Chapter 28 #2
“Kitty enjoys your company very much as well. I know she is looking forward to spending time with you,” Eleanor replied.
Georgiana conversed animatedly with Eleanor while Elizabeth and Mr Darcy spoke by the window overlooking the garden. After a week without seeing Elizabeth, Mr Darcy treasured every moment in her company.
“Are you looking forward to your birthday, my dear Elizabeth? I want you to know that I have many gifts for you. I do not want to overindulge you or make you uncomfortable, but everything beautiful I see makes me think of you, and then I simply must have it just because I think it might please you,” Mr Darcy said, as he kissed the hand of the woman he loved.
He was grateful that she had come only with her mother, for he could scarcely approach her whenever the general was present.
Mr Darcy longed for Elizabeth's adoption to be announced so that he might finally make their engagement known to everyone.
“Thank you, Mr Darcy, but you need not shower me with presents. In truth, there is something I wish to ask of you, and it would make me very happy if you could help me,” Elizabeth said, a little nervously.
“Of course, Elizabeth. You know that you may always rely upon me for anything you need,” Mr Darcy replied, becoming slightly concerned when he noticed her agitation.
Matthew and Jane had gone to dine with the Gardiners to share their plans with them.
“I need your help to improve the lives of the Longbourn tenants. As you know, my parents own Netherfield, and after they introduce me as Elizabeth Bennet-Sinclair, we shall spend a few months there to avoid all the commotion in town. I wish that you and Georgiana would join us, help me find a capable steward for Longbourn, and begin raising sheep on our farms. Can you help me with that?”
Elizabeth intended to manage Longbourn from Netherfield, but she would not, for anything in the world, abandon the tenants who had suffered so greatly because of Mr Bennet's indolence.
Mr Darcy was very proud of Elizabeth, for she was not only a beautiful woman but now also a wealthy and generous heiress.
Though she had risen in society, she had not forgotten those less fortunate than herself.
A good heart, such as hers, was the one thing Darcy found commonly lacking in the society women who had been throwing themselves into his path for as long as he could remember.
It was a thing about her that he treasured as much as her beauty, her wit, and her charm.
Pemberley's tenants would undoubtedly benefit immensely from having such a mistress. “Of course, my dear. I shall help you with everything you have planned.”
Just as Mr Darcy kissed Elizabeth's hand, Mr Bingley and Caroline entered the drawing room. Catching sight of Georgiana, Caroline immediately greeted her.
“My dear Georgiana, how delightful to see you…”
But when she looked up, she realised that Eleanor was accompanying Georgiana. Worse still, that wretched Eliza Bennet was speaking with Mr Darcy in a most intimate manner while he kissed her hand.
Eleanor immediately rose to her feet. It was time to leave, and she had no wish to speak with Caroline. Mr Bingley, however, decided to intervene.
“Lady Sinclair, before you go, allow me to apologise on behalf of my family for what occurred a few weeks ago.”
Elizabeth and Mr Darcy approached the group and overheard Mr Bingley's words.
“Thank you, Mr Bingley, for your apology. I sincerely appreciate your kindness. Elizabeth, I believe it is time for us to leave. We still have a great deal to do.”
“Yes. Thank you, Mr Darcy and Miss Darcy, for receiving us,” said Elizabeth.
They then took their leave, and Georgiana retired to her room, saying that she had something to attend to.
Caroline felt humiliated, but matters grew even worse after Elizabeth and Eleanor had departed, for Mr Darcy told Mr Bingley that he had been courting Elizabeth for several weeks and was merely waiting for the adoption proceedings to be completed before formally announcing their engagement and setting a date for the wedding.
“So Miss Elizabeth is to become a Sinclair?
That is a great surprise, Darcy! I cannot remember how many times you and my sisters complained about the Bennet sisters' lack of connections, and now it turns out that one of them is a Condesa and future Marquesa, while the other is to become the daughter of a newly created earl and a national hero,” said Charles Bingley, unable to suppress a laugh.
“How fortunate Eliza Bennet is,” said Caroline scornfully, unable to conceal her bitterness.
“That is true. My future wife will soon be Lady Elizabeth,” Mr Darcy replied, looking at Caroline with a faintly mocking smile.
