Chapter 27 Batten Down the Hatches
“I am searching for my wife. Have you seen Mrs Darcy?” Darcy asked a maid.
Elizabeth giggled like a girl not yet out of the nursery.
“Silly man! I know there is a great deal of fabric and feathers, but my face is visible atop this ridiculous gown,” she chided.
She swung her hips to make her court dress dance in the mirror. It was the final fitting, and it looked splendid, if not particularly comfortable. “At least I can walk. Forwards. Walking backwards with this long train is a hazardous endeavour.”
“I have every confidence in you,” her husband assured her. “If not, we might consider moving to America.”
“We are at war with America,” Elizabeth reminded him.
“Yes. I forgot for a moment.”
“Do you think Mr Bingley and Jane have returned from Scotland yet? I long to see Jane. This is the longest we have ever been separated. Could we travel to Netherfield after our audience with Queen Charlotte?”
“That will not be necessary. Bingley promised to stop at Darcy House on his way home. I have extended an invitation for them both to stay there.”
“You think of everything,” Elizabeth fawned and kissed his cheek.
“I do not deserve your praise. I thought only of our sisters. Neither Georgiana nor Mary was happy to be foisted upon relatives during my absence. I had to promise it would be of short duration, engaging Bingley and Jane to keep them at home until my return.”
A pang clenched her chest. Not for her own sake but for her sister.
“Poor Jane! What she will suffer when she discovers that we Bennets are not welcomed by the bon ton. Is she, who has never injured a soul in her life, to be subjected to derision and scorn? I hope that Her Majesty can be worked upon and that Jane will never know about our troubles. Will you promise never to tell her?”
“You want me to keep our ignominy from Mrs Bingley?”
“Yes.”
Darcy’s eyebrows rose towards his hair. “Miss Bingley?”
Elizabeth cheeks were instantly set ablaze. “You are right. It cannot be concealed. Miss Bingley will surely gloat and freely expound upon my lampooning until well after Jane tires of hearing about it.”
Their privacy was disrupted by a maid, who notified them that they were both to attend Lady Louise as soon as possible. Elizabeth changed out of her court dress and, together, they found her grandmother.
Lady Louise wore a slight smile and sparkling eyes. Her back was straight as she regarded them.
“I have great news to impart. Queen Charlotte has accepted my request. We have been given an audience on the eleventh of August, at her summer residence, but it is only to be you and me, Elizabeth. The count has agreed to travel with us as he has been granted an audience with the prince and will receive his due fanfare as a foreign visitor of noble birth. That should set the tongues wagging in a different direction from before.”
“I hope so, Grandmother.”
The good news was shared amongst the rest of their family during dinner.
Lydia was naturally pleased. “Wonderful!” she exclaimed. “Since my presence is not needed, I would prefer to remain here.” She stole a glance at Lord Ritterhof, Count Reimarus’s son.
The two were much alike in disposition, preferring parties and balls to quiet pursuits.
“Not while Lord Ritterhof is in residence,” Lady Louise declared.
“I can move to my apartment in Rendsburg while you are away,” Lord Ritterhof suggested, making it clear that he would very much enjoy Lydia’s company.
“She cannot remain here alone,” Elizabeth protested. Lydia was improving, but she was not yet mature enough to be left unchaperoned.
“I suppose I could ask Gertrude, the Countess of Wedel-Jarlsberg,” Lady Louise mused aloud.
The countess was her younger sister and utterly trustworthy.