Chapter 32
The weather turned wet and blustery and was so utterly miserable that even Elizabeth could not be tempted to go outside for her walks, preventing the ladies and their suitors from private conversations.
As soon as the skies cleared long enough for the roads to dry out to make them passable, a convoy set off from London to Meryton.
The duchess conveyed not only her son but also Jane and Elizabeth.
The Gardiners shared their carriage with Mary and Richard, while Darcy was accompanied by Georgiana and her companion, Mrs Annesley.
Another coach transported the Gardiner children and their nurse, while three more carriages carrying their staff and luggage followed.
Darcy was apprehensive about his reception at Meryton since his last visit had been less than a roaring success. He hoped that since Elizabeth had forgiven him, the rest of the town would as well.
When they stopped about halfway to their destination to rest the horses, the duchess, who had noticed the somewhat envious glances Elizabeth gave her sister and Deveril, suggested that Georgiana might appreciate Lizzy’s company. Georgiana was enthusiastic about the change and Darcy even more so.
~T~
Once they set off, to make their leisurely way to Meryton to ensure Mrs Gardiner’s comfort, Georgiana asked the question which had been on her brother’s mind. ‘Lizzy, I wondered… last time William was at Meryton he made himself unpopular. Do you think that will cause problems for us?’
‘I should not worry about that. I have been writing to my family and told them how well your brother apologised,’ Elizabeth said with a teasing smile at Darcy, ‘and that I have quite forgiven him. I have also informed my mother that he and I are courting. I am certain that she has passed on that information to at least half the county.’
‘So, since you were the injured party and you do not hold a grudge, you think that your neighbours have forgiven him too? You do not hold a grudge anymore, do you?’ Georgiana abruptly rushed to enquire.
‘Not at all. I would not have agreed to a courtship if I had not quite changed my mind about your brother.’
Georgiana unexpectedly giggled. ‘Forgive me. I just remembered Richard telling me about the discussion they had about the different styles of proposals,’ she explained.
Elizabeth blushed and rushed to explain, ‘I am afraid that your cousin was going to be all noble and self-sacrificing because he did not wish to be a fortune-hunter, at least where my sister was concerned. Mary thought the only way to convince the Colonel not to be… ah…’
‘Stupid,’ supplied Darcy with a grin.
‘I was going to say noble,’ protested Elizabeth but her grin suggested that she might be mendacious. ‘Be that as it may, Mary proposed to your cousin.’
‘After she kissed him,’ Darcy reminded her.
‘Yes, well… she had to stop him from saying the wrong thing.’
‘So, she took the words right out of his mouth. Very ingenious,’ Darcy enjoyed teasing Elizabeth. ‘I also remember Deveril saying that the format of a proposal is a very personal choice. Which kind do you prefer? Traditional or reversed?’
‘I am certain that there could be still other ways,’ Elizabeth replied a little flustered at the direction the conversation was taking. He could not possibly think of proposing to her right in front of his sister and her companion.
Happily, Elizabeth was distracted from her panicked thoughts when Georgiana laughed as a thought occurred to her. ‘Perhaps a third way would be for the lady to propose, the gentleman to accept and then they kiss.’
Darcy suddenly grinned and raised a challenging brow at Elizabeth. ‘That works for me. Just think if ladies were the ones to propose, no gentleman would ever need to fear rejection.’
‘And ladies would not have to wait for gentlemen to stop dithering,’ Elizabeth shot back with an answering grin.
Georgiana and Mrs Annesley sat back and watched in amazement as their companions set off to vigorously debate which sex should be in charge. Each of them presented more or less logical arguments which the other just as logically or illogically refuted.
Before they knew it, the carriages pulled to a stop in Meryton. There was a quick reshuffle of passengers as the sisters all joined the Gardiners in their coach with Richard transferring to Darcy’s.
The three Gardiner coaches made for Longbourn, while the others continued on to Netherfield.
