Chapter 42 #2
During the next few hours, a large party was expected to arrive and stay at Pemberley for the summer: Colonel Fitzwilliam and his brother; the Gardiners with their children; Thomas Crawford; the newly married Jane and Mr Bingley, as well as Caroline Bingley and the Hursts; Mr Bennet, Lydia and Kitty, and — shockingly — Mrs Bennet herself.
Lord and Lady Matlock were at their own estate, only twenty miles from Pemberley, and they would join the party on occasion. The Darcys had invited Lady Catherine and Anne, too, but they had received a strongly worded refusal.
Mr Bingley had proposed to Jane a month after Lady Matlock’s party, after begging Darcy for a moment of privacy with the lady.
His proposal was readily accepted, and the couple married at the end of April, in Meryton.
Mrs Bennet was beside herself with joy and took the opportunity to offend everyone in the town by proclaiming that her daughters were much better than everyone else’s.
The bragging had hurt Lady Lucas’s feelings, but she had fought back by announcing that her daughter Charlotte would soon give Mr Collins a child who would inherit Longbourn. Mrs Bennet did not care.
Mr Bingley never let Netherfield, and he was still undecided where to settle.
Jane had no inclination to stay in London, and so he was tempted to look at an estate in Derbyshire, not thirty miles away from Pemberley, recommended by Darcy.
His sisters approved reluctantly, since there would be no further benefit to them from the proximity to the Darcys.
However, their opinion mattered little to Bingley, who only listened to his wife’s suggestions, so it was likely that, before long, they would be living within easy distance of Pemberley.
Six months had proved enough time for Georgiana to recover — or at least begin to.
The dreadful fear that she might be carrying Wickham’s child — one she had never dared to express — had vanished, allowing the young lady to tentatively hope for a happy future as she witnessed in her brother and his wife the example of a loving marriage between true partners.
Mr Thomas Crawford had become a regular guest. He had finished renovating his house in town and had befriended Mr Bingley and the colonel, but it was his relationship with the Darcys that was the strongest. He asked for Darcy’s advice in business and society, and he employed Mr Gardiner to guide him when legal advice was required.
Elizabeth counted on him to tell her everything he knew about her late mother, and he grew as dear to her as a brother.
Darcy approved of him and encouraged his regular visits, and even Georgiana bore his company with growing ease and, with time, even anticipation.
Surprisingly, Mr Crawford was revealed to be quite proficient at the pianoforte, and he played with Georgiana at every opportunity.
The dreadful circumstances of Georgiana’s marriage had been slowly buried and forgotten, together with the rumours surrounding it, which had been talked of across London for a while.
Mrs Younge had accepted the offer to begin a new life in New South Wales; she had sold her boarding house, and with generous support from Darcy, who had paid for her ticket and given her enough money to cover her first month’s expenses, she had left England at the beginning of March.
When Elizabeth invited the Bingleys and her family to spend the summer at Pemberley, she was absolutely certain her stepmother would coldly refuse the invitation and forbid her father and younger sisters from accepting it either. However, concerning Mrs Bennet, she was proved wrong one more time.
Despite the anger, shame, and subsequent resentment at being reprimanded by Elizabeth, the pleasure of being spoilt at Pemberley, attended to by her own personal maid, and the prospect of other future advantages, proved powerful persuasion, and Mrs Bennet chose easily and quickly.
She wrote back to Elizabeth, thanking her, with no mention of their confrontation in London.
The only improvement — small but significant — was that she would not dare to arrive uninvited again, and she did not request any money.
However, she did moan about the prospect of the long journey aboard their old carriage, which induced Darcy to sigh and send his own carriage again to convey them to Pemberley safely and comfortably.
That turn of events proved to Elizabeth she could never expect her stepmother to change, and her only choice was to try and keep the woman’s pretentions and airs under good regulation — a most daunting task.
The majority of their guests were expected to arrive shortly after noon, but the weather had been poor, with a storm the previous day; the muddy roads would make the journey slower and more difficult.
Still, they should have arrived by now, she mused, glancing out of the window at the sky, which was a threatening grey again.
“They will be here soon, Mrs Darcy. Everything is prepared to welcome them,” Mrs Reynolds said.
“Thank you. I only wish Mr Darcy was home. I hate the thought that he might have to ride through a storm, which could begin at any moment.”
The housekeeper smiled affectionately. “My dear Mrs Darcy, I have known the master since he was four years old. He has always been a loving, kind boy and the best master and landlord. And never, ever has he fallen from a horse, be it sun or rain, calm or storm, day or night.”
“I know I am being foolish, Mrs Reynolds. I should not fret when he is away seeing to his duties, but I cannot help it.”
“You are not foolish, Mrs Darcy. You are precisely what the master deserves. I am sure Lady Anne and the late Mr Darcy would approve of his choice of wife. Neither of them could have hoped for a better match.”
“You are too kind, Mrs Reynolds, but I must confess I concur. I doubt there are two people better suited than we are, though we do not always agree.”
“Love is sweeter when spiced with the occasional argument,” Mrs Reynolds whispered, and Elizabeth blushed. Sweet and spicy were two words she would choose to describe their relationship herself.
“You are always right, Mrs Reynolds,” she said.
“What is Mrs Reynolds right about?” a deep voice enquired. The master of the house entered, and Elizabeth ran to him.
“What a silly question,” he replied to his own enquiry, embracing Elizabeth. “Mrs Reynolds is always right, regardless of the subject.”
The housekeeper laughed and covered her mouth with her palm.
“Oh, sir, you are always so kind and…I do not even know what to call you…”
“For the present, you should simply call me happy, Mrs Reynolds. Now, if you do not mind, I have something to show Mrs Darcy privately. Since no carriages are yet in sight, I assume it will be a little while before our guests arrive. Until then, we shall be in the library, so if we are needed, please knock.”
The housekeeper nodded. “I shall certainly knock if your presence is necessary, sir,” she said with an amused smile.
The master of Pemberley took his wife’s hand and led her to the library, where she wisely locked the door behind them. Just in case.