Chapter 51 Chaos #2
She knelt and attempted to revive her hostess.
Mrs. Damask and Lady Sheldon joined her as the other women began to crowd around as well.
Most of the attention in the room was now fixed firmly on Mrs. Bennet.
Even Kitty and Lydia ran over to see that their mother was well, and Lizzy joined them.
Darcy was surprised to feel a large hand come to rest heavily on his left shoulder.
"Congratulations and well done," his uncle said just loudly enough for Darcy to hear him over the commotion surrounding Mrs. Bennet. "I suppose you did not tell me earlier as a bit of payback for my not telling you what I knew of Miss Rose."
"You suppose correctly, sir," Darcy said with a smirk.
"Well, that also explains why Bennet has been looking so smug. I knew he was keeping a secret but had not been able to figure it out yet."
"Oh, we have all manner of secrets going on here – relationships, rank and more," Darcy said.
"Hmm. Yes, well, all will come out eventually," said his uncle a little sheepishly.
The two stood together and watched as Anne apologized to Bingley once more and the group of women succeeded in reviving Mrs. Bennet.
Lydia and Lizzy provided the strong arms the older woman needed to stand and return to her seat.
She reached for the handkerchief she had dropped when she fainted.
It was too much of a stretch, so Kitty picked it up for her.
Almost as soon as the square of lace-trimmed fabric was in her hand, she found her voice again.
"Oh, my, my, my!" she exclaimed. "Is it true? Can it be true? Our Mary in a courtship and Lizzy betrothed? Oh, tell me I am not dreaming?"
Lizzy patted her mother's arm reassuringly. "It is true, Mama, every bit of it. Mary and Mr. Bingley met in London, and he leased Netherfield Park so he could be near her and continue the courtship once she returned to Longbourn.
"Oh, how romantic," Mrs. Bennet sighed, fluttering her handkerchief vigorously in front of her chest. "And such a handsome, cheerful young man he is too. But what about you and Mr. Darcy. How did that come about?"
Lizzy patted her mother's arm again as she explained, "We have had plenty of time to talk while he visited here and have overcome our differences as we got to know one another better.
Yesterday morning he asked if I would marry him and I said yes.
Papa gave his blessing then, but we wanted to wait and share our news after you learned about Mary because we thought her courtship was important as well. "
"Important? Of course, it is. Oh, my! Oh, my!"
The content of the conversation must have finally made sense to Georgiana. She looked quickly from Lizzy to Darcy and back and he could see the understanding dawn in her expression.
"Will!" she exclaimed, "You truly intend to marry Lizzy? The Bennets will be my sisters for real!"
"And they will truly be my cousins!" Anne announced happily.
Her comment released the floodgates and congratulations poured in from all over the room.
It was an overwhelming sensation, and Darcy got a sense of why Mrs. Bennet had fainted.
He was feeling a little lightheaded until Lizzy left her mother's side and came to stand arm in arm with him.
With her supporting him, he felt he could catch his breath and even respond to the comments.
He could also see why Miss Mary had wished to be there to support Bingley when their time came to be the focus of attention.
Eventually, the furor subsided, only to return when Lydia said, "Well, Mr. Darcy, as my brother-to-be, you really should let Georgiana give us those packages."
"Lydia!" said Miss Parks disapprovingly, but her remonstrances were drowned by a general request to see what Georgiana had brought.
Darcy said, "Just like our news, I had intended to defer the presentation of the packages until a little later so they would not distract from the gathering, but I think that plan is now a lost cause.
" Everyone laughed at his comment. When the room quieted, he asked his sister, "Did you remove the plates as I requested? "
Georgiana nodded. Those who did not know what was likely to be in the packages looked at Darcy curiously.
He explained, "As some of you may already know, my father enjoyed playing chess.
Because he did not travel far from home due to illness, he played most of his games by post and he maintained a very large correspondence to do so.
He would often have dozens of games going at any one time.
To help keep track of them, he commissioned a local craftsman to make several miniature chessboards that he kept in his study.
Each of his most frequent partners in play was assigned a board which was personalized with a small brass plate with that partner's name inscribed.
After my father's death, I sent some of those boards off to the individuals named on the plates, however, I did retain some for my own use as well.
Mr. Bennet has one of them, which has been a source of great enjoyment to Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia, prompting them to learn the game.
On the first day of my visit, I made an agreement with both of my sisters-to-be that if they could each best me in a game of chess that evening, I would have Georgiana bring them each one of the miniature boards for their own use.
Georgiana, please pass on the packages to your future sisters. "
A little nervous at suddenly being the center of attention again, Georgiana trembled a bit as she offered Kitty and Lydia their prizes. Lydia accepted hers quickly and immediately began to unwrap it. Kitty, however, offered Georgiana a quick, comforting hug before unwrapping her own.
Despite her head start, Lydia was no faster at getting her package open than Kitty.
In her excitement, she fumbled at untying the knots in the string that kept it tied together.
As a result, the attention of the room was divided between the girls as each unwrapped her small box and lifted the inlaid chessboard lid to reveal the tiny, carved playing pieces, tweezers and bowl nestled within.
Sir Phillip immediately asked Kitty for the honor of playing the first game on her set, oblivious to the winks and nods that request prompted among others in the room. After she agreed, Lord Sheldon laughingly challenged Lydia to demonstrate her skill at the game against him.