Page 21

The House on Curzon Street

London

Later

Elizabeth took a step back, bumped into a chair, and sighed. Kitty, who was standing nearby, pulled the chair a few feet aside, which permitted Elizabeth to step back further in order that the mirror would show her appearance from head to toe.

“You look beautiful, Lizzy,” Kitty declared.

Elizabeth carefully looked at herself in the mirror and was inclined to agree. She was wearing one of her favorite gowns, a soft orange with puffed sleeves and a modicum of lace at the neck, sleeves, and hem. Her hair was twisted in a soft knot with a few curls framing her face, and she wore a simple gold chain around her neck.

Yes, she looked very well, and it helped her nerves as she contemplated the upcoming visit with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. It was, perhaps, to be expected that she would feel unsettled given how much had changed in the last weeks. Only a fortnight previously, she had been enamored with George Wickham and was convinced that Fitzwilliam Darcy was a villain. Now she knew that Wickham was the rogue and Darcy was a good and honorable man.

But that was not all, of course. She was engaged to Fitzwilliam Darcy, engaged to an incredibly wealthy man, whose uncle was an earl, who was master of a grand estate in Derbyshire. It was overwhelming and frightening, and she wished for the hundredth time that she had not decided to visit the library during the ball.

The door opened to reveal a maid, who said, “Misses Bennet, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy have arrived.”

“Thank you, Charity,” Elizabeth said with a smile. Charity was one of the two maids who had come with them to London from Longbourn. She took one last look in the mirror and said, “Shall we?”

“I think, if you do not mind, that I will go next door and spend time with Lydia,” Kitty said. “Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy are not here to see us, anyway.”

“Of course you may,” Elizabeth said.

“I still do not know why Father insisted that Jane share a bedchamber with Lydia and you a bedchamber with me,” Kitty said truculently as the pair walked out of the room and into the corridor. “You and Jane have always been closest, and I was looking forward to sleeping in the same bed as Lydia, like we did long ago. ”

“I am certain Father has his reasons,” Elizabeth said with a smile and turned toward the stairs. She knew, of course, that Mr. Bennet had decided to pair each of his silly younger daughters with an older, sensible daughter in order to keep the younger Misses Bennet safe.

As Elizabeth attained the top of the main stairway, she glanced at Charity, who was standing outside the door where Lydia and Kitty were now ensconced. No doubt the maid had been instructed to stay within easy earshot of the youngest girls, who, while excited about a holiday in Town, also loudly mourned their separation from the militia officers at least six times a day.

Elizabeth marveled anew at the change in her father. It truly was remarkable how his attitude towards his youngest children had shifted, how he was now taking pains to control the perceptions they created and to keep them safe. The upper floor was too high for Kitty and Lydia to seriously contemplate going out the windows, as they did not share Elizabeth’s proclivity for clambering up and down trees and vines and trellises.

It was rather late in their lives to begin schooling their behavior, but Elizabeth was nonetheless grateful that their father was, however tardily, making the effort to supervise her boisterous, foolish sisters.

** *

Drawing Room

Greetings were exchanged as Darcy and Bingley bowed in tandem. They straightened to catch Miss Mary and Mrs. Bennet standing from their curtseys. The matriarch's face was wreathed in smiles, and she gestured to the furniture – up to date and comfortable, which doubtless pleased the mistress of Longbourn – and said, “Please, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bingley, do sit down!”

Darcy moved to take a chair, glancing about as he did. In his opinion, Mr. Bennet had chosen well. There had been another possible house, larger, but not as nicely furnished and with poorer views. Nor had it been as convenient to Darcy House, as well as the shops that the Bennets would undoubtedly desire to frequent. This one was far better, in Darcy’s opinion.

“Such a lovely house,” Mrs. Bennet gushed, drawing his attention. “It is larger than I thought it would be, and so airy and clean! I am grateful to you both for your assistance in finding it. ”

“It is our honor to assist you in any way you like,” Bingley responded cheerfully, and Darcy murmured his assent.

The door opened at this moment and both gentlemen rose as the Jane and Elizabeth entered, arm in arm.

Bingley’s indrawn hiss of breath was audible, and Darcy absently spared Jane a glance. She really was lovely, the blue of her simple dress complementing her eyes, her hair heaped into a charming pile of curls atop her head and a demure string of pearls around her throat. But even the acknowledged beauty of the family did not compare to Miss Elizabeth, Darcy thought, feeling rather dazed.

