Page 50 of The Talented Daughters of Longbourn
Dining Room
Netherfield
Three Months Later
“And then,” Charles Bingley remarked, “a hot air balloon landed in the west pasture and the aeronaut leaped out of the basket, grabbed a fine heifer calf, and leaped back in, upon which he soared away into the clouds with my young cow!”
“That is terrible,” Darcy murmured, his eyes fixed on his wine glass, which was filled with port.
“Yes, most displeasing,” Richard Fitzwilliam agreed in a dreamy tone.
Bingley looked first at Darcy and then at Richard, and he burst into laughter. The two cousins stared at their friend in bewilderment, while Darcy tried to dredge up the details of Bingley’s previous remark.
“Did you say something about a hot air balloon?” he asked in confusion .
“I did,” Bingley said, grinning broadly. “I was determining whether you were listening to me. My conclusion is that you were not.”
“Someone stole a calf?” Richard asked, sitting up straight and frowning heavily. “And took it away in a hot air balloon?”
“That is what I said, yes, but I was merely ascertaining whether I had even a sliver of your attention. If I am to be entirely truthful, there was no balloon, and no stolen cow. But I confess to being mightily amused; it is a rare day when my friend Darcy, and the former military colonel, Richard Fitzwilliam, are sufficiently distracted to listen to foolish drivel without realizing it.”
Darcy wrinkled his nose, trying to decide whether to be offended. The obvious answer was no. It would take a great deal to offend him on this day.
“We are marrying the ladies we adore tomorrow morning,” Richard commented, echoing his own thoughts. “Yes, we are very distracted.”
“I can well understand that,” Bingley agreed, leaning forward to pour additional wine into his glass and those of his friends. “I propose a toast! To the beautiful and fascinating Jane and Elizabeth, who will resign the name of Bennet on the morrow!”
“To Elizabeth and Jane!” Darcy cried out .
“To Jane and Elizabeth!” Richard agreed.
The three men drank, and Bingley said, now more seriously, “I am delighted for you both, and Fitzwilliam – I am certain that Miss Bennet was wise in choosing you for a husband. I admire your fiancée very much, of course, but I realize now that we were not particularly well suited.”
“Thank you, Bingley,” Richard replied. “That is very generous of you, as is hosting us until the wedding tomorrow.”
Bingley shrugged and said, “I believe that I have matured in the last months, but I still very much enjoy company!”
/
Longbourn
“Oh, but my dear Charlotte, the drawing room looks so bare! Surely, with the wedding breakfast here tomorrow, you will return some of the figurines to the mantle and some of the small tables?” Frances Bennet demanded .
Charlotte Bennet sighed, and said patiently, “The figurines are indeed beautiful, Fanny, but they are also very delicate. I think it would be dangerous to have them where small fingers might find them.”
“Well, this is the result of your decision to allow your little one into the drawing room!” her sister-in-law huffed. “When my girls were young, they stayed above stairs until they were old enough to keep their hands to themselves. Not that they were ever as rambunctious as Samuel!”
“I was, Mamma,” Elizabeth commented, lifting her head from her needlework. “I also think it is charming that Samuel always joins us here after dinner; it is lovely to hear young voices reverberating through Longbourn again!”
Frances Bennet turned a frowning look on her second daughter, but she found she could not scold her.
Tomorrow, her Elizabeth would become Mrs. Darcy, mistress of a great house, and there were times when Mrs. Bennet still struggled to believe it.
That her Lizzy, impertinent and wild, should win such a man!
The door opened, and Mary and Isaac Turnball entered the room, dressed in traveling clothes, with Lydia and Kitty in their wake.
“Oh, Mary!” her mother cried out, mercifully distracted from figurines and little boys. “Oh, I am so thankful you were able to come! I was not certain whether it would be possible, given the distance from Kent and the needs of the parish!”
“We were not certain either,” Mary said, tightening her grip on her husband’s arm. “But Isaac was able to find a curate to cover the services in White Rock.”
“I do wish you were settled closer,” her mother said, “but of course the living is a good one, and dear Isaac is now a rector, not a curate. In any case, how are you feeling, dear?”
Mary, who was expecting a child, looked slightly green but managed a tight-lipped smile. “I will be well, though I am very tired.”
“Perhaps you would like to lie down for a short time?” Charlotte suggested. “I know that the swaying of a coach can be upsetting...”
She trailed off as Mary turned even greener and said, “Yes, I would like to lie down. Thank you.”
“Shall I get you some tea with honey, my dear?” Isaac asked, eying his wife worriedly.
“Yes, thank you, Isaac.”
“I will take her up to the pink room,” Mrs. Bennet announced, and then turned a guilty look on the true mistress of Longbourn. “Oh, Charlotte, is the pink room appropriate for Mary?”
“Yes, thank you, Fanny.”
Mother and pregnant daughter left out of one door, and Isaac hurried out a side door toward the kitchen, while Lydia and Kitty advanced into the room, both glowing with excitement.
