She then turned to Elizabeth again and held out her hands. “I will very much miss your presence, Lizzy. It was not until you walked out to the carriage with Mr. Darcy that it hit me. I will not have you here every day to answer my questions or help me with my music. Papa will have no one with whom he enjoys talking and will become even more of a recluse to the family.”
Elizabeth squeezed Mary’s hands. “You are going to be fine, Mary. Jane will be here for you and Papa will probably start talking with you because you are the most avid reader. I think you will not miss me as much as you think.”
“I think it best that Mary be your chaperone to London,” suggested Jane. “I would like to stay and have another chance to speak with Mr. Bingley, and Kitty and Lydia are too young. Would you mind, Lizzy?”
“Of course not. What do you think, Mary? Would you like to go to London with me and Mr. Darcy tomorrow?”
“I would love to, but I am not as good a representative of the family as Jane, and I have very few nice clothes to wear.”
“I have some fine dresses in London we can fit to you. And perhaps we will have a chance to go to the warehouse and have Mrs. McPherson make you some new gowns and dresses. We will go through your things and mine and see what we can find for you.”
The conversation after that was directed to speculating on what kind of reception Elizabeth and Darcy would receive in London. However, the conversation was mostly between the girls. Mr. Bennet had his own thoughts about what life at Longbourn would be without Elizabeth.
******
When Elizabeth led Mary and Darcy into the Gardiner’s house on Gracechurch Street just before lunch the next day, they found Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and the eldest child, Cordelia, sitting in the parlor. When Cordelia saw Elizabeth, she immediately shouted, “Lizzy,” and jumped up and ran to greet her. However, before she reached Elizabeth, she realized she was with Darcy and recognizing him to be a man of substance, stopped and curtsied, “Excuse me, sir. I was so excited to see Lizzy, I did not notice you.”
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner also rose and came to greet the three of them. “Lizzy, Mary we are surprised to see you, but even more surprised to see you, Mr. Darcy. Welcome to our home,” said Mr. Gardiner.
“Thank you, sir. It is good to see you both again. It has been some time since I last saw you, Mr. Gardiner.”
“That it has. And may I present my eldest, Cordelia. Cordelia, this is Mr. Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire.”
Cordelia curtsied again. “I am pleased to meet you Mr. Darcy. I have heard much of you and seen Pemberley. It is gorgeous.”
“I did not know you knew my nieces,” said Mrs. Gardiner. “When did you meet them and why are you with them now?”
“My friend, Bingley, has recently leased Netherfield Park, and I went to visit him. I met Elizabeth on my first visit and met Mary later.”
Elizabeth, who was standing beside Darcy, turned to him and punched him lightly on the arm. “Well, that let the cat out of the bag,” she said.
He looked at her questioningly, and then groaned. “I called you Elizabeth and Mary, did I not?”
She smiled. “Yes, you did.” She then turned to her aunt and uncle and said, “He is using our given names because he will soon be part of the family. He asked me to marry him yesterday, I accepted, and father was happy to bless the engagement; therefore, here we are to inform you in person.”
“You just met, and you are already engaged?” asked Mr. Gardiner with amazement. He then offered his hand to Darcy and continued, “That must have been some whirlwind of a courtship, but you certainly have my congratulations. I hope you comprehend what a treasure you have acquired.”
“Believe me, I do. We only conversed four times before we knew we were meant to be together. I know, it is not what you would think of Elizabeth or of someone with my reputation, but it is true. We have both been looking for years, and when we found each other, we knew. What else can I say?”
“Oh, Lizzy,” cried Cordelia, hugging Elizabeth. “That is wonderful and so romantic. I hope I can find someone someday as you have.” She giggled, and continued, “Particularly if they have such an estate as Pemberley.”
“I hope so too, Leah.”
Elizabeth then received hugs from her aunt and uncle, who then also greeted Mary with hugs. “And I assume you are their chaperone,” said Mr. Gardiner, “although I am slightly surprised it is you and not Jane.”
“She has her eyes on William’s friend, Mr. Bingley, and did not want to leave while he was there.”
