Chapter 24
Bennet appreciated what Lizzy conveyed regarding St Kentigern’s curate. After listening to his late cousin’s paeans about his patroness, he was surprised that Lady Catherine was aware of her foibles, including what he had heard about her overdecorating of the manor house at his new estate.
As much as he was not happy that his cousin’s life in the mortal world had ended, Bennet felt no remorse for the fact that as the new master of Rosings Park, he did not have to contend with his cousin.
He could only imagine how Collins would have, on the one hand, railed against the injustice perpetrated against his patroness while at the same time, he would have named himself the heir to Rosings Park.
He would have ignored the inconvenient facts in the entail which meant that he was never in the line of succession for either estate.
Bennet happily paid the invoices he had been sent from the modiste to whom Lady Elaine had introduced his wife and three eldest daughters.
He was especially appreciative of the fact that he was spared talk of lace and the like.
Along with her much calmer demeanour, taking her lead from the Countesses of Matlock and Holder, who had accompanied Fanny and advised her on the fashions and styles she and her daughters would need, there had been a drastic reduction in the amount of lace on dresses and gowns.
Armed with Kitty’s and Lydia’s measurements, a few dresses had been ordered for them.
They were designed for girls not yet out in society.
Another sign of the changes in Fanny was the way she was approaching the planning for Jane’s and Hadlock’s wedding. She was not charging ahead regardless of anyone else’s opinions. Rather, she was consulting the bride and groom and making sure she always remembered it was their day, not hers.
In order to support the merchants in Meryton, the local shops would be utilised first, and only when and if they were unable to provide items which were needed, Gardiner would procure what they required.
All instructions were being communicated to Mrs Hill and Mrs Nichols in a concise and coherent manner.
They would all be back in Hertfordshire by the first Monday of June, which included the Fitzwilliams, Hadlock, and the Darcys.
The rest of the Carringtons would follow a day or so later.
They were to depart for Rosings Park on the second Friday of May.
Although he and Fanny had agreed that the two younger girls were not ready for London, they were not being punished; hence, they would see the new estate with the rest of the family.
To that end, Darcy had volunteered to collect his sister and the two younger Bennets along with Miss Jones and Mrs Annesley.
Lizzy, who had enjoyed more than enough of London for her taste, chose to join Mr Darcy.
The maid, Jenny, and Darcy’s valet would ride with them in the role of chaperones.
From Netherfield Park, which as of three days previously belonged to Bennet—as soon as Phillips filed the information with the courts, it would cease being a separate estate and become part of Longbourn—the three girls would ride in the Darcy conveyance while the two ladies, Carstens, and Jenny would ride in the Bennet carriage, which would be used as well.
Seeing how different the relationship between Lizzy and Darcy was now, Bennet almost felt that all of Lizzy’s vitriol spewed against Darcy last year had been a dream.
He was not the haughty, pride-filled man he used to be, and she most certainly no longer abhorred being in his company.
In fact, from what Bennet could see, quite the opposite was true.
At first, Bennet had doubted that a man who used to be filled with so much pride would allow himself to continue to pay court to a woman who had rejected him as soundly as Lizzy had.
That he was in fact continuing to show interest in Lizzy, spoke to the depth of Darcy’s love for Bennet’s second daughter.
No one could accuse Darcy of being interested in Lizzy only after the revelation of their wealth.
Considering that the first, rather horrendous proposal had been made when Darcy believed the Bennets to be as poor as church mice, it was obvious that his aim in courting Lizzy had nothing to do with increasing his wealth and connections.
There was nothing official between them, which is why Bennet had given his permission for Darcy and Lizzy to sleep under the same roof at Netherfield Park. They would leave the estate on Friday morning, and the two groups travelling to Kent would meet up at the Bell in Bromley.
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As he arrived at Bennet House to have Miss Elizabeth board his conveyance, Darcy almost had to pinch himself. She had asked to join him to collect their sisters. There would, of course, be a maid and his valet with them; however, the important point was she had desired to be in his company.
