Chapter 15
Darcy
The morning dawned clear but chilly, and the overnight cold snap had brought sudden colour to the trees. Darcy took it as a good omen as he prepared to meet Elizabeth with a picnic breakfast. He made certain to take a cosy blanket as well as the quilt and foodstuffs.
“Happy Autumn, William,” Elizabeth said when he arrived almost simultaneously with her.
“It is lovely this morning, is it not?” he asked.
She beamed brighter than the pale sun, and he added, “Not, of course, nearly as lovely as you.”
Rogers was standing discreetly at the bend, so he could just see Elizabeth, and Darcy him, and when Darcy nodded to him, he disappeared, heading back to Longbourn.
Darcy had arranged with the body-guard that, since there was little danger to Elizabeth now that Bingley had left the area—as vouched for by Stanley’s discreet tail as the man rode towards London—Rogers would hand her off to Darcy, and vice versa, and that he would use the smaller of Darcy’s carriages to convey the two eldest Bennet daughters to and from Netherfield during the house party.
Responding to his compliment, Elizabeth said, “Come on, smooth talker, let us reach the top so I may properly respond to you.”
Luckily for Darcy, her response would not be considered very proper by many.
But what it lacked in propriety was made up for in effort and emotion.
He had to stay her hands and hips a few times lest he make a mess, but every time he acted so, he smiled wider than before.
Because: “Just seven more days, my lovely Lizzy.”
Later, she sat between his legs, and he held the blanket around them both. She laid her head on his chest and asked, “Your friends will be coming to Netherfield today and tomorrow, correct?”
“You are quite right. Arthur Moore—or, I should say, Viscount Wessex—will arrive tonight, and Robert and Miss Williams will arrive tomorrow noontime, along with another party I do not know well, a young man and his two female cousins.
“I hope the house party will not mean no early mornings together.”
Darcy shook his head emphatically. “It definitely will not eliminate our morning visits, although I believe that we will not tarry quite so long. Everyone knows I did not issue the invitations, and the Hursts have agreed to be the hosts. And I imagine that not many will appear in public rooms before I return, in any case.”
“And will Mr Johnson come for the wedding breakfast?”
“Yes, Hugh Wright and Johnson will come together; they are planning on arriving the afternoon before the wedding, as are the Matlocks, including my cousin Reggie.”
Elizabeth nodded. “Most of my friends will come, as well—Longbourn will host one of them, along with the Gardiners; one of my friends will room with her father at the inn; and three of my friends are supposed to be staying at Netherfield. Is that still correct?”
Darcy cast his eyes upward as he recalled Mrs Nicholls’s guest list. “The Honourable Amelia Robinson, Lady Grace, and Miss Julia Allington, correct?”
“That is right. They will be coming together two days before the wedding.”
“It is such an enormous event!” he said. “Not very fashionable, of course, but I cannot help but like the idea of such a friendly and varied group of people.”
“We shall start a new fashion, I am certain of it.”
They both laughed at the tease, but Darcy truly did wonder if all the attention he had garnered from young ladies and their eager mothers over the past four years would ensure enough interest in his country wedding that some, at least, would wish to emulate it.
It did not matter much to him if members of the ton ignored his wedding, or praised it, or denigrated it—although he would speak up immediately if anyone dared to denigrate Elizabeth!
The Darcys were wealthy enough to be labeled eccentric rather than unfashionable, and possibly wealthy enough to start a new trend.
He wagged a mental finger at the arrogant tilt of his thoughts and then, consulting the angle of the sun, suggested that they start down the hill.
Walking Gulltoppr towards Longbourn, Darcy asked, “Will you come today to meet with Mrs Hurst regarding the guests’ activities and meals? And then greet and dine with Wessex? Remember, one reason for my friends to come is to better know you.”
“I will come if you wish it. Tell me when, and Rogers and I shall appear as ordered. Of course, I will invite Jane. It would not do to suddenly begin to exclude her.”
“Of course not. I hope to see you arrive either shortly before or after luncheon, depending on how long your mother needs you this morning.”
“If we are to stay for dinner,” Elizabeth said, “I believe we will come after luncheon. Perhaps one in the afternoon would be suitable.”
“I look forward to it.” They had reached Longbourn, and when Rogers appeared, Darcy kissed Elizabeth’s hand in farewell.
That morning Darcy met with the Hursts; he thanked them for attempting to protect Elizabeth and for the letter of warning, and he told them that he would always welcome them in his homes.
