Vol 2, Chapter 16 #2
Within an hour of their promenade in the middle of Meryton, word spread throughout the neighbourhood that Charlotte Fitzwilliam was not with child—well not as one would expect at six or seven months, forever putting any talk to bed that she had been in that state when her late husband perished.
A secondary result, which soon became the news of most import, was how felicitous the couple looked as they walked around the town.
By the time the Fitzwilliams arrived at Lucas Lodge a little over an hour later, word had reached Lady Lucas already, who could not have been prouder of her daughter and son-in-law for the effective way they had silenced the few remaining critics of their union in Meryton.
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Darcy arrived at Netherfield Park and found his betrothed’s grandparents, aunts, and uncles already in residence.
Lady Sarah was once again organizing a betrothal ball, this one to be held the Friday before the wedding, giving the family three full days to recover before the wedding.
Ally had learnt her lesson, and with her parent’s permission had accepted an invitation to reside at Longbourn with Esther and Gigi.
If added incentive was needed, Maria Lucas had also accepted an invitation to stay at Longbourn with her friends.
Jane and Andrew and Charlotte and Richard were at Longbourn and Lucas Lodge respectively with the intention of returning later that evening.
After quickly greeting the De Melvilles and Carringtons, Darcy took the stairs three at a time to reach his bedchamber.
After Carstens made quick work of a wash and change of clothing for his master, Darcy vaulted into Zeus’s saddle and made a mad dash to Longbourn over the fields, taking the shortest route between him and his Lizzy.
As Zeus made the effortless jump over the fence, Darcy thought he was dreaming as galloping across the field on the Longbourn side of the fence was Mercury bearing his betrothed to him.
Darcy’s heart sped up with the anticipation of seeing his beloved again, the pounding of which reverberated through his body like a drum.
“William!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she brought Mercury to a halt. There were mere inches of space between the two mounts who stood head to tail alongside one another. “I missed you so very much,” Elizabeth told him her heart racing, and not from the exercise.
Darcy’s first inclination was to kiss his betrothed with all of the pent-up passion he felt, but the proximity of Biggs, another footman-guard, and a groom put paid to that inclination.
Darcy was in no mood to test the catlike reflexes of Biggs that Richard had told him about.
Rather, he leaned in to kiss her forehead then took her free hand and bestowed a kiss on the inside of her wrist.
“I too missed you, Elizabeth,” he told his betrothed. “When we are separated it feels like half of my heart is missing.”
“Oh, William, I feel the same. Should we ride back to the house?” Elizabeth asked and her betrothed nodded. “Catch me if you can,” Elizabeth called over her shoulder as she dug her heels into her horse’s flanks who took off like a shot fired out of a pistol.
After a few seconds as he watched her magnificently tearing across the field, Darcy spurred Zeus into action confident that his larger, and he assumed stronger, horse would catch Mercury.
He was wrong, yet again. He never got closer than to eat some of Mercury’s dust trail while hearing the tinkling laugh he loved so much mingled in with the wind rushing past his ears.
Elizabeth had Mercury next to the mounting block by the time Darcy reached her.
He looked with wonder at the smaller horse’s still twitching muscles and realised that once again an assumption he made had been proven quite incorrect and he did not miss Elizabeth's triumphant look.
“There is a reason I named him Mercury, and it had nothing to do with a celestial body,” Elizabeth smiled widely.
“He does run like the wind, Elizabeth. No matter how hard I pushed this old man here,” Darcy rubbed his horse’s neck affectionately after he dismounted, “he never came close to you and Mercury,” Darcy owned.
The couple was still laughing when they were admitted to the master’s study.
Darcy had modelled the settlement after Andrew’s; except he settled one hundred fifty thousand pounds on Elizabeth.
With the quarterly interest from Elizabeth’s dowry and the shipping concerns, his income as a married man would be about triple what it was currently.
Elizabeth had no objection other than telling Darcy that she did not need so much, so it was soon after that the settlement was signed by both parties.
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“Did I hear my brothers are about to start managing a breeding programme almost as good as mine,” Richard ribbed his brother-in-law.
“We are Richard,” Franklin replied for himself and his brother. “Although yours is almost as good as ours.”
“Enough boys,” Sir William interjected. “The rest of us are moving to Bennington Fields, and Franklin will effect a refurbishment of the Lodge before he moves into the enlarged manor house.” Sir William explained what Bennet had done for them in a way that made it impossible to be refused.
“All I heard at Longbourn was you are managing the programme,” Richard let out a low whistle.
“It pleases me your lives will be so much easier going forward. We will have to see if we can collaborate, breed some of my best with Bennington Fields’s best and create some new, possibly even better bloodlines,” Richard proposed.
“You pre-empted my making the same suggestion, Brother,” John Lucas responded.
“How do you like your new stallions?” Richard asked his brothers-in-law. One of the tangible benefits was the fact both Franklin and John had each acquired a new horse the day after the Duke had appointed their family to the management of the programme.
“We could not be more satisfied with our horses,” Franklin answered for both Lucas brothers.