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Chapter 16
The next morning Dr. Murphy, Dr. Porter and Elizabeth were busily directing the embarkment of the wounded on the frigate that was to carry them back home, while Darcy was supervising the loading of the supplies for their sea voyage.
The vessel had not been designed for passengers but its cargo space has been outfitted with hammocks for the convalescing men. The captain graciously gave up his cabin to Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. It was very small but it was the only private chamber on the ship.
On the morning of the fourth of January, Elizabeth was standing on the deck, flanked by her husband and her new cousin.
“It is almost three years since I left England” she whispered as she laid her hands on the railing. “I recall watching that shore recede from my view and wondering what my future held for me.”
“I was thinking the same when I first embarked on this ship to collect my errant cousin” Darcy chuckled, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her small and delicate frame into his much more massive one, so that her back was leaning against his broad chest. “I never dreamed that I will meet my wife there. I was prepared for meeting with death, misery and destruction but I was utterly unprepared for meeting you my love.”
“I did not expect to ever get married” she whispered. “Most men run in the other direction after just one conversation with me” she giggled softly, but Darcy could hear the insecurity beneath her laughter and he tightened his embrace.
“I knew that the two of you were perfect for each other the moment I made your acquaintance Bella” Fitzwilliam spoke unexpectedly, smiling at his new cousin. “I knew that Darce here will be enthralled to meet a lady who could match his wit for a change. I dare say, he was quite sick of the simpering and fawning that surrounded him ever since he set his feet out in society.”
“And you were right Cuz, as you will undoubtedly claim that you always are” Darcy quipped. “We are almost home dearest. I can hardly wait to introduce Georgie to you. I must warn you though that she is extremely shy.”
---$---
Although the ship moored mid-morning in the docks of London, it was late afternoon by the time when Elizabeth, Darcy and Fitzwilliam finally boarded the hackney headed for Darcy House, as Elizabeth insisted to see the more severely wounded offboarded and carted off to the nearest hospitals.
“Darce, if you will put up with me, I believe that I shall impose on your hospitality, take a two days long bath and then sleep for at least a week after that.”
“Darcy House now has a mistress” Darcy chuckled. “It is her benevolence that you must apply to, not mine.”
“Although I suspect that my new home is more foreign to me than it is to you Richard, you are very welcome to it for as long as you wish it” Elizabeth gave Fitzwilliam a warm smile while affectionately squeezing her husband’s hand.
“As long as you stay reasonably away from the brandy” Darcy warned with a mock frown, eliciting a big grin from his cousin and a merry giggle from his wife.
“I think that I share the good Colonel’s sentiments though” Elizabeth gave a big yawn. “I think I shall spend the next few days in a bathtub.”
---$---
Darcy House’s staff was surprised but elated that their master had finally, albeit quite unexpectedly returned.
“Master! We did not know when to expect you back but we are overjoyed that you have returned safe and well” Cornwell, Darcy House’s seasoned butler said with a rare show of emotion. He heartily welcomed Col. Fitzwilliam too, expressing his joy at seeing him well. He curiously eyed the young lady whom the master escorted into the house but, like a well-trained servant, he made no remark on it.
“It is good to be home Cornwell and I do apologize, it seems that we outran the post so my letter announcing our return shall probably arrive soon” Darcy grinned, quickly handing over his hat, gloves and coat to a waiting footman, then proceeded to help Elizabeth with her outerwear.
“Elizabeth, allow me to introduce your butler to you. This is Cornwell and he has been Darcy House’s butler from before I was born. Cornwell, this is Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy, your new mistress.”
Elizabeth saw the old retainer warily taking in her appearance for a few moments before giving her the most perfect bow. “I am at your service Madam. Mrs. Cornwell will see to your comfort momentarily.”
Elizabeth could not help noticing the relieved look on the old butler’s face as he sized her up, and she was wondering at the meaning of it. “Thank you Mr. Cornwell” she nodded smiling.
“Is Georgie home?” Darcy asked, eager to see his sister.
“Miss Darcy retired to rest before dinner, sir” the butler said with a hint of a smile, “but I am certain that she will be overjoyed to see you safely back home.”
“I think we should do the same?” Elizabeth smiled at Darcy. “I believe we all can do with a bit of refreshing and some rest. Mr. Cornwell, if you could please ask Mrs. Cornwell to arrange for tea and hot water to be sent up to our chambers, it would be greatly appreciated” she turned to the butler with a warm smile.
“Of course Madam” the butler gave her another proper bow, then he watched the trio ascending the stairs towards the family rooms with a look of satisfaction suffusing his features. “Much better than Miss Bingley” he muttered.
---$---
Mr. Bennet tossed sleeplessly around in his cold bed. The fire was burning low but he had neither the will nor the energy to stir it or set another log on it.
