Chapter Twenty
Elizabeth experienced a tingle of anticipation as their carriage rolled through the gates onto the gravel drive of Longbourn Manor.
Quick tears sprang up in her eyes when she spotted most of the family gathered on the front portico to greet the prodigal niece and her husband.
Her heart fairly burst when the carriage pulled to a stop and a footman opened the door.
Mr. Darcy exited, then turned around to help her disembark. She’d barely made it two paces before she was enveloped in a hug from Mary, of all people.
“Lizzy!” she exclaimed and burrowed her head into her shoulder, sobbing with great gulps of air between hiccupping sniffles. “I have missed you soooo much!”
“Mary, dearest. I have missed you as well.”
She looked over her cousin’s shoulder toward her uncle and lifted a brow in question. He gave a small shrug and then held out his arms. After disentangling herself from Mary, with a promise to talk with her further, she moved into her uncle’s warm embrace.
“Mary has the right of it. We have missed you, oh so very much.”
Knowing Mr. Darcy was witnessing an emotional reunification of her family, torn apart by his demands, she regretfully separated from her uncle and turned to her aunt.
“Aunt Frances, it is so good to see you.” She looked past her presence and spied their faithful retainers hovering near the entrance. “And you as well, Hill and Griggs. Please convey my greetings to Cook as I am sure she is busy in the kitchen preparing a feast.”
“That she is, Miss Lizzy… I mean, Mrs. Darcy.” Hill looked at Griggs who merely nodded his head in a fashion that told her it was an honest mistake to call her by her former, more familiar moniker.
“Come into the house, everyone. ‘Tis not the middle of summer, you know, and we may as well continue this visit in front of a nice fire with a cup of tea,” Aunt Frances said and quickly began to herd everyone into the manor.
Once everyone was in the front parlor, her aunt turned to Mr. Darcy and greeted him with a bit more warmth than Elizabeth expected.
Her husband had begun mending fences with her family when he visited to amend the settlement.
However, upon seeing Colonel Fitzwilliam, who had followed in his carriage in case he was called back to London for an emergency, Mrs. Bennet’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Colonel, what brings you to Longbourn?”
“I wished to accompany my cousin.”
“Your cousin? Who is your cousin?”
“Darcy, ma’am.”
“Mr. Darcy! Lizzy’s husband is your cousin?”
“He is, Mrs. Bennet.”
“And why did you not share this information when you were last here?”
“I did with your husband, but did not see the need to share further, at the time.”
“That still does not explain why you choose to attend the wedding of Miss Charlotte Lucas when you have not been introduced.”
Elizabeth hid a grin by turning her head.
Richard had insisted on accompanying them, which she and Jane knew full well would set the matrimonial antennas twitching on Mrs. Bennet.
After this week, the secret courtship between her two favorite people would very likely come to an end, which she suspected was the real reason Richard insisted on joining them.
He wanted everyone to know he was courting Miss Jane Bennet, and if Mr. Bingley ever returned to Netherfield Park, the news would reach his ears upon his first visit to any of the prominent families he’d befriended.
A very good strategy, which Elizabeth fully endorsed.
At one time she’d been very angry with her husband for not revealing his intent to marry her, an action which had ultimately chased Mr. Bingley away from Meryton and Jane.
However, as soon as her anger had receded, she realized no one had forced the amiable man to tuck his tail between his legs and hie off to London.
Jane needed a man who would stand with her, no matter what came their way – and the colonel was that man.
“Auntie,” Elizabeth soothed, “the colonel is part of our family and is a great friend to my husband. He is a welcome addition to our party.”
“Well, any friend and family member of Mr. Darcy’s will always be welcome here, to be sure; although I must say that I hate the very sight of him,” Mrs. Bennet said in a surprisingly low voice so none but Elizabeth could hear, for which she was grateful.
Jane did not need the added burden of disappointing her mother at this tender juncture of their courtship.
The next morning, the ladies were enjoying a moment of quiet in the front parlor.
Mr. Darcy and Richard had gone riding and it was the first time the three women were alone.
Upon spying the two men returning from their ride through one of the windows, it did not take long for Aunt Frances to give vent to her ill-concealed dislike of Colonel Fitzwilliam.
“Good gracious!” cried Mrs. Bennet. “If that disagreeable colonel is not hanging about again with our dear Mr. Darcy! What can he mean by being so tiresome as to come with you to Miss Lucas’s wedding?
