Chapter Twenty-Four
Darcy
25th August 1813
I t had been a little over a week since Lydia arrived at Pemberley and Darcy was becoming ever more vexed. Whilst it was true that he was being as good a host as possible, Lydia’s attitude was showing no signs of improvement.
“Pray tell, Mr Darcy, what is it that draws you to our quarters? Surely you have more pressing matters to attend to than intruding upon my sister and me?” Lydia enquired, her tone playful yet tinged with impatience. Darcy frowned, feeling a familiar vexation rise within him, casting a shadow over his usually calm demeanour.
He had a small gift in his pocket that he had picked up in town when he went for a ride yesterday. He had hoped to sneak in whilst Lydia was taking a rest, however it would seem he had had no such luck.
“I assure you, it is of little consequence to you what I am doing near my wife’s chambers,” Darcy replied, striving to keep his composure.
“It is when I have urgent matters to tend to,” Lydia replied lightly. Darcy’s vexation increased and he had to take a deep breath so he did not say something he would come to regret.
“I would like to remind you that this is still my home and you are a guest. How often I choose to visit my wife is not your concern.”
“Very well, pray what does bring you here? I am in the process of preparing the chamber for my child,” Lydia replied.
“My dear Mrs Wickham, these are my chambers, in my home. I trust you do have your own which also would require preparations.” Darcy longed to tell her that in perhaps a day or two her parents would arrive to take her back with them to Hertfordshire, but he and Elizabeth had spoken on the matter at length, and he agreed that given Lydia’s mercurial temperament, for the peace of the house, her parents’ arrival would be a fait accompli leaving her no room to brook any argument.
“As you know, I am unable to return home, and as family by marriage, I assume you would not see me thrown onto the streets in my condition?” Lydia replied as she continued to rearrange her quarters, and Darcy seethed. Lydia had been told, repeatedly, that she would not be staying here for her confinement. She seemed to be under the impression that he and Elizabeth had no way of forcing her to leave Pemberley. Little did she know that her parents’ arrival was imminent.
“‘You really ought to be more considerate of me, and my child, Mr Darcy,” she giggled. “As you are Lizzy’s husband this would be your niece or nephew.”
“Your condition cannot serve as an excuse for such impropriety, Lydia,” he responded.
“I do not wish to be lectured—”
“Lydia, pray, be calm,” Elizabeth said as she entered the room, she had clearly heard the raised voices. “I do not understand why you are being so quarrelsome, but this must cease. You find yourself in Mr Darcy’s home and ought to conduct yourself as a gracious guest.”
“I am not being quarrelsome; I simply wish to know why Mr Darcy sees fit to disturb us at all times of the day and night by coming to this part of the house,” Lydia replied.
“He is my husband, this is his home, and he will enter and exit any chamber he wishes, as do I. May I remind you that you called on us without invitation and without warning,” Elizabeth said pointedly. Lydia looked offended but did not have the means to express herself before Elizabeth had opened the doors to her chamber and gestured for him to enter.
“Thank you,” Darcy murmured softly to her.
“You are most welcome Mr Darcy. I could not sit by and listen when she was acting in such a vexing manner. She should not be able to dictate what you can and cannot do in your own home,” Elizabeth sighed.
“Perhaps she is becoming more difficult with the child’s arrival due soon,” Darcy huffed.
“Do not excuse her actions, she is the one who is making our life more difficult than needs be,” Elizabeth responded.
“I am aware, and I do hope that she will not be here for much longer…” Darcy sighed. He loathed how Lydia had managed to displace the calm that Elizabeth and he had created at Pemberley. In truth, he recognised that this situation was not terribly dissimilar to when his aunt had visited, except his aunt was not with child and he understood how his aunt’s mind worked. Lydia was still very much a mystery to him, and it was not one he was anxious to solve.
What he was anxious for was to get his time back with Elizabeth. He had not realised just how much he had come to rely on their quiet moments and tender affection to see himself through the day, and now he was finding himself quite bereft of it because of Lydia’s interference.
“I am also hopeful that this situation will be resolved swiftly. In truth, I had gone for a walk into the gardens with the hope that I would see my parents’ carriage approaching, but I was not so fortunate.”
“I understand. We are both eager for this to be concluded. In the meantime, I bought a present for you whilst I was in town yesterday,” Darcy said softly, producing the box from his pocket.
“You are far too generous, my dear,” Elizabeth chuckled.
“And yet I do not believe I do it nearly enough,” he teased before kissing her forehead. He opened the box for her to reveal a bracelet inside. Elizabeth’s eyes widened in surprise and awe.
“Oh, Mr Darcy, it is splendid. Why ever did you buy me such a fine thing?” she asked as she gently picked up the bracelet and began to examine it.
“A small thank you for handling this situation with such grace,” Darcy replied and Elizabeth shook her head.
“I have only done what needed to be done, and I do not need thanks for each little thing, or I will find myself buried under all these presents!” Elizabeth chided him whilst giggling.
“Perhaps. But if I had also not been so boorish at the start of our marriage, I feel you may have had many more,” Darcy said with self-reproach.
“We cannot chide ourselves for those actions when neither you nor I had the information we needed to know how to act towards one another,” Elizabeth said soothingly. Darcy opened his mouth to speak, but there was a sudden knock at the door.
“Enter,” Elizabeth said calmly, the spell of the moment quite broken by the interruption. Hastings, the butler, entered, dipping his head politely.