“And she is so terribly sweet,” he added, pouring just a touch of salt into the wounds of Caroline as his punishment for her constantly insulting the woman he loved.
“It really is a shame, Caroline, that you didn’t inherit the same good heart as your older brother.
It would have made you eminently more eligible as a potential wife. ”
Caroline ignored him, pretending not to hear what Mr Darcy had just said.
Charles Bingley warmly congratulated his friend and told him about the purchase of his new estate and how excited he was about it.
“We shall be neighbours, Darcy. I hope you will help me whenever I need it. And I, in turn, as a good neighbour, will always be happy to help you,” said Mr Bingley.
“Of course, Bingley, you are one of my closest friends. I shall be delighted to help you with whatever you need.”
Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley talked for almost an hour, while Caroline remained completely silent.
At that moment, she realised that her last hope of belonging to the first circles had vanished and that she and her sister would probably spend a long time at their brother's new estate.
Perhaps there, where no one knew them, she would have the opportunity to begin anew and make something worthwhile of her life.
Women with faces as pretty as hers were rare enough to think her odds still good of finding a rich, even if not handsome, husband.
◆◆◆
Elizabeth's twenty-first birthday celebration was a family gathering to which only those closest to the Bennet-Sinclair family were invited.
Mrs Bennet travelled especially for the occasion.
She was very excited because she had had the opportunity to visit Lydia and see for herself that the school where she was learning proper behaviour was not the prison she had imagined.
Lydia had come to understand many things, chiefly the foolishness of her own conduct.
She had not changed in essence; like her father, she remained selfish and self-centred, but she had realised that she would gain nothing by openly expressing everything she thought.
At school, she had learned that it was wiser to conceal the less agreeable parts of her disposition if she wished to avoid giving offence.
She was learning how to be shrewd socially.
“In less than three weeks, you will be my wife, my dear Claire,” Colonel Fitzwilliam told his betrothed. “I hope you are every bit as happy as I am.”
“I am as happy as you are, perhaps happier, not only because I shall soon be your wife, but also because Providence has blessed me beyond anything I could once have imagined.”
Claire had finally learned to cast aside her fears and to appreciate all that she had.
She would never truly know her origins, nor did she care to.
It was true that Lord Rockwell had been a distant father, but he had always treated her with respect and had never forced her to do anything.
Indeed, he had not even objected to her relationship with a comparatively poor man.
Besides, she had found a father figure in her Uncle Marcus.
After learning the story of her cousin Elizabeth, she realised that life had not, after all, been so unfair to her, and she looked forward with optimism to the future she and Richard would build together.
“Mary, that dress is hideous. You ought to wear brighter colours. And you, Kitty, should arrange your hair differently. Now that you live here with Lord and Lady Sinclair, you will have the opportunity to meet many important gentlemen…” nagged Mrs Bennet.
Mary and Kitty listened to Mrs Bennet, feigning interest while paying little attention.
Both had learned to understand their mother and accept both her faults and her virtues.
Although she had never been openly affectionate towards them, they knew that, despite everything, she loved them and, in her own peculiar way, wanted what she believed was best for them.
Mary knew that if she told her mother about her friendship with Christian Campbell, Mrs Bennet would begin planning her wedding the very next day, so she preferred to say nothing.
Kitty, for her part, knew that if she admitted she was in no hurry to marry, her mother would spend hours scolding her, so she likewise remained silent.
The only person who seemed to enjoy Mrs Bennet's impertinence was Georgiana.
She was fascinated to see how deeply Mrs Bennet concerned herself with her daughters, even if her manner was rather intrusive.
She had no memory of her own mother, and all the mothers she had known had been reserved and distant.
Mrs Bennet, by contrast, seemed preoccupied with every aspect of her daughters' lives. Part of her longed for the same sort of maternal concern.”
“Mary, Kitty, before I return to Longbourn, we shall go shopping,” Mrs Bennet declared.
Mary could scarcely believe her misfortune, while Kitty resigned herself to spending the afternoon in her mother's company when Georgiana came to their rescue.
“May I come with you?” she blurted, and, realising how impulsive her question had been, she could not help blushing. “I’m sorry! That was terribly forward of me. I should learn to mind my manners. Forget I asked the question”