Chapter 16 #2
“I do not know how to say this. Mama, you should not be concerned about me becoming a spinster or a burden on Mr Bingley at all. In fact, while I was in Derbyshire, Mr Darcy proposed, and I accepted.”
She waited, but her words seemed to have no immediate effect.
“Proposed what, Lizzy? This game is rather annoying, you know.”
“Proposed marriage, Mama. He asked me to marry him, and I accepted.” Elizabeth smiled, but her mother frowned in confusion.
“Who proposed marriage to you?”
“Mama! Mr Darcy did, I just told you.”
“Mr Darcy? This is a poor joke, Lizzy. You resemble your father too much, and I shall not admit to being mocked by my own daughter!”
“I promise I am not mocking you. This is a wretched beginning, indeed. I depended on you to believe that a marriage proposal had been made to one of your daughters, Mama. Mr Darcy asked me to marry him. Uncle Gardiner was the first to give his consent, and yesterday he spoke to Papa too.” Elizabeth’s smile remained, while her mother’s face looked like all the blood had drained from it.
“He did, I can testify to it,” Mr Bennet confirmed.
“Mr Darcy proposed to you? This cannot be!” Lydia cried.
Mrs Bennet was still incredulous. “Mr Darcy proposed to you? But how? Why? He always disliked you. He did not even wish to dance with you!”
“He never disliked me, Mama. Quite the opposite. While it is true we have not always been on the best terms, we have put the past behind us. We are engaged, and if you approve of it, we shall marry in a month.”
Mrs Bennet’s face changed expressions with worrisome speed. She kept seeking a hint that her daughter and husband were joking at her expense, but there was none. She slowly replayed Elizabeth’s every statement, word for word, fearing to admit its meaning.
“Mr Darcy proposed marriage to you, you said? And your uncle and aunt know that?”
“Yes, Mama.”
“And he has already spoken to your father?”
“Yes, Mama. He will confirm it himself as soon as he arrives today.”
“He will come here?”
“Of course. Is that not what Mr Bingley and other engaged men do? Visit their betrothed?” Elizabeth continued, amused that her mother’s reaction had not been quite as she expected.
Lydia broke the stunned silence, crying, “But this cannot be! You cannot marry him, he is an arrogant, unpleasant, and cruel man, Wickham told me as much! You know what he did to poor Wickham! It is impossible! How could you?”
“Hush, child! You do not know what you are saying,” Mrs Bennet scolded her favourite daughter so harshly that everyone startled. “Stop saying it is impossible!”
She stood up, then leant against the back of her chair, seeking support. Then she took a few steps from the table, and a few more, then came back, pacing the room until she finally stopped, facing her daughter.
“Are you sure Mr Darcy proposed marriage to you, Lizzy?”
“Of course I am, Mama. He came last night to speak to Papa directly, as you saw. We discussed marrying in a month.”
“Marrying in a month? Are you sure?”
“Very much so, Mama. He will enquire after your opinion too, I suspect. Mama, I know his behaviour has been proud and arrogant in the past and you never liked him, but I assure you—”
“Never liked him? How can you say something so silly, Lizzy?” Mrs Bennet burst out again, this time with a force that could not be stopped and made her pace around the room again.
“How could anyone not like him? Such a tall, handsome man! Of course, he is proud and arrogant, he has every reason to be! I would be too, if I was in his place! A month? So soon? I have always admired him, to be sure! His uncle is an earl, is he not? And so was his grandfather!”
Mrs Bennet paused a moment to catch her breath before resuming her monologue.
“Ten thousand a year and probably more! And he proposed to my Lizzy? You will marry in a month? I am sure he will procure a special licence! He has to! Dear Lord — Mr Darcy! My dear Lizzy, how rich and important you will be! Let me kiss you! What a clever girl you are! I knew you could not be so clever for nothing! Mr Darcy! I cannot believe it!”
“So, my dear, may I presume you are no longer upset with Lizzy for refusing Mr Collins? Only minutes ago you seemed devastated,” Mr Bennet jested.
“Mr Collins? Who cares about that tedious man? And by the way, you are to be blamed for Mr Collins, Mr Bennet! Why do you have such an annoying cousin? And why did you even invite him to Longbourn? The audacity of him to propose to Lizzy! God forbid she could have accepted him, and poor Mr Darcy would have suffered from jealousy! What a tragedy could have occurred, and it would have been your fault, Mr Bennet. Thank God Lizzy was so clever as to reject him!”
Mr Bennet was perplexed at such a twisting of the facts, and Elizabeth looked at him with mocking compassion. If Mrs Bennet stated it was his fault, nothing could contradict her.
Mrs Bennet continued to chatter and pace the room for a while.
She stopped as she spotted through the window Mr Darcy himself, together with Mr Bingley and Mr Hurst. His appearance in person left Mrs Bennet silenced by emotions, and she pressed her hand over her chest, her heart pounding almost as strongly as Elizabeth’s.
By the time the gentlemen entered, all the ladies were demurely and properly seated, and all eyes turned towards Darcy with apparent curiosity. However, it lasted only a moment before Mrs Bennet jumped to her feet and stepped forward with her hands outstretched towards Darcy.
“Mr Darcy, I was just told the most extraordinary news, and I am deeply honoured to welcome you to my home! Please come in. Sit here, near Lizzy, and I shall sit over here. I cannot tell you how happy I am to see you here, sir. Would you stay for dinner tonight? If so, please tell me what your favourite dishes are! Mr Bingley has had his favourites cooked for two weeks now, and I noticed he eats anything, regardless.”
Darcy touched her arm with a polite, gentle, but determined gesture which interrupted her.
“Mrs Bennet, I beg you not to trouble yourself in any way for me. I wish nothing in particular but the same lovely dinner as last night. I am delighted to be at Longbourn, in the company of your family. And, if you approved as Mr Bennet already did, I hope to be able to call it my family too in a month’s time. ”
His tone, his familiar gesture, and the statement that dissipated all Mrs Bennet’s remaining fears of a misunderstanding caused a new eruption.
“My dear Mr Darcy, be assured that you have my approval for anything you wish to do! Anything at all!” she exclaimed, causing Elizabeth a rush of deep mortification.
“I thank you for your trust, ma’am. This brings me to another favour I would kindly wish to ask you.
In order to marry as soon as possible, we discussed having a double wedding with Bingley and Miss Bennet.
Unless such an arrangement would displease you, of course.
But we insisted on it so you may all come to spend Christmas at Pemberley. ”
Mrs Bennet’s mouth remained wide open, as did her eyes; she tried to reply, but her mind was blurred.
The double wedding meant she would only have one occasion to brag and boast about instead of two.
But that also meant a quick arrangement so Darcy had no time to change his mind, as well as the added prospect of Christmas at Pemberley, which would surely make Lady Lucas and her other friends die of jealousy.
“My dear Mr Darcy, I would never deny you any favour you would do me the honour of asking. You can marry whenever you wish, sir. And so can you,” she addressed the other three betrotheds with condescension and a sense of pride and self-importance like never before in her entire life.