CHAPTER 38 After the Funeral
Later that day, Elizabeth and Darcy sat in the drawing room of Longbourn with Jane, Bingley and her two uncles.
Her mother had gone upstairs to her room to rest, while Mary and Kitty went to Netherfield with Georgie and Diana.
The earl and countess, Lady Catherine, Anne and Richard had left for London.
They spoke of the purchase of Purvis Lodge which had previously been discussed with Mrs. Bennet.
In the end, it was Darcy and Bingley who would do the actual purchasing, while Mr. Gardiner would arrange for the renovations.
Mr. Philips would take care of all the legal documents and the negotiation of the terms. They estimated that it would take approximately three months before the Bennets could move in.
All the while, Elizabeth kept thinking about Darcy and the days after his father died.
She knew, from what Lady Matlock had said, about his life as a young master of an estate.
But only today did she finally realise how uncertain he must have felt.
How vulnerable. She had thought, when they first met, that he was highhanded, used to getting his own way, and never cared about the wishes of others.
But today’s revelations allowed her to understand that he was simply used to making decisions alone.
And how only the best intentions ever guided him.
They had a quiet family dinner at Longbourn, then afterwards gathered in the drawing room and broke up into smaller groups.
She felt more lighthearted now, as if she had gained a small summit and was finally looking downward.
Georgiana and Mary played the pianoforte, alternating at the instrument and sometimes playing duets.
Kitty and Diana sat at a table looking at fashion plates and discussing the balls at Almack’s (which Diana said were incredibly boring.) Elizabeth and Jane sat with their mother and Bingley as she made tentative plans for their double wedding in the fall.
Darcy and Mr. Gardiner sat in two armchairs across from one another and discussed the trout stream at Pemberley.
At some point the subject of Lydia’s wedding came up and Kitty asked their mother if Lydia would be provided with a trousseau.
“Oh, I have not even thought of that,” said Mrs. Bennet, “so much has happened lately. What think you, Brother?”
Mr. Gardiner stood up and went to sit by his sister while Elizabeth took the opportunity to sit beside her betrothed.
“I suppose I could provide Lydia with a trousseau of sorts,” he said. “Though I do hate to reward such irresponsible behaviour with presents.”
“I tend to agree,” said Mrs. Bennet quietly.
“Do you not love Lydia anymore, Mamma?” asked Kitty, looking upset.
“Of course, I still love her! I shall always love all of you no matter what you do.” She paused, then smiled sardonically, in a manner that reminded Elizabeth of her father. “Did I not still love Lizzy even when she refused Mr. Collins?”
“Mamma!” said Elizabeth.
“I was only teasing, Lizzy…” said Mrs. Bennet with a laugh, “as a tribute to your father.”
Elizabeth’s mouth hung open while Darcy asked, “Mr. Collins proposed and you refused him?”
“She did,” said Kitty, now smiling.
“Tell us about it,” said Diana.
“There is not much to tell,” said Elizabeth.
“Oh, but there is,” said Kitty. “For he told Lizzy that almost from the moment he set foot at Longbourn, he had singled her out as the companion of his future life!”
“Did he?”
“Oh, yes - even though he initially chose Jane. But Mamma stated that Jane was likely to be soon engaged and hinted that he should turn his attentions to Lizzy.”
“And who was Jane soon to be engaged to?” asked Bingley with a grin.
“Charles!” said Jane. “You are embarrassing me.”
“Sorry, dearest…” said Bingley sheepishly, “but it would just make me happy to know that we were linked somehow…even then.”
Jane smiled. “Well, of course, it was you.”
“But how did you answer him?” Darcy asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes merrily. “I refused him of course.”
“Would you mind providing us with some additional details?” asked Diana. “We are family now, you know.”
“Come on, Lizzy, tell us,” said Kitty.
Elizabeth looked at the expectant faces of her family which now included Darcy, Bingley, Georgiana and Diana, and wondered if she could sacrifice a little bit of Mr. Collins’s dignity in order to entertain them.
“You may as well, Lizzy,” said Mr. Gardiner. “Your hesitation just makes us all the more curious, and it would be rude now not to comply.”
“Oh, very well,” said Elizabeth, rolling her eyes. “I thanked him for the honour of his proposal, but stated that it would be impossible for me to accept. I thought he would desist but…”
“Yes?” asked Darcy.
Elizabeth winced. “But he said he was by no means dissuaded because he understood that it was the practice of elegant females to refuse a man a few times whom they secretly mean to accept!”
“The practice of elegant females!” cried Diana.
“Yes, in order to increase the man’s…ardour.”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Oh, Lord!” said Diana. “I can just imagine Mr. Collins saying that. So, then what?”
“So then I told him that I was a rational creature and was certainly not in the habit of playing with a decent man’s affection.”
“And then?”
“He said I was uniformly delightful and assumed that I would accept him once my father sanctioned the match. I asked him why he still would not believe me and he told me that I could not possibly mean to refuse him because my prospects were quite meagre and that another offer of marriage would likely never be made to me again. Naturally, I left.”
“And Darcy?” asked Diana.
“What about Darcy?”
“Will you tell us how he proposed? I would greatly like to know.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I shall not tell you because it is between him and me.” She took a glance at Darcy and added, “But it was sweet and to the point and I cannot imagine a better proposal.” She smiled reminiscently at those words that had haunted her dreams during the first part of her illness.
“Hmm…” said Mrs. Bennet, whose attention was now solely focused on Elizabeth. “I suppose you are allowed your secrets, Lizzy.”
Later, when she stood under the portico with Darcy as his party said their farewells just inside the house, he asked her a question.
“You said my proposal was sweet and to the point?”
She smiled. “Yes, I did. Do you not agree with me?”
“Are you referring to my proposal in the drawing room of Rosings?”
“No, I am referring to the one in Hunsford.”
“Hunsford!” he cried. “But that was atrocious.”
“Not all of it was.”
“Which part?”
“‘I love you and wish to marry you,’” she quoted.
He laughed. “Truly? But that was just before you told me I was deluded. That of course you would not - ”
“Please, Darcy,” she interrupted, “do not repeat what I said that day. At least not that part. You do not know how much I regretted it.”
“Very well, I shall endeavour not to mention it again.”
They walked forward and waited further up the drive. She saw that Bingley, Diana and Georgiana were now outside the house talking with a few members of her family.
“Nevertheless,” she continued, “if you could take those words, and forget everything that came before them, then you might even describe the proposal as simple…and eloquent.” She grinned. “You might even say that it was…perfect.”
“Hmmm…” he said. Then repeated, “I love you and wish to marry you. It does have a nice ring to it.”
“So much better than telling me that I have been singled out as the companion of your future life.”
“Yes,” agreed Darcy. “Mine has so much more simple eloquence, as you say. Is that why you accepted me instead of Collins?”
“No,” she answered. “It was because I too loved you and wished to marry you.”