He had precious little sleep since before Christmas. Although Gardiner assured him that Lizzy was marrying a good man, he gave him precious few details as to whom she was marrying and what kind of a man her groom was. He knew that it was probably Lizzy who asked her aunt and uncle to be as tight lipped as possible about her upcoming marriage and, given her mother’s love of gossip, he was not overly surprised by it. But still, Gardiner might have given at least him some more information in the privacy of his book room. He knew that his brother-in-law was in fact punishing him for his cowardice of choosing to send Lizzy away rather than grab the reins of his household and in all honesty, he could not fully blame him... He had regretted that decision as soon as he spoke those words to Lizzy in his library, almost three years ago. He had seen the utter disappointment and hurt in his beloved daughter’s eyes.
Jane and Mary’s bitterness and censure of their mother’s behaviour ever since Lizzy left Longbourn did not escape his notice. The fact that even sweet Jane who could not think meanly of anyone censured her mother and himself showed him the depth of their contemptibleness. Kitty and Lydia were still too young to understand that their parents’ behaviour did them no good, but even Kitty seemed to side more and more with her older sisters than with her mother.
His little girls were now grown up and no longer blind to their parents’ failings, and they were many. With a bitter chuckle he thought that in a few short years they will all marry and leave him and his wife alone with each other. The prospect did not appeal to him at all. At least while they still called Longbourn home, they were there to distract Mrs. Bennet. He shuddered to think how it will be when she will not have the girls there to focus on.
His Lizzy was the first to marry and leave them, this time irrevocably. It rankled him that he knew nothing about her intended, not even his name, but he was sure that he was a good, outstanding and honourable man. Lizzy would accept nothing less. She will be busy building her own family, her own life, probably as far from him and her mother as possible. He wondered just how much she will allow them into her life from now on. He suspected that it will be very little. He rued again his past mistakes and that he let his bitterness and disappointment in his own marriage get the better of him.
---$---
“Good morning my love” Darcy gently kissed his lovely wife’s eyelids to coax them to open. “Do you think we can get away with hiding in this room for the rest of the day?” he moved suggestively against her as her eyelids fluttered. She stretched kittenishly, turning towards him and planting a sweet kiss on his lips.
“Mmm” she purred. “As tempting as it sounds, I do not believe so. Did not Richard say that his parents will be visiting in the morning?”
“Confound my cousin” Darcy grumbled. “I knew that we should have just dumped him at Matlock House when we arrived.”
“Georgie was happy to see him” Elizabeth smiled, remembering the young girl’s enthusiasm when she saw her brother and her cousin home. “Do you think…” her voice trailed off.
“Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Henry will come to love you” Darcy assured her. “Maybe not at first I grant you, but they are not as bad as most of the ton and they are actually nice and loving, quite an anomaly in the ton. When they will see how happy we are… you are happy, are you not dearest?” he asked with a bit of nervousness seeping into his voice.
“I am exceedingly happy William and no one can change that as long as I have your love.”
“You shall have it for as long as I live, of that you can be certain” he assured her, then he proceeded to prove his love to her which made them very, very late for breakfast, much to Fitzwilliam’s amusement who spared no wit in mercilessly teasing the young couple, completely ignoring his cousin’s glares and his wife’s blushes.
---$---
Lord and Lady Matlock arrived at Darcy House soon after breakfast time, impatient to see their son who had sustained serious wounds and had them all worried sick.
“Richard!” Lady Rebecca Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock exclaimed as soon as she entered the parlour and saw her son raising to greet them. She flew to him with a most ‘ unladylike’ rush, enfolding him into her arms. “Thank God you are alive and well!” she sobbed clutching him tightly.
“I am well Mother” Fitzwilliam muttered, lovingly hugging her back, “as you can see.”
“Son” Lord Matlock stepped up to them, taking his wife’s place in enfolding his son in a bearhug. “Good to see you Son” he whispered with conspicuously shiny eyes.
“Mother, Father, there is someone I would like you to meet” Fitzwilliam pushed back slightly from his father’s tight clasp. “She is the lady who is in great measure responsible for my recovery as she nursed me back to health, but she is so much more than that. She is…”
“She is Mrs. Darcy” Darcy said from the door where he was standing with Elizabeth on his arm.
The Earl and the Countess turned like one, not only a little shocked by their nephew’s unexpected announcement, taking in the sight of the petite woman who was standing by their nephew.
“Mrs. Darcy?” Lady Matlock asked with widened eyes.
“Nephew, if I knew that you were in search of a wife, I know quite a number of eligible ladies who…” Lord Matlock started but he was quickly cut off by his nephew.
“I was not, Uncle” Darcy smiled at the delicate lady at his side and she smiled up at him. Lady and Lord Matlock did not miss the love shining in the young couple’s eyes when they looked at each other. “Meeting Elizabeth was a stroke of Fate. Seeing her goodness and strength of character showed me what I have been forever looking for but never found in the ladies of the ton.”
“But she is not a lady of the First Circles” Lady Matlock blurted out doubtfully. “She cannot be if she is a nurse. She will not be easily accepted, especially that many will resent her for marrying you, William.”