“So, will that relationship proceed at a more traditional pace?”
“I would rather expect it will, if it proceeds at all,” said Elizabeth. “However, I do believe they were both attracted to each other strongly on first meeting. Perhaps after years of uncertainty, the elder Bennet girls have finally been rewarded for their patience. Certainly, I have.”
“Mr. Darcy, I must confess my complete surprise that you would choose a woman whose social status is so far below yours,” said Mrs. Gardiner. “It tells me much about your perceptiveness and intelligence that you recognize there is no one in the world quite like Lizzy.”
“Mrs. Gardiner, I did have a few moments of concern about that, but it did not take long to understand I would never meet another such as her again. And I was encouraged by my old tutor, who happens to live in Meryton, and the actions of my friend, Mr. Farrington, to not miss my opportunity. Therefore, I chose to listen to my heart instead of my head and proposed as soon as I could. Thankfully, she was of like mind and accepted me.”
“When will you marry?” asked Cordelia.
“That is why we wanted to inform you immediately. We will have the banns read next Sunday and for the next two Sundays after that and will be married on the Monday morning after the third of the banns is read.”
“That is less than a month away. Did Jane not object?”
“No, she did not, although she agreed with some reluctance. She did insist that we have a wedding on Monday rather than Sunday afternoon, as we had first suggested. You know Mama wanted all of us to have wedding breakfasts at Longbourn, and in her memory, we agreed to wed Monday morning rather than Sunday afternoon, so a wedding breakfast could be held at Longbourn. There will be a wedding ball at Netherfield on Monday night, and, of course, you are all invited to stay at Longbourn for the wedding and ball. However, Aunt Madeleine, Jane and Mary would greatly appreciate your help with the wedding breakfast and particularly for decorating the church for the wedding, if you are available.”
“With respect to that, Mrs. Gardiner. You need not spare any expense to fix up the church for the wedding or the house for the breakfast. I do not know what you might find should be done to the house, but I believe, in the church, some of the pews need varnishing, carpets cleaned or replaced, and flowers purchased. I will cover all expenses. I would think the vicar would be happy to let you do what you want.”
“Goodness, this is such short notice. Edward, is there any reason we could not go to Longbourn in a few days to look over the house and church and see what needs to be done?”
“I could not go until Wednesday or Thursday. May I assume, Lizzy, you and Mary will be staying here?”
“We will while we visit Will’s relatives and the Carlsons on Monday and Tuesday. Then the rest of the family will come to London and all of us will stay at Darcy House starting Wednesday. Will is going to pay for new gowns for all of the girls, so they will not look out of place among all the high society folks who will be at the wedding.”
“Then we should not go until they return to Longbourn. May I assume that will be over a week away?”
“Yes, it will be, which does not leave much time to make the renovations.”
“I think we can make all the renovations necessary in a week,” said Mrs. Gardiner, “if we can find workers and the materials we need.”
“I think, between Longbourn, Netherfield Park, and Darcy House, we can guarantee you will have enough workers,”
said Darcy. “However, I do not know about materials.”
“I think I will have no problem finding those,” said Mr. Gardiner. “Let us hope that at least we and Jane can go to Longbourn no later than a week from Tuesday afternoon.”
“I will make it so, Uncle Edward,” said Elizabeth.
“How about your wedding dress, Lizzy?” asked Mrs. Gardiner.
“Will is going to allow me to have my dream dress made,” said Lizzy. “One of our first visits this week will be to Madam Tellier to show her the design we have worked on over the years. I have brought all those magnificent water colors Kitty has made of it. I will show you the latest versions tonight. I hope, of course, you have appropriate silks in the warehouse to allow us to make it out of the silks we chose.”
“Lizzy, we have had a bolt of silk in the warehouse for over a year, praying the day would come you would need it. Of course, we assumed it would not be the complete dream with all the jewels and gold work. May I ask, is it going to be the complete design? It will be exorbitantly expensive.”