Once Thompson, his footman, opened the door of the travelling coach, Darcy stepped out to the wonderful picture of Miss Elizabeth exiting the front door on Bennet’s arm, with the maid following.
The way her face lit up with pleasure at seeing him made Darcy want to run forward and pull her into his arms. He used his vaunted self-control to restrain himself because he was well aware that if they were to ever reach that point, there was a longer road yet to travel, and the last thing he would do was rush her.
Her promise to herself and to him to look forward and not to the past notwithstanding, when Elizabeth saw Mr Darcy standing next to his conveyance, her heart rate sped up to the extent that she could hear it beating in her ears.
She could not help but admonish herself for the countless times that she had held her poor, proven wrongheaded, opinion against Mr Darcy.
She now was of the belief that he was, in fact, the very best of men.
Other men with only a slight inclination for her would have run away as far and as fast as possible had she rejected them, never mind in the way she had spurned Mr Darcy’s offer of marriage.
However, Mr Darcy still seemed to be courting her good opinion.
At least now, Elizabeth saw his attentions for what they were, and it had been a fortnight since she had decided that she did not at all object to being unofficially courted by Mr Darcy.
She was not ready for any formal declaration of intent, but Elizabeth knew she was not far from that point.
Elizabeth was looking forward to them all being at Rosings Park because it would give her and Mr Darcy the chance to build new and good memories to erase what had come before at the estate.
Elizabeth could not but smile when she remembered Mr Darcy’s prophetic words about the next time she was at the estate.
He had predicted that she would be resident at the manor house.
Given his subsequent infamous proposal, Elizabeth fully understood what he had meant at the time. Although Mr Darcy had been mistaken about why she would reside at the mansion, he had unknowingly been correct.
After a hug and kisses on both of her cheeks from Papa, he handed first Elizabeth and then the maid, Jenny, into the coach. He turned to Darcy and extended his hand. “Look after my girls,” Bennet admonished when the younger man took his hand.
“I will protect them with my life,” Darcy vowed.
It was then he noticed that Miss Elizabeth and her maid were seated on the rear-facing bench.
He shook his head to Carstens to signal him to wait before boarding.
“Ladies, that will not do. What sort of gentleman would I be if I allowed you to ride facing the rear? Please move to the forward-facing bench.”
As she and Jenny moved, Elizabeth could not but hear her words accusing Mr Darcy of having a selfish disdain for the feelings of others. That was just one more thing about which she had been very wrong.
Darcy and his valet boarded the conveyance and took positions on the rear-facing bench.
He waited for Thompson to close and secure the door, and then did nothing until he heard the man climb up onto the rear bench.
Only once Darcy was sure his man was safely in place did he strike the ceiling with the head of his cane.
There were two or three jerks as the team made up of two matched pairs strained against the traces to make the coach move.
Elizabeth looked out of the window and saw Papa standing on the top step, Mr Grant behind him holding the door open.
She waved to him, and Papa returned her wave before the coachman guided them out of the semi-circular drive and onto the square.
The ring of iron fitted to the felloes[6] of each wheel made a distinctive click-clack noise as the conveyance rolled over the cobblestone streets of the capital.
In less than an hour, the noise subsided as they left the city, and the coachman guided his team onto the Great North Road. Soon enough, they were on a road to the north-west which would take them to Meryton and what used to be Netherfield Park beyond the town.
“I would wager you are pleased to be out of London and on your way back to the countryside,” Darcy stated soon after they were on the country road.
“You know me well enough to be sure of that, Mr Darcy,” Elizabeth replied.
“Did you not enjoy rambling in Hyde Park?” Darcy enquired. “There is as much room in the park as there is on a small estate like Lucas Lodge.”
“True, but it is not the same. There are no rolling hills, no fences with stiles, and everything is too ordered. I much prefer when nature is given its freedom without being counteracted by the awkward tastes of man,” Elizabeth explained.