Chapter 15
Of course Elizabeth missed Darcy.
However, she was so very busy, she had little time to reflect on how much she missed him.
He had somehow contrived to arrange a surprise for her every day.
Big surprises. The very morning that he left for Pemberley, a very elegant carriage arrived at Longbourn, ready to take her and Mary to London to stay with the Gardiners.
Her parents had been consulted, of course, and expresses exchanged between the Bennet parents and the Gardiners; upon hearing the delightful news of their unexpected journey, Mary and Elizabeth realised that Jones had already packed their clothing!
The next day’s surprise was flowers for each of the females in residence at the Gardiners’ house.
Elizabeth received a dozen hothouse roses, Mrs Gardiner and Mary each received nosegays of fall blooms, and the two little Gardiner girls received floral crowns.
The two young Gardiner boys each received paper crowns.
The florist who brought all of the flowers bowed to Elizabeth and handed her a note, which informed her of a meeting time that day with one of the most sought-after modistes in all of London.
She spent so many hours at the modiste’s shop, she jested that she must have already exceeded Darcy’s income.
The following day the Gardiners received a delightful array of sweets, enough for the entire family and the two Bennet sisters. Attached to the box was a note that informed Elizabeth of two appointments: one at a cobbler’s shop and the other at a milliner’s establishment.
Those appointments ate up most of that day.
Their final day at London, Elizabeth and Mary were treated to a visit to the famous bookstore, Hatchards, along with a pre-paid luncheon at Gunter’s, before they were taken home in a luxurious carriage, with their original luggage, many purchases for themselves, and a present for each of the Bennets.
Apparently the four days had been full of surprises for those who remained at Longbourn, as well.
Mr Bennet knew all—had participated with the planning and had approved all decisions—but even Mrs Bennet was shocked to discover that, beginning the day after Twelfth Night, Lydia would be going to a well-respected school in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, and Kitty would be attending a finishing school in London.
Mary would have her choice of master teachers or a sort of governess/companion.
Mr Bennet would orchestrate the comings and goings, but Darcy had offered to pay all tuitions and even two day dresses per sister.
“How about Jane?” Mary asked in a whisper. She addressed the question to her father, but her eyes remained on her eldest sister.
Mr Bennet leant over to give his middle daughter a kiss on her forehead. He whispered, “She is too old for school and has turned down any assistance in the way of masters or companions.”
It turned out that there was a surprise brewing in Longbourn that had nothing to do with Darcy’s generosity and his planned surprises.
On the morning of the day that Mary and Elizabeth returned from London, Mr William Goulding had arrived at Longbourn stating a desire to call on Jane.
She was very welcoming, and he was extremely pleased.
He stayed well past polite calling customs, remaining in the family circle even as everyone ran out to greet Mary and Elizabeth, giving and receiving enthusiastic hugs and greetings.
He remained even when Mary and Elizabeth passed out the gifts they had chosen for each member of the family.
As each meal was served—luncheon, tea, dinner—Mr Goulding was invited to join.
Eventually he had to be politely shuffled out the door by Mr Bennet.
“You can call tomorrow, if you like,” Jane’s father said, “but wait until polite calling hours, if you please.”
“Yes, sir; I will do that, sir,” Mr Goulding said, running one hand through his dark blond hair. “I…am very sorry, sir, if I….”
“Think nothing of it,” Mr Bennet said, flapping his hand dismissively.
A short time later, Jane and Elizabeth were readying themselves for bed, and Elizabeth commented, “Mr Goulding arrived back in the area a bit ahead of schedule, I see.”
“Yes,” was all Jane replied, but her tone was defensive, for some reason.
Elizabeth shot a glance at Jane, but her sister had the same placid smile she almost always wore, and Elizabeth shrugged, saying, “I did not mean anything by my comment, Jane. I just remember you had said he would begin calling in the middle of November, so he is early by half a week. But I am certain that his first promise was a rough estimation.”
“Certainly it must have been,” Jane said.
Her tone was the usual sweet-Jane tone—which Elizabeth no longer trusted to actually reflect sweetness.