“Mrs. Gardiner, whatever Elizabeth wants, Elizabeth gets,” said Darcy, “and believe me, whatever it costs, it will not be too much. I hope it puts to shame any wedding dress the ton has ever seen.”
Mr. Gardiner laughed. “I suppose I may assume your wealth has not be exaggerated, Mr. Darcy.”
“No, it probably has been underestimated. And please, I hope, since you are her favorite aunt and uncle, I can become a favorite nephew and we can use familiar names. Please call me Darcy, and if I may, I will call you Gardiner and Aunt Madeleine.”
“That would be entirely acceptable.”
“And you can call me Leah,” said Cordelia. “But I will call you Mr. Darcy until I am older.”
“I agree, Leah, except I would prefer you call me Cousin William, and Aunt Madeleine, I hope you will call me just William.”
Lunch was a joyous affair, with more conversation about Darcy and Elizabeth’s plans and the expected schedule of events before the wedding. Immediately after lunch, Mary, Elizabeth, Mrs. Gardiner, and Cordelia went through the gowns Elizabeth kept in London and chose one that could be easily altered to fit Mary. Mrs. McPherson came from the warehouse to make the alterations and at three o’clock, Darcy, Elizabeth, and Mary, left to visit Lord and Lady Matlock.
Chapter 14: The Bad and the Good
As the three of them were on their way to Matlock House, Elizabeth said, “Will, I think there is something I should tell you before we visit Lord and Lady Matlock. Everything has been happening so quickly, I never thought to tell you ‒ not only did I meet your cousin, Col. Fitzwilliam, at a ball I attended with Lord and Lady Monttard, but I also allowed him to call on me. He gave me a sad story about having to return to the front shortly after the ball at which I met him and thought I should let him call on me, despite the fact I had told him I liked him but did not think we would make a compatible couple. I finally relented and let him call on me. We had a pleasant walk in the park near the Gardiners’ house, but when it was over, I was sure he was not for me and refused his request to call on me again. Again, I told him I did not think we were compatible. He refused to accept my refusal and as he was leaving, he said he would call again when he returned, giving me no chance to reiterate my refusal. I have no idea what he told his parents about this because I have not seen your aunt since his visit.”
Darcy grimaced. “I wish you had told me earlier. This could become awkward if he truly likes you and told his parents.”
“I just did not think about it.” She looked at him with trepidation, “Had I told you, would you have done things differently? Would you not have proposed to me?”
Seeing the worry in her eyes, he took her hand and kissed it. “I am not regretting anything I did, but he has been like a brother to me for most of my life. I need to decide how I will handle the situation if he is upset about our engagement ‒ particularly since it happened so quickly. I know the war has been becoming more and more unsettling to him and giving him another disappointment would be difficult for me to do. I would have liked to have more time to think about how to handle it. But we cannot delay telling them, nor do I want to change our plans. I have been waiting too long for you and at this point do not want to wait a day longer than I must to marry you. I am just happy you thought to tell me before we confront them.”
When the butler showed them into the family sitting room and announced their names, Lord and Lady Matlock and Lady Alicia Rutherford, their daughter, arose to meet them and Lady Matlock said, “William, we are always happy to see you, and Miss Elizabeth, what a surprise to see you with him. I did not know you knew my nephew.”
Elizabeth curtsied and said, “Good afternoon, Lady Matlock, Lord Matlock, Lady Alicia. I did not know him until six weeks ago, when he and Mr. Bingley first looked at Netherfield Park as a possible estate for Mr. Bingley to lease and perhaps purchase. Mr. Bingley subsequently leased Netherfield Park and your nephew visited him shortly after they moved in.”
“And who is this young lady. She looks as if she may be a sister.”
“She is, indeed, Lady Matlock. This is Mary, my next oldest sister. She just turned nineteen this year. Mary these are Lord and Lady Matlock and Lady Alicia Rutherford.”
After Mary curtsied and expressed her pleasure at meeting everyone, Lord Matlock said, “May we know why you have blessed us with your presence with these two attractive young ladies, Darcy?”
