Chapter Twenty One
As the carriage took them closer to Longbourn, Elizabeth eagerly looked out the windows.
There, there—she had always noticed that farmhouse as a child when they left Mr. Gold’s estate after dining with them.
And beyond it was Oakham Mount, rising softly above the surrounding farms, with oak trees near the top and a collection of marble benches.
A little stream divided Mr. Long’s land from Mr. Smith’s.
“Oh, no,” Elizabeth exclaimed as they passed the burned remains of a cottages on Mr. Long’s land, and not thirty feet away from the ruins, several workers scurrying around the timber frame of a new building. “I wonder what caused the fire.”
Then Lucas Lodge, where their nearest neighbors and Mama’s closest friend lived.
“I’ve mentioned Charlotte Lucas to you, once or twice,” Elizabeth said.
“She lives there. Poor girl, Papa says that she is nearing thirty, and still unmarried. I do hope you will like to meet her, as I am eager to renew the acquaintance.”
Darcy took her hand. “All of your friends shall be mine.”
She felt that mysterious piercing sensation which went up her arm when he touched her hand. And she experienced that warmth and the affection that she was filled with for Mr. Darcy.
They still had not joined as man and wife or even kissed in that particular way of couples.
A part of Elizabeth, a small part that had started to grow a little louder over time, wondered if this meant that Mr. Darcy did not in fact admire her, and that he had in truth only married her for the purposes of duty, like he had proclaimed.
At first his injuries and fatigue every evening had been such as to ensure that there was not much mystery about the matter of why Mr. Darcy did not make a clear attempt to exercise his marital rights: He was still ill.
But by now, two weeks after they were married, that excuse no longer held.
Perhaps he was shy. Or perhaps it was simply that her new husband was exactly the opposite in this respect of Mr. Wickham.
He had been clear and constant in his interest in taking and using every liberty she would give him, and that had continued for a long time after they were married.
It had, in fact, been a matter of great concern to her when he ceased to pester her after she became with child the second time.
And the case had proven that Mr. Wickham was in fact seeking female company elsewhere.
If Mr. Darcy had looked at her in a different way, and if he had not been eager to hold her hand, to let her lean against him, and if he had not been so happy to be near her, she would have been far more concerned.
As it was, she had found that she was also shy.
She simply did not wish to be the first one to suggest the marriage bed.
It was, she firmly believed, the husband’s duty.
Longbourn.
The house looked much the same, but her family had changed.
Emotion choked her throat.
Mama, and Papa, and Jane, and Mary—and who were those two girls? They must be little Lydia and Kitty. But they were now full grown, almost women.
Elizabeth hopped out, and Mama ran to her and embraced her. “My dearest, dearest girl! You have married so very well this time! Mr. Bennet told me that he is as good as a Lord.”
Elizabeth felt the beginnings of a red-faced embarrassment at hearing her shout it that loudly, and in front of Darcy. Mama was much as she remembered.
She saw the sardonic amusement in Papa’s eyes. But then she looked at Darcy, and he smiled warmly at her. That warmth went through her again. She really was coming to depend upon him too much.
“Oh, tell me how you managed to catch such a fine gentleman,” Mama said. “Let me see you—you hardly are dressed so richly as I expected.” She looked at Papa accusingly, as if he had not told her the truth about the pin money—that is, the book money—available to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth laughed. “I know, I know. But I wished to have more leisure for deciding exactly what to purchase than was available in the bustle of only being in London for two weeks. We were constantly busy meeting friends, going to plays, seeing the sights of London together, visiting with Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner several times—there was not much time to hunt about for new clothes.”
“But lace! You could have simply bought a good helping of fine lace.”
“On a travel dress!” Elizabeth laughed. “I would not dare wear lace during a carriage trip of more than twenty miles. And with George and Emily in that carriage!”
The two children had gone to Papa. George with bold delight, while Emily was shy with her grandfather, even though she had been extremely enthused this morning when she was told that she would see Grandpapa again today.
“You then do have lace? I mean to have many dinners for you while you are here.”
“I look forward to seeing everyone—but I am afraid that I only purchased a little new lace for myself—A great many books, I might decorate myself with them—Papa, I have a few gifts for you—ah, but I must introduce everyone to everyone. Mr. Darcy, Georgiana, this is my mother, Mrs. Bennet of Longbourn.”
