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He ushered her out of the French doors onto a gravel path shaded on one side by the house and on the other by a tree.

Under the tree, hidden from the house, stood an old stone bench, just large enough for two people.

“This looks like more of the work of your parents,” said Elizabeth with a smile.

“Perhaps they met here when no one was looking.”

“I would not be surprised.”

Elizabeth’s French doors were standing open, and they entered the sitting room together. “It is such a lovely room,” Elizabeth sighed. “I will be very comfortable here.”

“There is a man standing guard outside the garden walls, dearest. You may have your doors open or closed, just as you wish.”

“Open, please!”

“Then I will see you soon.” With a last kiss, he turned and walked down the garden path.

Elizabeth sent for Mrs. Peterson. “Good morning, Mrs. Darcy,” said the woman with a smile and a curtsey. “I am so pleased that the gown fits you well.”

“It suits me perfectly. It is cut in the style I have always preferred.” She pointed to the chairs by the fireplace and took one.

“Please sit down, Mrs. Peterson. There is only one item we need to discuss. I was delighted with Jenny, the young woman you sent to wait on me this morning. She is very congenial, and she showed an aptitude for her duties. In particular, she has a talent for dressing my hair, always a daunting task. I have asked her to return at six to lay my things out for dinner, and I wish to have her serve as my personal maid. I will speak to Mr. Darcy about her wages.”

“It is good of you to say so, ma’am. She seems to me to have a natural taste and discernment, and she is always acquainted with the latest fashion. She is reliable, and she seems to be a cheerful young person. I will inform her this afternoon.”

“Would you please send her here with my bonnet and pelisse and ask her to put on her own? I would like to take her with me on a shopping trip we have planned.”

“Certainly, Mrs. Darcy.”

The two women stood. “Thank you, Mrs. Peterson. I look forward to learning more about the house from you. Perhaps you will give me a tour next week.”

Elizabeth looked in on Darcy, and moments later Jenny arrived with her bonnet and pelisse. The girl’s eyes sparkled, and she curtsied. “Thank you so much, Mrs. Darcy. I will try always to be the best lady’s maid possible.”

“I am glad to have you, Jenny. Now, Mr. Darcy is taking us shopping. Your suggestions will be helpful, since I am accustomed to country life.”

The shopping trip included stops at the mantua-maker, milliner, shoemaker, and haberdasher.

Elizabeth bespoke what was needed with efficiency and dispatch.

All went well until they visited the haberdasher.

Jenny showed her true worth during this final stop, as they chose a bewildering assortment of gloves, stockings, handkerchiefs, parasols, fans, and reticules.

Elizabeth also chose nightgowns, wrappers, and peignoirs.

Finally, Elizabeth stood indecisively by a display of practical gloves in York tanned leather.

“You look as though you are in doubt about those, Lizzy.”

“I have always favored them for wear in the country. I lost my last pair on that day when I was abducted. Seeing these made me think of it.”

Darcy folded her arm in his. “We will not always be in London, and you will want heavier gloves for wear at Pemberley as winter comes on. If the association is too unpleasant, there are several kinds of good, sensible leather for you to choose from. Whatever you select, I think you may want several pairs.”

Elizabeth tried on a pair and admired them. “I have always liked these. I will not let them become unpleasant reminders. They are only gloves.” Elizabeth squared her shoulders, drew a deep breath and added the York tanned gloves to the purchases.

Finally, as they stood on the walkway trying to fit themselves, Jenny, and a mass of bandboxes into the carriage, Darcy drew out his watch. “I salute you, Mrs. Darcy. You accomplished all of that in less than three hours. You are very efficient.”

The afternoon was advancing, and when they returned home, Elizabeth thanked her husband with a kiss and rang for tea. They sat at their ease by the fire until the door opened, and a familiar voice rang out.

“Darcy! Here I am at last. And Miss Bennet! I must say I am thankful to see you safe and well.”

Colonel Fitzwilliam, looking somewhat weary but otherwise cheerful, embraced them with his broad smile. Elizabeth handed him a cup of tea and urged him to be seated.

“You are behind the times, Cousin. Miss Bennet is now Mrs. Darcy.” Darcy took his wife’s hand in his.

“Really! That is wonderful news. A bit unexpected. I thought a wedding was planned for Michaelmas.” Fitzwilliam kissed Elizabeth’s cheek and shook his cousin’s hand. “I hope you will both be very happy. Darcy, you are a lucky man indeed.”

Once they were all seated, he continued. “I have come to beg a bed for two nights. My father will not travel on Sunday, but he will be here by midday Monday. They are preparing the house in town for his arrival, and I will get no peace there.”

“Your father is coming? Of course, your usual rooms are always at your disposal.”

“Your letter arrived at home,” replied Fitzwilliam.

“I felt it was alarming enough that my father should be acquainted with it. I suspected he would come down on our side, and it turns out I was right. But he had additional concerns that alarm me greatly. My father, who is the youngest of the three, has been troubled since childhood by Lady Catherine’s mendacity, selfishness, and cruelty.

So was your mother. Their tender years were apparently made miserable by her lying, her vicious temper, and her physical cruelty.

Why, she forced your mother into a heavy linen chest and then closed the lid.

It was only by a miracle that she did not smother.

She also placed a pillow over my father’s face as he lay in his cradle, a helpless infant barely able to turn his head.

If it had not been for a vigilant nursemaid, he would have smothered.

It was far more than the usual jealousies and squabbles of brothers and sisters. ”

“Such depraved behavior in a child does not bode well for its later development,” said Darcy. “Did you know any of this before?”

“No. I spent a couple of hours closeted with my father in his library and told him the contents of your letter. He in turn acquainted me with those distressing details of their childhood. He also related the contents of a letter he had received from her shortly after your engagement was announced. As I recall, he referred to it as nonsensical. She first criticized the Bennet family. Then she detailed the entire trumped-up engagement between yourself and Anne, a tale my father knows to be false. She referred to Miss Lydia Bennet’s ‘infamous elopement,’ which we all know never happened.

She ended by demanding, in the strongest possible terms, that my father assist her in putting a stop to the marriage.

My father wrote back and told her plainly that as far as he knew you were of age and might marry whom you pleased.

However, his intuition tells him that she is somehow at the bottom of all of this. Is he right?”

“Richard, he is perfectly right. Our aunt is not only involved in this, but she is also, as your father says, at the bottom of it. That includes a chain of abuses and crimes too long to enumerate here.”

“My father also described some of his suspicions concerning Rosings.”

“Rosings? But that is the hereditary estate of the de Bourghs.”

“Precisely. Anne is now twenty-six, soon to be twenty-seven. She should have inherited her father’s fortune at twenty-five, almost two years ago.

My father believes my aunt has prevented that and is keeping the estate for her own benefit.

It is a grievous offense, a crime. He intends to investigate those circumstances, and he will see his solicitor and his man of business on Tuesday.

He stands ready to lend you any assistance and to do what he can to bring justice to her victims. Including her own child, Anne. ”

“You certainly have given us a great deal to think about,” replied Darcy.

Colonel Fitzwilliam stood and begged to be excused to settle into his rooms. “Do not concern yourselves about having me on hand for dinner. I have traveled day and night to get here, and all I can think of is a bath, a good supper, and a comfortable night’s rest.” He left them with a tired smile to go upstairs.

The Darcys retired not long afterward.