Chapter 20
They had by now reached the front door of Longbourn, which stood hospitably open with the butler waiting just inside the vestibule. After two maids had taken hats and gloves and walking sticks, the butler guided them down to the drawing room, opened the door, and announced them.
Darcy followed Bingley in and quailed at the crowd sitting within.
The room seemed very full, and given that Bingley was naturally most interested in his betrothed, it seemed likely that Darcy would be speaking with not only Miss Elizabeth, but Mr. Bennet, Mrs. Bennet, Miss Mary, and a couple of well-dressed strangers.
“Oh, Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy!” Mrs. Bennet cried out.
“Come in, come in. Please allow me to introduce you to my brother, Mr. Gardiner, and his wife, Mrs. Gardiner. Brother, Sister, Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy. Mr. Bingley, no doubt you will wish to … oh yes, I see that you are quite settled. Mr. Darcy, please do sit down by the fire. It is a rather chilly day!”
The open seat in question was both near the fire and Miss Elizabeth, which pleased him, but was also near the Gardiners, which did not. He remembered hearing that the Bennets had an uncle in trade, and this was likely the man, which meant he was doubtless a vulgar fellow.
“Mr. Darcy,” Mrs. Gardiner said when everyone had settled into their seats, “I grew up in Lambton near Pemberley, and it is a great honor to meet you.”
Darcy considered the woman with wary interest. “Lambton is a charming little town.”
“It is. My father was rector of the church there, but when he passed on some twenty years ago, my mother took me and my sister to London, where I met Mr. Gardiner.”
“Your father was Mr. Greene?” Darcy hazarded.
“Yes! I had not thought you would recall his name, sir.”
“I remember my mother speaking of him more than once. He was a good man.”
She smiled gratefully. “Yes, he was, and Lady Anne was also wonderful. My mother used to tell me of her great generosity to the poor.”
He smiled back and said fondly, “She was. She was not a particularly healthy woman, but even during her sickly spells, she never forgot her duty as mistress of Pemberley.”
A solemn moment passed, interrupted only by the cheerful speeches of Bingley and Miss Bennet and her mother.
Mr. Gardiner said, “My wife and I, along with Elizabeth, are considering a visit to the Lake District next summer, which will permit us also to spend a little time in Derbyshire. My wife tells me it is a most beautiful county.”
“It is,” Darcy said, shaking himself loose from mournful remembrances of his dear mother. “Of course, Hertfordshire is charming as well…”
“But rather flat,” Mrs. Gardiner said with a chuckle. “It is good for farming, certainly, but Hertfordshire lacks such charms as Dark and Light Peaks.”
“It sounds delightful,” Elizabeth said happily.
Darcy turned to her and said, “If you should ever happen to be near Pemberley, I hope you and your aunt and uncle will visit the estate.”
She looked startled for a moment and then smiled. “That is very gracious of you.”
“I consider you and your family to be friends,” Darcy said, even as he berated himself inwardly. What was he thinking to invite this enchanting lady to his very home?
She nodded and said, “Thank you. We are all very pleased that Mr. Bingley settled here at Netherfield Hall, and that you came to visit him.”
“Given that Mr. Bingley has never been master of an estate before, I am confident that your own experience was a great boon,” Mr. Gardiner commented.
“I hope I have been of some assistance to him,” Darcy replied.
Elizabeth turned to look over at her elder sister and her swain, and there was suddenly such adoration on her face that his own heart thudded oddly in his chest. How he wished that she would look at him in such a way!
But no, of course he did not want that, because he could not marry her. He could not.
“I have no doubt that Miss Bennet will prove an excellent mistress of Netherfield,” he said. “It is an advantage to know the local citizenry.”
“Yes,” Miss Elizabeth said with a firm bob of her head, “and Jane does know a great many of the tenants and servants of Netherfield Hall. Many of the families from the two estates have intermarried.”
“Do you know if Jane is going to attempt to make up Boxing Day gifts for the Netherfield dependents?” Mrs. Gardiner asked.
Elizabeth looked startled and said, “Oh, she will not have much time, but I fear that the tenants and servants of Netherfield have been sadly neglected in that regard since the manor house has been empty for so long. Let me ask her. Jane? Jane?”
What followed was a rousing discussion between the various Bennets and Gardiners and Charles Bingley, and within twenty minutes, Mr. Gardiner was promising to send boxes of appropriate gifts from his warehouse to Netherfield Hall to give to the servants and tenant families for Boxing Day, and Jane and Elizabeth Bennet were planning on packing parties, and Bingley was declaring that money was no object.
Darcy did not contribute a great deal to the discussion, but he was impressed.
He always ensured that plenty of money was available to Mrs. Reynolds, housekeeper of Pemberley, to make up the appropriate gifts for Boxing Day celebrations, but for Jane Bennet to be so determined to care for her tenants within a week of her marriage, well, that was admirable indeed.
Perhaps this marriage would be a success.
***
Meryton Church
Friday, 20th December 1811
The music from the organ swelled throughout the small sanctuary as Elizabeth Bennet, with her two younger sisters on either side of her, walked down the aisle behind Mr. Bennet, who had Jane on his right side and Mary on his left.
In spite of the joy in her heart over the upcoming ceremony, Elizabeth found herself watching Mr. Bennet anxiously.
Mary’s warnings had caused her to pay more attention to her father, and there was no doubt that Mr. Bennet was frailer than she had realized.
It was not a long walk to the front of sanctuary and the master of Longbourn would be well enough, but it worried Elizabeth that he was noticeably out of breath often these days.
Father and daughters achieved the end of the red carpeted main corridor, and Elizabeth’s concern gave way to joy at the sight of Mr. Bingley on the right, with his friend, Mr. Darcy, behind him and Mr. Collins on the left, with Mr. Phillips standing as best man.
Mr. Bennet carefully placed Jane’s arm on Bingley’s, walked Mary over to William Collins, and then retreated to the front pew where Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Phillips, and the Gardiners were sitting.
Elizabeth took her place near Jane, while Kitty and Lydia walked behind Mary.
It was rather silly that two brides had three bridesmaids, but Jane wanted Elizabeth as her bridesmaid, and both Lydia and Kitty had insisted on taking part in the wedding, neither wishing to be left out, so here they all were.
Old Mr. Allen stood at the pulpit with the great Book of Common Prayer in front of him. He smiled down at the couples and said, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…”
Elizabeth had attended several weddings before, and the ancient words of the Wedding Ceremony were both familiar and powerful.
As she listened, she found her eyes drifting to Mary and Mr. Collins, both of whom were solemnly joyful.
Jane and Bingley were facing Mr. Allen such that Elizabeth could not see their faces, but she recognized, in Jane’s posture, that she was happy.
Her eyes shifted last to Mr. Darcy, who was standing a few feet away from her, his eyes fixed on Mr. Allen, his expression solemn.
She wondered, not for the first time, what Mr. Darcy thought of Mr. Bingley’s marriage to Jane.
Darcy was, as the nephew of an earl, of far higher class in society than his friend Bingley, whose fortune was from trade.
Did that mean that Darcy thought Jane’s position to be a reasonable one for his friend?
Did he think that Bingley should have reached higher?
It was hard to know. Elizabeth flattered herself that she understood most people reasonably well, but Darcy had always been difficult to read. He was obviously intelligent and well educated, along with being rich and very good looking.
She felt her cheeks warm as she remembered how he had looked in that stream, soaked in water, his shirt clinging to his torso and…
She forced her gaze back to Mr. Allen and swallowed hard. She must control her thoughts about Mr. Darcy. She must.