Chapter 31
The little season was approaching its end as the weather turned cold, wet, and miserable. The unseasonably warm autumn gave way to rain and even occasional sleet.
As Christmas was only a few weeks away and the Bennet sisters were planning to return to Longbourn for the festive season, they made the most of their remaining time in London.
During a visit to the theatre, the party became the subject of considerable scrutiny as word had spread that Darcy was courting Elizabeth. People wondered what was so special about the lady to have captured the interest of the elusive master of Pemberley.
Apart from attending various parties, the sisters spent several days shopping for Christmas presents for their family and friends as well as their staff and tenants.
As they now were aware that Netherfield was part of Aunt Mary’s legacy, they even purchased gifts for all at that estate, to be delivered by Mr Phillips.
In previous years, Mr Gardiner had arranged for those gifts when the estate was without a tenant.
~T~
During that time, Darcy received a visitor. Charles Bingley came to say goodbye. ‘I am going to take Caroline to York and help her get set up. Afterwards I am going to return to Scarborough.’
‘What will you do?’
‘I expect that I will work in the family business.’ Bingley smiled and squared his shoulders.
‘I am also going to stop pretending I am a gentleman. It seems that there are unwritten rules of which I am ignorant which caused me to harm those ladies. I am going back to a society which I understand and instead become a well-mannered and considerate tradesman.’
Darcy was astonished but pleased to see that this decision had brought about a new level of maturity in his friend. He held out his hand. ‘I wish you well. Write and let me know how you get on.’
‘Perhaps it will be better if I get one of the clerks to write the letter. Then at least you will be able to read my news,’ Bingley replied with a weak chuckle as he shook his friend’s hand. ‘I thank you for everything. Goodbye.’
~T~
Their plan to return to Longbourn caused some dismay amongst the gentlemen until the duchess approached Mr Gardiner.
‘Am I correct in thinking that you are the man I need to see to lease Netherfield?’
‘Yes and no, Lady Isabella. Yes, I and my brother-in-law Phillips administer the estate, but there is no need to lease it. I was thinking of offering it to you and any guests you might wish to invite.
‘Excellent. But in that case, might I reimburse your nieces for the Christmas gifts they bought?’
‘You will have to take that up with them.’
The sisters refused that offer but suggested a compromise. The duchess would buy treats in Meryton for all the tenant children of Netherfield and Longbourn instead.
~T~
Mary was disconcerted. When she had met Colonel Fitzwilliam, she had experienced something she had never believed could happen as it was the stuff of novels and she had been certain that it could never happen in real life.
She had fallen in love at first sight.
Mary had denied that occurrence even to herself. Deciding that a man like Colonel Fitzwilliam could not possibly be interested in her as anything other than perhaps a friend, she could not possibly be in love with him.
But the more time she had spent with the gentleman, she had come to recognise that she had been wrong. For a while it had also appeared that she was wrong about the Colonel’s interest. He seemed to be quite taken with her and there was nothing platonic about his interest.
Mary had rejoiced and tentatively opened her heart… until he suddenly started to withdraw. He was still attentive when they were in company. They still conversed easily, but there seemed to be a barrier between them. And at times she thought she saw a flicker of pain in his eyes.
~T~
The duchess and the gentlemen had come to tea at Gardiner House to discuss their sojourn to Meryton.
Since the duchess was to be the hostess at Netherfield, she was leading the conversation.
While the discussion flowed, Mary looked around and saw Richard standing by the window furthest from the group looking pensive. She wanted to speak to him but wondered how she could make the approach look natural.
Inspiration struck. She fixed a cup of coffee the way he liked it and carried it to the gentleman. ‘I thought that you might like some coffee, Colonel.’
He took it with a small smile. ‘Thank you, Miss Mary. You are most considerate.’
‘I am also concerned and curious,’ she replied and on the spur of the moment, threw caution to the wind. ‘You have not been quite yourself lately. Can I help in any way?’
Richard fixed his eyes on the cup in his hands and quite unnecessarily stirred the coffee. He had wanted an opportunity to speak to the lady but was uncertain how to start this conversation.
Mary waited patiently while he gathered his thoughts. When at last he spoke, the words were not what she expected.
‘In light of how I complained about Bingley’s behaviour towards ladies, I feel like a complete hypocrite. Just like him, I have been attentive towards you without an official courtship, although my intentions were with an eye towards matrimony.’
‘You speak as if those intentions are in the past…’
Richard took a sip of coffee. He sighed and pressed his lips together has he placed the cup on the windowsill. Looking out the window he said, ‘Miss Mary, you deserve so much better than an old soldier who needs an heiress.’
‘Do I not get a say in this?’ Mary asked quietly.
Suddenly he whipped around to face her. ‘I cannot go through with this. You are too fine a lady.’
‘Why did you suddenly develop scruples?’ Mary persisted. If her heart was to be broken, she needed to know exactly why.
Fitzwilliam squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as if in pain. He owed Mary an explanation no matter how much it hurt him. He opened his eyes and said, ‘Because I have come to care for you. I want you to have the best of everything. I want you to be happy. I love you too much to…’
Richard got no further.
The power of speech was denied him by a pair of lips pressed to his, as a pair of hands held his face captive.
Richard’s mind was too stunned to consciously move for several moments which allowed his body to respond appropriately. His arms slid about Mary’s slender waist as his lips returned her kiss with increasing fervour.
~T~
As it happened, the duchess was looking in the direction of Mary and Richard when Mary initiated that kiss.
She smiled and announced, ‘It seems that Mary and the Colonel have just sealed their engagement.’
All eyes turned to the couple and before they could get too carried away, Darcy walked over to them and loudly cleared his throat. When the couple separated from their kiss, he said with a grin, ‘I gather that congratulations are in order?’