She sighed over the distance she felt between them, but she supposed that it would make her transition to marriage a bit easier.
Not that she would not miss Jane—she already missed Jane!
—but it felt quite different to miss what you had never actually had.
What she actually missed, she supposed, was her own belief in the illusory Jane… .
“Did you enjoy London?” Jane asked. Even though there was nothing in her tone or expression that seemed jealous, Elizabeth felt a prickle of awareness that she likely was. She did not want to say too much about London, not if Jane was already feeling a pinch of envy.
“Yes. Our cousins are getting so big! Aunt and Uncle send you their love.”
“That’s lovely to hear,” Jane said. She glided over to the one mirror to brush and plait her hair.
Elizabeth had a sudden memory of looking at her sister’s smooth, straight hair, the colour of spun gold, she had always thought.
She used to feel so envious, and even ugly.
Her own hair was so heavy and thick and wayward.
But now…after hearing Darcy’s praises for her own hair, she felt a new appreciation for it.
She wondered if the insecurity she had always had for her hair, her figure, her colouring—were they just the natural insecurities of a young child? Had they been born from her mother’s criticisms and comparisons? Had Jane somehow fertilised Elizabeth’s self-criticism for her own purposes?
Elizabeth quickly took down her hair, giggling a bit at the mountain of hairpins she had to use compared to a small hillock of pins that managed to keep Jane’s hair up.
She brushed her hair, feeling for the first time quite lovely with it down.
Then she put in the effort to make two plaits—long experience had taught her that one would just not hold.
When she climbed into bed, her thoughts turned to Darcy. His hair was a lovely tumble of curls, too, and so dark brown, it was almost black. She remembered how it felt beneath her hands, and she smiled as she remembered other pleasurable feelings.
“What causes those smiles, Lizzy?”
She could not tell Jane. It felt too private to tell her about kissing her betrothed, and it felt too mean, as if it were bragging, to speak of her happiness with the match. She just said, “I do not know. I suppose I had a very nice day.”
“I did, as well,” Jane said. Again, the tiniest edge in her voice made Elizabeth wonder how she ever thought of her elder sister as selfless and loving.
“Good night.”
“Good night to you, as well.”
Every day Mr Goulding called on Jane, and the couple enjoyed quite a bit of privacy within the busy parlour, because everyone was working on Elizabeth’s wedding, scheduled for the fifth of December.
Elizabeth wrote invitations and approved the ever-changing menu for the wedding breakfast. Mary, Kitty, and Lydia made over their best gowns so that they would look new and elegant for the wedding.
Mrs Bennet met with Hill to confer about table linens, flowers, and borrowing chairs, and she met with Cook in regards to the huge wedding cake that was even now being baked, one tier per day.
On Mr Goulding’s fourth call in as many days, he asked for time alone with Jane “to ask a very important question.”
When the couple rejoined the family, Jane informed Elizabeth that he had indeed proposed, and that she had said ‘yes.’ Elizabeth was surprised at the speed with which her sister’s relationship had turned serious, but of course the Gouldings and the Bennets had known each other all of Jane’s and William Goulding’s lives.
She hugged Jane and wished her well with complete sincerity.
The same day that Mr Goulding proposed, an express from Pemberley arrived.
Darcy addressed her as ‘Dearest’ and signed the missive ‘All my Love, F.D.,’ but he stuck to facts rather than feelings within the body of the letter.
Elizabeth understood that he either feared or knew that his letter would be inspected and likely read by at least her parents.
The important parts of the message were that the mine repairs were ahead of schedule, and that he and Georgiana would arrive at Netherfield on November 18.
His aunt and uncle had been visiting Pemberley when he arrived—Matlock was but four hours away by coach—and they promised that they and at least one of their offspring would come to the wedding, arriving at Netherfield on the second of December.
Darcy also assured Elizabeth that he would write to Mr Bingley with all the pertinent information.
Later that same day, an invitation from Netherfield Park arrived by way of a footman.
Mr Bingley, apparently, was planning an engagement ball two days after Mr and Miss Darcy were to arrive.