“However, I will not welcome Bingley nor Miss Bingley. I do not in general exclude people from my properties, but they have both physically attacked Elizabeth’s person; there is no coming back from that.
Therefore, if you attend an event I host, if you come to Darcy House or Pemberley, even if we agree to meet in some public location, I will not put up with the presence of either Bingley. ”
“Believe me, we understand and would likely be even more restrictive if we were in your shoes,” Mrs Hurst said.
Hurst chimed in. “I too am surprised by your forbearance with us, since it is nearly impossible for us to completely sever the connexions to my wife’s sister and brother.”
Darcy informed Mrs Hurst that Elizabeth and Jane would be coming that afternoon to confer on activities and menus, if she would welcome their ideas, and then he asked if they might be added to the dinner that night, alongside Viscount Wessex.
After checking in with Georgiana and Mrs Green, Darcy attended to his business correspondence—dealing that day with matters regarding Pemberley, Oakhaven, and Fraoch Hall—and before he knew it, it was time for the mid-day meal and then the arrival of the Bennet sisters.
The first thing that Elizabeth did upon her arrival at Netherfield was speak very softly yet sincerely to each of the Hursts in turn. He knew she must be thanking them for their aid in dealing with their brother.
Having spoken about both serious matters and ordinary topics such as the weather, a brief silence fell upon the group.
However, Elizabeth livened things up when she suggested playing literary charades with a twist: the performer in a particular round would act out words that rhyme a famous line from Shakespeare.
The idea was to solve the words being pantomimed and then to figure out the rhymed line.
“I will go first,” she said. Then she pantomimed very obvious, very rude chewing. It was not long before Mrs Hurst called out, “Chew!” and Elizabeth gave an enthusiastic approval signal.
Next, she pointed to her own knee, and then pointed to Georgiana’s knee; the young girl immediately guessed, “Knee!”
And Hurst said, “To be or not to be!”—which turned out to be the quote Elizabeth had chosen.
Everyone laughed at how quickly he had figured it out. Elizabeth teased, “I am utterly crushed; I was so looking forward to acting out ‘Chew knee, pour hot blue tea.’”
Jane raised her eyebrows, saying, “Oh dear, I fear that this game will be quite difficult for me. I suppose I am not used to thinking up rhymes.”
“Well, try it now, Jane,” Elizabeth said.
She took a deep breath and then stood. “I will try,” she said, sounding determined.
She held up four fingers, and Elizabeth said, “The fourth word?” Jane nodded and began to mime having pain in her finger and then, pretending that two of her fingers on her other hand were tweezers, she elaborately plucked out an imaginary something; she held up her “injured” finger with a smile.
Elizabeth suggested tweezers and Mrs Hurst splinter.
Jane indicated that the second guess was correct, and Darcy immediately said, “Now is the winter of our discontent.”
Jane looked relieved. “I suppose I chose too hard a quote. I was uncertain how I could act out cow, or fizz. I supposed I could get someone to say glove and then flower, so I hoped that splinter glove flower would help someone recognise winter of our.
“You were brilliant, Jane, going straight to the fourth word. Well done!” Elizabeth clapped.
After another half hour of laughing and rhyming, everyone had to concede that Hurst was the expert quote-smith, although Elizabeth and Darcy knew plenty as well.
Georgiana had spent most of her time giggling, although she made several correct guesses along the way; she declined to take on the role of actor for a round.
Darcy said, “I believe my favourite was ‘See star touch puff as screams star braid glove.’”
Mrs Hurst shook her head. “That one was so difficult. I am partial to the easiest: ‘Ball hat blisters fizz hot cold.’”
Jane laughed and said, “Mine was the only one in which just one word solved the whole. My brilliant strategy, added to Mr Darcy’s immense brain power, transformed splinter into, ‘Now is the winter of our discontent.’”
“Call me Darcy,” he suggested. He had made the same suggestion several times since he and Elizabeth became formally engaged, and he called her Jane, but she continued to “forget.”
“Apologies,” she murmured.
The ladies decided it was time to begin the work on menus and activities for the house party, and Georgiana returned to Mrs Green to practice the pianoforte.
Darcy and Hurst ended up having a quotation battle of their own, quoting lines of poetry and challenging the other to name the poet.
They were well matched; each knew the poet more often than not, but each gravelled the other four times.