~T~
Mrs Nicholls, the housekeeper at Netherfield was ecstatic about the new residents within an hour of their arrival.
All of them were courteous and none were unreasonably demanding.
She remembered Darcy from his previous visit and while she had heard of his faux pas at the assembly, she personally had had no issue to complain about him.
She had also been pleased to hear that he had apologised to Miss Lizzy and was unsurprised that they were now courting.
Having the duchess in charge of the house was a breath of fresh air. The lady consulted before giving reasonable orders.
Mrs Nicholls had been pleased to agree that it was possible for her and her staff to prepare enough courses for a dinner party the following evening.
~T~
Mrs Bennet and her two youngest daughters were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the travellers but were disappointed when only family members arrived.
‘Where are the others? I was hoping to meet the duchess,’ Mrs Bennet queried after warmly greeting the Gardiners and her daughters.
‘They went straight to Netherfield. Even the best carriages cannot make a journey pleasant in this weather. We all wanted to get to our destination and warm up,’ explained Mrs Gardiner with a smile.
‘Of course, I understand, but I was hoping to invite them all to dinner…’
‘Mama, they will be calling on us in the morning after we all had a good rest, and we have had a chance to tell you all that happened in London,’ Jane soothed her mother.’
‘And we brought presents for all,’ announced Elizabeth, whereupon the youngest girls forgot all about the other visitors and even Mrs Bennet was mollified.
Once all her young nephews and niece demanded her attention to regale her with their achievements since their last visit, she could not mind the absence of Jane’s fiancé… and his mother.
~T~
Over the course of the evening the sisters related their experiences in London.
Mrs Bennet was focused on Jane because of her fiancé while Mr Bennet wanted to hear from Elizabeth about her interactions with Darcy.
‘You did well, teaching him not to underestimate people just because he did not grow up with them,’ Bennet applauded his favourite daughter.
‘I think that you would enjoy his company, papa. He is intelligent and a bibliophile like you. I have been reliably informed that the library at Pemberley is exceedingly large, and the content is the work of generations.’
‘A bibliophile, hmm? I suppose he cannot be so bad after all. And you say that you are courting? Very well, I shall consider his suit favourably.’
Both parents nearly forgot their middle daughter, until Mrs Gardiner pointed out, ‘Bennet, you should be prepared to receive a young man tomorrow, asking for your permission to marry your daughter.’
‘But Lizzy said that she and Darcy are only courting.’
‘Wrong man and wrong daughter,’ laughed Gardiner. ‘Mary is engaged to the Honourable Richard Fitzwilliam, the second son of the Earl of Matlock.’
‘Mary, why did you not tell us?’ Mrs Bennet exclaimed shrilly before she calmed the level of her outburst. ‘You sly thing. I know that you wrote about him, but you never let on that he was interested in you.’
‘I did not know that he loved me until we became engaged,’ Mary prevaricated.
‘I shall become quite distracted. Two daughters to be married and both their intendeds are the sons of noblemen. You must have a double wedding. It shall be the social event of Meryton for years to come.’ Mrs Bennet became ever more enthusiastic. ‘When shall you be married?’
‘We have not fixed a date yet, as we do not yet have papa’s permission to marry,’ Mary said, uncertain whether she wanted to share her special day or not.
Jane noticed Mary’s discomfort and suggested, ‘Lord James and I discussed marrying just after Christmas. That way I can spend a last Christmas with you all, and Aunt and Uncle Gardiner can attend the wedding. I really want them to be there as they were instrumental in my meeting Lord James.’
‘Lord James and Lady Jane, how well that sounds,’ Mrs Bennet said dreamily, missing the fact that Christmas was but three weeks away.
‘I am afraid that since I am not the daughter of an Earl or Duke, I will not be known as Lady Jane. When I marry the proper formal address for me will be Lady James.’
As Mrs Bennet was confused by this concept, her daughters spent the next ten minutes explaining the ins and outs of addressing nobility.
~T~
Despite Elizabeth’s exhaustion, she found it difficult to sleep.
