Chapter 19 #2
Georgiana and Cassie were trading questions about Phillip and Richard, respectively.
Georgiana was aware she had several years to wait, and that was if Phillip remained interested in her, but, for Cassie, time was not a concern.
Even though Allie was older, she and Gigi had become remarkably close, both gratified that, after the wedding on the morrow, they would be considered sisters-in-law.
The younger two girls put Parrot in his night-time abode, a big cage, which they covered, and then they followed the rest to bed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The morning of her wedding, Elizabeth was awake before dawn broke in the east. She walked out to the stables with two apples, one for Nellie and one for Orion; both chomped theirs gratefully.
“I am sorry I neglected you, boy. What happened to Papa was not your fault, so there was no reason for me not to ride you.” The stallion nuzzled her, almost as if he understood her words, after he enjoyed his apple.
“Tommy will take good care of you, I promise.” Elizabeth rubbed his neck and then walked around the back of the house to the park.
She sat herself on the bench under the big oak tree, the same one all five of them would sit on, their young Tommy on mother’s lap, Elizabeth on father’s and Jane seated between them.
“How I miss you, Mama and Papa,” Elizabeth raised her eyes to the heavens as the sun peeked over the horizon, casting haloes behind the clouds.
“I wish you could have met my William. He is the best of men, and we will have a love like you had, one for the ages.
“As much as I wanted you to walk me up the aisle, Papa, Tommy will stand in your stead today. He looks just like your portrait painted when you were at Cambridge.” Elizabeth paused as a little breeze wafted around her, as if her parents were letting her know they were there with her, and suddenly she felt completely at peace.
“I will always love you, Mama and Papa,” Elizabeth told the heavens as she stood and made her way back to the house, where Jane and Aunt Maddie were waiting for her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lord William Darcy, Duke of Derbyshire, Earl of Lambton, also woke with the dawn.
Like Elizabeth, he too was without his parents, their mothers having passed within twelve months of each other.
His father had been gone longer than Thomas Bennet, but it did not make his longing for his parents any less on this most special of days.
The Duke was relieved that few members of the Ton had been invited.
An invitation had been sent, as a matter of protocol, to the royals, who had wished the couple joy, but declined the invitation.
The Queen had requested for him and his Duchess to inform her lady in waiting when they were in Town so she could invite them to tea.
Elizabeth would have to be presented. Jane had been, but given what happened, frivolous things like presentations were not a priority for the remainder of the Bennet family.
From the description sketched of Elizabeth’s father—first by Elizabeth and then by her siblings and the Holder Bennets—the Duke was sure he would have enjoyed Mr. Bennet’s company greatly.
He lamented the fact he had never met the man who had fathered three honourable children and was a fellow bibliophile to boot.
When he looked ahead, he envisioned a joy-filled life with Elizabeth at his side.
Life would never be boring with her. He was sure they would argue—after all, they were both strong-willed people—but he also knew the strength of their love would overcome any problems which might present themselves in the future.
After his soak in a steaming bath, Carstens shaved him and assisted his master to dress.
Following some advice from his uncle and uncle-to-be, William had a tray before his bath to make sure he had something to eat and drink as he knew his Elizabeth had, or would have, at Longbourn before her bath.
He was thankful the reaction to the vision he had of her naked in her bath subsided before he stepped out of the bath into the towel his valet held up for him.
By the time William joined the group downstairs, the Holder Bennets had already departed to Longbourn. Richard was to stand with him, while Andrew and Wickham would be groomsmen.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Lizzy, you are a vision,” Cassie told her cousin once she had joined them in the entrance hall at Longbourn. Her dress was simple, a cream-colored flowing gown with an empire waist, puffed sleeves and long cream gloves to match. There was a train, but it was a short one.
“That is an understatement, Cassie!” a glowing Louisa Hurst stated as she looked at her sister. “My goodness, Lizzy, your William will want to carry you off from the vestry and skip the wedding breakfast when he sees you.”
“Our sister does look gorgeous, does she not,” Jane beamed. It was the one time she would not collect a hug—well, at least not before the ceremony.
“My Lulu, you are looking happy. I take it married life, or at least some aspects of it, are treating you well?” Elizabeth arched her eyebrow at her best friend and sister.
“Lizzy! Just wait until I see you after you have been married a few days!” Louisa threatened playfully.
“As we will be on our way to Ireland, I will be safe,” Elizabeth retorted, smugly.
“I think it is time, Lizzy,” Tommy informed her, and his sister started, not yet used to his deep bass voice.
Everyone departed to make the short walk to the church, leaving Elizabeth with Tommy, Louisa, Jane, and Marie.
With the Hills looking on, and not a few tears escaping the long-time housekeeper’s eyes, the bride and her attendants were escorted by Tommy to Longbourn’s church a few minutes after the rest.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
William, Richard, Andrew, and Wickham all noted the entrance of the Holder Bennets. Richard’s eyes tracked Cassie as she walked up the aisle with her family and took her place in the Bennet pews.
It was Andrew’s turn to stare next as his wife walked up the aisle looking even more beautiful to him than the day they had married. Jane followed her, and her husband’s eyes followed her intently as she glided up the aisle.
There was a slight pause, and Hurst was bursting with pride as his wife followed the bridesmaids and stood opposite the former Colonel near the altar. There was a hush as the vestibule doors were closed and the vicar signalled his congregation to stand; then the doors opened again.
William was transfixed as his beloved Elizabeth approached him, on her brother’s arm.
She could have been wearing even a sackcloth, and she would not have looked any less beautiful to him.
He noted that she reached toward Charlotte Lucas, who was sitting next to none other than Charles Bingley, and Charlotte held her hand out for her sister of the heart, Eliza, to squeeze, as the bride and Tommy proceeded forward.
The groom was so entranced, it took more than a gentle nudge from his cousin to propel him forward so he could claim his soulmate from her brother.
Tommy lifted the sheer gossamer veil, kissed his sister’s cheek, and, after gently lowering it, he placed her hand on William’s arm.
Both bride and groom felt the tension leave their bodies as they relaxed at the physical contact.
It seemed like an eternity as they approached the waiting vicar, but in reality, it was a matter of less than a minute. He gave the signal for the congregants to be seated, and as they complied, he opened his copy of The Book of Common Prayer. “Dearly beloved…”
Before they knew it, they had recited their vows and had both given, and received, rings.
The vicar intoned the final benediction, and then presented Their Graces, Lord William and Lady Elizabeth Darcy, to the cheering congregation.
The newlyweds were escorted to the vestry accompanied by Richard and Louisa, where the last thing they had to do to be legally wed, had been completed—all four of them signed the registry.
Louisa and Richard then slipped out to give the bride and groom a private moment.
“Alone at last, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth,” William said, his voice filled with desire as he pulled her to him with purpose. Her arms snaked around his neck, as she was as keen as he to seal their wedding with a kiss.
During the wedding preparations, they had had hardly enough time to steal more than a few chaste kisses, with so many around them at all times, so when he captured her lips hungrily, she was just as needy as he.
Elizabeth had read of a toe-curling kiss in a novel somewhere, but these kisses not only curled her toes, but also made her weak at the knees.
Luckily, with her husband’s arms around her waist, and hers around his neck, she was held in place so she could enjoy the feel of his desire for her, which matched hers for him.
After a few minutes, knowing their families were awaiting them in the church, they reluctantly separated, with the promise of more to come later.