Vol 2, Chapter 15 #2
“Neither do I doubt that Mama, he is the best man for me,” Elizabeth stated as she smiled up at her betrothed.
“Do you two have a preference on a location where you would like to marry?” Bennet asked. “I am sure once the two months have passed neither of you will want to wait too long before you do.”
“Unless William objects, I think I would like to marry from Longbourn, as Jane and Andrew did,” Elizabeth stated.
“I have no objection at all,” Darcy returned.
“That would work, as we will be in Hertfordshire for the month of September,” Priscilla added.
“How about the first day of October, Mama? William and I will go on our wedding trip and leave the delights of the little season to you,” Elizabeth teased. None of them were overjoyed at having to partake in the London social goings on, but with their new rank and station there was no real choice.
“Unless I deny permission for you to marry until the end of the little season,” Bennet threatened in jest.
“The first day of October will be perfect, Lizzy,” Priscilla responded, smiling sweetly as she defied her husband’s intent to make sport.
“Should we go announce your betrothal to the family? Though I daresay it will surprise no one.” Bennet sadly looked at his incandescently happy daughter. He was happy for her; she had found her love match, but all too soon she would no longer be his to protect.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Three days after the betrothal of Lady Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley, it was announced in the London papers. There were congratulatory notices from the De Melvilles, Carringtons, Fitzwilliams, and one from the Queen wishing her cousin well on her betrothal.
There was much wailing and despair as the notice was read first by those members of the Ton still in London, and then by those at their country estates as the papers reached them from Town in the subsequent days.
Many mothers of first and second sons bemoaned their misfortune at the anticipated jewel of the upcoming season being snapped up before they had a chance to put their plans into practice.
Not a few men whose estates were in financial distress due to their mismanagement, gambling, or a combination of both, were angry they had missed the chance to acquire the reputed massive dowry of the second Bennet daughter.
And word the Bennet children were always guarded, and guarded well, nipped not a few plans for compromising the Marquess or the remaining unattached daughter in the bud.
The only man who would have made an attempt regardless of the security surrounding the Duke’s daughters was safely locked away in Marshalsea.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The departure from Longfield Meadows was advanced by a week. The first stop, rather than Liverpool, was at Pemberley to allow Darcy to have Mrs. Reynolds give his betrothed a formal tour of the house to find out what, if anything, Elizabeth desired to have changed before their wedding.
Besides some minor updating of a few guest chambers, there was nothing that Elizabeth, with the full agreement of her mother, found wanting or in need of change. The only place Elizabeth asked to be completely redone were her future chambers.
Darcy’s mother had updated them to her style over thirty years previously, a style while elegant, did not fit Elizabeth’s preferences, and Mrs. Reynolds made notes of her soon-to-be mistress’s choices for the chambers.
Pemberley’s housekeeper had almost been a surrogate mother to the two Darcys after Lady Anne had passed away, and the first time the Bennets visited, she had been impressed with all of them.
She had particularly watched Lady Elizabeth, as she had noted Master William’s preference for the lady without too much difficulty.
As she led the future mistress and the Duchess on the tour, Mrs. Reynolds only became firmer in her good opinions of the Bennets in general, and Lady Elizabeth specifically.
After the tour, Mrs. Reynolds returned the two Bennet ladies to the drawing room where all except Tom, Mark, and their friend Robert, who had remained with Tom when his parents departed, had gone to the stables to look over Pemberley’s horseflesh.
Darcy drew his betrothed to a settee and sat next to her. “Is there much work to be done, my love? I am sure whatever it is will be completed by the time we return to Pemberley after our wedding trip and the season,” Darcy enquired.
“There was very little that needs changing, William, with the exception of my future chambers,” Elizabeth replied.
“It is my hope we will share a bed every night after we are wed, unless you prefer to sleep in your own chambers?” William looked at his betrothed hopefully.
