Chapter 23
While acting as chaperon to Jane and Andrew, Elizabeth was feeling some of her mother’s famous nerves as she waited for a reply from Gigi. She kept on worrying that she had been far too forward and had caused Mr Darcy to withdraw.
Yes, it was only the final day of June, but still her mind made her worry even though today would be the first possible day a reply would likely arrive.
She was aware that in the absence of certain knowledge, that she was allowing her mind to run free, imagining the worst possible reactions to her daring paragraphs in her last letter to Gigi.
No matter how much Elizabeth knew that her mind was tending towards the worst interpretations, she could not help but wonder if Mr Darcy would refuse to allow Gigi to continue to correspond with one who was so forward.
If that was the case, it would lead to some awkwardness when Jane and Andrew married, and she became a cousin to the Darcys.
The three of them had been walking along the lake shore not too distant from the Gardiners’ house. Elizabeth was still deep in thought when they arrived back at the house. She did not notice that there was an additional horse in the stable to the one side of the dwelling.
On entering the drawing room, Maddie smiled when she noted Lizzy’s faraway look.
She did not know what had caused it, because when she had asked her niece, Lizzy had waved away her concerns.
She had a feeling her niece was about to cheer up considerably.
“Lizzy, Edward and I will sit with Jane and Andrew. There is a letter waiting for you in your chamber.” She placed her hand on Lizzy’s arm because her niece was about to bolt towards her chamber.
“Before you go, Edward and I received a letter from your father. Yes, you did not mishear; your father wrote an epistle. Jane and Lizzy, you will be happy to hear that Lydia will not bear the results of being manipulated.”
“That is the best of news,” Jane stated. Next to her, she saw Andrew nod his head in agreement.
“Indeed, they are very welcome tidings,” Elizabeth stated. “Now when the neighbours hear that Lyddie was sent to a school for wayward young girls, it will be nothing but the truth.” She paused and looked at her aunt and uncle beseechingly. “May I go and read my missive?”
“Go, Lizzy,” Gardiner allowed with a grin.
Elizabeth did not have to be told more than once.
She managed to keep to a walk even though her inclination was to run.
She closed her chamber door and walked to the dresser where the sealed letter was leaning against the mirror.
She felt relief flood through her body as soon as she identified Gigi’s script.
All her worries were for nought; Mr Darcy had not forbidden his sister to correspond with her.
After removing her half boots, she grabbed the epistle, and Elizabeth threw herself onto her bed. She propped the pillows up behind her back and leaned against them, all the while clutching the paper as if it were her most valuable possession. She stared at it for some moments.
Admonishing herself for being silly, Elizabeth broke the seal and opened the pages. A single page fell out from the centre of the missive. On it Gigi had written: Read my letter first.
As curious as she was, Elizabeth did as her friend asked no matter how much her inquisitive nature was crying out to read the still folded page.
The letter was newsy, all about the goings-on at Pemberley, the progress of the building at the three tenant farms, and many other mundane subjects, but not one word was mentioned about the advice Elizabeth had sought for her friend. Just below Gigi’s salutation, she wrote: Now read the other page.
As she did not have to be told twice, Elizabeth unfolded and smoothed out the paper.
She immediately recognised the strong male script, having previously read a letter from Mr Darcy.
She could not stop the frissons of pleasure which were running rampant throughout her body.
Elizabeth took a deep breath before allowing her eyes to settle on the words swimming before her.
27 June 1812
Pemberley
Miss Elizabeth,
Please excuse the liberty I take in responding to the questions you asked Gigi to ask me on your behalf.
Had this letter not been carried by one of my couriers, I would never have posted it to you. As I did not need to use the services of the Royal Post, I knew it was safe to do so. That being said, I pray you do not look on my doing so with an unfavourable eye.
I beg your pardon for causing another misunderstanding between us.
I never looked upon you with disgust. In fact, my affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you would have silenced me on this subject forever.
You know not how it pleased me to read that you are developing tender feelings for me.
For that reason, I will not need to withdraw my suit.
