Chapter 6
Chapter Six
During the remainder of their stay in Lambton, Elizabeth and the Gardiners spent nearly every day in the company of the Darcys, most often at Pemberley. When the time came for them to depart, it was with the assurance that the separation would not be a lengthy one.
During one of their visits, the elder Mr Darcy had learnt from Mr Gardiner that an estate near Longbourn was available to lease.
He required very little time to reach a decision.
Georgiana’s entrance into school could be postponed for a few months, and once the harvest at Pemberley was complete, the Darcy family would remove south for an extended stay.
Neither Elizabeth nor Fitzwilliam learnt of the plan until several weeks later, after the lease had been secured and the arrangements were well under way.
Mr Bennet, meanwhile, did not reply to Fitzwilliam’s first letter until Elizabeth had returned to Longbourn.
He claimed that he wished to speak with his daughter before granting his consent, and after questioning both Elizabeth and the Gardiners, he reluctantly agreed that the correspondence might begin.
Elizabeth suspected his hesitation arose from more than fatherly caution. She had long been his favourite child—the daughter with whom he discussed books, estate matters, and all the subjects that interested them both—and he was not eager to contemplate losing her.
She could feel some sympathy for him, for she knew she would miss her family as well.
Her sympathy did not, however, prevent her from asking after breakfast each morning whether a letter had arrived and enquiring again after dinner whether her father had sent the latest reply.
For as long as she could, she kept the matter a secret from her mother, not wishing for her to know of her courtship until after the Darcys had arrived in the area.
Mr Bennet endured his role as intermediary for nearly three weeks before concluding that propriety was an admirable principle, but not one worth being questioned about twice each day.
Thereafter, Elizabeth’s letters were permitted to pass between Longbourn and Pemberley without his direct supervision.
It was at the quarterly assembly in Meryton that Elizabeth first saw the Darcy gentlemen after a separation of nearly three months.
She had learnt of their arrival only the previous day, and her father had called at Netherfield that morning to meet the elder Mr Darcy and his son.
Elizabeth had attempted to persuade him that, as she was already acquainted with both gentlemen—and Georgiana and her governess were also in residence—she might reasonably accompany him.
Mr Bennet had remained unmoved, insisting that it was his responsibility to make the first formal call.
What her father did not yet understand was that three months of correspondence had been more than sufficient for Elizabeth to know precisely what she wanted.
Fitzwilliam’s letters had given her every reason to believe that he had reached the same conclusion, and she was impatient to be in his company again.
Mrs Bennet, meanwhile, had been in alt from the moment she learnt that Netherfield Park had been leased by two gentlemen of considerable fortune.
The report that one was a widower more than sixty years of age had not wholly discouraged her.
If he could not be persuaded to marry one of her daughters, surely a wealthy gentleman of such consequence must possess any number of eligible friends and relations.
The younger gentleman, however, was said to be five-and-twenty and unmarried, and Mrs Bennet had immediately determined that he must meet Jane.
Mr Philips had been surprisingly reticent about the family who had taken the estate.
What little was known had emerged through neighbourhood gossip rather than from the solicitor himself.
No matter how often Mrs Philips and Mrs Bennet questioned him—or from how many different directions they approached the subject—he revealed nothing beyond the fact that the lease had been signed and that the new tenants were a respectable father and son from Derbyshire.
Only Elizabeth and her father knew more, and Mr Bennet knew only because Elizabeth had confided in him once her mother learnt that newcomers were expected at Netherfield.
Until then, she had guarded the Darcys’ plans carefully, unwilling to expose her courtship to Mrs Bennet’s enthusiasm before their arrival made secrecy impossible.
Mrs Bennet did not even know that her husband had called upon the gentlemen until he announced that he would accompany her and their two eldest daughters to the assembly that evening. His decision astonished Elizabeth almost as much as it delighted her mother.
When the Darcys entered the assembly hall, Elizabeth’s heart gave a sudden, painful beat. Fitzwilliam’s gaze travelled across the room and found hers almost immediately. The warmth that entered his expression made the intervening months seem to disappear.
Mr Bennet approached the newcomers before Sir William Lucas could reach them. After exchanging greetings, he turned and beckoned his family forwards.
“Mrs Bennet, Jane,” he said with suspicious composure, “allow me to present Mr George Darcy of Pemberley and his son, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy.”
Mrs Bennet curtsied with unusual care, while Jane and Elizabeth followed suit.
The elder Mr Darcy smiled warmly at Elizabeth. “Miss Elizabeth, it is a great pleasure to see you again. Georgiana has spoken of little else since we left Derbyshire and is looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. I have been told to ask that you call as early as you think is proper.”
Mrs Bennet’s head turned sharply towards her daughter.
“Lizzy, you are already acquainted with the Darcys?”
“Quite well acquainted,” Mr Darcy replied before Elizabeth could answer.
Fitzwilliam stepped forwards, his attention fixed entirely upon her. “Miss Elizabeth, may I have the honour of the first two dances?”
“You may, sir.”
She placed her hand upon his offered arm and allowed him to lead her towards the forming set. The musicians were still tuning their instruments, and several minutes remained before the first dance would begin.
Behind them, Mrs Bennet remained uncharacteristically silent.
Elizabeth suspected it would not last.
Her suspicions were confirmed by a decidedly unladylike shriek. Glancing over her shoulder, Elizabeth saw her father lean towards Mrs Bennet and speak quietly to her. Whatever he said proved effective; her mother subsided, though the astonishment upon her face remained.
“I warned you about my mother in my letters,” Elizabeth murmured to her suitor. “I pray that whatever she does tonight will not frighten you away.”
“It will not. I am quite decided in what I want.”
Elizabeth looked up at him, unable to restrain her smile. “That is fortunate, for I am also decided.”
Fitzwilliam’s expression changed. After a brief glance around them, he guided her towards the open doors leading onto a shallow balcony. They remained plainly visible from the assembly room, but the music and conversation behind them afforded a measure of privacy.
“Elizabeth,” he said once they were beyond the immediate hearing of the room, “I was nearly certain of what I wanted before you left Derbyshire. After three months of reading your letters, I no longer possess the slightest doubt.” He drew a breath, his eyes fixed upon hers.
“Is it too soon to ask you to become my wife?”
Joy rose within her so swiftly that she could not immediately speak.
“It is not too soon,” she murmured at last. “Indeed, had you waited much longer, I might have been obliged to act very boldly and inform you that I wished you to ask.”
Relief and happiness transformed his countenance. “Then your answer is yes?”
“Yes, Fitzwilliam. It is.”
Fitzwilliam immediately raised her hand to his lips, and this time, when he kissed it, there was no uncertainty between them.
Whatever formalities remained, neither doubted the understanding they had reached—or that the distance between Longbourn and Pemberley would soon cease to govern their lives.
They also understood that what had passed between them was not yet theirs to announce. Mr Bennet must be consulted, their families informed and the proper courtesies observed.
The opening notes of the first dance recalled them to the assembly room.
When Fitzwilliam led her inside, the elder Mr Darcy needed only one look at his son’s face to comprehend what had occurred.
His answering smile held all the satisfaction of a plan brought to its desired conclusion, but he appeared equally willing to preserve their silence.
If anyone else suspected the truth that evening, no one challenged it.
As Elizabeth took her place opposite the gentleman she had once mistaken for a gardener, she remembered their first conversation among Lady Anne’s roses. Then, she had known neither his name nor his fortune nor his place in the world.
But perhaps, even before she knew who he was, she had begun to know the most important parts of him.
Now she would have a lifetime to discover the rest.
THE END