“I wanted you to be the first in the family to know that Elizabeth and I are engaged and will marry in a little over three weeks in Meryton in Hertfordshire on Monday, November 13. It will be a small wedding involving only family and close friends, although Bingley will be hosting a wedding ball at Netherfield Park that night to which more local folks will be invited.”
Lord and Lady Matlock and Lady Alicia displayed their shock and looked as if they did not know what to say. Finally, Lady Matlock said, “This is very sudden, is it not. I would have thought there would have been a longer courtship. Furthermore, William, I have nothing but admiration for Miss Elizabeth, but she is hardly a woman of the status we thought you should marry.”
“I understand that, Aunt Helen, and thought you might object, but I assure you, it makes no difference. Almost the minute I met her, I knew that all my preconceived notions of what I needed in a wife relative to wealth and status were of no importance. She is my perfect match ‒ the only woman I have ever met who will make me happy – and I care not what you or anyone else thinks. We will marry in four weeks. I thought you deserved to be the first in the family to know, and I hope you will attend our wedding, but it is your choice. I am sure many will disapprove, and if they no longer wish to associate with me, then so be it, and that includes both family and friends. As I told Elizabeth, if we must live most of our lives on my estates and not participate in London events, then as long as she is with me, I will be content.”
“But what about Georgiana?” said Lord Matlock. “How about the effect on her?”
“We will face that problem when it comes, if it does. I finally convinced myself that happiness in my marriage would be good for her and perhaps help her find happiness in her own marriage. Besides, with her beauty, accomplishments, distinguished ancestry, and £30,000 dowry, I suspect she will still be considered highly desirable by most men, regardless of what her brother does.”
“May I assume you have not told her yet.”
‘We have not. We intend to go by the school this evening and pick her up.”
“I hope you are not seeking my blessing for this,” said Lord Matlock, “because you know I cannot give it. As my wife said, Miss Elizabeth, it is no reflection on your character, but you are not a member of the class of people from whom we expected Darcy to choose his wife. You will find that many of the circle to which Darcy belongs who will not accept you.”
“Lord Matlock, he and I have discussed that, and he assures me he does not care, and certainly, it is of little concern to me. However,
I believe you are wrong. I have enough acquaintances among the first circles who I am rather sure will accept me, so we will not lack friends when we are in town. And I am quite confident of my adaptability, my Lord. It may take months, or even years, but I believe, in the end, our marriage will be accepted to the extent we wish it to be. I am truly sorry you do not approve and that I may be a divisive element in this family for some time, but I hope, over time, you may find I am the perfect wife for Will and your opinion will change.”
“Forgive me, father,” said Lady Alicia, “but I completely agree with Miss Elizabeth. John and I, as one couple, will certainly be their friends, and I am rather sure Richard will feel the same. There are few women in the ton, who impress me as much as Miss Elizabeth, and I believe she will make an excellent Mrs. Darcy and, once they come to know her, will be accepted by many you believe may not.”
Saying that, she stood, went to Elizabeth. “May I congratulate you and give you a cousinly hug.”
Smiling, Elizabeth stood and accepted Lady Alicia’s hug. “Thank you, Lady Alicia, and I hope you will henceforth call me Lizzy.”
“I shall, and I shall be just Alicia to you. I assume you do know that Richard will congratulate you when he can, but he will be disappointed.”
“I hope not. I do not think we were well suited, and I hope by now he has also reached that conclusion.”
“What is this about Richard?” asked Lord Matlock.
“He did not tell you?” asked Lady Alicia. When he said Col. Fitzwilliam had not, she continued, “Oh dear, he will probably be upset I am telling you, but he called on Lizzy last Season, when he was in town, and told her he wanted to call on her again when he returned. She refused him, explaining she did not think they would ever be a compatible couple, but he seemed to remain adamant that he would.”
“You never said anything about that to me, Miss Elizabeth,” said Lady Matlock.
“I did not think it was my place to tell you, my Lady. If Col. Fitzwilliam wanted you to know, I assumed he would tell you.”
The Lady of the Mount and Patience Rewarded: Two Stories of Darcy and Elizabeth Page 11