Chapter 28 #3
“If that is the case, Mr Darcy, I have nothing else to say. You have my heartfelt approval and blessing, and I pray you will have a marriage as happy as you both deserve. I shall miss my Lizzy, but I know I shall be losing her to someone worthy.”
“Thank you, Mr Bennet. I am as honoured to be related to you as I am happy to marry your daughter. And allow me to repeat, please know that you will be most welcome to visit her — us — at any time you want.”
“I appreciate it, Mr Darcy, and I shall take full advantage of your generosity. Now, since it is a little bit later than when we began, we should have that drink after all.”
“As you wish, sir. Please allow me to fill the glasses.”
“You may well do — after all, this is one of the best parts of having sons.”
***
Although a little anxious about the conversation in the library, Elizabeth did not expect any opposition from her father. The breakfast table was laid, but, except for the children, the others did not start filling their plates, waiting for Mr Bennet.
“I wonder what Mr Darcy has to say to your father before breakfast. It is not very polite on his part to call at this hour!” Mrs Bennet spoke in what she considered to be a murmur.
“Mama, it will not take long. And please do not speak so about Mr Darcy,” Elizabeth replied.
“Do you know what he has to say, Lizzy?”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Does it have to do with you, Lizzy? What have you done?” Mrs Bennet asked in the same scolding tone she had used many times when her most disobedient daughter, then a most disobedient child, had climbed trees and come home with dirty and ruined petticoats.
“I have done nothing, Mama,” Elizabeth smiled. “Let us talk about this later, when Papa returns.”
“If we do not die of starvation in the meantime,” Mrs Bennet said, rolling her eyes impatiently and without much curiosity.
Except for the mischief in her childhood or her tendency to scamper around alone, there was little her second daughter — who did not resemble her at all — could say or do to hold Mrs Bennet’s interest. Elizabeth had always been too clever, too wilful, read too much, and spent too much time in unladylike activities, and, since she had grown up, her sharp manners and tendency to tease, inherited from her father, had chased away several eligible suitors.
Mr Bennet finally joined his family for breakfast, conveying Darcy’s farewells, the latter choosing to depart for Netherfield without disturbing the family further.
The master of the house took his seat at the table, while all the others looked at him expectantly. He imperturbably filled his plate, then raised his eyes to his companions.
“So?” Mrs Bennet asked impatiently.
“Let us eat first. We have plenty of time for discussion later.”
“Mr Bennet, you cannot keep us in such suspense during the entire meal!” the lady of the house protested.
Mr Bennet chewed and swallowed his food, then took a sip of tea, and finally turned to Elizabeth.
“You may tell them if you want, Lizzy. Perhaps it is good that we are all here and can suffer the fuss once only.”
Taken by surprise, Elizabeth choked on her tea, glancing around the table, taking in everyone’s curiosity. Eventually, a bit disappointed with her father, she gathered the courage and said, “Earlier today, Mr Darcy proposed to me and I accepted.”
Jane, as well as the Gardiners, stilled completely in disbelief, stuck between incredulity and excitement.
Mrs Bennet, however, asked with the same vexation, “He proposed you what, Lizzy?”
“Mama, he proposed… He asked me to marry him,” Elizabeth explained, smiling.
Mrs Bennet’s eyes widened in shock, and she seemed unable to breathe. She gulped and blinked a few times, then asked again, “What do you mean, Lizzy?”
“What do I mean, Mama? I mean that he asked me to marry him,” she repeated.
“And he asked for my consent, which I gave him, of course,” Mr Bennet added, with complete calm. “It seems he will purchase a licence, and they will wed soon.”
The burst of joy that Elizabeth expected and feared was delayed. Everyone — including her youngest sisters and the children — was astounded, silenced by the magnitude of such a revelation.
“Dearest Lizzy, you will marry Mr Darcy?” Jane’s sweet voice expressed the general astonishment.
Before Elizabeth had the time to reply, a muffled sound and the clatter of dishes startled everyone, and they turned in time to see Mrs Bennet faint, falling from her chair in the most quiet display of her much tried nerves that anyone had ever witnessed.
With an array of cries, everyone rushed to help her, and they carried her to the sofa calling for Hill, who arrived with her smelling salts.
A few moments later, Mrs Bennet recovered, and, pushing everyone away, cried loudly, “Hill, put the salts away! Mr Darcy will marry Miss Lizzy, can you believe it? Good gracious! My dearest child, how did you do that? Thank God you happened upon him earlier, how fortunate you like to walk alone all over the place!”
“My dear sister,” Mrs Gardiner tried to calm her, “I am sure Mr Darcy did not propose because Lizzy happened upon him. But this is most extraordinary, Lizzy. I do not even dare believe it. My niece, my own relation, the mistress of Pemberley? Who would have imagined it? This is more than a dream.”
