Chapter Twenty-Six
Mrs. Bennet Ascends
Mrs. Bennet's reaction to Elizabeth's engagement exceeded history.
"Ten thousand a year!"
"Mama."
"Pemberley!"
"Mama."
"Your own carriage!"
"Mama."
"And pin money!"
Elizabeth closed her eyes.
Darcy stood near the fireplace enduring the celebration with the expression of a man who had agreed to face cannon fire and discovered the cannon could speak.
Mrs. Bennet clutched Elizabeth's hands. "I always knew--"
Elizabeth stared.
Mrs. Bennet stopped. "Well. I hoped."
Mr. Bennet laughed from his chair.
Darcy's left thumb had begun rubbing his forefinger.
Overwhelmed.
Elizabeth moved slightly closer. Not touching. Enough.
Mrs. Bennet turned toward Darcy. "You must know Lizzy has very particular opinions."
"I am aware."
"She reads too much."
"I know."
"She walks everywhere, even when there is a perfectly good carriage."
"Yes."
"And her hair--"
"Mama!"
Darcy's mouth twitched.
Mrs. Bennet beamed at him. "Oh, you will manage."
Elizabeth covered her face.
Mr. Bennet eventually rescued Darcy by inviting him into the library.
Elizabeth watched the door close behind them and wished, briefly, for the ability to hear through wood.
Inside, Mr. Bennet poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Darcy.
"You have returned," he said.
Darcy accepted the glass. "Yes, sir."
"And apparently acquired my daughter."
"She is not an estate."
Mr. Bennet's mouth twitched. "Good answer."
Darcy relaxed by perhaps one degree.
Mr. Bennet sat. "You love her."
"Yes."
"Enough to endure her?"
"Sir."
Mr. Bennet smiled. "That was a test."
"I know."
Mr. Bennet's brows rose.
Darcy cursed silently.
Then Mr. Bennet laughed.
"You are very peculiar, Mr. Darcy."
"So I am told."
The older man studied him for a moment. "I once believed Elizabeth would need a man who could be amused by her."
Darcy thought of fifty-five years of being provoked before breakfast. "She requires one who can survive her."
Mr. Bennet laughed again. "Better."
The humor faded.
"Do not allow her to become an ornament in your house."
Darcy's face changed. "Never."
"And do not imagine wealth excuses neglect."
The words carried more weight than Mr. Bennet intended.
Darcy knew what Elizabeth's father was beginning to recognize about himself.
"No, sir."
Mr. Bennet looked down at his wine. "I have not always done well by them."
Darcy chose not to offer easy comfort. "You are doing better now."
Mr. Bennet looked at him, then nodded.
"Take care of her."
"Always."
Permission was granted.
When Darcy emerged, Elizabeth was waiting in the hall.
"Well?"
"He thinks me peculiar."
"He is correct."
Darcy leaned closer. "He also said you are his favorite child."
Elizabeth's smile faded.
"He should not have."
Darcy understood immediately.
Elizabeth looked toward the drawing room, where Mary and Kitty were arguing over a book while Lydia attempted to insert herself into the quarrel. "I don't want to be."
Darcy touched her hand. "Then perhaps help him learn the others."
Elizabeth smiled. "We already started."
Behind them the library door opened.
Mr. Bennet said dryly, "If you two intend to whisper in my hallway for the next fifty years, I shall charge rent."
Elizabeth laughed.
Darcy looked at her father with suspicion.
Mr. Bennet smiled.
For one alarming instant, Darcy wondered whether the man knew far more than he should.
Then Mrs. Bennet called from the drawing room, "Mr. Darcy, you must tell me whether Pemberley has a music room!"
Darcy closed his eyes.
Mr. Bennet laughed harder.
The engagement also forced Elizabeth to face one practical problem she had previously ignored: her family's behavior would not become magically polished because she possessed older memories.
Mrs. Bennet still talked too loudly about Pemberley's income. Lydia still forgot that servants could hear gossip. Mr. Bennet still enjoyed provoking fools. Mary still occasionally used words so long that even Darcy lost the thread.
Elizabeth could not control them.
She tried once.
At a dinner with the Gouldings she spent nearly an hour anticipating every possible embarrassment. She redirected Lydia twice, interrupted her mother once, and gave Mr. Bennet such a warning look before he answered Mr. Collins's latest letter that her father deliberately said something worse.
By the time they returned home Elizabeth had a headache.
Darcy found her the next day near the shrubbery and listened while she complained.
"I cannot make them behave," she said.
"No."
"You sound pleased."
"I am relieved you have discovered it."
Elizabeth glared.
Darcy continued, "You once told me I could not love you while requiring you to become convenient."
Her expression softened.
"Your family is inconvenient," he said.
"Extremely."
"So is mine."
"Lady Catherine alone balances Mama."
"Exactly."
Elizabeth laughed.
Darcy took her hand. "You may change how you respond. You may speak privately when someone is cruel or unsafe. But if you spend every gathering trying to prevent embarrassment, you will become as controlling as I once was with Bingley."
She winced. "That was unnecessary."
"Effective?"
"Unfortunately."
At the next dinner Mrs. Bennet announced that Darcy's income was likely greater than rumor suggested.
Elizabeth breathed.
Darcy drank his wine.
Neither died.
Progress.
Darcy's first formal visit to Longbourn after the engagement became neighborhood entertainment. Mrs. Phillips arrived "by accident" ten minutes after him. Lady Lucas sent Maria with a basket that did not require delivery. Mrs. Long walked past the front gate twice.
Elizabeth noticed every maneuver and laughed.
Darcy noticed none of them until Lydia informed him.
"Mrs. Long is spying on you," she said during tea.
Mrs. Bennet gasped. "Lydia!"
Darcy looked toward the window. A bonnet disappeared behind the hedge.
Elizabeth covered her mouth.
Darcy's eyes narrowed. "Is this common?"
Mr. Bennet answered from his chair, "My dear sir, you are ten thousand a year and engaged to a local girl. You are now public property."
Darcy looked appalled.
Elizabeth laughed. "You survived London society."
"London society pretends not to watch."
"Hertfordshire is more honest."
Mrs. Phillips arrived moments later and spent half an hour asking Darcy questions about Pemberley so transparent that even Mrs. Bennet attempted to redirect her.
Darcy answered with patience.
After she left, Mrs. Bennet sighed. "My sister can be terribly inquisitive."
The room went silent.
Elizabeth stared at her mother.
Mr. Bennet slowly lowered his newspaper.
Lydia choked on cake.
Mrs. Bennet frowned. "What?"
Elizabeth was the first to recover. "Nothing, Mama."
Darcy looked down at his tea to hide a smile.
Later, walking near the garden, Elizabeth said, "You were magnificent."
"I was interrogated about the number of fireplaces at Pemberley."
"You knew the answer."
"That is not the point."
Elizabeth slipped her hand through his arm. "My family will not become elegant because we know the future."
"I do not require elegance."
"I know."
"That is new."
She looked up.
Darcy considered. "No. The understanding is new. I once confused refinement with worth because refinement was easy for me to recognize."
Elizabeth squeezed his arm. "And now?"
"Now I recognize your aunt Phillips as a woman who loves gossip, talks too much, and brought your mother soup every day when she was ill last winter."
Elizabeth stopped walking.
Darcy looked at her.
She smiled slowly. "You noticed."
"I am learning."
That was exactly the answer she wanted.