A Season Lost Page 3

  As the hail seemed to have stopped, Elizabeth made her first step to return to the house and found him following behind her after a moment’s hesitation. She knew Darcy worried over the success of his estate’s crops far more than most landowners – more for its impact to his tenants than his own profits, although the latter could never be entirely ignored, for those profits in turn paid the wages of their servants and provided much of the income for those who worked in Lambton and Kympton. There was a whole web of people who owed their livelihood to Pemberley, and she loved her husband for giving this the import it deserved.

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  Elizabeth, following a hot bath that removed any last remnants of the winter chill from her person, went down to the saloon and found herself fretted over by both her mother and Jane, who feared she had been caught in the hailstorm. Once she had given them reassurances regarding her safety and seated herself, Elizabeth had a letter given over to her by Pemberley’s butler, Mr. Parker.

  It was from her sister Mary, and as it was the first Elizabeth had received from her sister since she had departed Pemberley as Mary Stanton, off to her husband David’s parsonage at Wincham, Elizabeth opened it eagerly, wishing to see how Mary got on in the beginning of her married life, and was pleased to read:

  “My dear sister,

  “Oh, Lizzy, Wincham is everything I had hoped it would be. It cannot compare to Pemberley, of course, but I find the house to be most comfortable and well-furnished, and the servants have been very good about accepting me as their mistress. I am grateful to you for your advice before I left, about managing the household – I wish mama had spent more time in teaching us of this, but I suppose she was so concerned over finding us all husbands, she did not have time to educate us in what came next.

  “We have dined with Lord and Lady Winterley once already, and they are very pleasing company. They asked particularly after Mrs. Nichols, and I was glad to tell them she is in good health and in a very good situation as your nurse at Pemberley, of which they were pleased to hear. David has ordered a new Broadwood pianoforte for me, from London, but it has not arrived yet, and Lady Winterley said I may practise on the one in her drawing-room until it does. She plays herself and was very complimentary of my playing, and to be honest I am glad to have a reason to call on her more frequently, as I like her company very much. The other parishioners have been equally kind to me, and although I am still getting a sense of the neighbourhood, I feel it is a place where I can do well. I will be busy here, busier than I have known all my life, but I am glad of this, for ‘activity may lead to evil; but inactivity cannot be led to good.’

  “My favourite event so far was to attend services on Sunday. I had at least met some of the neighbourhood by then, but still, it was very strange to be the centre of attention and take up my place as the wife of the rector. You might be thinking that this does not sound like it should have been my favourite event, but it was, for it was my first opportunity to hear David give his sermon. I expected, of course, that he was good at this, for he is intelligent, and both well-read and well-spoken, but, oh, his sermon was so very good! I was so proud and so happy to be his wife, especially because I could see that everyone respected what he had to say.

  “Lizzy, you must know I had no expectations that I should ever marry – I rather thought, as I expect the rest of our family did, that I was like as not to become the spinster of the family. Now that I have married and been joined to such a man, I sometimes feel as though I might burst from happiness.

  “I hope you and everyone at Pemberley are well. Give my love to everyone in our family.

  “Your most happy and devoted sister,

  “MARY STANTON”

  Elizabeth finished Mary’s letter with a bewildered smile upon her face. Before her marriage, Mary would never have described herself as near bursting with happiness. That she should be so immediately after settling into a new home of which she must be mistress, and in a new place with so many new acquaintances, was tremendously pleasing. It was, Elizabeth thought, an indication of how much Mary had grown ever since she had been acquainted with David Stanton.

  It was clear to Jane and her mother that the letter had pleased her very much, and Elizabeth shared its contents with them, omitting Mary’s observation that their mother might have better prepared them for managing their households. Mrs. Bennet had become much more reasonable in company since marrying off her daughters, and Elizabeth had no wish to give her cause to return to unreasonableness.