As your sister surmised, I felt guilty and thought that you did not want me in your company because my inaction had led to your youngest sister being meddled with by that late despicable man.
Now that these misconceptions have been cleared away, I cannot wait until you come back to this neighbourhood after your sojourn in the Lake District.
I will be counting the days. Your servant,
William Darcy
He had not said very much, but what he did write spoke volumes to Elizabeth.
Mr Darcy still loved her and wanted to pursue a future with her.
If things arrived at the conclusion they both desired, Gigi and Mr Darcy would end up as sister and brother to the Fitzwilliam brothers as well; not merely cousins.
Knowing how close Mr Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam were, Elizabeth surmised both would be well pleased by that development.
Even though her heart was crying out to keep his letter in her memory box, the last thing Elizabeth wanted was for someone to discover the letter.
Correspondence between an unmarried and unengaged man and woman would call her reputation into question and force Mr Darcy’s hand before he was ready to once again propose to her.
Although her concerns had merit, Elizabeth missed the fact that, based on his desire for her to be his wife, which had lasted many months, Mr Darcy would not repine a speedy wedding.
To be safe, Elizabeth crumpled the page into a ball and placed it into the empty fireplace.
She lit a taper and touched the flame to an exposed corner of the note.
The words were committed to her memory, so she was not too regretful as she watched it be consumed by the flames until all that remained was ash.
Not wanting to wait, she wrote a reply to Gigi, and like the letter she had received, she enclosed a missive for Mr Darcy before she sealed the epistle.
She walked to see where the butler was so the reply could be handed to the courier. In her mind, however, she was floating among the clouds.
When Elizabeth returned to the drawing room, even Jane and Hilldale, who had been lost in one another’s company, could see the difference in Elizabeth’s outward mood. Her look was as dreamy as Jane’s was the day she accepted Hilldale’s request for a courtship.
It was hard not to notice the questioning looks Elizabeth was receiving from her aunt, uncle, and Jane.
Andrew was looking at her, trying to understand what had changed.
“Jane, you had the right of it; it was all a misunderstanding,” Elizabeth stated as if she was still lost in the clouds.
“The letter was from Gigi. She sends her regards to all of you, well, except you, Andrew. I have not mentioned your presence, and when I last wrote to her, I knew you as Mr Hillman.”
Jane stood and crossed the room to pull Lizzy into the warm circle of her arms. “You took my advice and asked?” She spoke softly so only Lizzy could hear. She felt Lizzy nod her head.
“I am so happy for you,” Jane replied in sotto voce. She hugged Lizzy tightly before returning to sit next to Andrew. She did not miss his inquisitive look. “It is not my story to tell,” she said softly.
Due to the depth of respect Andrew felt for the lady he was courting, he asked no more on the subject.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
With the season over and Parliament’s session ending in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Earl and Countess of Matlock had departed London on the second to last Monday in June.
After two and one-half days of travel, they arrived at Snowhaven to enjoy a summer in the country away from the odours and vapours prevalent in London in the hottest months.
Even if the smell in the air was better in Mayfair, it was still too much.
Normally, Andrew would spend part of the summer with them, as would Richard if he was in England and not fighting on the Peninsula.
This year, Andrew had notified them that as part of his withdrawal from society, using the name Mr Colin Hillman, he was renting a house near Lake Windermere. Richard was in the country, but no news about his intentions for the summer had been received yet.
“Reggie, our younger son has written to us,” Lady Matlock reported as she entered the sitting room, which was part of the master suite.
“Elaine, please read it and tell me if there is any interesting news,” Matlock stated as he lounged on a chaise longue. “I pray that Richard has not been ordered back to the Peninsula.”
Lady Matlock sat in a wingback chair next to her husband and began to read.
“Oh my!” she exclaimed. “This is the news we have been praying for since Richard joined the army. He has resigned and sold out. He will never ride into battle again. Reggie, I have dreamed of this for so many years; I had begun to think it would never happen.”
Lord Matlock sat upright with speed. “With Richard’s pride in always refusing help from us, Andrew, or William, what caused him to do so now?”