Richard, somewhat discombobulated, briefly glanced at Darcy and coloured. ‘Ah… hmm…’ He looked at Mary. ‘Are you quite certain?’ he asked, undecided if he hoped the answer was yes or no.
When Richard had said that he loved her, Mary simply had to act. That silly man was too honourable to let him get away. ‘Let me be quite clear. Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, I love you too. Will you marry me?’ Mary said with a determined look.
‘Yes, it would be my honour to marry you,’ he replied with a soft smile.’
Darcy raised his brows and could not resist teasing, ‘Richard, you appear to have muddled things. The correct sequence is, you propose, the lady accepts and then you kiss. Not… you kiss, the lady proposes, and you accept.’
His cousin, who was still holding Mary, turned his head and said with a grin, ‘How would you know? You are not engaged. I am.’
‘Deveril, help me out. You are engaged. What is the correct sequence?’ Darcy asked as the rest of their party came to congratulate the couple.
‘I suppose it is an individual choice. While I am conventional, it appears that Fitzwilliam is not,’ Deveril replied with a grin and a shrug.
Darcy looked at Elizabeth and wondered if it was too soon to be conventional. As he was woolgathering, he missed hearing that Richard promised Mary that he would quit the army.
~T~
That evening Lady Matlock was thrilled when her son informed her that he was to be married to Mary Bennet.
‘I am excessively pleased to hear that you will be so well settled, but I hope that you will now resign from the army. You would not wish for the young lady having to fear becoming a widow as soon as she is married.’
Richard reassured her. ‘Never fear. Mary made me promise to sell my commission and I confess that I shall be glad to do so. Ten years ago, it seemed like a glorious adventure fighting for my country. Over the years the gloss has worn off and I shall be glad to turn my back on the bad food and the mud as well as the people who want to kill me.’
Lady Matlock fiercely embraced her son. ‘That is the best pre-Christmas present you could possibly have given me,’ she said with a smile while her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
~T~
Later that evening the sisters congregated in their sitting room where Jane and Elizabeth badgered Mary for the details of the unusual proposal.
‘Mary, you are the last person I would have expected to be so forward. What possessed you to kiss the Colonel… and in full view of all of us?’ Elizabeth asked.
Mary blushed furiously at being reminded of her improper behaviour. Now that the excitement was over and she had had a chance to calm down and think about her actions, she agreed with her sister’s assessment. She tried to explain in the hope to clarify the situation in her own mind as well.
‘I believe when the Colonel and I first met he was looking to marry an heiress with whom he could get on well. You know, one of the better society matches… with an eye to fortune but in the hope of finding a wife he could like and whose company he would enjoy.’
‘I thought that he had found such a match and more with you, and although you do not give much away, I felt that you were interested in him as well,’ Jane said when Mary hesitated.
‘You are almost right.’ Mary blushed but ploughed on. ‘I fell head over ears in love with him… right from the start.’
‘You devious creature. You never let on. Why did you not confide in us?’ cried Elizabeth chagrined that she had not noticed the depth of her sister’s interest.
‘Because I did not even admit it to myself. I am not as beautiful as you, Jane, nor as clever as you, Lizzy.’ Mary said with a slight grimace. ‘I did not believe that Richard could be interested in me. At least not as anything other than a friend.’
‘You were guarding your heart,’ Jane stated as Elizabeth nodded. ‘What changed your mind?’
Mary sighed. ‘Lately, he had started to withdraw and earlier today I could not bear it any longer and I asked him why.’
Suddenly her whole mien changed. She sat up straighter and fairly glowed as she said, ‘Would you believe that wonderful, silly man was trying to do the honourable thing and wanted to clear the field for a man who was not interested in my fortune but only in myself because he had fallen in love with me.’
She shrugged. ‘Well… once I knew he loved me, I could not let him get away. So… I kissed him,’ Mary finished her story as she hugged herself with a happy smile, remembering the delightful sensation of Richard’s arms about her as he returned her kiss. ‘You know the rest.’
‘That was most improper and brazen of you,’ said Jane with a stern expression before she broke into a smile, mirroring her sister as she embraced Mary. ‘I am so very happy for you.’
Elizabeth, not to be left out, joined her sisters in their embrace.
‘I believe that you and your Colonel are very well matched. As a soldier, he should appreciate a woman who is not afraid to charge in and capture her objective.’ She could not suppress a giggle at her pun, although her sisters rolled their eyes.
~T~
Mrs Phillips arrived at Longbourn in a highly excited state.
‘Sister, my husband just informed me that Netherfield will be occupied again before Christmas by no less a personage than a duchess,’ Mrs Phillips exclaimed as soon as she entered the room.
Mrs Bennet beamed. ‘Is it the Duchess of Barrington perchance?’
‘Indeed. But how did you know?’
‘Because Jane is engaged to her son,’ Mrs Bennet cried.
For weeks she had not only remained quiet, but claimed the engagement notice in the papers must be a misprint, as she did not wish to start a rumour about Jane’s good fortune in case the gentleman changed his mind and chose someone from his own sphere.
It would have been too humiliating to have boasted about such a match only to have it come to nought.
But if the duchess and presumably her son were to take up residence at Netherfield, they must indeed be serious, and it was therefore safe to speak up.
‘I wonder if they will get married while they are here?’ asked Mrs Phillips.
‘I am certain that is how it must be. Jane would not wish to get married anywhere else. I shall have such a busy time arranging the wedding. It shall be the grandest wedding Meryton has ever seen. It is such an honour to have a duchess attend my daughter’s wedding,’ cried Mrs Bennet full of exuberance.
The following day, Mrs Bennet received a letter which had been delayed in the post confirming her hopes and informing her of the identity of the other guests.
~T~