Memory: Volume 1, Lasting Impressions, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice) (74 page)

Darcy smiled and nodded.  “I think that is a brilliant solution.  Aunt?”

“It has its merits.”  She said grudgingly.  “Certain guests would not be present.  Are the Bennets invited?” 

“Elizabeth wishes for her father to give her away.”  Darcy said quietly.  “I will not refuse her desire.”

“It would have hurt me forever to have been denied that for Audrey, although, perhaps she has yet to forgive me for allowing the wedding at all.”  The parents exchanged glances and sighed.  “We did not know.”

Lady Matlock squeezed his hand.  “He is improving.”

Darcy studied them.  “I am glad to hear that.”  

A shroud of silence fell over the room until Lady Matlock suddenly broke it.  “Do you have a maid for Elizabeth, Darcy?”  

He looked at her with a blank expression.  “She does not have a lady’s maid?”

“Darcy!  Of course not!  She shared one maid with her sisters, and her aunt’s maid has been serving her and Miss Bennet since they came to London.  I sent my girl over to help her the night of the ball.”

“Oh.  I . . . it never occurred to me . . .”

“You are from vastly different worlds.”  Lord Matlock reminded him.

“I think that is good for me.”  Darcy smiled and turned to his aunt.  “Will you help?”

She sighed.  “Well, the sister of my maid has been following her duties as a training exercise . . .”

He leaned forward and fixed his warm eyes on hers.  “Thank you, Aunt.  What would I do without you?” 

“Your life would be in an uproar.”  She harumphed but pursed her lips to hide her smile.  “Now then, we will have a small wedding breakfast here, I will go speak to your housekeeper, then we will hold a dinner for you . . .” she paused.  “No.  The wedding breakfast will be at Matlock House tomorrow.  The Creary Ball will do for your general introduction as a wedded couple.  That is in two weeks, you will have your week of honeymooning, here I assume?”  She looked at him inquiringly to see his startled nod, “Fine, then you will have a week of callers, then the ball.  After that you are free to return to Pemberley and hopefully peace.”

Darcy turned to his uncle.  “And what of Aunt Catherine?  I would be happy to confront her.”

Lord Matlock coughed.  “I have no doubt of that, Son.  Well, it seems that the heir to Rosings will be at your wedding tomorrow, and then the next day I will take him there.  Mrs. Jenkinson has kept me abreast of the news.  Anne is unchanged, and medicated enough to keep her tongue under control.  If anything new comes from that quarter it is solely at the invention of my sister.  She is staying in the mansion because Anne is there, and she has been warned to keep her mouth shut.”

“You heard of the supposed pregnancy?”  Lady Matlock asked delicately.

“Yes.”  Darcy said quietly.  “Nothing happened between us that night.  If she is with child, it is not mine.”

“I think that is as much a phantom as the marriage is, Darcy.”  Lord Matlock said grimly. 

“Well, tomorrow at least, it will be over.” 

“SCHOOL?”  Lydia cried.  “I do not want to go to school!”

“Mr. Bennet, how could you think of such a thing?  Taking my precious girl away?”  Mrs. Bennet huffed and settled back in her chair.  “I will not have it!”

“Mrs. Bennet, I do not care what you will or will not have.  Your daughters will be schooled.  I have witnessed the detriment that no schooling has been to our two eldest girls, and I will not see the youngest suffer as they did.”

“Suffer?”  Mrs. Bennet demanded.  “My Jane was used very ill by Mr. Harwick! He promised to marry her!”

“Mr Harwick promised to court her, which he did.  He hoped that she would be a suitable mother for his children, and decided to continue his search.”

“What is wrong with Jane?  She is beautiful!”

“She is, but was not his choice.”

“Lizzy caught Mr. Darcy!” She cried triumphantly.

“I doubt that either one of them would appreciate the term
caught
being used in conjunction with their engagement.” 

“Well at last she has done her duty, she failed with Mr. Stewart.”  Mrs. Bennet picked up her shawl and adjusted it over her shoulders then glared at the empty chair that was once her second daughter’s.

Mr. Bennet glanced at the chair and looked at his foolish wife. “You would prefer her married to a barrister instead of a landowner?”

“Well no, of course not . . . she was clever to drive him away.  And Mr. Darcy will save the family when you are dead!”  Mrs. Bennet crowed.  Mr. Bennet closed his eyes as she continued.    “I expect to hear very soon from her, asking me to come and arrange her wedding.  Really Mr. Bennet, how could you agree to a wedding in Mr. Darcy’s parlour?  How am I to show him off to our neighbours?”