  Chapter 4

  Georgiana sat in the boat beside her husband, glancing out across the Pool of London, filled with the usual Thames traffic of sailing ships, with the lone exception of the smoke-belching monstrosity before her. It was perhaps unfair to call the ship a monstrosity – aside from the funnel in her midsection, sending up puffs of acrid smoke in the morning air, and the large protrusion below it, which held the ship’s paddle-wheel, she otherwise had the long, slender lines of a sailing vessel.

  Yet these new modern contrivances could not be ignored, and Georgiana took up Matthew’s arm and asked, nervously, “Are you certain it is safe?”

  “The Thames and the Margery before her have been plying this route since last summer,” he said. “Although I am not certain I would call it plying. I hardly know what the term should be for a steam vessel.”

  Their taking the steamer ship Thames so far as Gravesend had been his idea, not Georgiana’s, although she had thought it a fine enough idea in the abstract. Even if she had fully comprehended the strangeness of the conveyance, however, Georgiana would likely have agreed to it, knowing that her husband was eager to see what steam power was like, in propulsion of a ship.

  The sides of the Thames were far lower than what Georgiana was accustomed to, so low the ship did not provide a bosun’s chair for female passengers. This they learned when the waterman brought his wherry up alongside the steam ship, and one of the workers indicated Georgiana should climb up the few stairs there. This she might have done nervously, in fear of slipping on her skirts and falling into the river, but for Matthew’s steady hands on her waist. He assisted Moll as well, albeit with his hand on her arm, and then he and Bowden followed after with the ease of men who had spent most of their lives at sea.

  Matthew was told the price: three shillings each for the gentleman and lady to sit in the Best Cabin and two shillings each for their servants, who would be in the Fore Cabin. He gave over two crowns and an extra shilling, much pleasing the man who took them, and the Stantons were directed to the Best Cabin. It was well-appointed, and they were offered tea or porter immediately upon settling into a pair of open seats. Unfortunately, within a few minutes of sitting there with the ship wallowing on the swell, Georgiana’s morning illness was threatening to return, and she asked Matthew if they might go above, in the open air. He admitted this to be his preference as well, and they went back above and found a place on one of the benches at the stern.

  Georgiana watched as the remainder of the passengers embarked, the majority of them of such wealth as reflected the higher cost of the steamer compared to the sailing packets; among them, there seemed to be the greatest proportion of curious young gentlemen, like Matthew, than anything else. Most of those destined for the Fore Cabin seemed to be servants, although there were a few who paid for themselves and seemed merely to prefer to save the extra shilling. When all had embarked, there came a tremendous thumping noise from below, and Georgiana anxiously laid her hand down on Matthew’s leg. His hand covered hers reassuringly as that first thumping sound was followed by an unnatural chugging and the smell of acrid smoke filling the air, and the Thames shuddered forward. From this first unpromising start, she began to move more rapidly, although never more naturally, and Georgiana slowly relaxed.

  Matthew waited until she was gazing comfortably out along the river, as she might have done on a sailing ship, before asking if she minded if he went to see the engine. She told him she did not – she had rather suspected he would wish
to do so. He returned coughing and covered in a layer of soot, and Georgiana hoped their trunks were waiting at the Lord Nelson in Gravesend as had been planned, for he would surely need to change his clothes at the inn before they continued with their journey. On the steamer, he did not look so bad, for it appeared quite a few other gentlemen had made their own inspections of the engine, but he was not fit for polite society beyond this ship. Georgiana told him he looked a fright, and when he had thoroughly blackened his handkerchief attempting to wipe his face, she gave him hers as well.

  The smell of the smoke began to improve on Georgiana, strangely, after the first hour or so – there was a certain pleasantness in its unpleasantness, she thought, rather like a coal fire. Still, the motion of the ship felt so very unnatural to her, pushing through the water with no obeisance to wind or tide, and she wondered how Matthew could be so interested in such a vessel, when he had commanded far more elegant ships.

  As they steamed into Gravesend and touched against the quay there, Matthew checked his watch and said, “London to Gravesend in a little over five hours – she made a steady six knots, as promised.”

