Chapter 27
Early in the morning before their double weddings, Jane and Mary sat and had a steaming cup of tea, toast, and jam with Charlotte and Elizabeth.
The previous night Elizabeth and her husband had slept at Longbourn so she would be close to her sisters.
“I am too excited to eat or drink,” Mary admitted.
“It is highly recommended; ask Eliza,” Charlotte pointed out.
“If you do not eat and drink something now, it will be many hours before you do, and neither of you wish to faint from hunger during the ceremony or wedding breakfast, do you?” Both Jane and Mary began to eat and drink what had been sent up for them.
It was not a large meal, but it would tide them over until the wedding breakfast. As this wedding had a larger crowd, including some from Town, the wedding breakfast would be held in Netherfield Park’s ballroom.
“I cannot wait to be married to Andrew,” Jane stated dreamily. “He is the ideal man for me.”
“As is Richard for me,” Mary claimed.
“And William for me,” Elizabeth added.
“Your father is perfect for me,” Charlotte admitted.
“We know you two do well together,” Elizabeth smiled at her friend.
“It is more than that, remember when I used to claim I was not romantic?” Charlotte asked.
“You have fallen in love with Papa,” Mary nodded, all of them had seen it happening over the months they had been under the same roof. “We are not blind, Charlotte, we have known for some time now.”
“And if the way I have seen him look at you, I am sure Papa has fallen in love with you as well, Charlotte,” Jane added. “Why do you and Papa not renew your vows as now you will both mean every single part of them?”
Charlotte’s blush of pleasure was all the three sisters needed to see Jane’s suggestion was one that gave Charlotte pleasure.
There would be another family wedding to plan soon enough, even if it were just to renew their vows.
All three could not have been happier their father had found love in his marriage.
His having done so would make their leaving Longbourn that much easier for him as well as them.
It was a woman’s lot, after all, to leave her childhood home to live with her husband when she married.
“Charlotte, you were the best thing that could have happened to our family,” Jane told her stepmother on behalf of all of her sisters.
“Enough compliments, it is not my day. It is time for you two to get dressed. Come Eliza, you will return with Kitty to help the brides as needed after their baths.” Charlotte and Elizabeth stood and left the bedchamber. Elizabeth was to stand up with Jane while Kitty would do the honours for Mary.
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It was Richard’s turn to make sure William had the rings safely in his pocket, as the latter would be standing up for him. Andrew had done the same with his good friend Lord Harry Smythe, the Earl of Granville, who would do the honours for him.
“It is so much more relaxing for me than when I was the groom,” Darcy told his cousin Richard.
“I can now truly sympathise with you for the day you were married, William. I apologise for all the ribbing I visited on you in the days leading up to your wedding, and it speaks well of your character you did not feel the need to repay me in kind—too much,” Richard slapped his cousin on the back.
Darcy had returned from Longbourn to spend time with his cousins—soon to be brothers—before the wedding ceremony.
Just as had happened at Longbourn, the men at Netherfield Park had insisted the two grooms have some sustenance with tea and coffee so no one would be distracted from the ceremony by growling bellies.
“Granville, did I hear you have finally found a lady worthy of your attention?” Darcy asked.
“Yes Darcy, you did. I am betrothed to Lady Marie Rhys-Davies, the youngest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford. We will marry at the end of March at St. George’s in Town; you will all receive your invitations in due course.
” Lord Harry Smythe was congratulated heartily by the men.
“The announcement will appear in The Times in the next day or two. As her mother is cousin to the Queen, we needed their Royal Highness’s approval before the notice was seen in the papers. ”
“Enough gossip,” Lord Matlock interjected. “It is time, Sons. I could not be prouder of you two and your choice of brides. You have both selected jewels of the first order, as did William before you. I am sure you will both be extremely happy in your married lives.”
“Thank you, Father,” the Fitzwilliam brothers chorused.
“Let us depart; it would not do to be late to your own weddings,” Darcy informed them as he stood and moved toward the door.
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Mr. Dudley stood speaking to the two grooms and the men standing up with them as he waited for a signal the brides were present in the vestibule. “I assume the next wedding service you perform will be the most pleasurable for you,” Darcy surmised.
