Page 21 of Why I Kissed You (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

Elizabeth’s lips turned up in a wry grin. “Yes, Aunt, I have a great many more pounds to subtract from Mr. Darcy’s fortune—I really begin to think he will yet regret his present to me.”

“Oh no, Miss Elizabeth!” cried Miss Darcy so softly she almost could not be heard. “M-My brother likes to give presents—at least, he likes to give them to me, though I hardly deserve them.”

“I am sure you do, Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth replied with a smile. “And I am sure he will be willing to spend just as much on your trousseau as he is spending on mine, or perhaps more, for you are his sister.”

“My nephew is providing your trousseau, Miss Elizabeth?” asked the countess.

Elizabeth lifted her chin. “He is, my lady. I did tell Mr. Darcy it was entirely necessary for me to purchase new clothes, but he insisted I should have them.”

“And right he is, my dear girl,” said Lady Disley.

“That is what I told her, my lady,” said Mrs. Gardiner as the countess drew breath to say more; Elizabeth was grateful, as she feared Darcy’s aunt about to make another insult disguised as a compliment.

“I told her that while her present gowns are very flattering, it is only natural that a handsome young man like Mr. Darcy should want his new bride to have the very best!”

“Lizzy was hesitant to take Mr. Darcy up on her trousseau being his wedding gift to her because of the cost,” added Jane sweetly. “After all, the price of an entire new wardrobe is no trifle.”

“But Mr. Darcy said it must be done, so here I am,” finished Elizabeth with a smile. “I fear I shall faint away from the exhaustion of all the measuring and fitting yet to be done.”

Lady Disley smiled. “You are a good girl to obey my nephew’s wisdom, my dear,” said she.

It was all Elizabeth could do not to scowl at the subtle emphasis Lady Disley placed on the word “obey.” How she loathed it!

She had no intention of becoming a slave to Darcy’s whims, treated as little more than a servant because she would bear him children and manage his household, and look good on his arm at parties.

She would be an equal partner in their marriage—he would respect and value her opinions as much as he wished her to do the same for him—or they really would be miserable together.

What pleasure she’d hoped for in the day was now dampened, though Elizabeth tried her best to appear as cheerful as when they’d started out.

She truly pitied the poor footmen and shop boys who were made to carry the dozens of bolts of cloth from the linen drapers to the modiste down the block that Darcy had recommended.

They met the proprietor of the establishment—Madame Le Blanc herself—who, on learning that Elizabeth was the Miss Elizabeth Bennet from the wedding announcement of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, pledged to oversee the creation of her trousseau personally.

She would, in fact, make her wedding gown herself, and offered her opinion that the ivory satin was parfaite for the occasion.

“I will add some pearls to the bodice, non ?” Madame Le Blanc asked, showing her a fashion plate.

Elizabeth glanced at the picture and agreed that the look of the scattered pearls would indeed be lovely.

She and her aunt and sister then pored over the dozens of new fashions that had appeared in the most recent copies of La Belle Assemblée , some of which she recalled from the night before, and selected the looks for the rest of her order before the modiste took Elizabeth into the back where she could undress for her measurements to be taken.

In all, there were forty gowns for days, walking, dinner, and balls. The same number was applied to shifts and petticoats. Six each of spencers, pelisses, and cloaks. Four riding habits. Four pair of stays, fourteen new night gowns. Four dozen pairs of gloves.

Elizabeth’s mind reeled—those were just the clothes!

They had yet to visit the shoemaker, where her aunt told her she would be expected to order no less than fifteen pairs of shoes and boots.

They were also to go on to a haberdasher to order hats to match her riding habits and half a dozen new bonnets.

“I do not think, Aunt,” said she when at last they were on their way back to Gracechurch Street, “that I shall wear the same gown twice for a month straight.”

Mrs. Gardiner chuckled. “Do you now see the advantages of your most splendid match, Lizzy?”

Elizabeth scoffed. “I now see that hundreds of pounds have been spent on clothes I hardly had need for. Whatever shall I do with the dresses I already own?”

“Certainly, you may keep some of them—the ones that are in the best condition and have been little worn,” said Mrs. Gardiner.

