Page 55 of The Last House in Lambton (Pride and Prejudice Variations #6)

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

I nto this admixture breezed Colonel Fitzwilliam at his dashing best.

Elizabeth was surprisingly shy of him at first, perhaps overborne by the notion that her charm alone must win him to her cause.

Richard, however, was not immune to feminine modesty, and he took this display of blushing reserve as an indication my affianced bride had not somehow entrapped me.

When at dinner she made me laugh aloud, he smiled and visibly relaxed, though I knew he still had questions.

We could hardly have the kind of honest discussion for which he seemed ripe in the usual manner—over port after dinner. Bingley was my guest as well, and so we were forced to talk of regimental business. Later, however, Richard came to my room.

“Well, Darcy?” he said, making himself comfortable in a chair and placing his heels on the footstool by the hearth.

“Say your piece,” I replied, assuming an equal posture of repose on the other chair in the room.

“Papa will not like it. ”

“And Lady Catherine may well cut me.”

“You are not the least bit concerned, are you,” he remarked in surprise.

“Not in the least. I am in love with a woman I trust, respect, and admire. That is sufficient compensation for whatever strictures I might endure from mere relations who wish only to please themselves in the matter of my marriage, my preferences be damned.”

“She is not what I pictured for you.”

“Believe me, she is not what I pictured for myself, thank God.”

“She is…well, I am not certain how to phrase it.”

“She is delightful.”

“I am surprised to say I wholly agree.”

“You will stand up with me?”

“I will. Georgiana has never looked happier.”

“That is because she has never been happier,” I said with a smile of deep satisfaction. “Will you travel back to Kent with me when I go to apprise Lady Catherine of my betrothal?”

“Nothing could entice me to do so.”

I chuckled. “Perhaps you might agree to stand next to me when I visit your parents.”

“Perhaps not. I believe I shall stay with Georgiana at your London house and help her achieve a splendid debut.”

“That would be marginally of use to me, though I never thought to have to call you a coward.”

He laughed and replied he would not have stayed alive in the war with Napoleon without a strong instinct of self-preservation.

I poured him a brandy, and we sat staring at the fire until Richard roused himself and said with a half-smile, “I say, Darcy, what is the situation with poor Bingley? I have never seen him look more fraught. Is he perhaps besotted with Miss Bennet? ”

“How can you say so?” I replied with a grin. “He is impervious to her beauty, I assure you.”

I enjoyed Richard’s company in Brighton as much as I always did, yet he annoyed me more than a little when he began to pay a great deal of attention to Jane.

This might have been mischief on his part or an actual inclination towards Elizabeth’s handsome sister.

Either way, the competition incited Bingley to press forwards with his attentions, and the atmosphere of the townhouse in Brighton became more awkward than not.

The intrigue was a sufficient excuse to take Elizabeth out walking or when the rain let up, ride alongside the ladies as we surveyed the Pavilion, the pier, and the seaside.

Since neither of us had an appetite for affairs outside our own, she and I mutually agreed to let the matter resolve itself to Jane’s satisfaction.

We sat over a small table one morning after breakfast with the calendar and selected several dates which would serve for a wedding, and Bingley offered to open his country house to any of my family and friends who chose to come.

What Miss Bingley would think of being required to play hostess to my wedding guests when I was not her bridegroom, Elizabeth and I also agreed to ignore.

Georgiana came to the table where we sat. She grasped Elizabeth’s hand and said, “I do wish you would stay with me in London at least until I am presented.”

But Elizabeth held firm in her decision, and when Georgiana attempted to persuade her with more entreaties and mournful looks, she resorted to bluntness.

“My dear Georgiana, I love you too much to do as you wish! Do you suppose I would do anything to add to your discomfort? Surely you must realise if I, a total stranger to your set, were standing beside you at every ball you attend, you would be forced to answer any number of questions about your new friend, particularly when your brother is so clearly in love with me.”

Richard let loose a shout of laughter from his chair, Jane went to the window as though entranced by the view, and even Mrs Annesley had to pretend to peer very closely at her book.