“We know that Aunt Rebecca, and we will just have to deal with it one day at a time. Besides, we plan to go to Pemberley soon. By the time we return the ton will have had some time to settle down and some other juicy piece of gossip to satisfy their appetite” Darcy grimaced.
“Lord Eastwick will be very disappointed” Lord Matlock shook his head. “He was sure that you will eventually marry Lady Amelia and to be honest, I was not against the match either. I would have very much liked an alliance with her father.”
“I would never have married Lady Amelia” Darcy stated decidedly. “She is a spoiled brat and a shrew to top it. I did see how she talks to all those she considers beneath herself” he said with an apologetic smile at Elizabeth, blushing slightly, “and it is not something I wish for in the Mistress of Pemberley. I would never subject my people to someone as proud and cold as Lady Amelia.”
Once they settled down and his aunt and uncle reluctantly accepted the glass of wine Darcy offered to them, Fitzwilliam and Darcy told Elizabeth’s story to the astounded Lord and Lady Matlock, despite her many blushes and demurring, claiming that she did nothing out of the ordinary.
“You did not want to marry your father’s heir?” Lord Matlock asked incredulously.
“No My Lord. I hardly knew the man. He had just arrived the day before and I knew nothing of his character, nor did I have any kind of feelings for him, just as he obviously could not have any feelings for me after such a short acquaintance. One surely cannot base a marriage on as little as that?”
“One cannot, or maybe I should say one should not but unfortunately many do” Lady Matlock chuckled bitterly. “When was this?”
“It was about three years ago.”
“How old are you my dear, if you do not mind my asking?” Lady Matlock asked kindly.
“I shall be one and twenty in August” Elizabeth blushed.
“He wanted to marry you when you were barely seventeen?” the Countess frowned.
“No. In fact Mr. Collins and I had a very rational discussion about this. It was… it was my mother who insisted that we should marry.”
“And you chose to go away?” Lord Matlock asked, still incredulous of what he was hearing.
“Not immediately and it was not entirely my choice to leave Longbourn, my lord” Elizabeth decided to be perfectly candid, knowing that sooner or later they will eventually get the full story, especially if by any chance they were to meet her mother. “My father thought that some… distance between my mother and myself would be beneficial to his equanimity. As she was bitterly disappointed of not having one of her daughters secure her continuation at Longbourn for as long as she shall live, my mother constantly and… rather loudly expressed her displeasure with the situation. However, when Father suggested that I should visit my aunt and uncle in town so that he could have his quiet at Longbourn undisturbed, I decided that he deserved to be granted that tranquillity for as long as he lives and, knowing that there will be no peace between my mother and I in any near future, I was determined never to return to Longbourn.”
“And you decided to become a nurse” Lord Matlock said softly.
“I have a knack for healing” Elizabeth shrugged smiling. “It is a good skill for a nurse to have. Nurses are needed sir, especially now. It seemed the best thing for me to do.”
“You are one very courageous and, I might add very opinionated young lady” Lord Matlock gave a chuckle.
“Well, let’s hope that we can use that courage on a completely different battlefield” Lady Matlock intervened. “I warn you Mrs. Darcy that it can be just as frightening as the ones you saw on the Peninsula.”
“If you, Aunt and Uncle would stand by us, we will greatly appreciate it” Darcy said. “However, if you cannot or will not, we will just have to brave the ton on our own as best as we can” he added determinedly.
“While I will admit that it was a completely different marriage I envisaged for you, what is done is done” Lord Matlock said. “At least you got yourself a lady who is no shrinking violet.”
“I will try to smooth your way into society” Lady Matlock said somewhat grudgingly, “but it shall not be an easy task. However, with some work we can make you acceptable to them” she turned to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth bit her lip and looked at Darcy who gave her an almost imperceptible nod, then back at Lady Matlock. “I am sorry Your Ladyship, but I do not intend to cater to the ton at all cost. If they can accept me for who I am and what I am, all the better. If they cannot, that is fine too. I will not crawl at their feet to beg them to accept me. William knows this as we discussed it before we married.”
Lady Matlock looked at Elizabeth for a few moments through narrowed eyes, then she started to chuckle. “I see that my husband’s assessment of you is quite accurate. All right Mrs. Darcy, we shall do it your way. May I call you Elizabeth, or would you prefer Lizzy?”
“My family calls me Lizzy” she beamed but just as quickly, her face clouded over with sorrow. “I also go by the name Bella” she said quietly.
“Would you prefer for us to call you Bella?” Lady Matlock asked softly.
“You may call me Bella, Elizabeth or Lizzy, whichever you prefer” Elizabeth smiled brightly although unshed tears made her beautiful wide eyes shine like gemstones. “I have made my peace with my family a long time ago.”
“And you may call me Lady Rebecca” Lady Matlock inclined her head.
“And me Lord Henry” Lord Matlock gave Elizabeth a tight smile, not able to fully suppress a sigh at his dashed matrimonial plans for his nephew.