What shall we do with him? Jane, you must walk out with him when they return so that he may not upset dear Lydia again. ”
Lydia, upon seeing the colonel seated at the family table for supper their first evening at Longbourn, flew into a fine temper and after stomping her feet in displeasure, had run to her room and refused to come down until the next day.
After her display of childish petulance, Uncle Bennet advised his wife that Lydia would remain in the nursery until their guests departed for London.
He further threatened, given her propensity to behave as a child, that she would remain upstairs until after her eighteenth birthday, missing the soft come-out at local Assemblies as promised.
As it was, Aunt Frances looked to Jane to alleviate the tension by removing the colonel from her company. Elizabeth could hardly help laughing at so convenient a proposal. Jane would love nothing better than to continue her courtship away from the jaundiced view of her mother.
As soon as the men entered, Richard said, “Miss Bennet, your mother has laid out a prettyish garden by the side of the house. Would you care to show it to me?”
“It is such a beautiful day, Jane should take him to Oakham Mount,” Mrs. Bennet enthused, clearly wishing to prolong his absence from the house. “It is a nice long walk, and I am sure the colonel has never seen such a lovely view.”
Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy spared Jane a glance. She blushed quite becomingly at her mother’s innocent remark.
“I will admit, I would very much like to see the view from Oakham Mount,” Richard enthused, not removing his gaze from Jane.
“Indeed, Colonel. It is too bad we did not know earlier of your desire to traverse our most famous high point, for we could have arranged to watch the sunrise.” Elizabeth teased her cousin by marriage and was delighted to see his cheeks also turn a warm red.
“That is when you will find the view even more enticing.”
“Lizzy!” Jane hissed a warning beneath her breath before rising to her feet. “We shall gather our cloaks and join the gentlemen outside.”
As the two girls went upstairs to get ready, Mrs. Bennet followed, saying, “I am sorry, Jane, that you should be forced to entertain that disagreeable man. But I hope you will not mind: it is all for Lydia’s sake, you know.”
At the top of the stairs, Jane turned around to face her mother.
“I will do my very best to keep the colonel engaged, Mamma.”
Once again, Elizabeth had to turn aside and pretend to straighten the ribbon around her dress to hide a grin.
“Bless you, daughter. I regret you have to be in his company. I had such high hopes for him and Lydia when last he was here, but… oh, well. Nothing to be done about that now. If the man cannot see what is before his very nose, there is not much I can do about that.”
“That is true, Mamma,” Jane soothed as only she could. “You cannot dictate where the heart will lead.”
Aunt Frances laid a hand on Jane’s cheek and gave her a sad kind of smile.
“I would suppose you have intimate knowledge of that fact.”
“I am well, Mamma. Mr. Bingley did not touch my heart. I think of him as an amiable friend and if we were to see each other on the street, I will greet him as a pleasant acquaintance.”
“I have said it more than once. You are beautiful on the inside, as well as the outside.”
With those words, Mrs. Bennet turned on her heel and hurried down the stairs all the while muttering about men and how they did not see goodness before them.
Elizabeth and Jane shared a look before fetching their cloaks and joining the gentlemen outside.
As they walked toward Oakham Mount, they met Charlotte and Mr. Collins walking together down a quiet laneway.
Upon sighting them, Charlotte’s face lit up in joy.
“Eliza!” she called out and urged Mr. Collins to walk faster, who visibly blanched upon seeing them. “I am so glad you have come.”
“Did you think I would miss the wedding of my closest friend?” Elizabeth gave her friend a warm hug, then stepped away to smile at Mr. Collins. “I also would not wish to miss the wedding of my cousin, who was so very wise in choosing Miss Lucas as his future companion.”
“Indeed, Cousin Elizabeth, I am a fortunate man. Come, Miss Lucas, we should return to the house. There is much to be done before tomorrow.”
Mr. Collins did not even spare Darcy a glance.
“Might I walk with you a bit, Charlotte? We are on our way to Oakham Mount and will share the path with you until we have to break off.”
“Of course, you may.” Her friend flicked a glance toward her betrothed before saying, “Mr. Collins, you may be able to tell Mr. Darcy of his family in Kent. I am sure he will be pleased to hear how well Miss de Bourgh is doing.”