Chapter 20
When Elizabeth Bennet was a young girl of fourteen and fifteen, she would lie in her cozy bed in her room at Longbourn and wonder about the man she would marry.
In addition to trying to picture the man himself, she contemplated the wedding ceremony, her own attire and the honeymoon where she and her imaginary husband journeyed to exotic lands together.
As Elizabeth stood against the rail of the Riley with her very real husband at her side, she stifled a chuckle, which drew a fond look from Darcy.
“What amuses you, my dear?’
“I was thinking about my young dreams,” she declared, leaning against his comforting bulk.
“I always longed to travel to new places, to observe fascinating landscapes and exotic plants. I imagined that such journeys would be within the British Isles; this sojourn across the sea to St. Croix was beyond my wildest dreams. I am truly blessed, though the road was at times a hard one.”
Darcy’s arm, which was wrapped around his diminutive wife, tightened slightly, “I am truly blessed as well, my love.”
He leaned slightly against her, their eyes fixed on the rhythmic waves which stretched into the distant horizon -- the rolling main, the sailors called it.
The first week of their journey back to England had thus far been a peaceful one, with relatively calm seas as the Riley forged her way bravely eastward.
Such relative calm was not a given in the autumn of the year, and Darcy prayed that the good weather would hold.
Behind them, the sailors of the Riley, who had welcomed their gentleman and his bride on board with shouts of delight, began singing one of their shanties.
Randy Dandy ’O
Now we are ready to head for the horn
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Our boots and our clothes, boys, are all in the pawn
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave a pawl, o heave away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board, and the cable's all stored
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Soon we'll be warping her through the locks,
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Where the pretty young girls all come down in their frocks
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave a pawl, o heave away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board, and the cable's all stored
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Come breast the bars, bullies, let’s heave her away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Soon we'll be rolling her right down through the Bay
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave a pawl, o heave away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board, and the cable's all stored
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave away, bullies, ye parish-rigged bums
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Take your hands out your pockets, and don’t suck your thumbs
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave a pawl, o heave away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board, and the cable's all stored
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
We're outward bound for Vallipo Bay
Weigh hey, roll and go!
Get crackin', me lads, it's a hell of a way!
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
Heave a pawl, o heave away
Weigh hey, roll and go!
The anchor's on board, and the cable's all stored
To be rollicking Randy Dandy ’O!
When the men stopped singing, Darcy found himself, to his surprise, singing the chorus again with Elizabeth, her sweet soprano voice blending beautifully with his bass.
The song was about a great and arduous journey and was a fitting anthem for his recent months.
He looked admiringly at the sailors scattered around the ship as they continued their toil.
He respected them for their hard work and skill.
He would always remember his time aboard the Riley, both his hopeful voyage sailing after Elizabeth, and his triumphant return accompanied by his bride.
/
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam stepped into the music room at Pemberley and quietly sank into a comfortable chair where he could observe his young cousin playing on the pianoforte.
She seemed almost angelic, her blond hair piled high in a knot, her yellow day dress glowing in the rays of the morning sun.
Her eyes were closed as she played the music from the heart.
His young cousin was, Richard thought proudly, truly a gifted musician.
He had spent enough time in drawing rooms to know that many women of the haut ton learned to play merely for applause; his sweet Georgie played because she loved it.
His cousin also looked happy and peaceful, which was a relief.
As a colonel in his Majesty’s armed forces, Richard Fitzwilliam had plenty of experience with leading men, but he was profoundly inexperienced in the ways of young girls.
Even so, he was aware that Georgie had often seemed worried these last days.
Georgiana Darcy played the last strains of the symphony and let her hands drop to her lap. Sadly, the moment she finished playing, the anxiety flooded back into her body.
“What is wrong, my dear?”
She jumped and turned, “Oh Richard, how you startled me!”
“I apologize,” the colonel answered, standing up and walking over to place a comforting hand on her slender shoulder. “But I ask again, what is wrong? I see the worry on your face.”
She hesitated a moment, biting her lip, before looking up at him, “I am fearful about my brother, Richard. Do you suppose he is truly safe? We have heard nothing!”