  “I cannot say that I like it,” Georgiana said. “A sailing ship is so much more graceful, and more comfortable.”

  “I agree with you, dearest. I will be very glad to be back on board the Caroline.”

  “But you were so enthusiastic about taking the Thames!”

  “I wished to travel on the Thames because she is the future, whether I like it or not,” he said, offering her a sooty arm, which she accepted after some hesitation, scowling as she wondered whether his coat was going to soil her gloves.

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  Although they had been away from Chatham for some weeks, Georgiana and Matthew had retained their lodgings at the Admiral’s Arms there. Once Matthew had changed and Murray had driven them the short distance from Gravesend to Chatham, it took them very little time to settle into the place which was to be their home for a few days, before the Caroline came out of dry-dock and they could take up residence in the captain’s cabins. They resumed their social calls as well, particularly to Admiral and Mrs. Russell.

  Admiral Russell had been Matthew’s captain when he first went to sea and Mrs. Russell had lived on board her husband’s ships for many years, making them favoured company for the Stantons. Now, Georgiana found Mrs. Russell’s guidance helpful as she prepared for her first time living at sea. Gibraltar could hardly be called far, but it would be the farthest Georgiana had ever been from England’s shores. Mrs. Russell’s suggestions on the clothes she should take and the grocery she should order, once the ship was ready to receive it, had been invaluable.

  The Russells were with her as Georgiana watched the water begin flowing into the vast space that comprised the dry-dock, slowly encasing a hull that was once again neat and trim, after having been badly damaged when the Caroline had struck ice in the Baltic Sea. Physically, Georgiana felt unwell, but her mind was much more agreeably occupied in her excitement for the trip she was to take and the child she would have. She could see Matthew on deck occasionally, but he was focused on the safety of his ship as the Caroline was towed out into the Medway, and Georgiana knew this was likely to be all she would see of him until at least the next morning. There was much that needed to be done to prepare the ship for sea, and until it was done, he had indicated it would be best for Georgiana to stay in their apartment at the inn, while he would need to resume his presence within his own cabins.

  Georgiana did not mind a night apart. After spending months without Matthew’s presence, it seemed a little thing to her, and it gave her and Moll an opportunity to spend the evening going through her trunks to ensure everything was in order. Moll was perhaps even more excited than Georgiana about the journey, but she was beginning to learn to contain her excitement, and only once let loose a stream of horrific language, upon accidentally pinching her finger when closing one of the trunks.

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  Georgiana awoke early the next morning, was sick, got back into bed, and managed to return to sleep until she was awakened by what sounded like a scuffle in the hallway outside her apartment.

  “Ye ain’t to go in there ‘till milady’s risen and dressed,” said the voice of Bowden, her footman.

  “Come now, Bowden, we’m come for the piano-for-te,” said another voice, one Georgiana did not recognise. “We’ll be quiet-like.”

  “You ain’t been quiet since the day before you was born, Hancock. An’ the captain won’t take kindly to you wakin’ his lady wife. The captain loves his lady wife, an’ that’s why I’m to look out for her when ‘e ain’t around.”

  “Leave off, ye swabs!” Now Moll’s voice was added to the argument. “Bugger off and check back in an hour, and if milady is still asleep, ye can check back in another hour. Milady needs her rest.”

  “I wish I got half so much rest as milady,” said Hancock.

  “Well, then it’s a shame you was born an ugly dog-faced son of a Portsmouth Poll, ‘stead of a lady of quality,” said Bowden, although it was clear by the laughter of all in the hallway that the insult had been meant, and taken, as a joke.

  Matthew had purchased a square pianoforte for Georgiana that had been especially modified for use at sea, and it had been residing in the sitting-room of their apartment at the Admiral’s Arms. From the conversation outside, Georgiana gathered that some of the seamen from the Caroline had come to transport the instrument to the ship, and she smiled a little at how her servants had prevented them from doing so. She rose and checked the time, surprised to see how late it was, although she determined she would wait another quarter-hour before ringing the bell for Moll; she did not wish her servants to think they had not been successful in their attempt to allow her to remain asleep.