If the eldest Miss Bennet was beautiful, Miss Elizabeth was radiant. The creamy orange of her gown set her skin aglow and brought out highlights of honey and red in her mahogany hair. Her necklace was simple but only drew attention to the graceful lines of her neck and shoulders.

Darcy’s eyes fastened anxiously on her face. He knew she still felt ambivalent towards him, and though he did not blame her, his lovesick heart dreaded seeing disapproval or reluctance on that exquisite countenance. Relief crashed over him in a wave, well mixed with adoration, when he saw that she was smiling. She might not be overjoyed by his arrival, but at least she was welcoming.

“Charles, Mr. Darcy,” Jane said with a sweet smile, “it is very good to see you again.”

“It is wonderful to be here,” Bingley said in a rapt voice.

“Do sit down, my dears,” Mrs. Bennet ordered, and Darcy felt a rush of pleasure as Elizabeth deliberately made her way over to the loveseat and gestured for him to take a seat next to her, while Jane and Bingley sat on a couch near the window, where they fell into conversation.

To Darcy’s delight, Mrs. Bennet promptly began speaking with Miss Mary, while Mr. Bennet remained silent, which allowed him to speak to his fiancée without interruption. Not that he entirely knew what to say, and his fear of saying the wrong thing made it harder to speak than usual.

“I hope you are well, Miss Elizabeth?” he said, falling back on convention.

“I am very well, and like my mother, pleased by this house. But perhaps you should call me Elizabeth? We are engaged, after all. ”

He felt his heart leap at these words and said, “Elizabeth. Yes, thank you, and please call me Fitzwilliam.”

“Was that your mother’s maiden name?”

“Indeed. I am hoping to soon introduce you to my cousin Richard Fitzwilliam, who is my Uncle Matlock’s younger son. He is a colonel in the Regulars and is currently stationed here in London. You will like him. He speaks with far more ease than I do and is always agreeable in company.”

Elizabeth tilted her head and said, “Do you think that Mr. Fitzwilliam’s character is innate, or is his position as a second son a factor?”

This was, of course, exactly why he had fallen in love with Elizabeth. She never bored him and often asked questions, which he had never considered before.

“Surely it is a combination of both inborn traits and life experience?” he mused a moment later. “I am inclined to blame my own poor manners on the fact that I am a wealthy man and have often been pursued by greedy ladies with eligible daughters, but Bingley is also rich, and he is uniformly liked.”

“Ah, but you are richer than Charles, and you are the nephew of an earl, while Charles’s fortune was obtained through trade. You are blessed with both excellent connections and a large fortune, which makes you attractive to women in pursuit of both money and status.”

“That is true. Richard, of course, is the son of an earl, not a mere nephew, but he is also not wealthy. He has a reasonable allowance from his father, but he will wish to wed a woman of substance.”

“What of the viscount? Your uncle’s heir?”

Darcy considered this at some length and then said, “Percival, Lord Montferrat, is quite different from me, but an illness as a child left him with a weakened leg, and he must walk with a cane.”

“I am sorry.”

“I am certain it bothers him a great deal, though he has never said anything in particular about it to me, but then Percival and I are not as close as I am to Richard.”

“Is he married?”

“Yes, he was married at three and twenty to a second cousin of his mother’s. The marriage has produced three daughters, and his wife is pregnant with another child, whom they hope is the longed-for son.”

“I well understand,” Elizabeth said quietly, and Darcy winced a little at this reminder of the Bennets’ lack of a male heir .

“I do not approve of entailing estates away from the female line,” he said, “but of course the earldom will only pass on to a son.”

“Is Pemberley not entailed, then?”

“It is not.”

“So Miss Darcy is currently your heir.”

“Yes, and speaking of my sister, she arrived from Derbyshire only yesterday and is eager to meet you.”

Elizabeth's cheeks pinked at these words, and she said, “I would like to meet her very much as well. I only hope she will approve of me, as I am certain she expected a woman of higher standing for your fiancée.”

“And Georgiana, who is very shy, is anxious that you will like her.”

“Well, in that case,” Elizabeth replied, and he was pleased to notice that her eyes were now dancing, “I am confident that all will be well. We are both determined to be pleased, so what could go wrong?”

“Exactly,” Darcy said with a grin.

The conversation continued for another half hour before the gentlemen, who each had appointments with their solicitor, rose to leave. It was agreed, to Darcy’s considerable relief, that Elizabeth and Jane and Mr. Bennet would attend dinner at Darcy House the following evening. Mrs. Bennet had been oddly quiet today, but that was not likely to last, and he and Bingley both wished to have the opportunity to speak seriously about upcoming plans with their respective fiancées.