Chapter Sixteen #2
“We are of one mind already. She is staying with my aunt, the Countess of Matlock, to whom I would like to introduce you and your… Sir Edward. And if Richard is available, I know Bingley would love to host him. He has long been of a mind to make a match with his sister and Richard, though the pair of them hiss and claw at one another like feral cats.”
Elizabeth sputtered with laughter. “I am growing fonder of your cousin by the minute!”
“I hope you shall meet; I can even bear his teasing, which is sure to be merciless, for he has never seen me in love before.”
Heat ran through her. “You have never been in love before?”
He looked at her as if she were daft. “If I had, I should be married already. What, have you…?”
Elizabeth shook her head with a self-deprecating laugh. “It is not my proudest achievement, but I suppose you know so much about me already, much of it quite mortifying. I will tell you. When I was fourteen, I had a mad passion for Charlotte’s older brother, Craig.”
Mr. Darcy wrinkled his nose with distaste. “Craig?”
“Lady Lucas’s surname. But it is much worse than that.
He was fearfully handsome – not as well featured as you, but good looking in the way of those who appear better for their cheerful disposition.
I would see him in the village, and he was always being kind to the merchants and townsfolk, giving coins to children and the like.
Jane and I thought he was the finest man in the county, and likely the entire kingdom.
It broke my heart when he wrote Jane a sonnet, for he scarcely looked at me. ”
“So that is why you despise them.” He smirked and motioned for her to continue as he carried on with his sketching.
“I used to climb up a large beech tree along the boundary fence between Longbourn and Lucas Lodge, and watch him ride his horse in the meadow. That is how I became dearest friends with Charlotte, in fact. The spring I turned fifteen, I went to watch him ride with some of his friends, and I fell out of the tree.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Only my pride. I was not very far up when I discovered Charlotte was already aloft on a higher branch, and I was terribly startled. She came to my aid, and told me she was admiring one of the other gentlemen, whose sister was Craig’s betrothed.
I wept like a little fool, for myself and for poor Jane, and indeed I wept so loudly that the gentlemen discovered us.
Craig Lucas thought me more of a child than ever, I am sure, but I suppose I have had the last laugh.
In the six years since he and his bride moved to London, he has returned home fatter and with less hair at every Christmas visit!
I daresay in another two months, I shall be mistaking him for Mr. Hurst.”
“Oh dear,” Mr. Darcy drawled, looking rather smug. “Perhaps marriage did not agree with him. But if that is what keeps a man in fine looks, I shall captivate you daily.”
“Quite a compliment from a man I once accused of undue pride!
He met her eye and grinned unabashedly. “I am satisfied if I can manage to express myself sensibly at all in your presence.”
“Do not trouble yourself,” she said with a whimsical wave of her hand. “I am fond of nonsense, as you know.”
“Put your hand back, if you please. Tell me, what will you say to Mr. and Mrs. Bennet?”
This was what Elizabeth needed most to ponder, and she held still for the sake of his sketching as she considered her answer.
“I hardly know. I do not feel so angry, anymore. I am far too happy to feel anything else. Papa will be sad to part with me, and I do not wish to part on bad terms. As to Mamma… well, I know I have not been her favorite child, but I believe it has more to do with my willfulness, rather than my origins. I am amazed she managed to keep it a secret at all, but it must have been important to her that I think of her as my mother, which is rather sweet, I suppose.”
“I am glad your temper has cooled, and you can think of your relations with all the affection I know you bear them.”
“I do love them all. I cannot imagine thinking any differently of my sisters, nor my parents, but I find I should like to see more of Sir Edward, and Cathy and Harriet. And the four Gardiner children, they are nearer kin than I ever knew.”
“You must let me know how I can best oblige you, Elizabeth. If you wish to be often in London with your unc- … Sir Edward, I have a house in Grosvenor Square, and you may appoint it entirely anew if you wish. We can also travel to visit Miss Morland and Miss Smith, and invite them to Pemberley or Darcy House as often as you like. Bingley would be delighted to receive us at Netherfield often, and perhaps we may persuade the Bingleys to purchase an estate in Derbyshire.”
“What a world of possibilities,” Elizabeth said with a sigh of contentment. “I have scarcely had time to think of what it shall be like to be your wife, but you paint a very pretty picture. Do go on.”
“Georgiana will come out this winter, so I daresay we will often be in London. I imagine you and she will do a lot of shopping together; perhaps you may join Lady Allen in frequenting Sir Edward’s warehouses.
We will invite the Bingleys to join us in London, perhaps as guests so that he does not have to receive his relations at his house in Belgrave Square.
Miss Morland and Miss Smith will be in town with Sir Edward to make merry, and Georgiana will be delighted by so many new friends.
Bingley and I, and Sir Edward, shall not be so blinded by our newlywed bliss that we cannot be imposing protectors for the ladies.
And you will no doubt rise to the challenge of teasing Richard relentlessly if he flirts with any of your sisters.
It will become a great game between us.”
Elizabeth laughed at this picture of their future, and then he displayed his finished sketch for her. “You have made me far too beautiful.”
“Nature has done that.”
The sketch was breathtaking; Elizabeth had never felt so lovely.
He had captured her likeness well, and all her proportions were perfect, as she lay reclined against the cushions, the low branches of the willow tree giving the impression of a gentle breeze behind her.
Mr. Darcy leafed through his old sketches, and showed her his finest work. “This is Pemberley.”
She drew in a sharp breath and her eyes went so wide she thought they might fall out of her head.
The manor was one of the largest she had ever seen, and the grounds were breathtaking.
There was so much exquisite detail in the drawing, from the gently lapping waters of a large pond in front of the house, to the many columns and windows of the manor’s facade, to the distant, hazy mountains beyond.
