Chapter 35 London #2
She addressed the Countess. “I shall interview whichever candidates your personal maid considers the best. Lady Helen, I should prefer someone near my own age, with a talent for fashion and dressing hair.”
The Countess frowned. “I am relieved to discover you possess at least some awareness that your hair requires desperate attention. When did anyone last cut and style it properly?”
Elizabeth remained silent. Never in her life had a skilled person attended to her hair. Jane ordinarily dressed it for her, but Elizabeth refused to confess such a thing.
The Countess pressed on without waiting for a response. Georgiana continued to hold Elizabeth’s hand, and the gesture did not escape Lady Helen’s notice.
The hours spent at the modiste’s establishment proved torturous for Elizabeth. She endured having every surface of her body measured while pattern after pattern was pinned upon her, and Lady Helen rejected every suggestion the modiste’s assistant offered.
At last, the Countess lost patience.
“Susan, where is Madame Clairmont today?”
“She is ill, my lady.”
“I am dissatisfied with every pattern you have suggested. Who may assist me in Madame Clairmont’s absence?”
Susan curtsied and withdrew. A few minutes later, she returned with a young woman who surveyed Elizabeth from head to foot.
“Susan, remove the pins. That pattern is entirely wrong. It makes the young lady appear short and frumpish.”
She sorted through the cloth pattern pieces and began pinning together another arrangement.
“Missy, these long, narrow sleeves suit you best for the day dresses. And though the empire yoke remains fashionable, I would recommend a slight variation in the cut of the bodice. It will flatter your lovely bosom while enhancing your graceful figure and slender waist.”
She continued explaining the reasoning behind each alteration and pattern choice, and by the end, Lady Helen appeared satisfied.
Elizabeth was more than satisfied. She was excited.
At least she need not fear being dressed in the style of the previous century or in the severe fashion favored by some.
At length, Lady Helen declared, “My nephew’s carriage has arrived for us. Collect your reticules, ladies. We are leaving.”
She addressed the seamstress.
“Miss Gibbs, we shall return tomorrow. Now that we have ordered Elizabeth’s walking dresses and day gowns, we must direct our attention toward ball gowns.”
“I believe three shall suffice. I doubt I shall persuade my nephew to attend more balls than that. Come, girls.”
Elizabeth settled against the squabs of the carriage, grateful to rest her feet. She curled her toes within her slippers and rotated her aching ankles.
Lady Helen said, “At least you possess beauty and a fine figure, so dressing you has not proved an impossible task.”
Then, beneath her breath, she muttered, “Fitzwilliam never stood a chance.”
Georgiana caught the remark and glanced toward Elizabeth to judge her reaction, but her friend had not heard, for she was rubbing her temple.
Lady Helen did not speak again, and the two young ladies relaxed.
When they arrived, Mr. Darcy awaited them in the drawing room.
Pleasure transformed his expression the moment Elizabeth entered. Georgiana hurried to him and embraced him as was her habit.
“Brother, you shall never believe the difficulty we encountered in finding patterns that properly flatter Elizabeth’s figure.”
Darcy lifted his brows while his gaze traveled over Elizabeth’s form.
“How can that be, Georgiana? Hers is the most perfect figure imaginable. I have never known a woman more beautifully proportioned than Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth flushed with pleasure while Lady Helen rolled her eyes and settled into her favored chair.
“Nevertheless, Nephew, dressing for the ton remains a fine art. It requires an eye for fashion as well as the selection of fabrics in texture and color that flatter the wearer.”
“Tomorrow, we shop for three ball gowns, sir. You shall commit to attending at least three balls, or society may conclude that you are ashamed of your intended.”
“Of course, my lady. I shall attend whichever three balls you consider the most advantageous.”
“Once we have selected the fabrics for the ball gowns, I shall bring you swatches so that you may choose appropriate jewels. I reserve the right of final approval, for a woman, especially one of her age, may ruin the effect by adorning herself with too many pieces at once, as though determined to parade her wealth and consequence. Gibbs shall attend us. That one understands her business.”
Mr. Darcy settled beside Elizabeth upon the settee and devoted his attention to her while she answered Lady Helen’s endless questions.
At last, Lady Helen excused them. They rose from the settee and made their farewells.
