Page 32 of I am Jael (Pride and Prejudice Variation)
The front pews of the church in Meryton were filled with family and a few select friends, and Fitzwilliam Darcy gazed raptly at the vision walking slowly down the aisle on her father’s arm.
Elizabeth.
She was dressed in pale green which brought out the highlights in her beautiful eyes. Her hair was piled high on her head, held in place by gold combs decorated with pearls.
His mother had worn those combs, and he had given them to Elizabeth as an engagement present.
She was here now, her face alight with joy, and he knew his own smile was wide and perhaps foolish, but he did not care. The day had come, as had the hour and the minute. It was finally time for him to marry the woman whom he loved above all others.
Her father formally placed Elizabeth’s hand on Darcy’s arm and he clasped it with his other hand as the Meryton rector, Mr. Willoughby, began the old and familiar marriage ceremony from the Common Book of Prayer.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God …”
Darcy felt like he was floating in a sea of awe and joy as he and Elizabeth spoke the words of commitment to one another, as the rector gave his homily, as the small congregation rustled and sighed with contentment. Even Mrs. Bennet’s occasional squeaks of joy amused rather than annoyed him.
He turned toward Elizabeth now, and carefully placed his mother’s emerald ring on her left ring finger.
He lifted his eyes to stare into hers, speaking the words spoken by tens of thousands of men before him, “With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
Elizabeth smiled, her eyes bright, and Darcy smiled back at her.
“By the authority vested in me as a servant of God Almighty, I now pronounce you man and wife.”
There were cheers and tears and the couple grasped one another’s hands tightly. They were married.
/
The wedding breakfast was lavish, not surprisingly.
To Mrs. Bennet’s dismay, Darcy and Elizabeth had insisted on a small invitation list for the wedding itself.
However, she had demanded that the doors of Longbourn be metaphorically thrown open and that the entire four and twenty landed families of the district be invited.
Naturally, many of them were not available on short notice, but enough were that men and women and children filled not only Longbourn but the front lawn where tents had been erected to protect all from the hot sun.
Darcy found time to thank the Almighty that the day was a fine one; if all these individuals had been forced to cram into Longbourn’s rooms, he would have found it difficult to breathe.
“Such a lovely day, is it not?” Mrs. Bennet cried out to Sir William and Lady Lucas, who approached the happy couple with their daughter Maria at their heels.
“It is indeed, Mrs. Bennet,” Lady Lucas replied with a beaming smile. “Mrs. Darcy, Mr. Darcy, many congratulations on your marriage!”
“Thank you, Lady Lucas,” Elizabeth replied, reaching forward with her left hand to clasp the matron’s right hand. She kept her right hand in her husband’s as she was aware that Mr. Darcy was not at his best in a crowd of enthusiastic people.
“Mr. Darcy,” Sir William said jovially, “you have truly taken one of Hertfordshire’s finest flowers! Many congratulations to you, sir!”
“Thank you,” Darcy said with only a little stiffness in his tone and demeanor. “I am indeed aware of how fortunate I am.”
Elizabeth gave her husband a slight squeeze of reassurance and turned as another newcomer to the breakfast stepped into her line of sight.
“Miss Bingley,” Elizabeth said with a smile. The Lucas family drifted away, allowing Caroline Bingley to approach the new Mrs. Darcy.
“Mrs. Darcy, Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bingley replied. One might have guessed that Caroline had recently eaten a lemon given the tightness around her lips, but her tone was cordial. “May I congratulate you both on your marriage?”
“Thank you, Miss Bingley,” Darcy replied precisely as he took a slight step forward. He knew that Miss Bingley, of all people, was outraged at his marriage and he would not allow her to say one word against his dear Elizabeth.
But Caroline Bingley had no intention of being so foolish.
As hard as it was to accept, her hope of winning Mr. Darcy had been swept away by a country girl with fine eyes and pert opinions.
She had raged and mourned and even thrown pillows in the privacy of her chamber at Netherfield the night before, but now, with the eyes of Mr. Darcy on her, she was polite and courteous.
“I am sure you will be very happy together,” she gushed with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.
Elizabeth gazed into her husband’s face affectionately, “I am certain we will be.”
/
At last they were alone. Pemberley was far too distant to reach in one day, but after the joyful wedding, and the interminable wedding breakfast, Darcy and Elizabeth had extracted themselves from the enthusiastic throng of well-wishers and entered their carriage for the road north.
They would spend the night at one of the fine hostelries that catered to the gentry, and Darcy’s servants had been sent on ahead to prepare for their arrival.
Elizabeth felt a strange mixture of shyness and delight. She loved William so very much and yet she had never been alone with a man save her father and uncles. She felt herself blushing as her body pressed against her husband’s as the coach swerved around a corner.