“I understand that a parlour wedding is the height of fashion, Mama.”  Kitty said.  “I saw it in
The Ladies’ Magazine.
  Only a wedding by special license can be in a parlour.”

“Well, yes I know that, but nobody here will see him!  I have had no opportunity to show him around to the neighbours!”  

“I believe that Mr. Darcy would prefer to keep it that way.”  Mr. Bennet stood and put down his napkin.   “Mary, would you come with me to the bookroom, please.” 

Mary followed him in nervously; this was a very rare invitation.  “Yes, Papa?” 

“Please close the door, and take a seat.”  He took up the letters that had arrived from London and watched his daughter sit ramrod straight in the chair that was formerly Elizabeth’s domain.  “I have some news.  Your sister Elizabeth will be married tomorrow morning.”

“Tomorrow!   But why?”

“Call it an anxious groom.”  He laughed and saw that she did not understand and cleared his throat.  “Mr. Darcy would like to enjoy the rest of the Season with a wife by his side, then take her home to his estate.”

“Oh, I suppose that would be better, then Lizzy can be introduced to his friends this year.” 

“Exactly.”  He paused and continued.  “I will be making the trip to town, and I would like you to come with me.”

“Me?”  She said with surprise, “But what of Mama?”

“No, she . . .I have my reasons for leaving her at home.  However, the reason that I ask you to come with me is because your uncle has arranged a tour of a girl’s school, and I would like to hear your opinion.”

Mary’s mouth gaped.  “A school, you really do mean to send us to school?”

“Yes, I was not joking when I mentioned that at dinner.  I regret very much not sending your elder sisters to school, or employing a governess for all of you.  I can only afford to send you at first, but by the time you return, I will be able to send both Kitty and Lydia as well.  What do you think of this?”

“I . . .I would like to go, very much.”  Mary said quietly.  “Would I be near Aunt Gardiner?”

“They would welcome your visits, and Jane will remain in town for the foreseeable future.  She does not need to hear your mother’s opinions of Mr. Harwick.”

“No, we hear enough of them as it is.” Mary covered her mouth.  “I am sorry!”

Mr. Bennet chuckled.  “No, no, I agree.  Very well then, Mr. Darcy’s carriage will be here very early tomorrow, so be dressed and ready to go two hours past sunrise.”  She was at the door when he called out to her.  “And Mary, you are to leave Mr. Fordyce’s sermons behind.”

“Why?”

“Orders from your sister, and as she is the bride, we cannot deny her pleasure.”

“But what will I read?”  She asked as her eyes scanned the shelves worriedly.

“Lizzy suggests that you expand your imagination with a novel.”  Amused to see her shock, he handed her a book of sonnets.  “She also highly recommended Mr. Shakespeare.” 

“Lizzy always has to have her joke.”  Mary said with a fond smile.  “I hope to hear her laugh, I miss it so.  The house seems empty without it.”  Mr. Bennet watched the door close behind her then looked back to the empty chair across from his desk.  Picking up the note that she had sent to him that morning, he read her message once again.

 Fitzwilliam wishes to marry tomorrow, but I asked him to delay one more day.  I wish for you to be with me.  Please come.

He wiped his eyes and chastised himself.  “Foolish old man.”  He carefully folded the letter and placed it in his desk.  “Thank you, Lizzy.”

Chapter 27

   
 “W
ell, I suppose that is everything.”  Elizabeth looked around the small room and smiled at Jane.  “I have left out what I need for today and tomorrow morning.  Aunt will have a servant deliver the trunks to Darcy House so it will all be unpacked and ready for me when I arrive. She wrote to Madame Dupree as well.”

“You are so calm, Lizzy.  I admire it so much; you have been so strong through all of this!”  Jane sat on the bed and held out her hands to pull her sister down.  “Are you not frightened?”

She laughed.  “Of course I am!  I am not eighteen and I will be the mistress of two enormous homes!  I cannot possibly imagine what Pemberley is like, despite all of Georgiana’s enthusiastic descriptions.  I am terribly afraid of disappointing him.”  Elizabeth bit her lip and looked down at her hands.  “I fear the day when he wakes and wonders what on earth he was thinking to take on this simple country girl.”

“Lizzy, I saw the joy in his eyes and the concern in his face when he found you yesterday.  When he entered the bookshop and spotted Aunt and me, his expression was of such relief.  I have seldom seen him so open with his emotions.  You may see it regularly, but it is rarely displayed to anyone else.”

