To Conquer Mr. Darcy (29 page)

Mrs. Bennet paused to look at her in some irritation. “Oh, Lizzy, how you do delight in vexing me! So they
are
already married! Why did you not say so at once? You teasing, teasing girl!”

Elizabeth could not help laughing at her mother’s countenance. “I fear that you misunderstand me. It is not Lydia who is married, but I.” Jane gasped in astonishment, and Elizabeth gave her an apologetic glance as she turned back to her mother. “It is true; once we were at Pemberley, events took on a life of their own. Mr. Darcy’s godfather is the bishop of Matlock, and it turned out that he was absolutely determined to officiate at our wedding, and Lord and Lady Derby to be in attendance, and Mr. Darcy unwilling to wait until such a time as my family could journey to Derbyshire. So we were wed last week in Matlock Cathedral by the bishop himself, just as the most fashionable folk do.”

“Lizzy,” Mrs. Bennet said weakly. “Can this be true? My sister Gardiner said nothing of it!”

Elizabeth smiled warmly. “It is true enough; we pledged Mrs. Gardiner to secrecy when we discovered that she would be coming here before we ourselves arrived. I am sure that she was longing to tell you the entire story; it was quite the event! I wore a lovely gown that belonged to Lady Anne, Mr. Darcy’s mother, as well as a necklace of sapphires and diamonds that Mr. Darcy gave to me for the occasion, and lace in my hair. I have never been so well dressed in my life—you would not have recognized me. Lord and Lady Derby hosted the wedding breakfast for us at Derby House, and it was a very elegant affair indeed.” Inwardly, she was highly amused by this presentation of the affair, so tailored to her mother’s desires.

Recovering herself, Mrs. Bennet cried, “Oh, my dearest Lizzy, this is too much! Married by the bishop himself in the cathedral! And Lord and Lady Derby present! Oh, Lizzy, you must tell me all about them! This is delightful, delightful! Lydia’s is nothing to it! How Mrs. Long shall envy me when I tell her! Mrs. Darcy! How well it sounds. But what shall you do about your trousseau? Oh, we must discuss this immediately, Lizzy! There is so much that I must tell you!”

“I look forward to hearing all of your excellent advice, but will you not come down to greet my husband?” asked Elizabeth with amusement.

“Oh, yes, of course! Dear Mr. Darcy! Ring the bell, Jane, for Hill. I will put on my things in a moment. And I will go to Meryton, as well, and tell the good, good news to my sister Phillips. And as I come back, I can call on Lady Lucas and Mrs. Long. Jane, run down and order the carriage. An airing would do me a great deal of good, I am sure. Oh! Here comes Hill. My dear Hill, have you heard the good news? Miss Lizzy is married, by the bishop himself and in the cathedral! And Miss Lydia is to be married as well, and you shall all have a bowl of punch, to make merry.”

Mrs. Hill began instantly to express her joy. Elizabeth received her congratulations amongst the rest, and then in order to take refuge from the scene claimed that she must return to her husband. She hurried down to the library where she joined Mr. Bennet and Darcy, who seemed to be enjoying some dry humor when she arrived. She sat down by Darcy and said plaintively, “Well, I have told her. May we go back to Pemberley now?”

Catching her hand and kissing it, Darcy laughed. Surprised to see him so relaxed in the presence of her father, Elizabeth said, “Well may
you
laugh, sir! She will barely trouble you for a moment before going off to inform Mrs. Phillips, Lady Lucas, Mrs. Long, and anyone else she can find of this astonishing news!”

“I have great faith that she will find some opportunity to corner me in this next week,” he reassured her cheerfully, “and I shall count on you to defend me, Elizabeth.”

“And I can see that I will not dare to emerge from my library except for meals!” grumbled Mr. Bennet, as his wife’s excited voice was heard from without.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow, unconvinced by this unusual show of amity between Mr. Bennet and Darcy. They had been perfectly civil on the ride from London, which was surprising enough by itself, but to appear as if they were enjoying each other’s company seemed a bit unlikely.

“I have invited your father to visit us at Pemberley this autumn, Elizabeth,” Darcy said, further straining her comprehension, but Elizabeth decided that if they intended to behave as if they were civilized gentlemen, she was not going to interfere.

“That would be lovely. I hope you will be able to join us,” she said with just a hint of mischief in her voice.

