Page 39 of A Maid of No Consequence (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

THE GOOD WISHES AND AFFECTION OF A SISTER

E lizabeth found herself in Pemberley’s conservatory in search of Darcy’s sister.

They had greeted one another earlier that day upon the Bingleys’ arrival, and yet she wanted a chance to speak to her new sister in private.

She was curious about Darcy’s only sister, and wondered how similar they would be in personality.

She found Mrs Bingley sitting on a cushioned wooden bench, eyes closed, face to the sun.

Not wanting to disturb the new mother’s respite, Elizabeth turned to quietly leave. Then she heard the words, “I was hoping you would come find me.”

She turned to see Mrs Bingley smiling at her. “I am very sorry to disturb.”

“It is no matter. I am very glad you are here, as I wanted time to speak with you.” Patting the empty space on the bench, she offered, “ Please come and sit near me.”

As Elizabeth situated herself, the lady continued.

“My brother has told me of your grievous situation of the last five years, Miss Bennet. I am sorry for your loss and for what you have endured since. And the most recent pain caused by Charles’s sister, no less.

It is utterly odious,” she said with a frown.

Though Georgiana Bingley was very different in looks to her older brother, Elizabeth could see a family resemblance at that moment, so similar was their look of disapprobation.

“That was the past. I consider myself very fortunate that your brother found me when he did. And he has never given up on me.”

“I believe you have found each other, and I can see such a prodigious change in him. And I am grateful for it. I own that after I wed, I worried that he would sit brooding here alone at Pemberley, or worse, acquiesce to the demands of our aunt Catherine and marry Anne. I am glad that neither of these things have happened, if only so I might have witnessed the delightful scene in my breakfast room last time he visited.”

“Are you telling stories of me again, my dear and only sister?” Darcy’s voice startled them.

A moment later, he was at Elizabeth’s side, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Its weight and warmth brought a certain comfort and familiarity, and she reached up to hold it with her own. I shall never tire of his touch.

“Before you share stories of me, I am here to summon you for tea. Mrs Hodge has made your favourite.”

“Chocolate tarts?” Mrs Bingley clapped her hands together. “For me?”

“Of course, for you. But thankfully she has made enough for us all. You no longer live here, and you have children of your own, but Mrs Hodge will continue to spoil you as she always has.”

“As well she should.” Laughing, she accepted her brother’s assistance and rose from the bench.

Elizabeth wondered at the easy repartee between the siblings. She was revelling in seeing Darcy with his beloved sister, and their gentle ease with each other.

“As we shall soon be sisters, Elizabeth, you must call me Georgiana. I have yet to meet your four sisters, but I hope one more will be allowed.” She smiled openly at Elizabeth, and taking her arm, they leisurely walked back to the house, talking comfortably as if they had known each other for years, instead of just hours.

Darcy joined them, and obviously smitten by his niece and nephew, had a multitude of questions about them.

His genuine interest was so obvious, Elizabeth felt a stirring within.

One day, it will be our children who captivate him.

As if he heard her very own thoughts, Darcy turned, with a bright and scintillating smile just for her.

The days leading up to the wedding had been excessively busy.

Elizabeth’s nerves were in a jumble, part excitement and part worry, hoping that all would work out as she had planned.

When the moment came for Jane to meet Mr Bingley for the first time in nearly six years, she could feel herself holding her breath.

Her sisters and their families, along with Darcy’s sister and Bingley, gathered in the drawing room one afternoon, either being introduced, or reintroduced, as the case had been with Jane and Bingley.

Looking over, she could see a similar look of worry written across Darcy’s features.

They both let out a small sigh of relief, once the moment of awkwardness had passed.

To her credit, Georgiana did her best to speak with Jane, and they soon looked like old friends sharing stories, looking comfortable in the corner nearest the fireplace.

Elizabeth wondered if they were commiserating over motherhood.

Even the reserved Laird McHenry, Jane’s husband, appeared at ease speaking to Darcy.

