Page 38 of A Maid of No Consequence (Pride and Prejudice Variation)
WHAT THINK YOU OF BOOKS?
P emberley was humming with preparations for the upcoming wedding.
Mrs Reynolds had been excitedly preparing extra rooms for guests, and most specifically for Elizabeth’s sisters to arrive.
She had spent extra time with Cook, planning and preparing for the pre-wedding supper as well as the wedding breakfast. Mrs Hodge assured Elizabeth this morning, that she, as well as all the servants, were more than pleased that she would be mistress of Pemberley.
For Elizabeth’s part, her head was in a swirl of excitement and bewilderment.
She stood in the library, looking down at the refurbishment and redesign plans of the chapel into a new schoolhouse for Pemberley’s children, which was well under way.
To the left of that, her many lists. She had personally seen to it that there would be enough slates, chalk, books, paper, and other materials necessary to run a functioning and thriving school.
It all seemed exciting, and yet these things settled heavily on her shoulders.
Her nerves were an anxious bundle, and she let out a long sigh, as she rubbed the back of her neck.
“Would you care for a walk in the garden, my dear?”
Elizabeth jumped at his voice, and put a hand to her heart. “Do you mean to startle me as you did in the kitchens, sir?” She gave him a teasing look, and laughed as he came to her side and kissed her softly on the cheek.
“As I remember it, it was not all bad.”
“Except for the apple tart in pieces on the floor,” she reached up and touched his face.
“It is a memory I will not soon forget.” He gave her a fond smile, but she saw concern written on his features. “You look tired, Elizabeth. I fear you are working too hard.”
She leant in, pressing her cheek to his chest, feeling sudden relief at his arms being around her. “There is still so much to be done. My sisters will be here soon, and I am finding less and less time to visit the tenants’ children. If the school is to be ready in spring, then I must be as well.”
He pulled her away from him slightly. “You do know this is not yours alone?”
“Of course, and Hannah has been a great help, travelling to visit the children in my stead. But the success of the school is very dear to my heart, and you have entrusted the care of Pemberley’s children to me.
” She pulled back from him further, and looked him in the eye, a thought coming to mind.
“You did not create this position, decide to open a school, simply as a lure to get me to stay at Pemberley, did you?”
He met her earnest question with all seriousness.
“By now, you must be in no doubt that I wished you to stay close, Elizabeth. After only just finding you in my life again, I could not imagine what I would do had you sought a position elsewhere. I was afraid that if you left, I would never see you again. But I did not come up with the notion of a school to keep you here. In truth, it was my mother’s wish.
Just before Georgiana was born, she spoke of her desire to bring education to all of Pemberley’s children, not just those within these walls.
She was not able to fulfil this in her lifetime.
Though Georgiana did her best when she was old enough, spending time with the tenants’ children, it fell to me to continue my mother’s desire for a school.
I should have done so before this. It seems that the plan for the school needed one essential thing to get it started. ”
“And what was that?”
“You, Elizabeth.” He gave her that particular smile that warmed her thoroughly.
“I saw for myself how well you draw out the children and the curiosity and intelligence you bring to everything you put your mind to. You are the key to fulfilling my mother’s wish, and I have no doubt that she would be proud that my wife will carry on her legacy of helping the children here. ”
He gave her a tender look before embracing her again. “And I am beyond grateful that you will stay, and we shall do this together.”
His words touched her deeply. To know she was part of Pemberley’s present and future, brought a sense of accomplishment and contentment she had not known before. “As am I. I cannot imagine being anywhere else.”
Elizabeth’s sisters arrived days later, and with them came a flurry of commotion and liveliness.
There was nothing so joyful as a reuniting of five sisters after so many years of separation.
The halls of Pemberley echoed with the wonderful noise made by Elizabeth and her sisters, each one speaking over the other, Lydia’s peals of laughter with her children, and Mary’s earnest, but sometimes dreadful, playing on the pianoforte.
There was such a general hum of activity and noise that Darcy could no longer hear the chime of the clock outside his study.
And he realised, quite contentedly, that he did not mind at all.