“I do not wish to hurry you away from your family, my love, but since Bingley does not know to expect us, I imagine that we should try to reach Netherfield as soon as we conveniently may,” Darcy said, rising to his feet.

“Go on then,” Mr. Bennet said dryly, waving them away. “Desert me to the tender mercies of my family—I feel certain that I will survive it somehow.”

They emerged to accept the congratulations of Mrs. Bennet, which were mercifully brief as she was anxious to reach her sister as soon as possible. Once she had departed, Jane and Mary immediately requested an explanation of the happenings in London, which was provided in brief by Mr. Bennet. Elizabeth decided that he and Darcy must have reached an accommodation on the subject, since no mention was made of her husband’s role in the settling of Lydia’s situation.

Elizabeth could not help but notice that Jane was unusually quiet and looked rather drawn, and before they left she took the opportunity to take her aside. “Jane, you look sad,” she said. “Is there anything I can do?”

Jane made a valiant effort at a smile. “No, of course, I am delighted at how well everything has worked out. You and Mr. Darcy seem very happy together, Lizzy.”

“Jane,” Elizabeth said with warning in her voice, “I am not so easily deceived as all that. Is everything well between you and Mr. Bingley?”

“Of course, Lizzy! I do wish that I could have been at your wedding, that is all, but I can understand why it was important to Mr. Darcy’s family to have it there.”

It had not occurred to Elizabeth that Jane’s feelings might be hurt. She leaned close to her sister with a smile, and said very quietly in her ear, “Do you really imagine that I would marry without my dearest Jane beside me merely to please his family?”

Jane looked at her in confusion. “I do not understand you, Lizzy! Is that not what you said?”

Elizabeth smiled at her mischievously. “Should I have told her the truth instead, that we married quickly because we had to?” she said in a whisper.

Jane’s eyes grew wide. “Lizzy!” she said in deep shock.

Looking amused, Elizabeth turned up her hands helplessly. “Will you not come to Netherfield soon, so we may talk more privately? I have missed you so, Jane, and you cannot imagine how much I wished you were with me in Derbyshire.”

Darcy appeared at her side. “We should be leaving, my love. Poor Bingley does not know to expect us, so we must give him a little time to have preparations made for us.”

She gave Jane an apologetic glance, but her sister appeared to be recovering her equilibrium. After giving her a brief embrace, she bid her adieus to the rest of her family before Darcy handed her into the carriage. As they pulled away from the house, she smiled at him ruefully. “You survived that very well, William,” she said.

“To which part do you refer—the best wishes of your family, or spending the entire day without having the least opportunity to hold you in my arms?” he asked, carefully switching seats so that he could be beside her. “There are altogether too many people in Hertfordshire.” He took her into his arms and kissed her hungrily.

The trip to Netherfield had never been so enjoyable. On their arrival, the butler showed them in, and announced them—incorrectly in Elizabeth’s case—to Bingley. Elizabeth turned to correct him, but he had already departed. Bingley, a broad smile on his face, leaped to his feet to greet them. “Darcy! What a wonderful surprise to see you here! And Lizzy, it is a pleasure, as always! Jane will be so pleased that you have returned. Or is she with you?”

“No, we just left her at Longbourn, but I am hoping that she will visit later,” Elizabeth said warmly.

“Wonderful!” Bingley announced. A look of disturbance crossed his open face as he realized that they were unaccompanied, and he said, “Errr, Darcy… I hardly think this is a time to be violating the proprieties. The talk here has mostly died down, but it would take very little to refuel it.”

Darcy looked at him in confusion, and then comprehension suddenly came to him. He clapped Bingley on the shoulder. “Bingley, my friend, may I have the honor of presenting my wife to you?”

“Your
wife
?”

With a laugh at the stunned look on his friend’s face, Darcy explained the situation. Bingley shook his head, smiling, and said, “Had I only known that it was the rapid route to matrimony, I would have insisted that Jane and I accompany you to Derbyshire. You do have all the luck, Darcy!”

Darcy looked at Elizabeth warmly. “I certainly do.”

* * *

An invitation was rapidly dispatched to Longbourn, and to Bingley’s delight, Jane was able to join the Netherfield party for dinner, although when word of her acceptance arrived, Darcy could not help whispering to Elizabeth that he was surprised her father considered them adequate chaperonage under the circumstances.

