Chapter Thirty-Two #2
Unable to suppress an unseemly grin at being addressed as such, Elizabeth nodded. “Thank you.”
She hurried in the indicated direction, worried to be spotted through the open parlor doors, of which the room boasted six. She made it to the fifth one without being intercepted, but Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Greyson stepped free of the final doorway and directly into Elizabeth’s path.
Elizabeth smiled, always genuinely happy to see her friend, even if she wanted to be with Mr. Darcy. “Charlotte, Mr. Greyson.”
“Our warmest best wishes, Mrs. Darcy,” Mr. Greyson said.
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows slightly at his use of ‘our’ and turned to Charlotte, who blushed. “Do you have news to share with me?”
“Not on your wedding day,” Charlotte said firmly.
Happiness surged in Elizabeth, for Mr. Greyson was to take a parish on Mr. Darcy’s lands, meaning Charlotte would live close. Elizabeth drew her longtime friend into an embrace. “Well then, let me express my joy over the news you will surely deliver to the world tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte murmured, hugging her back.
“But I am afraid well wishes are not why we’ve detained you,” Mr. Greyson said.
Elizabeth released her friend, frowning.
“Oh dear. What now?” Had Miss Bingley or Mr. Wickham left their rooms?
As a sign of goodwill, Bingley hadn’t locked either in, taking their words they would stay put instead.
Elizabeth would have locked in both, even though she suspected Wickham was getting what he wanted and wouldn’t behave badly or run.
“My brother Paul has been missing from the celebration for some time,” Charlotte said. She grimaced. “As has Lydia.”
“I alerted Mr. Darcy, who I believe told Colonel Fitzwilliam,” Mr. Greyson said. “They seem to have gone off in search of the two.”
“I should have realized she wouldn’t behave so well unless she plotted something,” Elizabeth said, for Lydia had been a paragon of a demure younger sister all morning. “Let us join the search, but let’s not alarm any of the others yet.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte said, taking Elizabeth’s arm. “I didn’t think it would be appropriate for Mr. Greyson and me to join the search together, alone.”
Elizabeth nodded and they continued down the hall, but it didn’t take them long to locate either of their missing siblings. As soon as they rounded the next corner, they spotted Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy headed their way, a thoroughly disheveled Lydia and Paul Lucas between them.
“Lydia, what have you done?” Elizabeth cried, taking in her sister’s rumpled skirt and tousled curls.
Grin triumphant, Lydia declared, “I’ve become engaged. On your wedding day.”
“Engaged?” Paul Lucas squawked.
Colonel Fitzwilliam gave the arm he grasped a shake. “Yes. Engaged, and married with all haste, after what we caught you doing.”
“Oh, Lydia,” Elizabeth sighed.
“I will not be the only sister left unmarried, as if no one wants me. Not when I am the tallest, and the prettiest, and the most fun.”
Elizabeth winced at that last declaration. “Yes, well, let me help you with your hair and your dress, and we can all go tell Papa about your upcoming wedding.”
“Wedding?” Paul Lucas reiterated with a wince.
Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy and Mr. Greyson all glared at him.
“Wedding, Paul,” Charlotte said firmly. She turned to Elizabeth. “I’ll tend to Lydia. I don’t think she’s who you left the room seeking.”
Elizabeth glanced at Mr. Darcy, her husband, and felt heat warm her cheeks. “No. She was not.”
“Whenever anyone talks about your wedding day, or Mary’s, they’ll talk about my engagement,” Lydia said, smug.
“Hm,” Elizabeth agreed, still studying her husband.
He looked so grim, glowering down at Paul Lucas, who stood quite a bit shorter, and Elizabeth hoped Darcy wouldn’t think of Lydia and Paul Lucas each time he thought of their wedding day.
Jane had endured an even less pleasant incident on hers, yet showed no ill effects.
It was the marriage that mattered, not the wedding.
“Come along,” Colonel Fitzwilliam said.
While Charlotte, the colonel and Mr. Greyson escorted the newly engaged couple away, Elizabeth stepped closer to Mr. Darcy.
He left off glaring at Paul Lucas’s back to turn to her. “He’s old enough to know better than to behave so badly.”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I’ve noted that men find Lydia quite engaging.”
Mr. Darcy’s expression suffused with surprise. He looked down the hall again, though the others were now out of sight around the corner. “Truly?”
Taking in his unfeigned disbelief, Elizabeth realized the impossible…she could love him more than she had seconds ago. “Truly, and I really do not want finding her with Paul Lucas to be the memory either of us has of our wedding day.” She slid her arms about Mr. Darcy’s neck.
His attention snapped to her, all perplexity replaced by a simmering heat. “I agree. I have much different memories in mind.”
Elizabeth’s heart raced. He wrapped strong arms about her. She’d seen love in his eyes before, passion too, but he’d never looked at her this way. “Mr. Darcy? What are you thinking about?”
“Everything I haven’t allowed myself to imagine because I was not yet married to you.”
“Oh,” she breathed, warmth surging through her. “But now you are.”
“Now I am,” he agreed, and kissed her.