“It is magnificent. Am I really to be the mistress of such a place?”
“You shall be the mistress of Pemberley, and of Ashford Green, a little place I have in Sussex.” He revealed another sketch, this one featuring a small, rustic looking manor atop a seaside cliff.
“This is happy news, for I have promised Cathy a trip to the seaside,” she said, marveling at what it would mean to be Mrs. Darcy.
The man she had thought herself so clever to despise, and whom she presumed felt the same disdain, wished to give her a life beyond her comprehension.
Beyond her wildest dreams. A world of possibilities.
“I shall require a great deal more pondering than I can manage today,” she told him. “My life is soon to change entirely.”
“We can have a long engagement, if you wish time to acclimate yourself to the alterations in your family.”
“I do not wish it,” she said archly. “If there are to be changes, I should like to proceed directly.”
“Thank God,” he breathed.
The sun began to sink in the sky, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were thinking of returning to their friends, when there was a loud outcry of many voices. Elizabeth groaned, fearing the worst.
“I… I think those are happy cries,” Mr. Darcy said cautiously.
“The royals? Or some rescue, anybody!” Elizabeth took his hand as Mr. Darcy helped her to her feet, and they hurried toward the sounds of the commotion. All of their companions were in the corridor, running toward them.
“Lizzy, they are here, they have come!” Cathy bounced toward Elizabeth and threw her arms around her.
“That is wonderful news, though we cannot let them in.”
“I was certain that perfumed ass had the key all along,” Lady Susan tutted.
“I thought he must have pocketed it when he searched the captain’s body.
I helped Mrs. Rushworth and Mr. Crawford search the rooms of all our prisoners this morning, and found nothing more interesting than some very lewd drawings of myself in Sir Walter’s bureau. ”
“Aunt,” Emma cried, wrinkling her nose with disgust.
Mr. Tilney made a jovial face. “Well, now is our moment! We must get up to the battlements.” He held up one end of the banner they had made. A dozen paces away, Sir Edward held the other end. The paint had not yet dried, but the message was clear enough.
Locked in! Help!
Send blacksmith,
magistrate, boat
“We must get up to the battlements,” Cathy said, tugging Elizabeth along with her.
The whole party went to the front of the castle and up the narrow stairs in the turret, until they reached the top.
The battlements were wide, and they all went to the embrasures and looked out across the blue-green moat, waving at the royal party.
Elizabeth gaped with wonder at nearly a dozen fine carriages, several luggage carts, and an escort of several soldiers on horseback.
Sir Edward and Mr. Tilney made short work of carefully lowering the banner over the side of the castle; they tied ropes at the corners, and then lashed the ropes through the arrow loops.
A plump woman with brown hair a few shades lighter than Elizabeth’s got out of the first carriage and began regally directing some of the servants and soldiers. A few men in red coats broke off from the convoy in all haste, presumably to seek the aid that was begged for.
“They are headed in the direction of Denbigh, that is a fine thing,” Mr. Tilney observed. “But it may be a couple hours yet.”
“Then we have time to prepare ourselves. I shall have a bath before I dress,” Lady Susan declared.
Elizabeth could not tear her eyes from the finely attired woman she presumed to be the princess.
The woman continued commanding the servants, who retrieved a large rug and several trunks from one of the baggage carts.
They began setting up for a picnic. “I suppose we better find some way to occupy ourselves,” she mused.
“I have asked the servants to make the great hall ready,” Mr. Tilney said. “I am going to have a look at their progress; we may require some additional help.”
Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, and Cathy all offered up their services in putting the finishing touches on the great hall, which already looked a vast deal tidier than when last she had seen it.
The cobwebs had been cleaned away, the rubbish removed, and the stained glass windows all shone in the sunlight.
A pair of maids were sweeping the floor at either end of the room while two others dusted, and a few strong lads arranged the positioning of a dais at the end of the room, with a large arced table and a row of chairs facing into the large room.
They worked together for above an hour, setting the tables, which were laid out in three long rows.
Mr. Tilney issued commands to all the servants, dispatching several to attend to all the guest rooms. “It is a pity we have no fresh flowers. The ones I have been using at dinner are beginning to look quite pathetic.”
“What about candles, a vast deal of candles all down the center of the tables? The room will look heavenly,” Cathy suggested.
They raided a storeroom below stairs for every last candle, and set about arranging them on the tables. “Perhaps we should wait to light them, until the drawbridge is actually open,” Mr. Darcy said when they finished their task.
The room was transformed, and they were all very well pleased with their work when a servant informed them that a small boat was crossing the moat.
“That is our cue to begin dressing ourselves,” Elizabeth said.
Mr. Darcy escorted her and Cathy upstairs, while Mr. Tilney hastened to meet the blacksmith and magistrate.
All the ladies were in quite a state as they prepared themselves in their suite.
Lady Allen had worked Harriet and Emma into a frenzy of ribbons and lace, the likes of which even Longbourn had never seen, for they were to meet the princess.
Lady Allen paid special attention to Elizabeth’s toilette.
“Are you not eager to meet your mother, my dear?”
Elizabeth had begun to grow rather nervous, for she had little say in whether or not she wished to meet the woman who was her mother. She began to feel the weight of all that had happened since coming to Clwyd Castle, and she was not at all ready to meet the princess who had given birth to her.
Nonetheless, she muddled through her toilette, and all the other ladies praised her appearance when she was finished.
She wore another of her new gowns, a creamy confection of silk and sarsenet, complimented by her grandmother’s pearls.
Emma loaned her some mother-of-pearl hairpins for her elegant coiffure, and declared her ready to be presented.
The ladies all went into the parlor together. Sir Edward was seated on a sofa, and he smiled brightly at the sight of them. Across from him sat the princess.