Page 2

T he Pemberley drawing room was as welcoming as it was elegant.

Elizabeth silently admired the good taste that had achieved such a result.

Mr. Darcy had continued his conversation with the Gardiners with every evidence of enjoyment, and Elizabeth had begun to relax.

The Gardiners, she knew, were everything sophisticated and fashionable, as well as sensible and good-natured.

She need not blush for these relatives, at least.

She looked up as a young woman entered the room.

“Ah, Georgiana! Please come in and meet our guests.”

So this was Georgiana Darcy! Mr. Wickham had described her as proud, but this was clearly as much a falsehood as everything else he had said, for the girl was quite obviously simply shy.

She sat beside her brother, staring at her shoes, but she looked up upon hearing Elizabeth’s name and then spoke with every evidence of eagerness.

“Oh, Miss Elizabeth! I have heard so much about you, and have longed to meet you!”

“Me?” Elizabeth was astonished, and she looked at Mr. Darcy for an explanation.

Mr. Darcy felt heat rising into his face, and he found himself stammering something about her performance at the pianoforte.

Miss Darcy continued, “Yes, my brother said he has rarely heard anything that delighted him so!”

Elizabeth had to laugh at that. “He is being extremely kind, Miss Darcy, I assure you, as my talents are no more than mediocre. But I understand that you are a superior performer.”

“But who…? Oh, Miss Bingley, no doubt.” The expression on Miss Darcy’s face made her opinion of Miss Bingley plain.

“You are quite right; according to her, you are the most accomplished young lady in all of England, and possibly all of Europe, as well,” Elizabeth said. “Oh, no, please do not be dismayed; I am teasing you!”

“Oh, yes, my brother says you enjoy teasing!” Miss Darcy laughed.

“When you are one of five sisters, there is a good deal of it to be had.”

“How I would love to have a sister!” The longing in the girl’s voice was evident.

“Well, we shall have to journey to Meryton so that you may meet all the Bennet girls,” Mr. Darcy said. “They may serve as substitute sisters.”

Elizabeth looked at Mr. Darcy in great surprise. Was he actually suggesting that he would allow his sister to be in company with the Bennets? She shook her head.

“No? Would you not permit the introduction, Miss Elizabeth?” Mr. Darcy asked.

“Oh! No, I was shaking my head in disbelief, Mr. Darcy,” she said. “Would you really allow your sister to meet my family? I do recall your opinion on that subject.”

He turned red. “Your two youngest sisters are a bit lively, Miss Elizabeth, but I think they could do Georgiana no harm. And it would be good for her to meet other young ladies.”

Mrs. Gardiner intervened. “The two youngest Bennet girls do have some growing up to do, but Miss Darcy’s excellent manners might serve as a guide for them.”

The tea tray then arrived, and the conversation turned to the tea (their mother’s special blend), the blueberry jam tarts (Mr. Darcy’s favourite) and the scones dotted with sultanas (Georgiana’s favourite).

“Do you plan to stay long in the area?” Mr. Darcy asked. He had longed to know this from the first moment he had discovered Elizabeth Bennet at Pemberley, but only now had he felt comfortable enough to enquire.

“Three more days,” Mrs. Gardiner replied.

“Where are you staying – oh, the Royal Oak, of course.”

“Yes; it is quite comfortable for an inn.”

Mr. Darcy turned to Elizabeth. “I hope you will allow me to call on you there tomorrow; I will have guests here who may claim an acquaintance with you.”

“I suspect it is not Lady Catherine,” Elizabeth said, smiling.

“Your suspicion is correct. No, it is the Bingleys and the Hursts. They come to Pemberley for three or four weeks every summer.”

Elizabeth could not miss the expression of distaste on Miss Darcy’s face, but forbore to comment. Instead, she simply said, “I would be pleased to see them again.” She then turned to Miss Darcy and begged for the opportunity to hear her play.

Miss Darcy agreed, and went at once to the instrument.

Miss Bingley had not exaggerated the young lady’s talent; indeed, her rendition of a Mozart piece would likely have gratified the composer himself.

Elizabeth praised Miss Darcy warmly, and was then coerced into assaying a duet with her young hostess.