“Oh, Georgiana,” the Colonel replied, pulling her to her feet and clasping her hands in his own strong ones.
“I urge you not to be concerned. The Caribbean Sea is quite a distance, you know. I am certain Darcy wrote when he arrived at St. Croix, but there has not yet been time for a letter to wend its way to Pemberley, especially since there might not have been a ship returning to England immediately.”
Georgiana fought back tears, “You are right, I know, but Richard, what if he never returns?”
“He will. My dear girl, the man is essentially on a pleasure cruise compared to my travels of the last years! Sailing to and from a tropical paradise is nothing compared to sailing across the Channel to fight with Wellington through the Spanish Pyrenees, and yet here I stand before you, safe and sound.”
She smiled mistily at him and swallowed hard, “Thank you. That is a comfort. But ...”
“Yes?”
“Do you suppose we could travel to London? I would like to be there when his letter does arrive. Or is that an inconvenience?”
“Of course not! We will depart on the morrow if you wish.”
“Thank you, Richard.”
/
“Tell me about the housekeeper at Pemberley, Mrs. Reynolds, please,” Elizabeth murmured softly.
Darcy tightened his grip on his bride, both because he relished her nearness and because the bed in the cabin was absurdly small for two grown adults.
Indeed, for all that both bride and groom treasured one another, Darcy had chosen to sleep in a hammock when he and Elizabeth actually wished to sleep.
The first night on board they had tried to sleep in the one narrow bed, only to be constantly awoken by a stray knee or elbow.
“She has been something of a mother figure to both me and Georgiana,” he whispered into Elizabeth’s soft curls.
“She is a widow of many decades and runs the mansion with diligence, intelligence and kindness.
The servants respect her and Georgiana and I love her.
I am certain you will like her as well."
“I hope she will like me.”
“She cannot help but love you. Everyone does.”
Elizabeth chuckled softly at this, “Not everyone, dearest. Miss Bingley, indeed, seemed to quite hate me at times.”
“She was jealous. She knew of my fascination with your fine eyes and arch conversation.”
“Poor Miss Bingley ...”
“I find I cannot sympathize with her very much. She is a social climbing harpy. Nonetheless, I also should not criticize her too roundly. I suppose, given my pernicious behavior in Hertfordshire that I could also be described in poor terms.”
“My dear husband, I assure you that no one could ever describe you as a harpy.”
He laughed aloud at this, and she laughed with him before she spoke again, this time in a more serious tone.
“I will try to be a good mistress of Pemberley.”
“I am certain that you will be, Elizabeth.”
“I have learned much in the last months since my father died. I know myself to be an intelligent woman, but now I understand more about those who work so hard to care for the upper classes, of the pain when families are separated through no fault of their own. I want to be a kind mistress but also ... also a diligent one. I will seek to ameliorate the anguish of those suffering through no fault of their own. It is sadly a common thing in this world that sometimes the innocent suffer.”
He tightened his grip on her, “You are entirely correct, of course, and am I pleased – no, delighted, that you are determined to be caring and diligent in your many duties. It does indeed take much energy and devotion to oversee the estate and her people.”
She nestled closer to him but did not speak.
Darcy lay quietly, listening as Elizabeth’s breathing shifted from awake to drowsy to unconsciousness.
He knew from experience that once his bride had succumbed to sleep, he would be able to extract himself from the bunk and climb carefully into his hammock.
For now, he closed his eyes and listened to the creaking of the wooden beams around him, to the sound of the waves slapping against the hull of the Riley, to the myriad sounds of a ship at sea.
Only months ago, he had been in this very cabin praying for God to win him favor with Elizabeth, and now they were nearly home, united as man and wife.
He was truly blessed.
/
“Jane!” Charles Bingley exclaimed. “What is wrong, my love?”
He had awoken early and nobly completed a full hour of business in his study, only to return to their shared bedroom to find his beautiful wife, dressed exquisitely in her white nightgown, curled up on the bed and sobbing her heart out.
“Jane!”