“This is
Jane
,” Elizabeth replied with amusement. “She does not need a chaperone; such wicked thoughts would never cross her mind!” She was a trifle worried herself as to what her sister might be thinking of her own impetuous confession earlier, though she could not imagine what else she might have told her to relieve her hurt feelings.

When Jane herself arrived, Bingley was beside himself with pleasure. It was evident that since the first news of Lydia’s elopement had been received, he had not been able to spend as much time with Jane as he would have wished, owing to Mrs. Bennet’s demands upon her time. Jane herself seemed slightly subdued, though Elizabeth did her best to draw her out about the events during her absence, which had clearly taken their toll on her.

Jane was equally eager to hear about the proceedings in London, and Elizabeth dwelt with some warmth on the subject of Lydia’s irresponsibility, avoiding any mention of the role she had played in the negotiations with Wickham. She caught Jane stealing glances at Bingley to see how he was taking their tale, as if concerned that he might be distressed by it. Feeling that a change of subject was in order, Elizabeth began to describe her pleasure in the sights of Derbyshire. When she reached the subject of Pemberley and the delight that she had taken in it, Darcy took her hand in his with a warm smile, kissed it lightly, and then retained it in his as she went on. Somewhat inured to this behavior on his part by this point, and feeling as if they were among close friends, if not family, she gave him an affectionate look.

By the end of dinner, however, Elizabeth was fully convinced that Jane was out of spirits. She was not happy; her normal tranquility and warmth seemed somehow lessened. However, the gentlemen were determined not to permit the ladies to withdraw after dinner, so they all adjourned to the drawing room, somewhat to the distress of Elizabeth, who had been hoping for some time alone with Jane.

She was sufficiently concerned to raise the subject when they had just a few minutes apart from the gentlemen at the pianoforte. “Jane, is aught the matter? You do not seem yourself tonight.”

Jane’s fair skin colored delicately. “What could be wrong, Lizzy?” she asked a little too quickly. “Lydia is found and to be married, you are here and happy, and I have my dearest Bingley.”

Elizabeth looked at her skeptically, but was reluctant to press the subject under the circumstances. However, after she had delighted the gentlemen with her musical abilities, she found the opportunity to speak quietly to Darcy. “Would you be so kind as to take Mr. Bingley off to play some billiards, or whatever it is that men do when they are by themselves? I need to speak to Jane alone.”

Darcy acknowledged her request with a barely perceptible nod, but to avoid being obvious, he waited several minutes before saying, “Bingley, it has been weeks since I have had the pleasure of thrashing you at billiards. Shall we have a game?”

Bingley groaned. “Must we, Darcy? The outcome is a foregone conclusion, is it not?”

“Think of it as an opportunity to improve your skills,” Darcy said with an ironic smile.

“Oh, well, if it will make you happy, I suppose we could,” Bingley grumbled good-naturedly.

Darcy caught Elizabeth’s hand in his for a moment as they excused themselves, giving her a warm look. Bingley laughed. “Oh, for God’s sake, Darcy—we are only going as far as the billiard room!” Darcy pinned Bingley with a haughty stare that made Elizabeth burst into laughter before he himself smiled.

Elizabeth moved to sit beside Jane and took her hand between hers. “Now, dearest Jane,” she said in an engaging voice, “tell me about everything.”

“There is nothing really to tell; I have spent much of my time with our mother, although aunt Gardiner was more than kind in helping with that. I do hope that this can all be hushed up, though so many people know about it already.”

“And you and Mr. Bingley? How goes the romance?”

Jane colored. “There has been little time for romance, I fear. Charles has been quite attentive in visiting, though.”

But could you speak to him of what you were feeling, Jane?
Elizabeth wondered. “I am sorry that I could not be here with you,” she said aloud. “I have worried about how you were feeling. I know how much I missed having my dearest Jane to talk to and to comfort me when I was in Derbyshire, and you were facing much worse on your own!”

Jane seemed a little relieved by her words. “I confess that I could not understand at the time why you did not return to Longbourn as I asked, and did not even send a letter or a message to me with our aunt, but now that I know of your marriage, I can see why of course you had to go with Mr. Darcy.”

With a slight grimace, Elizabeth said, “I thought of writing, but felt as if I would have to tell you the whole truth if I did, and I did not want to add to your burdens. I can see, though, that failing to write added to those burdens as well.”