He longed for a few minutes alone with his betrothed, but they remained perpetually surrounded, if not by members of his family, then by members of hers.
As they traveled to Sir Gareth’s townhouse, he asked, “Was my aunt particularly dreadful today, my darling?”
Elizabeth lifted tired eyes to his face. “No, sir. She is very knowledgeable. You must not suppose that I take offense at her manners.”
Georgiana said, “Fitzwilliam, Aunt Helen is not pleased with how matters stand.”
Darcy lifted his eyes to his sister and interrupted her before she might continue.
“You judge correctly, little sister, but Aunt Helen’s sentiments signify nothing to us. I am exceedingly happy.”
His gaze settled upon Elizabeth.
“And I pray Elizabeth is also happy.”
He offered his hand to her.
“What say you, darling? Is our love worth all the trials you are about to endure, my aunt being the first and most formidable among them?”
Elizabeth placed her hand within his and brushed her thumb over the smooth skin of his knuckles.
“Yes, sir. So long as we remain together, nothing else signifies. I should be happy as your wife even if you were a poor farmer eking out a living. I would labor alongside you.”
The look that passed between them carried such ardor that Georgiana lowered her eyes to grant them a measure of privacy.
When they reached the Beaumont townhouse, he handed Elizabeth down from the carriage and led her into the side yard. He lowered his head near hers.
“Elizabeth, I have missed you terribly. We shall have very little time alone together. My aunt shall see to that. Pray do not allow anything she says or does to turn you against me. In two months we shall marry, and afterward we shall travel to Pemberley, where all shall be well between us.”
“Fitzwilliam, what does she have against me?”
The words had scarcely left her lips before she laughed.
“No, do not answer, sir. She entertained lofty ambitions for you, but you have settled upon a simple country girl, and she cannot reconcile herself to it. I will not hold anything she says against you. Instead, I shall remember how happy I was in your company while in Kent and look forward to our life together in Derbyshire.”
“May I kiss you, Elizabeth?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He bent near and kissed her. His soft whisper brushed against her mouth. “Your lips are very sweet, darling, soft and red and untouched by malice. I have missed being with you, Elizabeth. You differ so greatly from the sly and calculating women my aunt intended for me.”
He kissed her once more before releasing her.
“Come, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth. I must not keep you any longer lest I commit some further impropriety. Georgiana and I shall collect you tomorrow at half past eight.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and afterward remained where he stood until she entered the house and disappeared from sight.
When he settled into the carriage beside Georgiana, she said, “Fitzwilliam, Aunt Helen is exceedingly angry with Elizabeth. I heard her say that you never stood a chance.”
He looked at her sharply. “I never stood a chance?”
“She told Lizzy that it was fortunate she possessed beauty and a fine figure, which made dressing her less of a chore. Then, beneath her breath, she said, ‘Fitzwilliam never stood a chance.’ I have never known Aunt to be so displeased. It was almost as though she believed Lizzy had schemed to entrap you. I do not believe she ever set her cap at you, did she?”
“No, she did not. She knew her place and never sought to encourage my attentions. And you say Elizabeth took no offense?” The two Darcys spent the remainder of the journey discussing their aunt’s opinions and came to understand more fully how much they would owe her for the success of Elizabeth’s introduction into society.
The following day, Elizabeth sat at a front window awaiting Mr. Darcy’s arrival.
“Lizzy, is something amiss? Has Mr. Darcy begun to entertain second thoughts now that he has returned to his elevated circles?”
“No, he loves me, Jane. I harbor no fears concerning his affections. But after spending the day with his aunt, I fear I may become an embarrassment to him, much as Mamma has been to us.”
“Mamma? Whatever do you mean, Lizzy? Your character does not resemble Mamma’s in any respect.”
“I dread the possibility that I shall unknowingly commit one social blunder after another within his elevated circle. I may give offense at every turn and never realize it.”
“I do not know how I may help you, Lizzy. Perhaps Miss Bingley conceived a dislike of me because of my provincial manners. I am grateful that Gareth cares little for the London season and prefers hunting and fishing to dancing and conducting flirtations.”
“Is he only here because of the smuggling ring?”
“Yes. He wishes us well removed from it and intends to remain in town until Colonel Fitzwilliam advises that the customs officers have completed their work in the neighborhood.”