“I know.”  Elizabeth smiled.  “It is a special gift for me.” 

“He loves you.”  She said quietly to her shoes.

“He does, that is the greatest gift of all.”  She tilted her head, trying to see Jane’s eyes.  “Did you love Mr. Harwick?  Now that you have had some time to think about it?”

“No.”  Jane looked back up and smiled.  “No, he would have been the marriage I was raised to expect.  I was told to marry a man to save the family, and that is precisely what marrying him would have been.  When I heard him speak of his children, I knew that he was a man capable of great feeling, not unlike Mr. Darcy, but I knew that if another woman was ever to coax that feeling from him again, it would not be me.”

“I am glad that you feel that way, Jane.  It leaves you free to fall in love someday without regret, as I did when Mr. Stewart left.”

“No Lizzy, you marrying Mr. Darcy is what will give me the freedom to fall in love should it come.  He has accepted the burden of our family by accepting you.”  Jane hugged her. “He is such a dear man, Lizzy!  How could I ever be jealous that you found him?  How could I deny him the love he has found in you with my pettiness?”

“I hate to admit this Jane, but as I was influenced by Papa, you were influenced by Mama.  Both of us have learned that our favourite parents are not infallible.”  She smiled and saw Jane nod sadly, then look back down to her hands.

“Lizzy,” Jane paused then closed her eyes as a blush crept up her face.  “I could not help but overhear Mama’s talk to you about your duties to Mr. Darcy.  It sounds absolutely mortifying.  Did she tell you anything of the pain?  I cannot imagine being forced to lie still; and . . .”

“Jane, stop!”  Elizabeth squeezed her hands. “Mama’s description was horrible I know, but Aunt has taken the time to talk to me very openly and honestly about what to expect.  Even Lady Matlock’s talk, while not as comforting as Aunt’s, was not the drama that Mama described.  I am not concerned, well, I am; but I am not so frightened as to wish to hide under the bed when Fitzwilliam approaches.  We . . . we have shared some intimacies, and . . . I believe . . . I believe that Aunt’s teachings will be correct.”

“Are you just being brave?”  Jane asked worriedly.

“No, I honestly believe that all will be well.  I . . . I actually am looking forward to it.”  She laughed to hear Jane’s gasp.  “I promise to tell you the truth of it when we can talk privately again.”

“Lizzy, a package has come for you.”  Mrs. Gardiner announced from the doorway.

“Oh, my wedding dress?  You just sent the note to Madame Dupree!”

“No, it is not your dress.”  She winked at Jane and led the way down the stairs to the front sitting room where Darcy stood staring out of the window with his hands clasped behind his back. 

“Fitzwilliam, what brings you here?”  Elizabeth ran into the room and grasped his hands, and he turned with a smile.

“I may not visit the bride?”   He laughed to see her happy eyes, and bent to kiss her hand.  “I know that we both have much to accomplish today, but I have to tell you the events of the morning.”  He led her to a sofa and they sat with their fingers entwined while Mrs. Gardiner shook her head at the couples’ complete oblivion.  “My aunt will give us a small wedding breakfast tomorrow at Matlock House.”  At last he turned to Mrs. Gardiner.  “No offence, madam, but the church is not so far from Grosvenor Square . . .”

“I understand, sir.  Go on.”

“Richard has agreed to stand up with me; he replied to my note and said that he was delighted.”

“Jane will be my witness.”  Elizabeth smiled over to her.  “What of guests?”

“Well, my coach will leave at dawn for Longbourn.”

“Your poor horses!”

“I am borrowing my uncle’s.”  He smiled at her care.  “We have enough carriages in the family to take care of everyone handily.”  He drew breath and continued.  “Stewart came over yesterday and . . . very publicly berated me for my horrible treatment of you by marrying Anne.  I imagine that he would have offered for you.”  Elizabeth’s hand flew to her mouth when she gasped.  “He tried to . . .  Well; he tried to strike me in the face.  Bingley heard that we both lost teeth, which clearly is not true.  I just want you to be prepared for any comments . . .”

“You fought?”

“Briefly, yes.”

“Who won?”  She tilted her head to see his satisfied smile.  “I see.  And what is the preferred explanation for his impetuous behaviour?”

“I told Bingley that you had been neighbours in Hertfordshire and he felt concern towards you.”  He saw her brow lift and sighed.  “I thought that was not too far from the truth without confessing all.”