“I agree with you. I could not help but notice the bed in your bedchamber is huge. I suppose there may be enough room for both of us if we squeeze tightly together as I too would prefer not to sleep separately,” Elizabeth informed him with arched eyebrow.
“You two do remember you are not alone in the drawing room, do you not?” Richard snapped them out of their private world.
“That is the pot calling the kettle black,” Andrew pointed out to his brother.
“That is brown from both of you,” Darcy shot back at his cousins, soon to also be his brothers. “You two are almost as besotted with your wives as I am with my betrothed,” William teased.
Elizabeth loved catching glimpses of this playful side of William.
When he was comfortable around people, as he was with all currently in the drawing room, he did not hold back displaying his wit.
“There is no need to complete over who loves his lady most boys,” Elizabeth headed off the retorts that were ready to be unleashed.
“Let us agree all three of you are lucky to have been accepted by such exceptional women,” Elizabeth teased them in turn.
With the plans made for the Liverpool to London voyage, Andrew and Jane, who had many pleasant memories from their time on The Rose, and Richard and Charlotte jumped at the offer when the Duke invited them to join the family on board the ship.
“Is it time to leave yet?” Mark asked as he returned to the drawing room after his expedition to Pemberley’s stables.
“And I thought you enjoyed spending time with us,” Georgiana said with mock hurt as she placed her hand over her heart dramatically.
“Gigi, you know what I mean!” Mark huffed.
“Yes, we all know Scamp,” his father chuckled. “We depart the day after the morrow, early in the morning. As I promised you will be boarding The Rose soon, son.”
Mark was grinning at his father’s words. And while he may have been the most voluble about his desire to reach the ship, he was certainly not alone in his desire.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The family were all on deck as The Rose approached the quay on the Thames where the Dennington Lines had a private docking area.
Much to Mark’s chagrin, the family spent one night in Liverpool so that the new owners of the shipping line could meet the senior staff in the offices.
Once Mark understood the purpose of the visit he put his disappointment aside, especially when he had been informed the younger, unmarried men would be allowed to sleep onboard the ship that night.
The voyage had taken a sennight plus, and luckily for the passengers, the seas were relatively calm.
Mark had spent as much time as he could on the quarterdeck quizzing the Captain, his officers, and the men about what they were doing.
Even without knowing he was one of their new employers, he was indulged by all with good cheer.
He was amazed as he watched the sailors climb up and down the rigging to reach sails.
The only negative for him was that his father flatly refused permission for Mark to climb up to the crow’s nest.
The two escorts had fascinated Mark as well. Sometimes one would be on station forward of them, one aft, and other times one or both of them would be sailing a few hundred yards to the port or starboard side of The Rose.
With more than enough sailors on board, only Biggs, Johns, Mr. Burnett, and his two commanders sailed with the family.
The rest had been sent ahead so they would be waiting with the carriages in London.
The only point of contention, if one could call it such, was when Bennet and Priscilla insisted that Aunt Rose take the owner’s cabin and she refused.
In the end, her argument won out and she took one of the ten large, comfortable cabins available for family and friends.
The family watched as the coxswain steered the ship under the captain’s watchful eye and docked expertly as they hardly felt anything as the quay and the ships hulls met softly.
The family had been warned when they were first back on dryland it would feel as if the ship were still moving under their feet.
Mark was highly amused, as it felt like the land was going to rise up and meet his foot like the deck tended to do.
From the dock, the carriages bore them to Darcy and Matlock Houses.
Elizabeth and her mother accompanied Mrs. Killion on a tour of the house, and after Elizabeth reported it was much the same as at Pemberley, a few minor repairs where paper was coming loose in a guest chamber or two had been noted, and the redecoration of the mistress’s chambers.
Rather than stay at Bedford House and have the servants open the house for one night, the Bennets accepted an invitation to be hosted at Matlock House for the night they would be in London, while the rest of the party remained at Darcy House.
The next morning just after sunrise, the Bennets departed for Hertfordshire.