Chapter 26
“Would you like to rest?” asked Mrs Cooper.
Elizabeth shook her head vigorously. More than ever, she needed to speak to someone.
“We have been given the same apartments,” said Mrs Cooper as they sat in Elizabeth’s parlour, already familiar with the room, for it was the second time they had visited Pemberley.
“Yes, it seems our names are written upon the doors,” Elizabeth replied lightly, though more to conceal the emotion that had overtaken her and which she was unwilling to acknowledge.
“Take care, or I shall grow accustomed to visiting Pemberley,” returned Mrs Cooper.
From her, Elizabeth could conceal very little, if indeed anything at all.
It was evident that something had happened that day, though Mrs Cooper was not certain Elizabeth wished to speak of it.
Most likely because even she did not yet fully understand what had occurred.
Mrs Cooper reflected with amusement that both she and the colonel understood the matter far better than the principal actors themselves, Elizabeth, and Mr Darcy.
“I am persuaded you will receive further invitations, at least while the colonel remains here,” Elizabeth answered.
“Oh, the little kitten has unsheathed her claws,” laughed Mrs Cooper heartily. “I know that strategy, my dear. Attack lest you be attacked.”
“It is not an attack on my part, merely an observation. The colonel informed us that he intended to remain only a week, and now it appears he has extended his stay…”
“He is awaiting his family,” replied Mrs Cooper, and it was her turn to conceal a slight emotion, for she already knew such particulars of the colonel’s life.
“But this conversation is not about me,” she concluded.
“On the contrary, Mrs Cooper, it is about you. I have very little to tell, but you have a great deal.”
“Well, if we are to discuss such matters, you had better call me Agnes. It is odd to exchange confidences in both directions while you call me Mrs Cooper and I call you Elizabeth.”
“Then there will be confidences in both directions?”
“That is certainly my hope. You shall call me Agnes, and then tell me what happened with Mr Darcy.”
“Provided you tell me what happened with Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
“If you call me Agnes…perhaps.”
Both laughed, thoroughly pleased with the arrangement.
“Mr Darcy’s cook makes excellent biscuits,” observed Elizabeth.
They both ate in silence, though each was perfectly certain the silence would not last.
“Mr Darcy invited us to arrive several hours before the others, dear Elizabeth,” Mrs Cooper broke the silence.
“While it seems the colonel also had something to say upon the matter…dear Agnes.”
Alice swept the remark aside with a cheerful gesture.
“Let us not lose ourselves in unimportant details. What did you discuss with Mr Darcy?”
Elizabeth reflected that she was not entirely certain herself what had truly passed between them.
“We spoke more in hints than in plain words. We agreed to forgive one another for the manner in which we behaved in Kent.”
“You too?”
“Yes. Whoever began that quarrel, I ought to have preserved my composure. Had I answered him coldly and disdainfully, I believe it would have had a greater effect. Instead, we resembled two lions attacking one another.”
“And? I understand you both regretted the form the conversation assumed.”
“Not merely the form. He began his marriage proposal in Kent by declaring that he had come before me after losing a struggle with himself.”
“How many unnecessary battles.”
“Yes. Finally, we made peace.”
“And?” Agnes persisted.
“And nothing more. Yet it is a considerable improvement in our relationship.”
“A greater improvement would have been to discuss the substance of the conversation itself…the proposal of marriage.”
“Oh no, nothing of that sort was discussed, nor do I believe it ever will be.”
“You mean you do not believe he will ask you again?”
Elizabeth stared at Agnes in astonishment, as though it were only at that moment that the possibility of a renewed proposal had truly occurred to her, though in one form or another it had been the subject of her thoughts for weeks.
Until then, she had always considered what answer she might give to a proposal of marriage, without reflecting that an answer required a proposal; without imagining Mr Darcy actually asking her to become his wife.
For if she had done so, she would have been obliged to imagine him very differently from the silent, deeply tormented gentleman at the Parsonage. She would have had to imagine the elegant, smiling man who had welcomed her to Pemberley asking her to be his wife.
If Mr Darcy were to ask her to marry him, she would probably reflect with the greatest seriousness and with a changed vision of life and love.
She did not feel the love she had once imagined, the love she had seen blossom between Mr Bingley and Jane.
Yet she was very near to acknowledging that he was an extraordinary man, one who might, in time, inspire such feelings, and who offered her entrance into the wonderful realm that was Pemberley, rescuing her permanently from hardship.
“You truly had not considered that he might ask again?” asked Agnes when her silence continued.
“Not concretely.”
At that very moment, a servant knocked at the door and brought several letters.