Well, that is an encouraging start! Elizabeth’s heart lightened with the hope that the discomfiture would soon fade between her family and Darcy’s, and was optimistic of an eventual blending of the two.

The evening before the wedding, after a resplendent supper in the grand dining room, Elizabeth found herself cosseted by her four Bennet sisters.

Spending this time with them, these women who knew her best, she could be herself.

It was the reprieve she needed from the tension of keeping up the appearance of calm with the growing number of guests, while seeing to the last of the wedding plans. Inside, she felt anything but calm!

Even though at times indelicate and impertinent, her sisters made her feel like the Lizzy she was at Longbourn, and in their company, the years apart seemed to melt away.

They had helped her decide on her wedding apparel—choosing the calamine blue dress, which they all agreed went very well with her complexion.

There was even more consideration to how she should style her hair, with each sister expounding vigorously their feelings on the matter.

Sarah had been called in, and they pulled and prodded, with pins and combs, weaving and braiding Elizabeth’s hair, until she bid them to stop.

She did not need a sore head for her wedding day .

Perhaps the most special gift from her sisters was the bonnet she would take on her wedding trip.

Each had worked all week on it, adding to it lace, silken flowers, and leaves, Lydia even embroidering the word ‘love’ on the ribbon she would tie beneath her chin, which brought a smile to her face.

They had succeeded in making her a one-of-a-kind bonnet that she would treasure for years to come.

Now, looking around the room, tears came suddenly and unbidden.

“Why do you cry, Lizzy?” Jane had been the first to notice.

Elizabeth reached into her dresser drawer to retrieve a newly pressed, very familiar handkerchief. “I am overcome with gratitude, having all my sisters with me. Truly, I could not have done this without you.”

“We all knew you would marry Mr Darcy, Lizzy.” Lydia smiled widely, looking quite pleased with herself.

“I had never seen a man look so intently at a lady. I found it quite romantic, though we thought him quite disagreeable at the time,” Kitty exclaimed.

“Jane? And what of you?”

Jane smiled demurely, as she often did, and in her quiet manner said, “It was something Mr Bingley said to me one day, that caused me to see Mr Darcy’s intensity, not as arrogance, but instead as fascination.

He told me that his friend was a keen observer, and though to a stranger it could appear as disdain, it was really a study of one’s character. ”

Mary spoke up next. “I believe he still studies you, Lizzy.”

“Yet now it is with eyes of longing,” cried Lydia. The room erupted with laughter.

“I really do have the silliest sisters in all of England!” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them, and the laughter quieted instantly as each of the sisters clearly recalled their father’s oft-repeated turn of phrase.

He loved his daughters well, even if he may not have known what to do with their fanciful exuberance and idiosyncrasies.

“If only he could see us now, all together like this.” It was Jane who spoke first, her voice shaky with emotion.

Lydia added, “If only he and Mama were here.”

“And our aunt and uncle,” said Mary solemnly, with Kitty nodding silently beside her.

Elizabeth realised that in healing from grief, life took on a strange cadence, a pendulum swing of tears of joy or tears of sadness, sometimes settling in that liminal space between. “I have no doubt they would be proud of us, and how well we have carried on.”

For the next two hours, they spoke of life at Longbourn, and their lives since. To Elizabeth, it seemed to be another way of healing the void in their hearts that each of them felt keenly still.

It was near the eleventh hour, when they were all still wide awake, that Lydia claimed herself starving; the rest quickly agreed. All the talk and laughter and tears had made them hungry. “Lizzy, go and find us something sweet!”

“Why must it be me?”

“Because this is soon to be your home!”

“You are still ordering us about, Lydia.” Mary gave her a look of disapprobation, a look they all knew well, and that started up a louder conversation between the two, with Kitty jumping into the fray.

“Would you like me to go with you?” Jane offered.

“No, you best stay here to keep them from getting even louder.” Elizabeth gave her sister a knowing look. “The whole house is abed, and we are a boisterous group of Bennets.”

