En Svinesti (Carl Bøgh)

Excerpt from The Beginning of Prudence, Ch. 6

Morning did not come quickly enough for Darcy. The night had seemed to drag on and on, but then, when one was not sleeping, they often felt as if they passed at the pace of a child on his way to a lesson he did not want to do. He had dozed between moments of wakefulness; however, he had been too anxious to do more than that.

At the end of the evening, Elizabeth had still been willing to meet with him this morning. She had even told him where she planned to take her morning walk and at what time.

He looked at his watch again. That time had passed two minutes ago.

“She will be here,” Richard said. “I am certain it cannot be easy to get away from the parsonage if one encounters the loquacious Mr. Collins in the process.”

Or she might have reconsidered, and he’d find a message from her when he returned to Rosings.

“Any number of other things may have also detained her,” Georgiana added. “Perhaps we should walk in the direction of the parsonage to meet her.”

“That is an excellent idea.” Walking was much better than just standing. Movement dispelled nervousness. Being idle allowed those bothersome nerves to congregate and cause all sort of disagreeable symptoms, like the faster than normal beating of his heart.

“Will you ask her to marry you properly today?” Georgiana had been quite delighted by Darcy’s inadvertent broaching of the subject at dinner.

“I had thought to call on her for two weeks before even raising the topic at all. However, since I waited barely more than one call and a few hours, I suppose I must address the subject now. That being said, I am not certain she is willing to answer a request yet. She barely knows me, after all. What idiot implies he is going to offer for a lady when he has only just begun to attempt to win her good opinion?”

“An utterly besotted one,” Richard said with a chuckle. “I dare say, Georgiana, that we have never seen your brother act so rashly as he has since arriving at Rosings.”

“I think it is sweet, and I hope that when I find a gentleman to love me and describe me as wonderfully as Fitzwilliam did Miss Elizabeth, he will be just as turned about and anxious to declare himself to me.” She sighed wistfully. “It was very romantic.”

Despite his chagrin to have inspired such fanciful notions in his sister’s mind, Darcy gave her an appreciative smile. At least, she had not poked fun at him for making a cake of himself. Of course, he was not about to let her comments pass without some attempt at bringing them back to less-fanciful footings. Therefore, he said, “I hope whoever proves to be good enough to secure your hand is a bit more in possession of his mind than I seemed to be yesterday.”

“I hope he is not,” his sister insisted.

“If he wishes for me to approve of his suit, he might wish to be,” Darcy grumbled.

“If he wishes for me to approve of his suit, he best be enamoured so much that his heart bubbles forth with all that is in it,” Georgiana retorted. “I want to know his heart completely. I do not want anything left to assumption. I have had my fill of pretty words with no meaning. A gentleman who is normally staid and steady but who seems to forget himself when speaking of his hope for a happy future together with me would be my preference.”

He could allow that reasoning, and he conveyed his approval by covering her hand on his arm with his own and giving it a gentle squeeze. “I will not approve of anyone who cannot demonstrate to me that he cares for you more than he cares for anything else in the world. However, I do think he might be able to do that without blurting his intentions during a meal.”

Georgiana giggled. “I must say I was glad Aunt Catherine did not hear you.”

“I was glad for that and for Mr. Collins not hearing me either.” It was likely the first time since meeting that particular gentleman that Darcy had found himself appreciating the man’s propensity to excessive verbosity.

“He does seem to be a less than observant sort of fellow,” Richard said.

“Thank the Lord he is,” Darcy replied.

“Do you think he will pose an issue for you?” Georgiana asked.

“No, for I do not intend to ask him for permission to speak to his cousin. I have written a letter to Mr. Bennet, and I have only to receive Miss Elizabeth’s permission to send it to him.” He stifled a yawn.

“That is why you seem tired. Were you up all night writing that letter?” Georgiana asked.

“No, but I did not write just one letter.”

“To whom else did you write?”

“Elizabeth,” he replied softly. “I had to get all my words out on paper so that perhaps today, my mind could be well-ordered.” He feared that no amount of preparation could keep his thoughts in tidy lines when he was with her. She truly did set him at sixes and sevens. Surely, this feeling of being set adrift without a sail or oar would cease as soon as he had secured her hand, would it not?

