs Gardiner, whose interest in the subject had increased with her own involvement in the Kympton Parish School. Darcy nodded his agreement, "Indeed I do, Mrs Gardiner, but not just building them; helping to keep them going, supporting the people who do the work, because healthy, educated people are going to be happier to live and work with than sick, ignorant folk, and that must benefit all of us as a community." Caroline gave a little cheer.

"Does Colonel Fitzwilliam know your mind on this?" she asked eagerly. "Yes he does, and he agrees with me," said Darcy. Elizabeth looked across at her father. He was watching Darcy with interest and delight. He had never suspected this side of his reserved son-in-law's nature, even as he had come to know him better and found him more amiable, as Elizabeth had promised he would.
Later he would confide in Elizabeth his immense pleasure at finding Darcy expressing such noble sentiments. This was surely the man she had learnt to love. "I know now why you were prepared to defend him so passionately, when I expressed some disquiet. He has certainly shewn he is a man of compassion and principle, Lizzie, one after your own heart, eh?" Her pride and satisfaction at hearing her husband's words had been boundless. Having her father acknowledge his generous nature was especially pleasing. It was a side of Darcy's character she had known for many years. It had given her much happiness; it was just very satisfying to know that others in her family acknowledged it, too.
The sound of a carriage drawing up heralded the arrival of Colonel Fitzwilliam, somewhat earlier than expected. He was made very welcome, by everyone and particularly Caroline. The bliss of the lovers, who had been apart for almost an entire week, was clear to be seen. They were left undisturbed in the sitting room for a while, before Mrs Gardiner went to remind them that dinner was served.
There was much news to hear and a great deal to talk about during and after dinner, but for Caroline and Fitzwilliam--nothing was more urgent or important than the joy of being together again. But equally, they were also deeply committed to the social and political goals they had set themselves, and their energy enthused others around them. Darcy had agreed to assist with the initial funds for their school at Kympton, and the Parish Council, of which Mrs Tate was a member, was making a hall available to them. The parents of the children who were going to be the first pupils at the school worked hard to complete the repair and refurbishment of the school house. Caroline, who had already obtained a promise of books from Georgiana, was delighted when Mr Bennet offered to contribute a number of items from his own library. "We shall soon have an excellent collection," she boasted, as her infectious enthusiasm drew everyone around her into helping with her project.
Some days later, as she watched her daughter set off on an errand of mercy, to take food and clothing for a family in the village whose father was out of work, Mrs Gardiner wrote to her niece, telling her of Caroline's work for the school and the children of the area:

Dearest Jane,

I do not have all the words to express what I feel about my dear daughter. Just seeing her so content and so full of plans makes me the happiest mother in the world. Colonel Fitzwilliam has become a member of our family to the greatest extent possible, so that we shall truly feel that when our Caroline is married, we are gaining another son, not losing a daughter. Jane, dearest, what pleases me most is their generosity. At a time when almost everyone is busy pursuing their own selfish pleasures and ambitions or chasing more and more money, Fitzwilliam and Caroline seem determined to help as many people as they can. Nothing is too much trouble, if a poor family or a sick child can be comforted. Your uncle and I help them in every way, happy to encourage this wonderful spirit of charity and kindness. Today, they are off collecting to help buy the slates and chalk and other things they need to start next month--when Elizabeth will open the school at Kympton, the first for infants in this village. It will be such an important day for the people of the village; I cannot tell you how happy we are that our little girl is doing so much to help the children.

Mr Darcy and Elizabeth are her greatest supporters, with several donations in cash and kind from Pemberley towards the fund for the school. I give thanks every day for the happy circumstance that took us to Pemberley that summer and brought Elizabeth and Mr Darcy together; they are so perfect a couple, I cannot believe that either would have been happy with any other partner.

Your uncle and I are well. We hope you and Mr Bingley will be able to come down to participate in our little function, next month. With Colonel Fitzwilliam standing for Parliament, we expect the newspapers will take an interest. The Review has had two items already.

Do give our love to Bingley and the children; I trust they are all well. God bless you all, my dear,
Your loving Aunt, etc.

C
HAPTER
F
IFTEEN

Tides of change

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HE YEARS BETWEEN THE
Coronation of King George IV in the summer of 1821 and his unlamented death in 1830 were filled with opportunities for change, which many European nations grasped and

Britain, through an excess of inertia and a lack of leadership, missed. As nations large and small in Europe moved restlessly under the yoke of old style conservatism, struggling to change first one system and then another, in England the populace watched with increasing revulsion the absurd antics of the Georgian Court and the Parliament, which seemed to leave them stranded, as the tides of change receded.

The government appeared to lurch from one crisis to another, with no sign of a steady hand on the wheel of the ship of state. The high Tory faction that dominated the government had set their faces firmly against reform, reacting to even the mildest demand for change with repressive measures like the infamous "Six Acts." Meanwhile, the Whigs and other Reformists like Cobbett and Hunt struggled to be heard above the noise emanating from the Court, where the best efforts of all the King's men were concentrated upon his determination to rid himself of his unwanted Queen.