“They have arrived from Derby, miss, but they are all for Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth regarded them affectionately. One was from her mother, one from Kitty, and another from Mrs Phillips.
“I shall leave you to read them.”
Elizabeth thanked her and reminded her that they were expected in the drawing room at four o’clock for tea.
Elizabeth often exerted herself to appear calmer than she truly was.
At times, she would find herself enjoying an event, a landscape, or a pleasant idea. But almost immediately, she would remember her father’s departure, or Longbourn no longer being their home, and a cloud would settle over her spirits.
Yet that afternoon, it was Elizabeth, who had once been cheerful and confident, who entered Pemberley’s drawing room.
She was the last to arrive, for Mrs Cooper had already descended, and their hosts awaited them. The other guests had already assembled and would all go down together within half an hour.
“Elizabeth, you are cheerful,” exclaimed Mrs Cooper.
Then, turning to the others, she added, “She has received many letters from home.”
“Has something pleasant occurred in Meryton?” she continued, probably the only person present who would dare ask directly about their new life in the small town near Longbourn where the Bennet family now resided.
“Yes, I have received very happy news. My mother, my aunt, Mrs Phillips, and my sister, Kitty, have all written to me about the same event. Kitty is to marry James Lucas, Sir William’s son.”
She paused for a moment, savouring once more this entirely unexpected yet delightful news.
For there was more.
“You remember Sir William?” she asked Darcy.
He nodded. “Yes, of course I do. We attended dinner at Lucas Lodge at least twice. He is also Mr Collins’s father-in-law…”
Darcy fell suddenly silent, wondering whether the mention of that name might spoil her good humour.
But Elizabeth quickly inclined her head.
“Yes, yes. Sir William was my father’s closest friend, and when I departed for Derby, he insisted upon seeing me.
Before I left, he whispered that I should travel without concern, for he would look after my family.
At the time, I believed it was merely a kind expression of goodwill, but apparently not.
It seems he already had this plan. Amidst all the confusion and distress, he perceived what none of us had noticed, that Kitty and James were attached to one another.
At the same time, the prospect of a marriage, it seemed, had been agreeable to him as well.
He is not the kind of father to give his blessing easily.
“And that is not all. My aunt, Mrs Phillips, writes that her husband, who is a solicitor, is at this very moment arranging for Longbourn to be leased to the young couple.”
There was such joyfulness in her voice that everyone present shared her delight.
“Congratulations on the marriage,” said Mrs Cooper. Then, suddenly anxious, she added, “Will you wish to return for the wedding?”
Several pairs of eyes turned immediately towards Elizabeth.
“No. They will marry very soon, but for the present, my mother has not yet found a house to rent and remains with my aunt. I shall return after Kitty has settled at Longbourn. There will probably be repairs and improvements to undertake…good heavens, what happiness it gives me to know that my sister will live there and be content. My aunt assures me that the lease is firmly secured for five years, for Mr Collins desires only the income and nothing more. Entailed though it may be, he cannot sell it.”
“And he is entirely devoted to Lady Catherine,” Darcy added.
“Exactly. That was his very answer when he was asked whether he might remove to Hertfordshire.”
“Congratulations,” said the colonel.
Yet his voice sounded less cheerful.
He glanced at Darcy. It was impossible not to recognise that this new arrangement relieved part of the burden Miss Elizabeth carried. It would likely make her less inclined to think first of her family’s future and only afterwards of her own feelings.
Had he been able, he would have shouted at Darcy that the favourable moment which had blossomed scarcely two hours earlier had already begun to fade.
Yet Darcy was probably not disappointed, having fixed his mind upon the idea of love.
How could he not see that a woman such as Miss Elizabeth, once married, would love her husband? She would never marry a man who did not at least offer the promise of affection, even if she did not yet love him entirely at first.
On the other hand, Mrs Cooper had told him, in that indirect manner in which they had spoken of such matters, that she was convinced Elizabeth already possessed deep feelings for Darcy beneath all her grief and uncertainty; feelings which awaited only a favourable moment to bloom.
That moment might well be a proposal of marriage. Unfortunately, it seemed unlikely to arrive in the new conditions. Darcy wanted love, and it was not clear that Miss Elizabeth could offer such a feeling while the favourable moment when she could have said yes had obviously passed.
He saw Darcy withdrawing, no doubt to attend to some matter requiring his attention, and hurried after him. He caught up with him in the hall.
“Darcy—”
“Enough, Richard. This conversation is closed, and when I say closed, I ask you to accept my decision.”
The colonel’s countenance darkened, but he knew his cousin well enough to recognise when a decision once taken could not be altered at any price. Pemberley would one day have a mistress, but she would not be Miss Elizabeth Bennet.