Mr. Darcy's Daughter Read Online Free PDF Page B

Pemberley, of which he would, one
day, be master.
    Cassy
recalled the occasion of her brother's twenty-first birthday celebrations and
the ball at Pemberley, where there had been present several young women, some
prettier and possibly more eligible than Josie; but Julian had preferred the
lively and intelligent Miss Tate, with whom he could talk of travel and read
poetry.
    Then
it had seemed so simple; two young people in love--they had been so happy
together. It was heartrending to see them now, Julian so dispirited and Josie
so sad and withdrawn, she seemed almost not to be there at all.
    Cassy
had felt a good deal of sympathy for the pair. They had both been very young
and, unlike her husband, Richard, who had been a great favourite with both her
parents long before their engagement, Josie Tate had been a relative outsider
at Pemberley. Indeed, in spite of the best endeavours of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy to
draw her into their circle, Cassy had felt that Josie and, occasionally, even
Julian had appeared as though they never felt quite at home there.
    How
else, she wondered, could one account for their preference for the rather
dreary environment in which they chose to live, while their gracious apartments
at Pemberley lay vacant for most of the year?
    Though
pressed by both Julian and Mrs. Tate to stay to dinner, the Gardiners left and
made their way to a hotel in the town, where Richard had stayed previously and
was warmly welcomed. There, with some degree of privacy, they were able to talk
over dinner.
    Cassy
was eager to discover her husband's opinion. At first, Richard was unusually
silent and thoughtful and his wife was concerned lest he refused to discuss it
at all. But by the time they had finished the main course, he began torelax and she realised that he had been
silent because he was deeply concerned for his young brother-in-law and his
wife. After a glass or two of wine and some excellent cheese, his mood was
further lightened and he confessed that he had never before seen a case like
it.
    "Not
in all these years have I had a patient quite like Josie. Young, intelligent,
well educated, with a good husband and a beautiful son, it is the sort of
situation most women would envy, yet she is sunk in a slough of despair, from
which she appears not to want to be released. Each time I question her about
her physical symptoms, she denies that she is unwell, yet she is so pale and
list-less, she seems a shadow of her former self.
    "When
I mention food, she pulls a face, as if it were something unpleasant and
abhorrent to her. She will take neither medication nor nourishment. So what, my
dear Cassy, am I to make of it? How shall I ever restore her body to health,
and even more perplexing, by what means shall I free her mind from this
dreadful despair?" He sounded unusually pessimistic.
    Listening
to him, Cassy found herself in a quandary. Should she tell him of her brother's
rather irrational musings that Josie might not wish to be restored to health at
all? While she did not wish to betray her brother's state of mind, on
reflection she decided that if Richard was to treat Josie with any chance of
success, he needed to know the truth.
    When,
with some degree of trepidation, she did tell him, he did not appear surprised.
Indeed, he said, he had almost reached the same conclusion himself.
    "It
is difficult not to conclude that she is deliberately pursuing a grievous and
most painful course, either to punish herself for some perceived guilt or to
punish someone else--presumably her husband or her mother--I cannot, at the
moment, tell which it is," he said, and Cassy was quite confused.
    "But
why?" she cried. "What guilt could she possibly have to bear? As for
the other possibility, why should she wish to punish the very people who love
her?" and Richard had to hush her, for her voice had risen with
exasperation as she spoke.
    "Hush,
dearest, it is not right that we should discuss this matter here; let us wait
until we are upstairs,"