Chapter 11 #3
From the main entrance, Darcy watched the Bennet family arriving.
His heart was pounding and a hole was in his stomach as he admired Elizabeth’s beauty, only slightly enhanced by several small white flowers decorating her hair.
She wore no other jewels but a necklace with a gold and garnet cross, the only spot of colour in her creamy appearance.
He fought the temptation of running to her, struggling to remain calm and keep the appearance of composure. Eventually, as they walked up the steps, he greeted them politely. The lady curtseyed elegantly, but he saw nothing else except the sparkle in Elizabeth’s eyes that quickly locked with his.
“Mr. Darcy, I am very happy to see you,” Mr. Bennet said with a joy rarely seen at other balls.
“The pleasure is mine, Mr. Bennet,” Darcy said, and Mr. Bennet did not doubt his words.
Inside the ballroom, Bingley’s sisters greeted them with insincere politeness, claiming Jane’s company and engaging her in conversation.
Mrs. Bennet joined her friends, Mr. Bennet chose a chair as far from the musicians as possible, Lydia and Kitty hurried to speak to some officers, and Mary sat close to the pianoforte, hoping for an occasion to perform later.
Mr. Wickham was not among officers, to the disappointment of many of the ladies, but to the satisfaction of others.
Elizabeth knew that Darcy had confronted him and that her father had spoken to Mary King’s uncle—who had already had some suspicions regarding Wickham’s interest. The next day, Mr. Wickham was gone from the regiment and Colonel Forster had not offered many details.
Elizabeth stood alone for a few moments. She saw Darcy staring at her from across the ballroom and she smiled at him with her eyes and with her heart. He took a few steps towards her, but then Charlotte approached her too and Darcy stopped.
He had already secured his sets, so she knew she would soon stand up with him for the opening of the ball.
And then again during the supper set. While talking to Charlotte, she barely heard anything, feeling Darcy’s stare on her and sensing his eyes caressing her.
The ballroom was very warm, but Elizabeth shivered.
The music began and the pairs stepped onto the dance floor. Mr. Collins came to claim Charlotte’s hand and then an instant later, Mr. Darcy bowed his head slightly to Elizabeth. He stretched out his hand and she placed hers in his palm, shivering again.
As they walked together, hand in hand, he said, “I cannot remember when I last danced the first set at a ball. Probably during one of my first balls, before I realised I did not enjoy it.”
“Surely you are joking, sir!”
“Not at all.”
“So you were serious when you declared you hated balls,” she teased him.
His face became solemn, then, just before they took their places behind Bingley and Jane, he said, “I am always serious when I declare either my love or my hate, Miss Bennet. Do not doubt that.”
Then the music began and they were both captured in the moves of the dance and they spoke little during the entire set.
No words were needed when their hands were often entwined, their eyes were locked, and their smiles shared the thrill of anticipation for their future happiness that filled their hearts and minds.
To the other guests it appeared that, despite sharing the first set, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet were still not the best of friends.
As a couple, they looked completely different from Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet, whose mutual admiration was apparent and a clear indication that a certain happy event would soon follow.
And indeed, news and events followed immediately after the ball, causing a shocking disturbance in Meryton and the surrounding neighbourhood that lasted till Christmas.
***
Never had such an event occurred in Meryton like the wedding of two daughters from the same family to two most honourable gentlemen.
If Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley were meant to be together from the beginning, the marriage of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and the aloof, proud and exceedingly rich Mr. Darcy had stunned everyone.
Sir William and Lady Lucas suffered greatly that their daughter Charlotte’s engagement to Mr. Collins was ignored by everyone and wondered about the Bennets’ good luck.
Secretly, they were pleased that Lady Catherine de Bourgh had expressed her disapproval of Mr. Darcy’s marriage in several harsh letters, as well as through Mr. Collins himself.
Mrs. Bennet had fainted when she first heard the news of Elizabeth’s engagement to Darcy, the day after the ball.
But since then, her nerves had shown a significant improvement and she did not complain about them until the wedding day, when she suffered greatly when it began to snow and her daughters’ new gowns purchased from a most famous modiste in London might have been ruined and their new husbands might be displeased.
Mr. Bennet, who suffered as much from losing his favourite daughter as he was grateful for her good fortune, cared little about gowns and lace, and so did the happy grooms.
All four and twenty families in Meryton acquainted with the Bennets were at the church to witness the ceremony.
Some officers were there too, except for Mr. Wickham, of whom nobody knew much.
Darcy had hired a man to search for him and he was found in London, hiding from his creditors, and apparently begged Darcy to help him find a new commission in another regiment abroad.
Darcy decided to indulge him for the last time, as the further Wickham was from them, the better.
Mr. Bingley’s sisters and brother were among the most silent and least pleased participants.
The Gardiners, Mrs. Templeton, Mr. Darcy’s cousins the colonel and the viscount, and Miss Darcy were all in attendance too, showing their support for a marriage that some of their relatives and acquaintances disapproved of.
But Darcy cared little for anything except his bride. He barely acknowledged his dear sister—who had been close to Elizabeth all the time—and his relatives. He was just eager to have everything completed and finally be alone with his wife.
Equally impatient to start her newly married life, Elizabeth behaved elegantly.
She was composed and paid attention to every guest, especially to Georgiana.
However, she felt relieved and grateful when it was all over and, only one hour after the wedding breakfast, they headed towards London in two carriages: one containing the newly wedded couple, the other containing Georgiana and her cousins.
The Gardiners, as well as Mrs. Templeton, decided to remain longer at Longbourn, to console Mrs. Bennet’s nerves after the happy loss of her daughters.
Before they entered the carriage, the Darcys took their farewells one more time. Mrs. Templeton, standing with the Gardiners and Mr. Bennet, smiled meaningfully.
“My dear Mr. Darcy, how wrong I was! I recommended someone to help you improve your household but in truth, you did not need help for Mrs. Reynolds, but a wife for yourself.”
“Indeed. But you were not wrong at all, Mrs. Templeton. You were perfectly correct in finding everything that Pemberley and its master needed,” he said, then he helped his wife inside and closed the carriage door.
Emotions ran freely, but at soon as they disappeared from sight, Mr. Darcy put his arms around his wife and claimed her lips in one of the first kisses that they shared during a most pleasant journey to London.
And from there they would return to Pemberley, where Elizabeth Bennet had lost part of her heart three months ago and Mrs. Darcy was now ready to put it back together.