“Well,” Richard said, “it appears that we are about to discover if your preparatory work was time well-spent or not.”

A bonnet could just be seen over a row of tall bushes near the start of the lane in which they walked. Moments later, a snorting and huffing sow entered the path in front of them.

“Stop her!” Elizabeth shouted to them as she hurried into the lane. “Betsy! Stop.”

“Betsy?” Richard muttered before moving to the right side of the path and leaving the left for Darcy and Georgiana. “Come here, girl,” he called to the pig. He squatted down and held his arms wide as if welcoming a child to run to him.

Betsy stopped and looked at him.

“Stay here,” Darcy whispered to his sister. Then, slowly, he crept towards the sow.

Elizabeth had also slowed her pace and was moving cautiously toward the pig.

“That is an excellent girl, Betsy. Shall we take a walk together?” Richard continued to chat to the animal.

Betsy snorted, and Darcy swore her head bobbed up and down as if agreeing to take a walk with his cousin. He pressed his lips together to keep from laughing.

“Come now, Betsy. Join me.” Richard waved for the pig to come to him, and if Darcy had not been there to see it, he would have never believed that the animal obeyed.

As it was, the activity shocked him so much that he stood still and watched.

“Perhaps we can find an apple for you,” Richard said.

Again, the sow snorted and seemed to nod her agreement.

“Maybe we can find a pretty bow for your neck,” Richard added.

This got a huff in reply, but the sow was now within Richard’s reach. He stroked her nose and then her head as she came closer. Finally, he wrapped his arms around her neck. “Do either of you ladies have a ribbon we could use?

Elizabeth untied the ribbon from her dress.

“Miss Elizabeth is going to help you dress, my lady,” Richard said to Betsy, who seemed content to be petted by him.

Elizabeth carefully wrapped the ribbon around Betsy’s neck and tied it in a knot. “You will need to cut this to get it off her,” she said softly to Richard. “But I would rather sacrifice a bit of ribbon than spend another half hour trying to catch her.”

“Do you hear that, Betsy? Miss Elizabeth thinks you look fetching in your new blue ribbon. I dare say all the other pigs will be jealous.”

“That is not exactly what I said,” Elizabeth replied with a laugh, “but if that is what works, you may tell her that she is the prettiest pig that ever strolled the groves at Rosings.”

Richard gave Betsy’s head a rub. “That she is, for I have never seen another pig walking here before.” He rose and took the ribbon in his hand. “Come along, my dear, we must walk you back towards your home so that the gossips cannot tarnish your name too greatly.”

Betsy huffed and snorted, but then, she began walking next to Richard as if it were quite the natural thing for her to be led around on a ribbon.

“I cannot say I have ever seen anything like that,” Georgiana said as she joined Darcy and Elizabeth.

“Neither have I,” Darcy agreed.

“If you are talking about someone speaking to a pig as if they were a person, then, I would have to say I have seen it before. If you are talking about a pig wearing a ribbon and being led around, well, I would have to admit to having seen that as well,” Elizabeth said as she placed her hand on Darcy’s proffered arm.

“You have?” Georgiana cried.

“I have. My youngest sister Lydia was enamoured with Longbourn’s pigs when she was little. I think she still prefers them to most of the other farm animals.”

“Why pigs?” Darcy could not fathom what endeared a pig to a child.

“They did not peck like the chickens, were not so large as the donkeys, horse, and cows, and did not have sharp claws like kittens.”

Darcy’s brow furrowed. “I suppose that makes sense.”

“Did your sister talk to the pigs?” Georgiana asked.

“She still does,” Elizabeth replied, “though she has given up trying to dress them and rarely walks them on a ribbon any longer.”

“Your sister, Miss Lydia, used to play with the pigs?” Darcy was having a difficult time reconciling the Miss Lydia he knew with the image that Elizabeth had just painted of her.

“She did, and she still will not eat a morsel of pork of any sort.”

“Pigs,” Darcy said in amazement. “I truly would not have thought Miss Lydia fond of any animals, save for maybe a kitten.”

Elizabeth laughed. “It does seem odd. She is all fashion and fuss about everything, except pigs.”