Reluctantly amused, Georgiana conceded that we did stare at one another a great deal, and she would dread having to fend off the gossips.

She then mollified herself by staking a claim over Elizabeth’s attendance for the duration of her second Season.

Later, after dinner, I took Elizabeth out for a stroll before the wind picked up again. The air was crisp and cold, and she took my arm so naturally, I was moved to say, “That was a handsome concession you gave my sister.”

“To miss her presentation? It was hardly a concession and selfish besides, but I thank you.”

“I have forgotten to ask where you would like to go for a wedding trip,” I said.

“Why to Pemberley, where else?” she answered quickly. “But might I now ask for a concession from you, sir?”

“Anything.”

“I would like to invite Mrs Gardiner to Pemberley this summer.”

“Of course. She should come to see Mrs Jennings, if nothing else. And Mr Gardiner?”

“If he wishes to escort her, yes. But they will have Mary with them for the summer, you see.”

“And? She might like a holiday, and Georgiana would be pleased to have her.”

“You are very good,” Elizabeth said sweetly, and then I knew this was but the preamble for what she really wished to ask.

I came to a halt and faced her. “What else would you ask of me? You must be aware I shall do anything for your happiness. ”

“I am, but my courage fails me. I have asked too much of you already.”

“Hmm. I sense you are about to enquire as to the disposition of my mother’s jewels.”

“Gracious! I would never think of doing so!” she cried.

“You are curious as to the funds I have settled on you. Perhaps you are going to hint that you will need a touch more if you are to entertain the luminaries of society?”

“Mr Darcy!”

“Well, if those are not the boons you are seeking, then tell me?”

“I would like to invite Kitty to stay with me at Pemberley. She will be so much happier away from Lydia, and I can think of no better place for her than your mother’s little parlour, playing Lottery Tickets and keeping Mrs Jennings company.

No, no, before you accuse me of using her unfairly, I must tell you?—”

“I remember what you once said of her. She is a girl who only wishes to be comfortable and to be noticed. To have her wishes attended to by so many people, as she would as Mrs Darcy’s sister, would be a welcome change for her.”

“You understand,” she said almost in wonder.

“I do and I concur. She should stay with us for as long as she likes.”

We walked along in a silence that stretched a little too long. Again, I stopped. “You had better finish your petitions, Petunia. I am getting a chill while waiting for you to gather your courage.”

She laughed a little sheepishly. “You really do understand me.” And then, she looked up at me imploringly. “My mother is in earnest about coming to London to visit the warehouses and tour your house, and oh, I do love her, but I dread it!”

I kissed her half-frozen nose and said, “In this I cannot help you. You survived Mrs Burke, you know, and I cannot imagine you are unequal to visiting a few shops with Mrs Bennet. What else?”

“Papa has hinted he does not like my plan of getting Lydia a horse. He claims it will be too large a gift, but in truth, I suspect his pride is merely dented that he cannot provide a mount for his daughter.”

“Ah, that is more in my line. Will you allow me to rid you of that minuscule concern, my love?”

“I would be most grateful if you did.”

“Excellent. And now, might we please turn back? I can no longer feel my fingers.”

“So delicate,” she murmured playfully.

I pretended to cough, and she then broke from my side and challenged me to a footrace back to our door. I caught her in spite of the handicap of surprise and pressed her into the dark corner of yet another shop door, now shuttered for the night.

Needless to say, we did not return from our walk for some time, and I was very glad Mrs Reynolds was far away at Pemberley, for she would have roundly scolded us for such a reckless and prolonged exposure to the elements.

Our holiday nearing its end, that had been the last of our opportunities to indulge in assignations of such forbidden proportions.

After consulting Elizabeth, I sent Queenie back to Pemberley where she would be more comfortable and less in the way during what portended to be several busy weeks at Longbourn.

I also sent Sam to Hertfordshire with Jane and Elizabeth, a gesture which was met with perhaps less resistance than it would have been, had my intrepid lady not met with the unsavoury Mr Crupps and his compatriots.

