Youthful Fancies-The Adventures of the Gardiner Girls.

Happy Tuesday, dear Janeites!  As we conclude the month of February, we reflect back on the joys of youth. Oh, to be young again; when one’s greatest concern was if mom had packed a Twinkie or Ding Dong in your lunch. When things were always much more dramatic in your mind than in reality. (I mean how many times were you really almost swallowed by quick sand?)

As I thought about the joys of youth, I immediately thought of two characters in my most recent holiday novella, “Comfort and Joy,” Emily Gardiner and her friend Katie Joy (named for JAFF author K. Dawn King).  These young girls exude life and playfulness in a way which I was not anticipating. But, as I’ve said before, sometimes my characters have minds of their own!

The story is one of my favorite tropes, Darcy and Elizabeth trapped in a cabin in the snow.  How romantic can you get?  A toasty fire that he had to build…inhibitions down because of fear and exhaustion…She seeing a softer more caring side of him. Nothing could be more perfect. Nothing, that is, unless you add children!

My husband and I love to laugh when we think back to our lives PK (Pre-Kids). The way the dishes HAD to be loaded in the dishwasher; how the towels had to be folded a certain way; how we would NEVER have boxed mac n chees for dinner.  Now, we live in the real world.  A world where football practice, baseball practice, youth group, National Honor Society meetings, homework, and a multitude of other things gets in our way. We’re grateful HOW EVER the dishes get put in, as long as it’s not us always doing it ourselves.

Children change up a relationship more than you realize, until you have your own. And one difficult thing they do is to constantly tell truths you don’t want to hear (or want others to hear…like the time I told my mom while we were checking out at the grocery store ‘Didn’t you hear Daddy tell you this morning that he didn’t want you writing anymore checks?’ Boy, I learned a lesson pretty quickly when we got to the car!) But, you can’t fault a child for their innocence. Or can you? 🙂

In the following excerpt, Mr. Darcy is trapped in a cabin with Elizabeth, her two young cousins, Emily and Victoria, and the girls’ friend, Katie Joy. He had been amused by them and was reading his book with no concerns after Elizabeth had left the room, only to be surprised at a conversation between the young girls.

He continued to read until the conversations of the two girls caught his attention.

“Oh, Emily!” Katie Joy said, adopting a wistful attitude with hands folded over her heart. “This is so romantic. A fire in a snowstorm with a man who is most decidedly not a robber. It is like the novel my nanny read me.”

“It is, is it not?”

“And Miss Lizzy is so lovely.”

“She is my dearest cousin, besides Jane, of course.”

“Of course.” Miss Harris nodded solemnly. “My nanny and Mama’s maid were talking about how brave Miss Jane was after her heartbreak.”

Her heartbreak? Darcy attempted to refocus on the words on the page and ignore the prattling of the two girls.

“Yes.” Miss Emily clutched her hands together. “How romantic to be so in love with a gentleman and then have him leave for London, never to return!”

“That is like a novel!” Miss Harris leaned back on the couch. “It would be so much more tragic if he was handsome.”

“Jane said he was. I heard her telling Lizzy that Mr. Bingley was ‘…what every young man ought to be.’”

Darcy hid his intake of breath and his ears pricked up at the name. Bingley?

“…She cried herself to sleep the nights we were at Longbourn before coming to Derbyshire.”

Cried herself to sleep?

“How do you know?”

Miss Emily sighed, a woeful expression clouding her features. “I pretended to be asleep and then snuck down to Jane’s room to get kisses from her and Lizzy, but they were always talking so late.”

“What a tragedy! How blessed she is to have Miss Lizzy as a sister.”

“Yes, to be sure. But it is not only Cousin Jane who needed comfort. Lizzy did as well.”

Darcy leaned slightly closer.

“Whatever could bother Miss Lizzy?”

“Aunt Fanny was so cross with her at refusing an offer of marriage!”

Here Darcy did all in his power to not drop his book and cry out.

He noted that Miss Harris sat up in surprise too. “An offer of marriage? From who? Mr. Bingley?”

“No, silly, nor his handsome friend, either. It was from a Mr. Collins who will inherit Longbourn. Uncle Bennet’s cousin. He wanted to marry Jane first, but with her so in love with Mr. Bingley, he settled on Lizzy. But Lizzy would not have him!”

“Would not have him? But he is going to inherit the estate.”

Here Miss Emily laughed the laugh of a knowledgeable woman, most likely mimicking that of her maid or nanny. “Just because he will inherit doesn’t make him desirable. Neither Jane nor Lizzy care about money, Katie Joy. They will only marry for love.”

For love? Could Miss Bennet truly care for Bingley?

“Oh!” Her friend flopped back on the couch, her hand covering her forehead. “This is like a novel! If only there were a villain to make their plight more perilous.”

Here, Miss Emily jumped up and clapped her hands. “Oh, but there is! There is! Do you remember Mr. Bingley’s handsome friend? He hates Lizzy! He said she was ugly and he would not dance with her. He said that out loud!”

“Out loud?”

“Yes! And in a ballroom, so everyone could hear! Could you imagine? I would have died of embarrassment!”

“As would I!”

“Except…he did not say ‘ugly’ or ‘ill-favored.’ What was the word he used?” Emily tapped her finger on her chin before exclaiming, “Tolerable! ‘She is only tolerable!’ He said that.”

“Tolerable? How horrible! Was Lizzy upset?”

“Not at all!” Her nose wrinkled before she continued. “Lizzy finds him as repulsive as he does her. She told Jane that she would never dance with him if he asked. And that was a promise!”

“Not to dance? Well, of course not. To dance is the closest thing to falling in love. She would never fall in love with a man like that!” Miss Harris’s eyes sparkled. “It is just like the novel nanny was reading to me where the young maiden swore to never speak to the man again, and then he kidnapped her and kept her in a cave away from her family. But Miss Lizzy would never allow herself to be kidnapped!”

“No, she is much too clever, to be sure, as are we. That’s why I would punch a highwayman!”

The girls giggled. “But Emily, why would Mr. Bingley be that horrible man’s friend? He sounds so kind and charming, and his friend sounds like all that is wicked! How can he think himself a gentleman?”

“I don’t know, but my nanny said Lizzy’s maid told her there is another man who fancies Lizzy. But he is too poor because Mr. Bingley’s friend stole all his money when they were at university!”

Now Miss Harris’s eyes were as big as saucers. “So Miss Lizzy will never be happily married?”

Elizabeth’s young cousin let out a dramatic sigh. “It would seem not. And Lizzy so deserves to be happy, as she is the best cousin to us all.”

“What was his name? The handsome villain?”

Darcy held his breath, waiting for the moment of realization from the young girl.

“I am uncertain. The maid wouldn’t tell my nanny. She was afraid that when Mr. Collins became Master of Longbourn, he would punish them if they spoke against the man. So we will never know.”

“A mystery! Oh, how I once wished my mother would allow me to read Gothic novels! Yet I do not need to. I merely need to listen to the lives of your cousins!”

Both girls erupted into giggles but quickly stopped as Darcy stood and surprised them into silence. “Excuse me,” he said. Then he turned and walked out the door into the snowstorm raging around him.

Oh, these two little girls how no idea the tumult they started in the mind of the Master of Pemberley.  They obviously didn’t mean to, but hasn’t that happened to us all?  Can you think of a time when the innocence  of youth overshadowed the moment?  Leave it in the comments. 🙂

Have a lovely day, week!