“Those you do not wear as often might be passed to your younger sisters, or even your new maid. I had it from Mrs. Reed that the poor girl only has three gowns to call her own.”

“Miss Lacey may have those of my gowns I don’t wear often,” said Elizabeth. “I’d rather they went to someone who truly needed them than for them to be fought over by Kitty and Lydia.”

“No doubt Miss Lacey will be all the more grateful than our sisters,” Jane observed. “I think her very near in size to you, Lizzy, so the gowns should need little to no alteration to fit her.”

Elizabeth sighed and tipped her head back into the squab.

“I am so very fagged from all this shopping and fitting and clothes buying. I do believe that I shall overfill myself on our late breakfast and then have a lie down. A late morning nap should hopefully prevent me worrying over how well Mr. Darcy is getting on with Papa.”

“Oh, yes!” cried Jane softly. “He should be at Longbourn very soon, if he is not there already. But I do not imagine Papa will be very difficult.”

Mrs. Gardiner chuckled. “Do not be so sure, Jane my dear. Remember that Elizabeth is your father’s favorite.”

“Not to mention Mr. Darcy’s reputation about Meryton for being proud and my own previous dislike of him,” added Elizabeth.

At this her aunt looked surprised. “Whyever should you dislike Mr. Darcy, Lizzy? He seemed such an agreeable young man, though admittedly we met only briefly last evening.”

Elizabeth glanced at Jane, then with a sigh, gave a very brief account of Wickham’s lies regarding Darcy and the living.

“I regret that when I first met Mr. Wickham, I was quite ready to believe any slander against Mr. Darcy. At the assembly where he and I first met, Mr. Darcy was unfortunately in an ill humor, and he made a remark that rather wounded my vanity.”

Mrs. Gardiner frowned. “What did he say that upset you?”

“I overheard him say to his friend Mr. Bingley that I was tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him to dance,” Elizabeth replied.

“Not only that, he had just a moment before said that besides his friend’s sisters—and Jane—there was not a woman in the room it would not be a punishment to stand up with. ”

“Upon my word,” said her aunt with a shake of the head.

“Mr. Darcy must have been feeling very disagreeable indeed to not only insult you but all the ladies of the neighbourhood. But Lizzy, while he spoke little with your uncle and I last night, I do think him very much attached to you, so he has certainly changed his mind!”

Elizabeth turned her gaze out the window. “Yes, Aunt. Mr. Darcy said he was most ardently in love with me when he proposed.”

“Do you not believe him? The way he looked at you last night certainly seems to confirm rather than deny the claim,” said her aunt.

“I cannot deny that his attachment to me is strong, though I can hardly understand it as I have not always been very amiable to him,” Elizabeth replied. “Whether or not he truly loves me, only he can tell you.”

Mrs. Gardiner leaned forward. “And you Lizzy? Do you love him at all?”

With a smile she desperately hoped did not appear as forced as it felt, Elizabeth looked to her aunt and said, “My feelings toward Mr. Darcy have greatly altered since the unfortunate beginning of our acquaintance. My knowing him better has certainly improved my opinion of him—he is not quite as proud as I once thought him. And he is being extraordinarily generous in asking a fortuneless girl like myself to marry him. Besides, is it not a young lady’s duty to accept an offer of marriage from a respectable, wealthy gentleman, whether she loves him or not? ”

“That may be your mother’s way of viewing things, Lizzy,” said Mrs. Gardiner.

“It may even be society’s way of viewing marriage.

But I know you to be an intelligent, forward-thinking young woman, with a heart so full of love just waiting to be shared with the right young man—one who will value your opinions.

I simply cannot imagine you accepting anyone you did not think yourself capable of feeling strongly for, and as you have accepted him, I do not doubt that even if you do not love him now, you will surely love Mr. Darcy in time. ”

She did indeed feel strongly for Darcy, Elizabeth mused. She just didn’t know in which direction those feelings would take her.

Upon their arrival at Gracechurch Street, the ladies partook of a long-awaited breakfast. The morning papers were also there waiting to be read, and naturally, the announcement of her upcoming wedding was the first bit of news the ladies thought to look for.

Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Esq., of Pemberley in Derbyshire, to wed Miss Elizabeth Bennet, daughter of Mr. Thomas Bennet, Esq., of Longbourn in Hertfordshire. Ceremony to be conducted today se’nnight by Bishop A. Keller at St. Paul’s Cathedral .

“And a collective wail of grief rang out across the city at the moment the words were read, leading many a young society daughter to swoon,” Elizabeth mumbled.

She was suddenly glad to have revealed to her aunt and uncle the night before what the announcement would say and hoped fervently that Darcy would think to prepare her father, who would surely wonder why they were not waiting for the banns to be called.

“But why the hurry to marry, Lizzy? You give your families only a week’s notice!” Mr. Gardiner said.

Elizabeth lifted her shoulder in a nonchalant manner.

“We simply do not wish to, Uncle. Mr. Darcy says that now he has finally convinced me to be his wife, he does not wish me time enough to change my mind,” she said with a laugh.

“In truth, I think it a habit of the very wealthy to go about purchasing licenses rather than waiting for banns to be read.”

Mrs. Gardiner chuckled, drawing Elizabeth from her reverie. “I do not doubt, my dearest Lizzy, that there are many young ladies who are disappointed by Mr. Darcy’s choosing to marry.”

“Not to mention their parents.”

Again, her aunt laughed. “Quite so, Lizzy.”

After she had eaten her fill, Elizabeth went upstairs to lie down as she’d said she would, though she took a moment to inform Miss Lacey that once her new wardrobe was ready, she would be giving some of her old gowns to her; the poor girl was shocked and protested the gift, but Elizabeth assured her it was quite common for a lady to give older gowns to her maid.

“In fact,” she said, linking their arms together and guiding her over to the wardrobe, “I should like you to choose one now. I wish to see how my clothes will fit you, so we can determine how much alteration they may need.”

Again, the maid protested—and again Elizabeth insisted.

After a heavy sigh and a few minutes of looking over her mistress’s gowns, Miss Lacey selected a brown one with white ruffled trimming about the neckline and three-quarter length sleeves.

Elizabeth liked that dress but had no reservations about letting it go.

When the maid had put it on, Elizabeth remarked that she looked very pretty in it.

“The color enhances your hazel eyes, I think,” said she with a smile.

Miss Lacey blushed, then said that the gown was a little tighter in the bust than she was comfortable with. “But it is no matter—I am sure I can let it out a little with no trouble. Thank you, Miss Bennet. You really are too kind.”

“Think nothing of it,” Elizabeth replied, pleased to have done something to make someone else happy. After Miss Lacey had changed back into her previous gown, Elizabeth dismissed her and told her she was welcome to go off and begin the alteration while she napped.

Later that evening, what little rest she had gotten was replaced by no small amount of nerves as her maid was helping her to dress and set her hair for dinner.

In only about half an hour’s time, she would learn the outcome of Darcy’s meeting with her father that morning and his meeting Mr. Bingley the night before.

What had her father said when Darcy explained the purpose of his call?

Had Mr. Bingley been very angry about Darcy’s interference in his courtship of Jane?

For that matter, was it possible that Bingley would be at the dinner? Oh, how she felt for Jane! It would be a shock to see him again, the moment no doubt filled with both pain and pleasure. Fearful of this being the case, Elizabeth went to her sister’s room to have a word with her about it.

Jane listened with more calmness than she expected.

She drew a breath and blew it out, then said, “It’s all right, Lizzy.

After what you told me yesterday about Mr. Bingley, I began to suspect Mr. Darcy might include him in the party.

I have been preparing myself for meeting him, and I believe myself equal to doing so without a violent display of emotion. ”

“Will you allow him to renew his addresses, if he wishes to?” Elizabeth asked.

Her sister looked to her with a smile that was both resigned and hopeful. “If Mr. Bingley has not forgotten his feelings, and if he can prove to me that he will not be so easily persuaded again, then I shall give him a chance. After all, you and I have made a pact, remember? ”

Elizabeth chuckled. “Oh yes. You must be willing to give Mr. Bingley a second chance, and I must be willing to give Mr. Darcy his first. Let us hope we are both equal to the task.”