I carefully explained that Sam was to be her lifelong protector whenever I could not be present, and by the sudden sobriety of her expression, I knew the comprehension had dawned upon her that as a rich man’s wife, she would have to submit to such precautions.

Elizabeth sighed a little heavily, for not only did she value her independence, she enjoyed the anonymity of being merely genteel.

But she was not a woman to pout, and I had only to chuckle at her and call her a wilting petunia to rouse her to bravely accept her new circumstances with the good grace she so naturally possessed.

I had to prepare for several busy weeks myself. My sister made her bows to Queen Charlotte, and I claimed the first dance at Lady Matlock’s ball in her honour. One afternoon I also took Georgiana to Mr and Mrs Gardiner’s house for tea and invited them for dinner.

Elizabeth’s uncle and I, having become acquainted under such strained circumstances, fell into a surprisingly easy friendship, and Mrs Gardiner met my sister with great kindness and induced her to talk of Mrs Jennings.

I expressed my hope they would visit Pemberley as soon as may be, and Georgiana, who had bloomed rather unexpectedly throughout her debut, had added her own persuasion with a charm that reminded me of someone I missed a great deal.

As though conscious of my thoughts, my sister had looked up at me then and smiled, pleased with herself for having done such justice to Elizabeth’s mentorship.

Whenever possible, I also travelled to Hertfordshire.

My horses seemed to know the way to Longbourn by the ruts in the road alone, which had grown deeper in consequence.

I met with the vicar of Meryton to have the banns read, and we set the date for the wedding for late June.

Upon returning to London, I spent time with my solicitors and man of business, with my tailor and my banker.

Between morning calls, recitals, the opera and various parties my aunt deemed critical for Georgiana’s abbreviated Season, I also broke the news of my engagement to my relations.

I travelled to Kent for a very brief stay.

Lady Catherine was predictably incensed and threatened to refuse to notice Elizabeth, and when I replied that my wife would receive that news with joy, she then disowned me altogether.

I could only hope she meant it and left Rosings Park behind me in my haste to snatch yet another visit to Hertfordshire to see Elizabeth.

Lord and Lady Matlock received my announcement with chilly, distant smiles and tepid congratulations, but they refrained from further comment.

I offered up Netherfield Park should they wish to attend the ceremony, but no, they had made an unbreakable commitment to visit Lord and Lady Somebody in Somerset.

The countess then suggested she would arrange a ball of introduction for Elizabeth when we next came to town, and since her air was one of such condescension and the event, should it ever occur, was to take place in the hazy, distant future, I thanked her with my own chilly, tepid smile.

Richard’s elder brother, John, who was titled and a dead bore besides, begged to be excused on the grounds he could not step foot in the country without sneezing. He would send us a handsome crystal punch service, he said, and looked forwards to meeting my bride at his mama’s party for her.

Upon commiseration with Richard, who had indeed taken up residence at my house instead of with his parents, he only said, “What did you expect, Darcy?”

“Just what I was given, I suppose. But come to think of it, I am quite relieved. You have yet to meet Elizabeth’s mother.”

I had meant to be wry, but in truth, I was coming around to slightly warmer feelings for Mrs Bennet’s outrageous conduct, for she would never receive me with anything resembling the noble disinterest of my own close relations.

Perhaps I had lost my taste for the coldness of manner I had once prized as befitting my station, or perhaps Socrates was right—‘one word frees us of all the weight and pain in life, and that word is love’…

“Will I like her?” Richard asked, interrupting my reflections.

“Who, Mrs Bennet? I do not know, but I assure you, she will adore you. She has four remaining daughters as yet unmarried, Cousin.”

“Oh Lord.”

“Pray all you like, but I doubt you will be spared her designs upon your liberty,” I said with a grin.

He could only laugh at what was to come, and I then changed the subject to my sister, who could be heard snatching a few moments of practice in the music room.

“And what do you think of your ward these days?”

“She is doing beautifully, I must say. But when did she learn to play cards so well? She has stripped my pockets clean, Darcy.”