“Mistress of Pemberley!” Mrs Bennet cried again. “Lord bless me! Only think. Ten thousand a year, and very likely more! ‘Tis as good as a Lord!”
“Mama, please calm yourself,” Elizabeth insisted. “Let me pour you a little tea and we shall all finish our breakfast.”
“But Lizzy, are you sure it is true?”
“Of course I am sure, Mama.”
“My sweetest Lizzy, how rich and how great you will be! You will have more pin-money, more jewels, more carriages than…anyone I know,” Mrs Bennet said, suddenly realising that she might offend Jane.
“Yes, Mama. But I am thinking more of all the responsibilities attached to my position,” Elizabeth said as they returned to the table.
“Responsibilities? What do you mean, child? You will have at least fifty servants, I am sure! You will have nothing to do all day but go to balls and parties!”
“I hope not, Mama,” Elizabeth replied, amused.
“Oh, yes, yes, you are right, of course,” Mrs Bennet said apologetically, completely misunderstanding. “I forgot Mr Darcy hates parties and balls. Then do not go anywhere, you cannot upset him. You must obey him!”
“Well, Mama, I am sure we shall find a way to employ our time with something we both enjoy,” Elizabeth answered, still attempting to temper her mother.
“I am sure you will,” Mr Gardiner added under his breath and with a mischievous smile towards his wife that very few in the room understood.
“Such a charming man!” Mrs Bennet continued. “So handsome and tall! I hope he will forgive me for having disliked him so much before. I hope he will overlook it.”
“He has already forgotten it, Mama, I assure you,” Elizabeth said.
With much difficulty they sat to finish eating, but Mrs Bennet could not be distracted for long.
“And so is it certain? Is it all established?”
“Yes,” Mr Bennet said. “He went to inform Bingley and his family and will go to town for the licence. They might come to dinner tonight.”
“Tonight? Mr Bennet, do you wish to kill me? Gracious me! I shall go distracted. Lizzy dearest, please tell me what dish Mr Darcy is particularly fond of so I may have it by tonight. Hill! Hill! Oh, you are here! You and John will go to Meryton to purchase some things. And Mary, dear, finish your meal and help me write to my sister Phillips and to Mrs Long. And perhaps to Lady Lucas too. Make haste, Mary!”
Flushed and agitated, Mrs Bennet forgot about her breakfast and set to leave the room only to stop near Elizabeth and pinch her cheek affectionately. “I knew you were not that clever for nothing.” She winked at her and then left hurriedly to write her notes with Mary in tow.
The din continued, while Elizabeth rejoiced that such effusions were heard only by the family.
She tried to remain calm while the others invaded her with questions, making plans for the Season in town and their future time spent at Pemberley.
Even Mrs Gardiner was barely keeping her excitement under good regulation, and Elizabeth feared their next meeting with Darcy.
Mr Bennet was the next one to leave them, withdrawing to his library with Mr Gardiner.
Elizabeth remained under an assault of demands from her youngest sisters until Lydia and Kitty decided to go to Meryton with John and Hill. Only then could she finally retire to her room, followed by Jane and Mrs Gardiner, and manage to speak reasonably to them.
“Dearest Lizzy, I truly apologise for my foolish reaction,” her aunt said. “I am so happy for you, my darling! So very happy!”
“And I, dearest Lizzy!” Jane embraced her. “Charles and I spoke of such a possibility several times in the last week, but we did not dare hope it would happen. Charles will be shocked and thrilled! To have Mr Darcy, not just as a friend, but also as a brother — what else could we hope for?”
“I cannot believe it yet, either. There are so many things to discuss, and I know there will be many obstacles we shall have to face from his family and friends who are opposed to our marriage. I know I have so much to learn, and I know being Mrs Darcy is an honour but one filled with duties and responsibilities. My head is hurting and spinning…”
“Dearest, I felt the same a few weeks ago,” Jane said affectionately. “Rest a little — allow the emotion to calm, perhaps try to sleep a little. All will be well.”
“Lizzy, are you sure you love him? That is what matters the most,” Mrs Gardiner said.
Elizabeth’s expression immediately brightened, giving her aunt the answer before her words could. “I do — I do love him — very much so. I have never been more certain of anything in my life.”
“Good. Then think that, before you became the mistress of Pemberley, before you have to worry about acceptance, opposition, and obstacles, you will first and foremost be his wife.”
“True, dear Aunt. And he will be by my side — that is what matters the most,” Elizabeth whispered, closing her eyes.
Her aunt and sister slowly left the room, allowing her to rest, but her heart, full of joy, wished to fly.
How could she rest or sleep when the recollection of his embrace, of his touches, of his caresses, of his kisses were so vivid in her mind, arousing in her sensations and desires that she feared to admit?
And that was only the first morning of her engagement; she had an entire life of bliss ahead of her. Ahead of them.