  Georgiana was eventually dressed, allowing a rather impatient pair of seamen access to her apartment so they could carry off her pianoforte and then her trunks. She took only a little tea and toast for breakfast, then walked down to the Medway with Bowden and Moll. In these circumstances, Bowden was an even more invaluable servant than usual, for the former seaman could scan the river with his one good eye – the sight of the other had been lost in battle – and determine which of the boats plying its waters belonged to the Caroline, then hail one of them to take them to the ship.

  The ship appeared in a much greater state of readiness than she had the day before; her masts were all restored, and once Georgiana had been hoisted aboard in the bosun’s chair, she looked up to see Matthew at the top of the mainmast – a height that would have made her dizzy just to think of, even if she was not with child. He was unaffected by such things, however, and waved down to her, then returned to the discussion it appeared he was having with the master, Mr. Travis.

  She led Moll into the captain’s cabins, which consisted of two smaller cabins, a sleeping cabin and a day cabin, side-by-side and leading to the great cabin at the stern of the ship. Georgiana saw that all her trunks had been laid neatly against the wall in the sleeping cabin, and her pianoforte had been set up and tied tight with a pair of bolts and ropes against the wall in the great cabin, with Matthew’s cello case beside it.

  Georgiana suffered a few moments’ hesitance as to what she should do next – she would have liked to get Moll settled, but although she presumed Matthew would give her maid one of the cabins off the wardroom, she did not know which one it should be. Nor did she know where Moll was to dine, for Georgiana’s former maid, Hughes, had been so afflicted with seasickness in her brief time aboard the Caroline that eating had never been a consideration. Georgiana realised it said much about Moll that she had taken her position and come on board willingly, with nary an inquiry regarding either of these things. Matthew entered the cabin then, however, carrying a cloth with which he was somewhat effectively wiping what appeared to be tar from his hands.

  “Good morning, Lady Stanton. Are you well?”

  “I am, now,” said Georgiana. “I was a little ill this morning.” />
  “Ah, yes, I am sorry I sent Hancock and Swift over so early for your things; I was not thinking.”

  “Oh, did they come over early?” Georgiana asked innocently. “I was not at all disturbed.”

  “Good, I am glad it was no disruption to you,” he said. “Are you all settled? For if so, we may show Kelly to her quarters within the wardroom. The master’s wife, Mrs. Travis, lives with him in one of the other cabins, and the marines sleep between the wardroom and the rest of the men, so it is the safest place for you, Kelly, although I must make clear you would not dine with the wardroom officers.”

  Moll could not have learned half of the language she knew without having been around rough men before, and indeed, she looked little concerned for her safety. Moll could be brash and bold, and yet Georgiana did not think a young woman her age could have learned all the ways of the world, nor all the ways of men, and so Georgiana was glad Matthew had made Moll’s safety such a consideration.

  They went down the companion-ladder one deck, Matthew very carefully assisting Georgiana on what was rather a cross between a ladder and a very steep set of stairs, and were now in a space sided by cabins, with a wooden bulkhead further aft of them. Through the wooden window bars of the bulkhead could be seen the wardroom: the dining-table for the officers in the middle, surrounded by little cabins. Matthew pointed out the one which was to be Moll’s, and Georgiana thought it to be a miserably small space, particularly as it was so dim, but Moll seemed quite pleased on inspecting it.

  “I never had a space to meself before,” she said. “My lady, do you think I might have time to go ashore and purchase some fabric, to make a curtain and the like?”

  “Of course, I can certainly spare you, so long as there is time before we sail,” Georgiana said, looking to Matthew.

  “Yes, there is still ample time – it shall be another day or two before we are fully victualled,” Matthew said, looking down the length of the ship. “Taylor! John Taylor, there!”