“Lizzy, can you believe the wedding is tomorrow?” Kitty cried out, hurrying over to her elder sister.
“I can indeed,” Elizabeth said, setting her needlework aside. “I have been counting the days for months, so yes, I am well aware that tomorrow is our wedding day!”
“We are so very happy for you,” Lydia declared, collapsing rather noisily onto a nearby chair. “I think Mr. Darcy is quite perfect for you!”
“I agree,” Elizabeth said quietly, but her eyes shone at the realization that by this time tomorrow, she would be wife to the most handsome, diligent, intelligent man of her acquaintance. How she loved him!
“Now I spoke to our Aunt Gardiner a few minutes ago,” Lydia said, “and she had a message for you. She said that it had to do with the wedding night, and that it was not appropriate for my ears, or Kitty’s, but she feared that Mamma might do a poor job of discussing it, and that if you need a more . .. what was the word she used, Kitty?”
“Balanced,” her next older sister said, her face scarlet with embarrassment.
“Right, a balanced view. Then you should talk to her. She is upstairs in the nursery with her children now, but will be available later.”
Elizabeth, who had indeed survived a difficult discussion with her mother on the topic of marital intimacy, laughed and said, “That is very kind of our Aunt Gardiner, but fortunately, Charlotte has already given me the more balanced view.”
“Good!” Lydia said. “Now, when am I permitted to see the dresses for the wedding? I confess to being very tired of black, and even half mourning colors are rather dull. I do hope your wedding gowns are lovely.”
“They are,” Elizabeth assured her, and smiled mischievously, “and you will see them tomorrow when we prepare for the wedding and no sooner!”
/
The Art Studio
Longbourn
“That is extraordinary, Jane,” Josiah Bennet said.
Jane Bennet, soon to be Jane Fitzwilliam, tilted her head and regarded the sculpture carefully, and then nodded. “Yes, it turned out very well.”
“Are you certain you wish to sell it?”
Jane wrinkled her nose and said, “Not really, but it is the wise thing to do. I believe it to be the best thing I have ever done, and it should fetch an excellent price. Richard does not wish to be overly dependent on Darcy, you see.”
Josiah nodded with understanding and ran a hand over the smooth marble of the bust of Richard Fitzwilliam.
“You can, perhaps, carve another one when you are more settled,” he said.
“Yes,” Jane agreed, and her mouth turned up cheerfully. “I do appreciate the marble you are giving us as a wedding present. Darcy has agreed to let me set up a studio at Pemberley, so I will be able to continue working. ”
She turned now to inspect her uncle. “And what of you, Uncle? Do you think you will start painting portraits and landscapes again in the near future?”
“Yes, I will,” her uncle assured her. “These last months have required me to devote all my time and energy to the estate and to my family, but now that Mr. Gilpin has been hired as steward of Longbourn, I will have time to return to my painting.”
“I am glad,” Jane said fervently.
/
The Church at Meryton
The Next Morning
The old, polished oak double doors were thrown wide, ribbon bedeckings fluttering in the slight breeze. The foyer smelled of early springtime, decorated as it was with vases of daffodils, each sporting more ribbons.
It was a small and happy crowd seated in the pews of the sanctuary.
Opposite Mrs. Frances Bennet and her unmarried daughters sat Sir William and Lady Lucas and their children.
Charlotte Bennet was there, her young ones watching in wide-eyed curiosity.
Also in attendance were the Gardiners, Isaac and Mary Turnball, Georgiana Darcy and Mrs. Annesley, Lord and Lady Matlock, and beside her aunt and uncle, Miss Anne de Bourgh.
Lady Catherine, of course, was not in attendance.
The former mistress of Rosings was incensed by the whole affair, as she had told Darcy by letter many times.
She had never received an answer to any of her missives, and Anne strongly suspected that her cousin had simply tossed them into the fire unopened.
The door opened in the back and the attendees turned eagerly as Josiah Bennet entered the sanctuary, flanked on either side by Jane and Elizabeth.
Richard Fitzwilliam stood tall at the end of the aisle, his heart in his throat, his gaze fixed on his bride.
Jane was transcendentally beautiful. Mrs. Bennet had convinced her eldest daughter to wed in a blue dress with ivory lace, and she was brilliant.
Diamonds sparkled at both ears and neck, gifts from Lady Matlock for her new daughter-in-law.
Darcy, standing at Richard’s side, had eyes only for Elizabeth.
She was dressed in a green gown with a lace overdress, with pearl clasps down the front of the overdress, with her glorious dark hair held high with pearl combs, and a delicate necklace, a betrothal gift from Darcy, around her slender neck .
Josiah, smiling proudly, reached the nave, whereupon he transferred Jane’s hand to Richard’s arm, and Elizabeth’s hand to Darcy’s arm, and then he retreated to be seated by his dear Charlotte and their children, who were sitting in the second row.
Mr. Allen, the old and venerable rector of the church, opened the Book of Common Prayer to the appropriate page and, looking down at the two happy couples, began.
“ Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony…”