“Mr Darcy, Mrs Darcy, I wish to inform you that Mr and Mrs Bennet have arrived,” the man said calmly.
“At last… Let us greet them,” Elizabeth said, taking Darcy’s arm and walking out of her bedroom with him. They passed Lydia’s chambers, the door was closed, which was probably for the best. Darcy hoped that he could explain the intricacies of the situation to Elizabeth’s parents before Lydia was informed of their arrival.
As the pair walked downstairs, they were soon faced with Mr and Mrs Bennet. Darcy caught a glimpse of their carriage outside—one much more humble than his own, a reminder of the disparity between him and the Bennets. He chided himself for noticing such a trifling thing. He would much like to forget that Elizabeth was of a lower status, but for now, it was a fact of his life.
“Oh, my daughter! Come, let me look at you,” Mrs Bennet said, rushing forward to meet them. “It has been too long, I am glad you seem to be well.”
“I am very well, Mother. My husband is most kind and generous so I should want for nothing,” Elizabeth replied with a smile. Darcy felt his heart beat a touch faster at her words.
“Well, I should hope so with such a grand home as this,” Mr Bennet said, stepping forwards. “We cannot thank you both enough for housing Lydia for this time. I do hope she was not too vexing?”
“She has been no more than we could handle, but we will be much at peace knowing she is back at Longbourn with you both,” Elizabeth said calmly.
“I understand,” Mr Bennet said with a nod.
“Mama? Papa?” Lydia said from the top of the stairs. Lydia seemed deeply confused. She looked at Elizabeth and her eyes narrowed slightly, “Elizabeth, did you call them here?”
“Indeed Lydia, we have been quite honest about how we cannot—” Before Elizabeth could finish her sentence, Lydia had already turned around and was walking away. Darcy could hear her muttering, but he did not dare say anything when the situation was already so fraught.
“Lydia, do not act this way!” Mrs Bennet called after her daughter before looking at Darcy, silently asking for permission to go after Lydia. Darcy nodded, and Mrs Bennet quickly ascended the stairs.
“I must offer my sincerest apologies for my youngest daughter’s conduct,” Mr Bennet said, looking somewhat embarrassed by Lydia’s actions.
“You are not to blame, Papa,” Elizabeth responded calmly.
“I cannot help but feel your mother and I are in many senses to blame for the way she speaks and acts. If we had not coddled her so, perhaps she would have had some sense of propriety as opposed to this childish behaviour,” Mr Bennet bemoaned.
“Alas, you cannot control the actions of any of your daughters,” Darcy said, trying to reassure Mr Bennet even if he did, in fact, believe Lydia had been much too coddled.
“If I could, there would be less trouble in the world,” Mr Bennet sighed. “Although I do find it somewhat telling that she came here as opposed to returning to her family home in Hertfordshire.”
“She informed us that Pemberley was her chosen location as Mr Wickham would not have followed her here,” Elizabeth explained.
“I fear it may have less to do with that, and more so to do with the fact that Pemberley is much grander than her home in Newcastle, or indeed ours,” Mr Bennet explained, and Darcy nodded slowly as understanding dawned upon him.
Upstairs, they could hear Mrs Bennet and Lydia discussing the situation loudly. He turned to Elizabeth and her father, “I fear this may take more time than we would have hoped.”
“We will have guest chambers readied for you and Mama,” Elizabeth said, looking to Darcy for approval, who nodded.
“Indeed. Come this way, dinner will be served shortly,” Darcy said as they went towards the dining room.
***
It wasn’t until Darcy descended for breakfast the following morning that Pemberley began to feel like itself again, despite Elizabeth’s parents still lingering in the dining room and Lydia appearing entirely crestfallen.
“I trust we shall see you both at Christmas?” Mr Bennet asked, rising from the table once the meal was over. Mrs Bennet, meanwhile, was hurrying Lydia outside, eager to depart before she could cause any further disturbance.
“Indeed, we shall see you then, Papa,” Elizabeth replied, smiling. Darcy gave a slight nod, his opinion on visiting Longbourn for Christmas having softened since their last conversation on the matter.
“Very well. We shall see you then,” Mr Bennet agreed, and the group made their way to the foyer.
“I do not wish to leave! You cannot make me!” Lydia’s voice rang out from the garden, faintly audible from the doorway.
“And you will say the very same thing when you leave Longbourn in a few months. Now come along dear, or we shall be dreadfully late!” Mrs Bennet called back as she and Lydia climbed into the carriage.
“If I survive this journey home,” Mr Bennet sighed, shaking his head before turning back to Elizabeth. There was a pause as he embraced her. Darcy, recognising Elizabeth’s longing for her family and the fact that she hadn’t seen her father since their wedding, stepped back to give them a private moment.
“I shall see you soon,” Elizabeth said softly as she pulled away from the embrace.
“That you will,” Mr Bennet replied, then turned to Darcy to bid him farewell before joining his wife and daughter in the carriage.
“Let us go inside,” Darcy said gently, placing his arm around Elizabeth’s waist. Looking down at her, he saw the wistful expression on her face, knowing it was born of missing her father. “You will see him again soon.”
“I know,” Elizabeth murmured with a quiet nod, and they both walked into the parlour. As they sat together, Darcy wrapped his arm around Elizabeth and kissed the top of her head. Elizabeth leaned into him, finding comfort in his embrace.
At last, peace had returned to Pemberley.