“Am I interrupting you?” Elizabeth’s voice broke in as he was bent over his accounts.
“Never.” He looked up and smiled. “Are your sisters settled?” He set aside his pen and watched Elizabeth glide into the room, bringing lightness and warmth with her.
“Everyone is settled in the east wing apartments, where I shall be with Jane until the wedding. Lydia and her children are across the hall, and Kitty and Mary will share in the adjoining rooms. I am sure we will be up very late talking, and none of us will get any sleep.” She laughed as she said this, and her elation pleased him.
He rose from his chair and came to join her on the settee. He instinctively reached for her hand. “Are you happy, my love?”
“I am! It is all so astonishing. Have you seen Lydia’s children? They are a delight! Little Thomas is so shy, but when he smiles, there is such a striking resemblance to his grandfather! His sister Agnes is all sweetness and rounded cheeks. I am an aunt and it feels wonderful.”
Darcy watched Elizabeth, talking quickly, gesturing with her hands, and laughing.
He could see her natural exuberance, the lively joy that first drew him to her, once again.
Day by day her true nature was returning; she was becoming more like herself again.
To know he had had a hand in this, by reuniting her with her sisters, brought him profound joy.
“I have dreamt about this for so long, and it has happened,” she was saying. “All my sisters under one roof, at least for a short time. I will treasure every moment.”
“Will you? Then why are you here with me?”
“Because, as much as I love my sisters…I have missed you. I asked Jensen to bring tea for us, so that we may have a chance to speak, and be with each other.”
Just then, the tea arrived, and once his cup was prepared, Darcy continued. “I have missed you as well, but I detect there may be something else you would like to speak to me about.”
Elizabeth set down her teacup. “You are very perceptive. I will add that to one of many things I admire about you.” She gave him a smile that sent his heart alight yet again.
“I wonder what you may think of this idea. As soon as I saw Mary, I knew she would make a wonderful teacher at Pemberley’s school.
She has taken care of the girls at the orphanage, she is kind and caring, and?—”
“My dear, it is up to you to do as you will with the school. Will it make you happy to have your sister settled here?”
“It would! I have worried for her being so far away, and she complains that the smoke in Manchester makes it difficult to breathe at times. I feel this may be a solution for us all. I did not know how you would feel about her living here and did not want to presume upon your goodness.”
“This will be your home as well as mine. Your family is my family now. If Mary wants to stay, she will be welcomed here at Pemberley. If she prefers some sense of privacy, she may live in the cottage you have just vacated. As long as this Bennet sister is under my roof,” he pulled her to him, “I shall be exceedingly happy. The rest may do as they please.”
“Mary has never spoken of wanting to marry. The school may offer a bit of independence she may long for. I shall ask her directly. Now, I do have one more request of you.” She hesitated.
“Anything, my love.”
“Being with my sisters has reminded me of our Gardiner cousins…
I have missed them so. Since the loss of their parents, they have been living in Hampshire with an aunt.
I have been corresponding with them, especially with Cecelia, the eldest, who is thirteen and becoming a young lady.
I wonder if I might I invite them to Pemberley next year?
“Elizabeth, you do not need to ask me these things, they are your family, and this is soon to be your home. They are all welcomed here.”
“You are the most generous man I know.”
“You do look exceedingly happy, Elizabeth.”
“I am. It is not lost on me that you are the source of much of my joy. None of this would be possible without you.”
“Everything I do is for your happiness, you must know that.” He leant over to his soon-to-be bride, who was sitting very near him. “Do you know, I was going to wait until after the wedding, but I believe this is the perfect time to give you your wedding present.”
“You have given me far too much already,” she protested immediately. “And I have nothing for you.”
“You have given me everything I could wish for, Elizabeth. Love, happiness, laughter...” He pulled her closer to him. “The only gift I would like is a lifetime of adventures with you.”
“It may be more than you have bargained for. ”
“And that is exactly what I am hoping for,” he said teasingly, as he stood up and gestured to her.