“You are half-right, Mr. Darcy. I could not be happier for Matti to be marrying Franklin; however, as I will be the one giving the bride away, the curate from St. Alfred’s will have the honour of performing the service,” Dudley shared.
“I will be forever grateful to your wife, Mrs. Bennet, and Miss Bennet, who assisted Matti in her reconsideration of her choice of a partner in life.”
“It seems to me the Lucas heir is as grateful as you are,” Richard observed. Just then, Charlotte entered the church and nodded to Mr. Dudley.
The men all took their positions, watching as Kitty Bennet walked up the aisle.
When she was just past the halfway mark, Elizabeth Darcy started her walk towards the altar and Darcy was mesmerised.
With the early morning sun streaming through the windows behind her, it seemed as if she had a halo surrounding her.
Once Kitty stood on Richard’s side to the left of the altar and Elizabeth was next to Andrew on the right, the doors opened again, and the two brides entered on their father’s arms as the congregation rose. Jane was on Bennet’s right side, and Mary on his left.
Jane was a vision in a white satin dress with sleeves which ended above her elbows, and Mary’s dress was in the same style, in cream.
Jane wore a necklace Andrew had presented her which had a sapphire in the necklace’s centre and matching earbobs.
Richard had presented Mary with a similar piece with rubies, as she preferred.
Both Andrew and Richard were transfixed by the vision of his bride. Darcy was able to return the favour, subtly nudging Richard to get him moving toward his bride after her father kissed Mary’s cheek. The Earl of Granville chucked to himself when he needed to employ the same tactic for Andrew.
The Earl and Countess, seated in the front pew across from the Bennets, beamed with happiness and pride for the love matches their sons had made, excited to gain the long-awaited daughters at last.
Once the two couples made their way to the place in front of the Reverend, Mr. Dudley commenced the marriage rituals. Andrew and Jane said their vows and exchanged rings first, Richard and Mary followed with theirs.
Each couple repeated their vows in strong clear voices, and when Mr. Dudley asked if any knew just cause why the couples should not marry, there was not a sound in response.
The Reverend intoned: “Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder.” Then the final prayer and benediction was given, and it was done.
The two sets of newlyweds, attended by those who stood up for them, followed Mr. Dudley to the vestry where they signed the register, witnessed by their attendants.
The four witnesses withdrew, but rather than the usual delay for a moment of quiet, they were followed out almost immediately by the Jane and Andrew and Mary and Richard.
There was, after all, a three-mile carriage ride to the wedding breakfast. Each couple would be alone in their own coach.
On returning from the vestry, the newlyweds were mobbed by their family and closest friends. The three Lucas sons offered their services to their new nephews in case they needed any sort of advice from the older and wiser uncles, but Mariah was much too intimidated by both grooms to jest with them.
“You will be very happy women,” Bennet stated as he hugged Jane and then Mary in turn.
“I knew you two could not be such good girls for nothing,” Charlotte wished them happy. “You have both married men who value and respect you. God has been very good to the Bennet family to gift you two and Lizzy with such honourable and good men.”
“I had always intended to be the first to marry,” Lydia admitted to her sisters and stepmother. “It was such a childish and petulant wish, and I would have thrown my life away for something I was truly not ready for,” Lydia owned.
“It is a mark of your growing maturity that you are able to see that in yourself, Lyddie,” Jane hugged her tightly, whispering that she was proud of her sister.
Lydia moved on to wish her new brothers joy, and then it was Kitty’s turn to hug her newly married sisters.
“All I can hope is to find a man as good as the ones you both have married,” she looked to Elizabeth, “and as you have married, Lizzy.”
“When the time is right, I am sure you will find the perfect man for yourself, Kitty,” Mary squeezed Kitty’s hand.
“Are you ready to travel with William, Gigi, and me to Pemberley, Kitty?” Elizabeth asked.
“I am. I believe the footmen were loading my trunks just after we left for the church,” Kitty confirmed.
“It is time to depart,” Bennet pointed out.
The two brides and grooms gave their family and friends ten minutes’ start before they boarded their coaches. On the way to Netherfield Park with blinds drawn, each couple took advantage of the privacy lacking in the vestry to revel in their happiness.
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