“It does feel good, does it not, Lizzy? To be as we once were? Even though we have changed in many ways.” Jane put her hand to her abdomen.

“Yes. Indeed, it does. Life feels hopeful, and full of promise.”

Elizabeth turned, in need of a moment alone, to go to the kitchens and return with sweets for her sisters.

Before she left, she looked into the room one last time, to see her sisters still squabbling yet laughing.

She closed the door quietly, feeling content, remembering with fondness the last time she had done this, sneaking down to the kitchens to check on Sarah, and being caught unawares by the master of the house.

Elizabeth had to admit to herself, the experience had been both nerve-wracking and thrilling.

She found herself smiling at the remembrance.

She felt his presence before she saw him in the dim light of the kitchens.

Her small candle lit up only the few paces before her, but when she turned slowly to her right, knowing the table was there, she recognised the handsome face of the only man in the world she would happily marry.

He smiled, and the way he looked at her in that particular manner seemed to light up the room and her heart.

“Have you been waiting for me?” Elizabeth asked as quietly as possible.

“Would it be the height of impropriety if I said yes?” Darcy raised one brow to her.

She walked slowly towards him, and pulled an empty chair next to his, settling herself just inches from him. “Only if you were not my betrothed. ”

“Then would it be improper to tell you that I have been here every night, hoping you would come, ever since you left your cottage to again live under my roof?” She saw his diffident smile in the flickering light of her candle.

“Some might say it is so. But I find it most agreeable. Even romantic.” She slid her hand into his, and he curled his fingers around hers. She instantly felt its warmth; her nerves calming. She leant her head against his shoulder. “I am glad you are here. I have missed you.”

“Not as much as I have. I have been barricaded in the billiards room, cornered by my two voluble cousins, both so very willing and eager to give me unwelcome marital advice.”

“It sounds horrifying.” She reached up to cover her mouth, to keep from laughing loudly.

“You have no idea.” He sighed heavily.

“Your cousin Fitzwilliam has weeks of experience to share,” she said, giggling.

“I have told him the same, and yet he droned on. I finally escaped. Only just.”

“Well, I am glad you are here. Though if Lady Matlock catches us, she will be upset that you saw the bride before the wedding.”

Darcy pulled out his watch, and leant in towards the candle. “You will be my wife in less than ten hours.”

Hearing him voice the words, caused her stomach to flutter, and she felt that familiar unsettled feeling. She had not realised she had moved her hand to her abdomen, until Darcy brought it to her attention.

“Are you hungry?”

She shook her head. “No. I could not eat. I am here to retrieve sweets for my sisters. ”

He searched her face. “Are you anxious?”

“I would not lie to you. I am. A little.” She raised her hand, gesturing a small space between thumb and forefinger. She could feel a sheepish smile play on her lips. “Mostly I am in expectation of being your wife. Maybe equal parts nervousness.”

He lifted her chin gently, and as she faced him, he admitted, “I feel the same.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I have never been a husband before. Your welfare and your happiness are my responsibility. It is worth more to me than all of Pemberley and the tenants within. What if I get it wrong?”

She reached her hand to cup his cheek. “As long as you keep loving me as you do now, all will be well.”

“I cannot promise that.”

“No?”

“I feel that I will love you more as each day passes.” He leant his head towards hers, and rested it there.

“You do say the most endearing things,” she whispered.

“You inspire them.”

“Then if you love me more as each day passes, and share endearing words with me often, neither of us will have reason to worry. Our marriage will indeed be a success.”

“Elizabeth,” he whispered to her.

“Yes?”

“I want to kiss you now.”

She looked up to him. “I would like for you to kiss me now.”

“But I shall wait until tomorrow morning. ”

“Are you sure?” she said, trying to hide her disappointment.

“Yes. The next time I kiss you, will be as your husband.”

“I shall be patient. But I will make one request now.”

Even in the dimness of the candlelight, Elizabeth could see the intensity of his gaze. “Anything.”

“I shall want a lifetime of your kisses, Fitzwilliam Darcy.”

“Then it shall be done.”