Suddenly the gowns meant for the wedding were reconsidered for the ball.
Elizabeth’s father was adamant that Lydia was not old enough to dance at the ball, but he decided to allow her to go until the supper—and he promised her that she would be sitting with him the entirety of her time there.
Lydia seemed to be at least somewhat reformed.
She had been astonished to actually have been “imprisoned”—as she described it—in her room, but Mr Bennet had stuck with his orders, and Lydia eventually realised that she had better change her attitude so that she would be allowed out of that room.
Also, the arrest of Mr Wickham and his attacks on both Lizzy and Jane—and perhaps especially the implication that he had ruined little Abby—had all impacted Lydia in a most unpleasant way, and she finally disavowed him and the feelings she had thought she had for him.
It was not as if Lydia were suddenly helpful and generous and kind, but there was almost no whining and very little complaining, now that she knew that she really, truly would be locked away from the fun if she indulged in such.
Elizabeth could see that her mother was substantially less anxious with two daughters engaged and a ball in the near future.
She seemed to be in her element, and she even seemed overwhelmingly positive about Elizabeth, formerly known as her “most troublesome” daughter.
Elizabeth’s father, too, seemed a bit more relaxed than he had been.
Obviously, Mr Goulding was not close to Darcy in wealth or consequence, but he was the heir to his father’s estate, and that estate brought in between two and three thousand per annum.
Jane would have servants and a carriage, in addition to a roof over her head; Elizabeth of course would have many servants, many carriages, and many roofs…
and so it was no longer as upsetting that Longbourn was entailed away from the female line.
Several days scurried by with Elizabeth’s wedding preparations.
Cook was now soaking the baked cake layers in brandy; Lydia and Kitty produced a myriad of ribbon-roses; Mrs Bennet and Mary emptied the cedar chests of the most precious of the Bennet table linens, which were aired out and then pressed.
One morning everyone helped form and dye marzipan sculptures of flowers and fruits; they would eventually decorate the tiered, iced cake.
Jane did not help with any of the wedding preparations. She made the excuse that she had to see to her own trousseau, not having a London modiste; she stitched and embroidered, smiling contentedly (or not—Elizabeth could no longer rely on her sister’s expressions) at everyone else’s bustle.
Boxes of gowns and lingerie and other clothing had begun to arrive from the London modiste, and Elizabeth had to try everything on and model her new clothing for her sisters and mother.
Lydia was famous for her unerring taste and had several excellent ideas about ways to accessorise each gown, and Lydia and Kitty worked together to trim a bonnet to match the pale yellow gown that Elizabeth had chosen for the wedding.
Elizabeth took several of the garments to Meryton’s dressmaker to adjust the fit.
“I am certain I can make the alterations, Mama,” Elizabeth said, “if you will pin them for me.”
“No, Mr Darcy already paid Mrs Taylor to do the fittings to our satisfaction.”
“Of course he did,” Jane said in her sweet voice. There was no hard edge of sarcasm…and yet…
“Have you and Mr Goulding chosen a date for your wedding, Jane?” Elizabeth asked. “I do hope I will be able to attend it, but Fitzwilliam has so many plans in place for the Festive Season, I fear I might not be able to do so.”
“We have not yet made a firm decision,” Jane said smoothly. “And you need not worry; I will know that you are there in spirit if you cannot attend.”
Of course, Mr Goulding continued to call most days, and he sat near Jane, watching all her endeavours with sewing and needlework. One day he brought her a gift of truly beautiful Belgian lace. “It is not just Belgian, it is Mechlin lace,” he informed her proudly.
“And that means?” Elizabeth asked him with a smile.
He grinned back at his soon-to-be sister, saying, “Which means that my mother is especially proud of it, for reasons that escape me but which are certainly to my intended’s credit.”
“Certainly! It is beautiful,” Elizabeth said with an earnest nod.
“When does Mr Darcy return?” he asked.
“Tomorrow!” Elizabeth said. She briefly closed her eyes. She truly could hardly bear to wait.