Chapter 23
“I confess I did not like my grandson’s attitude this evening,” the duchess told Thomas after they had retired for the night.
He did not speak for a long time, and Henrietta continued.
“It is obvious that he did not enjoy the benefit of my daughter’s education for very long.”
“When did he say that his mother died?”
“Ten years ago.”
“Yes, it is understandable. He received a good education during the first ten years of his life, but it is not polished enough to meet the standards of this society.”
“I am so sorry that he sometimes seemed lost.”
The sadness and regret in her voice made Thomas sit beside her and take her into his arms.
“We have discussed a million times that we would not let the past spoil our future. You promised.”
“I know. I am trying so hard to be happy with what we have.”
“I do not want you to try. Happiness is not something to be achieved by effort; it is a state of soul and mind. Please do not make any effort on my account. I am happy merely to be near you, and joining you each night in our apartment is the moment I await all day long.”
“When do you think we will announce that we are married?” she asked, looking at him from the comfort of his embrace with the expression he had remembered for fifty years. His Henrietta, gazing at him with love and confidence.
“I see no point in hiding such a happy event. My nieces will need you a little while longer, but I am certain that next spring we shall retire to our house in Luton forever.”
“I wonder what will happen to Andrew,” she said, and her concern was evident.
“He will be fine. We shall take care of him. I only hope that he will not persuade Elizabeth to marry him.”
“Why? Do you not want to be related in that way?”
“Of course I do. It would be marvellous to have common grandchildren, though not from Elizabeth and Andrew. There is Kitty or Lydia, both charming young ladies who could make him happy—”
“But not Elizabeth,” she said yet her voice was far from angry as she had complete confidence in him and his decisions.
“No, I am scared but not surprised that he has focused his attention on her. She is, after all, the most interesting young lady he has ever met, yet he is not in love with her. Not the way Darcy is. While Elizabeth…I am confused that she has accepted his attention after only a few days, while she loves Darcy.”
“Are you sure she does?”
“Yes. In their case, it is complicated. Everything will change the moment they both accept that the feeling between them has only one name. It is love. Not friendship, amity, or companionship…love.”
“As we have always had!” she murmured.
“Yes, but I must stop you, dearest. Let us consider that our love is as new as our marriage. Come, let us forget everything except ourselves, these two youthful old people still in love.”
“One more thing. If what you said is true and she loves Mr Darcy, even if she is not wholly aware of the sentiment, then why has she hesitated since she met Andrew?”
Thomas answered with a smile and a tender gesture. After fifty years, he could look upon his loss in this way. Henrietta had delicately expressed a fear that Elizabeth and Darcy might stand where they once had stood, two young people separated by another person’s intervention.
“My love, you left me for a powerful and wealthy duke, whilst Andrew is a young gentleman from a distant little village with no impressive education or fortune.”
The duchess blushed at his frankness. Yet it was precisely what she expected from their love and marriage—confidence and sincerity.
“I adore it when you blush and feel guilty,” he murmured, kissing her hand.
“You can be a cruel gentleman,” she replied, but her beautiful smile contradicted her words. She admired him as much as she loved him.
“Perhaps, living in the desert makes a man less interested in details. Well, to answer you, this problem torments me as well. Elizabeth is dependable and sincere, and it is not her way to play with the sentiments of others.”
“In fact, my dear, take a woman’s experience: we appreciate when men compete for our affection.”
“I am sure you are right, but behind her fondness for Andrew, there is something else. I am afraid that she considers Mr Darcy too attached to London society.”
“And that is a bad thing? He is not quite a member of the ton, though he is received in the better houses. How can that be bad?”
“I believe that, in the past, she developed a kind of disdain for London society. It was not entirely undeserved, I admit, though perhaps a little too acerbic. Sadly, Mr Darcy only contributed to that impression at the beginning of their acquaintance. She still relies on it and, in some measure, refuses to see the reality. The people you know and those Mr Darcy associates with are much the same as those one would find in Hertfordshire, Kent, or Derbyshire. Neither better nor worse. She must give them a chance—”
“And marry Mr Darcy?”
“Yes!”
“Then you have to speak to him,” the duchess declared.
“To him?” he asked rather surprised looking at her.
“Yes. I am beginning to understand that Elizabeth is a little too stubborn to change her views in so short a time. You must tell him everything and allow him to understand the cause of your niece’s behaviour and…”
“And, dearest?” he asked, certain that the duchess had more to say.
“And from now on, we should create opportunities for them to be alone. Remember how much time we had to ourselves at home?”
“Yes, you are right. They need some time together, without other people around them,” said Thomas with a smile.
“What do you have in mind?”
“Tomorrow night we are invited to dine with the Gardiners, and I intend to take Elizabeth with us whilst Mr Kendall accompanies Mrs Bennet and the young ladies.”
“And?”
“And Tom will see to it that they arrive a good half hour after us!”
“Will Mr Darcy be present at that dinner?”
“Yes, I must say that Mrs Gardiner is a useful conspirator.”
His tone was light. He had already decided that neutrality was impossible in the growing rivalry between the two gentlemen.
“You are taking Mr Darcy’s part by doing this.”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure that you are not influenced by our—”
She did not dare continue.
When they decided to marry, they also agreed not to speak of their separation again. The duchess had endured a terrible fate, and Thomas believed that she had paid heavily for her mistake, whilst he had enjoyed a glamorous life of adventure that compensated, in part, for his loss.
“No, dearest,” he replied after a long silence, “I dare to intervene in their relationship because I have disrupted Elizabeth’s life.
In a happy way, certainly, but it remains a disruption.
She had a future that was, in a manner, established, and suddenly everything changed.
Without me, Mr Darcy would have proposed at the same time as Mr Bingley, and by now they would have had a double wedding. ”
“Are you angry that I am taking Mr Darcy’s side?” he asked.
The situation was unusual, and one of the gentlemen involved was her grandson.
“No. You see, my difficult life dulled my feelings. Afraid and sad, I forgot how to love intensely, whilst your life, full and wonderful, taught you to experience your feelings fully. I am astonished by your intervention in Elizabeth’s life, a little frightened perhaps, but from my quiet corner I admire everything you are doing. ”
“Thank you, my love. As you suspect, I dearly love my niece for her intelligence and her way of seeing the world around her. Those very qualities, on this occasion, have not served her particularly well. She reflects too much when happiness stands before her. I have only succeeded in making a brave man fearful and a witty lady hesitant. And it is Elizabeth and Darcy’s love that has suffered most.
“They love each other, yet there is a wall between them, and I fear that neither of them knows how to tear it down. If there is a resemblance to our story, it is the love. Their love is strong on both sides. They are suited to each other because their qualities complement one another, and also because they already know and will tolerate each other’s faults. ”
“Splendid, splendid, my love, then help them tear down the wall and find each other now, not fifty years from now!”