They formally bowed to each other. When prompted Mama’s manners seemed to be perfectly polished.
Elizabeth then turned to her sisters, “This is my eldest sister, Jane.”
“I am really pleased to meet you,” Darcy said.
“And this is Mary.” Another bow between them, and a smile from Darcy.
The two youngest were standing a bit aside whispering to each other, so Elizabeth turned to Jane instead of finishing the introductions and smiled a little confusedly at her. “It has been so long.”
Jane looked more beautiful than Elizabeth had remembered.
She was, by the standards of London even, an exceptionally beautiful woman.
Seeing Jane felt awkward and odd—Elizabeth had been tight with her once, and at first they wrote frequently.
But after Wickham had abandoned her, and Elizabeth determined to hide this from her family, she had barely ever written to any of them.
Her sister gave Elizabeth a shy smile and said, “Lizzy, I am very glad to see you again, and to see you happy.”
Elizabeth impulsively then embraced Jane as tightly as Mama had embraced her. “Jane, Jane, my dear Jane—do say you shall forgive me.”
“About what?”
“For not writing more in the last two years.”
“From what Papa said,” Jane replied in a confused tone, “you did not have a great deal of money to spend upon paper and postage, so how could I have expected you to write more frequently?”
Elizabeth laughed, nearly on the edge of tears. “My dear, good Jane. And you look so very well—I did buy Brussels lace for you.”
“You must know that I could not expect anything of that sort?”
“Lizzy, what did you buy for me?” The two youngest girls had approached, and the taller one asked with a grin.
“I shall tell you. I shall tell you—but you both have changed so much. I can hardly tell which of you is which. Are you Kitty?”
“No, such a joke!” the girl laughed with good humor, “I’m Lydia! But I am very tall. I am the tallest, am I not? And the best humored, that is what Mama always says about us. None of the rest of us are so beautiful as Jane, or so good humored as I am.”
“Exceedingly tall,” Elizabeth agreed, slightly disconcerted by the explicitness of this self-praise—she would never dream of blaming someone for harboring such thoughts about themselves, but to say them aloud was odd.
“I have a great big pile of silk ribbons, the best that Mr. Gardiner could find for you, and a lovely gold necklace. I’ll pass everything out in good time. ”
“Oh, that shall do—but I would have liked lace, like you gave Jane.”
Elizabeth laughed at that. “The next time I visit, I promise to bring you a supply of the finest lace.”
“Oh, do not worry about that, it will not signify unless Papa lets me enter society! I long for a ball! I do—Lizzy, can you convince him to let me go to a ball?”
“Not until you are eighteen,” Papa replied convivially, carrying George on his shoulders. “We have the tables set out for a picnic in the other side of the yard. Let’s go around to the shade, shall we? And there will be time enough for handing out gifts after our guests have refreshed themselves.”
“It is not fair!” Lydia exclaimed. “And you said that Lizzy married well this time! So, see! You can let me out while young.”
They went around, and Elizabeth exclaimed in delight at seeing the old trees. “I used to climb that tree—It looks exactly the same. I could get to the top of it. Though I think that was when I was only ten or eleven, and much lighter. Oh, and you’ve changed nothing.”
Mama said, “We’ve been very precise with our economy, so that Mr. Bennet could pay for dowries for the other girls. But I do not see how that matters, since you have married twice without any dowry. Oh, poor Wickham! I always liked him.”
Elizabeth glanced with some concern towards Mr. Darcy and Georgiana. Georgiana was far enough away, talking with Mary and Kitty.
Darcy clearly had been able to hear, but as he saw her looking to see his reaction, he flashed a comforting smile.
“I beg you, Mama, say nothing about my former husband. His memory is not in my good graces, and I have seen him buried.”
“Oh, very well! But I am sure that he never would have spent all that money and abandoned you if you had not made his life unbearable—you must not do anything of the sort with your new husband, especially since he is so rich. Very rich men are particular about their expectations.”
“Yes, well, Mama.” Elizabeth pulled her shoulders back, lifted her chin up and smiled. “I assure you; I shall be exactly the wife that I think I ought to be.”
Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand and kissed it. “Mrs. Darcy, we have now spent time enough together that you can say something upon the matter. Am I so very particular about my expectations?”
She laughed. “Oh, very particular. But my particularities seem to be the ones that meet your expectations.”