Chapter 54 The Picnic #2
“I beg your pardon, Miss Mary.”
She began to laugh, and then Alexander laughed with her.
He released her hand, offered his arm, and accompanied her across the lawn.
Elizabeth turned back to Mr. Darcy.
“I believe Mary has acquired a handsome shadow, sir. Perhaps there is a match in the making.”
Darcy said, “His attentions are very marked, Elizabeth, though I am not certain Mary has noticed that he has scarcely left her side since she arrived.”
* * *
It was not long after that Mrs. Goulding joined a group near the terrace and accepted their compliments upon the picnic with evident pleasure.
“You must see my dahlias before you leave. We have had remarkable success with them this year. They are beyond the south wall, and our gardener has managed them beautifully.”
Elizabeth looked toward the garden.
Darcy offered his arm. “Would you like to see them, darling?”
“Very much, sir. I have never seen a dahlia. Mrs. Goulding was saying that the plants came from a country called Mexico to Spain and from there made their way to England.”
They left the lawn by a gravel path that ran beside the house.
Beyond the south wall, the garden opened into a sheltered enclosure. Dahlias grew in two long beds, their flowers rising above the surrounding plants in shades of crimson, yellow, and deep red.
Elizabeth stopped before them.
“They are extraordinary.”
She continued along the flower bed bordering the enclosure wall.
The voices from the picnic faded as they went farther into the garden. When the path narrowed beside a low stone border, Darcy offered his hand.
Elizabeth took it.
They had passed the uneven ground before either released the other.
“We are becoming careless, Fitzwilliam.”
“I am finding caution increasingly difficult, Elizabeth. Being always in company is becoming quite a trial.”
They continued along the path.
“Four months will seem very little to our neighbors.”
“It seems an eternity to me.”
Elizabeth looked at him. “I have been thinking that perhaps we might marry at the end of September, if my father approves.”
“Do you think that probable?”
“I am almost afraid to speak to Papa. If he thinks it too soon, I would not have him believe I am eager to put Mamma’s death behind me merely because I wish to marry you. Nor would I have my sisters think it.”
“They know you better than that, Elizabeth.”
“The neighborhood may not.”
Darcy stopped beside her. “I will wait if you wish it, darling. But I would rather not allow the neighborhood to decide when I may marry my wife.”
Her expression softened, and they continued hand in hand among the dahlias. At the end of the flower bed, Elizabeth paused before a deep crimson bloom.
“I think this one is my favorite, sir.”
Darcy bent closer to examine it.
“I will have our gardeners plant some at both Darcy House and Pemberley. Perhaps they will thrive in the orangery at one, if not the other.”
“You are very good to me, sir.”
“It makes me happy to make you happy, Elizabeth.”
* * *
Caroline saw them emerge from the other side of the south wall.
Elizabeth said something Caroline could not hear, and Mr. Darcy looked down at her and laughed.
Caroline stood frozen as the man she had always known for his civility and restraint bent and kissed Elizabeth’s hand.
In all the years she had known him, never had she seen him act thus with any woman.
She could not turn away. When Elizabeth spoke again, Mr. Darcy bent his head nearer to hear her. The longing in his expression was unlike anything Caroline had ever seen from him. She lowered her eyes and took out her handkerchief.
Louisa touched her arm.
“He never looked at me the way he looks at her, Louisa.”
* * *
As the afternoon lengthened, servants began carrying empty dishes toward the house, and the first carriages were brought around.
Kitty stood with Georgiana near the terrace when Steven Goulding approached.
“Miss Kitty.”
She looked up.
“I hope I shall see you at church on Sunday.”
“Yes, sir. I shall be there.”
His face brightened. “I shall watch for you, ma’am.”
Mrs. Goulding called to him from across the lawn.
Steven bowed. “Until Sunday, Miss Kitty.”
She watched him go.
Georgiana came beside her and took her arm. “Perhaps ten thousand pounds is not enough to buy his heart.”
* * *
Jane had just come from the house when Bingley met her at the foot of the steps with her wrap over his arm.
“The air has cooled.”
He placed the wrap around her shoulders before offering his hand to help her into the carriage.
“Thank you, sir.”
Mr. Hurst handed his wife up and followed her into the carriage.
Bingley offered his hand to Caroline, but she scarcely noticed him, her eyes still fixed on Mr. Darcy, who stood beside the open barouche, helping Elizabeth into her pelisse.
After handing her up, he took several blankets from the boot and passed three to the other ladies.
He spread the last across Elizabeth’s knees himself before climbing in beside her.
Their shoulders touched as he settled into his seat.
At last she lowered her eyes and stepped into the carriage.