She put her hand in his open palm, and he led her to the library. But before they entered, he called Marcus over and spoke to him quietly so that Elizabeth could not overhear. Once Marcus had received his orders, nodded, and walked away, Darcy opened the door slowly.
“Come.” He pulled gently at her hand, and walked her over to the far corner of the room, where there was a window-seat facing Pemberley’s rose garden. There was a shelf of books to the left and right of it, with two shelves above. With his free hand, he gestured towards them.
She looked from left to right, eyes skimming over the shelves towards the window, and back to him. “I do not understand. Is there a specific book you would like to share with me?”
He sighed now in an exasperated way. “I would like for you to see all of the books in this section of the library. From this corner—” He let go of her hand to walk to the far edge of the shelves, as it abutted the fireplace— “to this corner.”
Still looking confused, Elizabeth turned again, her eyes roaming the books until she stilled, her gaze settled on a worn volume of Socrates’ teachings just inches from where Darcy’s hand rested. He saw the spark of familiarity in her eyes as she walked closer and reached out to rest her hand on it.
“Is this…?” She stepped back to take in the full view now, seeing books of philosophy, poetry, histories, novels...
“These…these cannot be…are these my father’s books?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes went wide and one hand flew to her chest. “How did you…”
He reached out to touch her other hand. “It seems your cousin Mr Collins is not much of a reader and, with the encouragement of his wife, could be prevailed upon to give these up.”
“You have purchased the books in my father’s library?”
He nodded. “Not all, but a good portion. While they belong to the estate, I believe they should be with you and your sisters, with those who will appreciate them.”
She closed the gap between them, throwing her arms around him, and Darcy could not help but pull her close.
“This is the best gift you could have given me. A simple ‘thank you’ is not enough. You have given me a piece of my life back. Precious things I had lost, which I thought to never see again.” She let go of him and walked to the nearest shelf, pulling out a book slowly. “Our family Bible.”
She opened it to where the names of every birth and death were recorded, and ran her hand over the ink that had been dried for generations.
Darcy saw that no one had recorded the deaths of the Bennets or the Gardiners.
Elizabeth turned the page to the marriage register.
Neither of her sisters’ marriage dates had been recorded.
“Soon, our names will be written here,” she said softly. “And God willing, the birth dates of our future children shall be added within.”
The library door opened, and Elizabeth’s four sisters entered, all with smiles on their faces. “I suppose you all knew of this?” she cried happily.
“It has been in the works for weeks,” Kitty was happy to explain. “Your Mr Darcy is quite the tenacious one. He sent his man of business to our absurd cousin to try and make the sale. I cannot believe he succeeded, as we all know Mr Collins to be an insensible and highly disagreeable man!”
“I believe Charlotte may have persuaded him,” Elizabeth said, looking pleased at the notion.
Mary took her turn. “I asked Mr Darcy if I may take Fordyce’s Sermons , Lizzy, and he said I might.” She clutched it to her chest. “I hope you do not mind.”
“No one else wants them, Mary! They were ridiculously dull when Mr Collins read them to us, and I daresay they have not improved with time,” interjected Lydia in a behaviour Darcy remembered of Elizabeth’s youngest sister.
Kitty started giggling. Mary closed her eyes in frustration.
Jane had her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh, while sending Elizabeth a glance of surrender.
Instead of exasperation, his betrothed’s eyes were sparkling from laughter.
Once, Darcy would have been annoyed by her family’s behaviour, but now he only saw the pleasure in Elizabeth’s countenance in having all her sisters together, and it gladdened his heart to no end.
Each sister spoke of books they had received from the recovered portion of their father’s library, and as he watched the lively interactions between the sisters, Elizabeth looked over to him, and approaching him, she took his arm.
“My father used to fret for Longbourn’s foundations when my sisters and I were too loud and exceedingly rambunctious. Which I daresay happened much too often.” Her eyes reflected the amusement of her memories, which made Darcy smile.
“Then you must not fret, my dearest Elizabeth. Pemberley’s foundations are sturdy enough to withstand the liveliness of the Bennet sisters, their cousins, and the generations of children and grandchildren to come,” he said affectionately.