Mr. Darcy listened to the duet, and to the two girls laughing together over their mistakes, with a contented smile on his face, unaware that he was being closely watched by one of his guests. Mrs. Gardiner, seeing his expression, was now absolutely certain that he was in love with her niece.

When the duet was done, Elizabeth turned to her host and said, “Do you not mean to make good on your promise, sir?”

“Promise?” Mr. Darcy sat up, eyes alert.

“To see your library. Surely you would not deny me such a pleasure!”

“A promise certainly must be honoured.” He grinned, delighted that she was teasing him. Surely this meant that she had forgiven him! She would not bother to tease someone she disliked, would she?

He offered her his arm and led the way into the interior of the house.

Elizabeth’s eyes were wide as she took in the artwork, the ceilings, the carpets – Pemberley was the most beautiful house she had ever imagined!

Finally he stopped and opened a large door; he stepped back and motioned for her to enter.

She walked into the room, just three steps, and then stopped, unable to continue. The room was two stories high, with a spiral staircase on each end leading to the upper floor. There were ladders on wheels that could be moved around the room.

“What do you think?”

The pride in his voice could not be mistaken, but Elizabeth could not imagine how anyone could not feel pride in such a library! “I have never imagined – are there really this many books in the world?” she asked, incredulously.

The Gardiners had already begun walking the perimeter of the room, exclaiming over various volumes.

“How are they organized? I had difficulty enough finding what I wanted at Hatchard’s, and it is not a tenth the size of this room.”

“There are sections,” Mr. Darcy explained.

“Look, this map shows the different sections.” He walked to one of the large tables, opened a drawer, and took out a rolled-up paper.

Unrolling it, he showed her that there were shelves for poetry, history, geography, botany, Greek mythology, Roman mythology, languages, travelogues, biographies, essays, and so on.

“Each section has its own list of what it contains and where it may be found.”

“This is incredible, Mr. Darcy.” How readily she could imagine sitting in this room on a cold winter day, curled up on a sofa in front of the fireplace! She could have had that life, if only – and she stopped herself. There was no point in dwelling on regrets.

“Novels are here,” Miss Darcy said, slipping past Elizabeth and walking to a nearby shelf. “I made Brother rearrange things so that it was easy to get to the novels!”

Mr. Darcy smiled at his sister. “Georgiana made the point that if anyone needed late-night reading, it was far more likely to be a novel than anything else; so novels should be close at hand and not require a ladder.”

Mr. Darcy clearly adored his sister; Elizabeth could only imagine the pain her almost-elopement must have caused him. No wonder he hated Mr. Wickham so!

Mrs. Gardiner returned to their host. “Mr. Darcy, I had no idea that the books my father had sold you would end up in a veritable literary palace!”

“He came to see it, you know,” Mr. Darcy remarked.

“Did he? He never mentioned it.”

“Yes; my father invited him to peruse the shelves so that he might have a better idea of what sort of volumes he was looking for. My father often said that the look of delight on Mr. Wakefield’s face was one that he would treasure to his final day.

” As I will treasure the look on Elizabeth Bennet’s face, he thought.

“It is growing rather late, Elizabeth,” Mrs. Gardiner said. “We should return to the inn.”

It was agreed that Mr. Darcy would call at the inn the next day, along with whichever of his guests chose to accompany him. Miss Darcy was everything affectionate upon parting with Elizabeth, expressing her sincere hope that they might meet again soon.

On the drive back to the inn, the Gardiners spoke with great happiness at having been so warmly received by Mr. Darcy. “He has quite a nice smile, do you not think so, Elizabeth?” Mrs. Gardiner asked.

Elizabeth agreed, and then was pressed to give her opinion as to his general person, his house, the grounds, and his sister. “What are you about, Aunt?” Elizabeth finally asked.

“I am attempting to determine if you are as much in love with him as he is with you.”

“With me! Surely not,” she said at once.

“Oh, I am certain of it,” was the reply.

“And you very obviously have feelings for him. No, no, you shall not dissuade me. You have been in a rare dither since we first discussed coming to Pemberley. I am not blind, Lizzy, nor particularly stupid. But I see that I have made you uncomfortable, so I shall say no more.”

Elizabeth was grateful when the carriage reached the inn and she could retreat to the privacy of her room, where she could recall every word, every gesture, every expression of Mr. Darcy’s.