“Elizabeth.”
She looked at him now, forcing her eyes to meet his. He was gazing at her with concern.
“Are you well?”
The kindness in his voice diminished her own anxiety and she managed a hesitant smile, “I am very well, William. I confess that today has been a whirlwind and I feel a strange mixture of joy, fatigue, and nerves.”
“Nerves?” he asked softly, leaning closer.
“Yes,” Elizabeth said with an attempt at her usual teasing manner. “I fear I am more my mother’s daughter than I knew.”
Their faces were an inch apart now and he leaned forward and put his lips on hers. She kissed back for a long moment, then sat back with a thoughtful smile.
“Well?” he asked, aware that his own color was almost certainly heightened.
“Interesting and enjoyable, and odd.”
This startled a laugh out of the gentleman, who leaned forward to place another kiss on his wife’s rosy lips.
“My dear Elizabeth, we are both of us entering a new stage of our lives. I am certain we will both have our share of nerves in the upcoming hours and days.”
For some reason, this assurance swept away Elizabeth’s anxiety completely.
“I look forward to overcoming those nerves together, William.”
/
“Georgiana, how was the wedding!” Anne de Bourgh asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern.
“It was lovely,” Georgiana replied cheerfully, taking a seat next to her cousin in the west parlor of Matlock House.
“My mother did not descend upon Darcy and Elizabeth’s wedding waving her stick in outrage?”
Georgie laughed as she shook her head, “No, everything went smoothly. I think my brother and Elizabeth were both eager to depart the wedding breakfast by the time those attending had finished both their eating and their congratulations. Mrs. Bennet showed her enthusiasm about the marriage by producing a truly gargantuan feast and inviting everyone she possibly could from the neighborhood.”
“I hope I was not missed, then.”
“I conveyed your good wishes to my brother and his wife. Do not be concerned, Anne. They understand that you had your own engagement. Speaking of the Duke’s soiree, did you enjoy it?”
Anne de Bourgh twisted her lips thoughtfully, “I did enjoy it, though it was a peculiar experience in many ways. I am far older than most debutants, of course, and will never be a great beauty.”
“I am certain you had your fair share of attention, however,” Georgiana commented drily.
Anne nodded with a sigh, “Of course I did. I am the heiress of Rosings, though Lady Matlock informs me that London society does not know the particular details of my inheritance.”
“That is just as well,” Georgiana murmured. “You will attract enough fortune hunters as it is.”
Anne shifted uncomfortably and forced herself to speak, “Do you think I should seek a well-connected husband, the better to easily remove my mother from Rosings?”
Georgiana’s eyes widened, “No, of course not. Why would I?”
“I find myself agonizing over the reality that my tenants are truly suffering under Mother’s rule. If I were to marry a good man with the ability to better run the estate, we could together begin making reparations for my mother’s poor stewardship.”
Georgiana gazed at her cousin with admiration. It was unusual for a high born woman like Anne to care about the lower classes at all, much less consider sacrificing herself for their sake. Nonetheless …
“Anne, I truly rejoice in your kindness towards the people who will be under your care. I believe that marrying a good man to help with the estate would be a blessing, but I also know from my experience with George Wickham that finding such a man might prove difficult. You are a most tantalizing potential marriage partner. I urge you not to rush into a union with someone you do not know well. It would be far worse to marry rapidly and discover that your husband is an inveterate gambler or libertine.”
Anne nodded with a sigh, “You are of course correct, Georgiana. I am enjoying myself tremendously here, of course. I merely feel a tension within me concerning my estate. In the end, it will be my responsibility to make the necessary changes, and ideally the sooner the better.”
“You could begin studying estate management,” Georgiana suggested. “There are numerous books on the subject in the library at Darcy House.”
“I confess to substantial interest, but surely our relatives would disapprove. Those are hardly topics considered suitable for ladies.”
Her young cousin laughed aloud, “I assure you that my brother, at least, was delighted when Elizabeth displayed her considerable knowledge about cross breeding sheep. I believe that studying estate management would be a completely legitimate and wise use of your time. Indeed, I have read a few of the treatises on wheat produced by Mr. Coke. They were quite interesting.”
Anne stared at Georgiana so long that the latter grew slightly uncomfortable.
“Is something wrong, Anne?”
“Not at all, Georgie,” Anne assured her apologetically. “I am merely contemplating that you are a truly remarkable young woman. We did not see each other for many years, but my memory is that you were an extraordinarily timid child.”
“I was,” Georgiana agreed with alacrity. “Indeed, I was very shy and uncertain as recently as last November.”
Anne lifted startled eyebrows, “What happened, dear cousin?”
Georgiana chuckled, “Are you familiar with the story of Jael in the Bible, Anne?”