She was glad to be back at home again, in her own room, in her own bed. While she had thoroughly enjoyed the grand accommodation in town, Longbourn was home. It was familiar and it was comfortable.
She felt that she could catch her breath again after the eventful months she had spent in town.
And yet… nothing was quite the same. Jane was engaged to be married and so was Mary, and she had changed as well.
The main reason was Mr Darcy. For the first time in her life, she had been treated as an intellectual equal by a man. It was a heady feeling indeed.
Yes, her father had not only allowed her to express her opinions, but he had challenged her to do so. But he was still her father and her teacher, whom she would always see as her superior.
With Mr Darcy she had laboured under no such constraints.
In the early part of their acquaintance, she had been deliberately abrasive as a way to punish Darcy for his insult and arrogant attitude. Yet he never seemed to mind. On the contrary, he seemed to revel in her willingness to challenge him at every turn.
That, more than anything had changed her attitude towards him and had caused her to forgive him as quickly as she did.
Elizabeth could overlook many faults in a man who allowed her to be herself. She did not have to hide her intelligence and education. He did not require her to be meek and mild. He seemed to enjoy that she was anything but insipid.
True, she could act the perfect lady in public, since the society in which she lived had certain expectations of ladies, misguided though they were. But in private no such constraints were upon her. She could be completely herself.
But she did not have everything her own way. Mr Darcy was highly intelligent and extremely well educated. Not only that, but he had also had the opportunity to see more of the world than she had. As a result, he was able to refute some of her theoretical opinions with real world experience.
Elizabeth actually enjoyed this situation since she would not have been able to respect Darcy if she had been able to have the intellectual upper hand at all times. As it was, their respect for each other was mutual.
While Elizabeth mused on that subject, she remembered when she first saw Darcy at the assembly and the instant attraction which she had felt.
The more primal part of her was attracted to his handsome features and trim physique.
And when he smiled, those dimples were simply devastating.
Just thinking about him in that way caused a shiver to run along her spine despite the warm blankets.
Her mind drifted to the conversation in the carriage. Was he serious, giving her the choice of proposing or not?
Although he had seemed to tease, there had been a challenge in his look and a knowing smile on his lips.
Given the rocky start of their relationship, Elizabeth suspected that Darcy was uncertain whether she had overcome her negative feelings and did not want to move too fast.
She chuckled as she recalled his statement that he was hopeless at discerning the tone of a conversation. Perhaps that was why he had missed the signs that during those months which they had known each other she had gradually but inexorably fallen in love with him.
Perhaps she should?
No, it was a ridiculous idea.
~T~
Elizabeth was not the only one to consider the conversation in the carriage. Darcy was pondering the same discussion.
The day he had asked Elizabeth for a courtship he had realised that he was in love with the lady.
He could not name the time or place when it had started, but he was in the middle before he recognised it.
Since then, his love and respect for her had grown but he was uncertain of her feelings.
Darcy thought that he had detected a certain warmth in their interactions, but he was the first to admit that his opinion could be coloured by his own hopes and feelings.
Since he was uncertain about how Elizabeth felt, he could not determine whether she was hoping for his addresses or whether she needed more time. He worried about moving too fast or perhaps too slow.
Then there was that silly discussion in the carriage.
He threw caution to the wind and suggested that ladies should propose, meaning of course Elizabeth.
Darcy was certain that she had understood.
He also knew he had taken a gamble. Would Elizabeth have the courage to go against convention and propose to him?
While her sister Mary had done so, it had been on the spur of the moment since Richard was being an honourable idiot.
But Elizabeth would need to do so in cold blood, with her wits about her. Was it too much to ask?
The die had been cast. He would live with the consequences.
Darcy hoped that the weather would be fine in the morning, so that he could go for a ride. Exercise always made him feel better and helped him think more clearly.
Having made his decisions, he slept well despite or possibly because his dreams of Elizabeth were most ungentlemanly.
~T~