The Darcys met their small party with every evidence of pleasure, and Charlotte was relieved to see that her friend, although perhaps a little thin and pale, did not seem unwell. A private interview between the two women revealed that Elizabeth had suffered another miscarriage, although an early one. While her physical recovery had been swift, her spirits had plummeted, and her husband was loath to leave her without company for any part of the summer. His sister Georgiana would be returning from a visit to an old school friend in Switzerland in the latter part of the summer, but Mr Darcy felt that a married woman – and perhaps one who had herself recently lost a child – might be a companion in whom his wife might more comfortably confide her feelings.

Mr Darcy departed on his travels, and those who remained soon settled into a routine. Charlotte discovered that the absence of their menfolk lent an informality to daily life that was refreshing. Meals were much less elaborate, and sometimes replaced entirely by a tray in the nursery, or a picnic outdoors. On rare rainy days, the girls had the contents of the Pemberley nursery to entertain them, including a most superior rocking-horse that soon became a favourite friend. But the early summer weather was mostly fine, and the girls ran about the grounds and gardens whooping like wild creatures, growing rosy and brown.

Lizzy tactfully had her housekeeper unearth clothing from Georgiana’s girlhood trunks to supplement their wardrobes, for which Charlotte was grateful: romping round the grounds of Pemberley, and especially the tree-climbing to which Laura was partial, proved hard on the children’s garments, even if there was an army of servants to launder them and sew up the rents and tears.

At first, Charlotte had many anxieties on account of the grottos, wildernesses, underground structures, river, lakes, ponds, and other bodies of water for which Pemberley was known – there was even a maze in which to get lost – but her daughters were old enough to exhibit sense, and invariably guarded by reliable servants. Here they were indulged and protected, and there was always someone to watch them as they climbed and clambered, set up camp in the various stone structures, or sailed boats constructed from leaves and twigs on the pond where the mallards had their nests.

Soon she herself was able to relax and enjoy an unfamiliar sense of freedom, a respite from her usual responsibilities – even though she missed her hens and ducks, and had some doubts as to whether Katie would remember not to feed them apple peelings.