by Bray, Ayr
“Yes, Mrs. Darcy, you need not fear. I will send Abigail and Elspeth to prepare some more rooms. I will also inform Mrs. Lacroix of the extra guests and have her revise the menu accordingly. Do you want to change the menu, or just increase the portions?”
Elizabeth looked to her husband. “Do you have any special requests for the meals while your relations are in residence, or shall we proceed with my original menu?”
“Your menu will be perfect, my dear. There is no need to change it.” Fitzwilliam was cross with his Uncle and Aunt, as well as his cousin’s family. Why now, of all times, would they barge in? They had rarely been to Pemberley since the death of his mother almost fifteen years prior. He was upset that they chose now, his and Elizabeth’s first Christmas as husband and wife, to come. It was one thing to be invited, but another entirely to invite oneself. There was entirely too much self-invitation happening this holiday season.
Elizabeth was relieved. She had neither the time nor the energy to prepare another menu. This one had taken her a full two days to get just the right combination of everyone’s favourite dishes. She hoped their new guests would have similar tastes as those she originally planned the menu around. “Mrs. Reynolds, there is one last thing we need to discuss.” Elizabeth looked at her father out of the corner of her eye. He was not likely to say anything, but she was sure he would see the wisdom in her final instruction.
“What is it, Mrs. Darcy?”
“At no time is my mother to sit next to the Earl and Lady Matlock or Lord and Lady Fitzwilliam. She is to sit near me or my sister Jane so that we may keep her in check.”
Mrs. Reynolds acknowledged Elizabeth’s request with a nod, noticing the smirk upon Mr. Bennet’s face. He clearly understood why his daughter was making the request.
Mrs. Reynolds had only just left the room to have bedrooms prepared and Mrs. Lacroix informed of the additions when the rest of the family joined the Darcys and Mr. Bennet for breakfast.
“I hope you all slept well, for Elizabeth and I have an announcement to make,” Fitzwilliam said after everyone had been seated and dished their plates. “Just this morning an express came from my sister, Georgiana. It seems our family party will not only be blessed with our Bennet relations, but we have just received the happy news that we will have an additional seven guests from our Fitzwilliam relations. They will be arriving this evening before supper. I hope you do not mind sharing your holiday with a rather large crowd, for it appears that by the end of the day there will be seventeen of us celebrating the Christmas holiday together.”
“Seventeen,” exclaimed Mrs. Bennet. “So many! Elizabeth, it is a fine thing I arrived when I did, for you would never be able to host such a number.”
“Mother, I promise you I already have it well under control. Rooms are being prepared as we speak, and Cook has already been instructed about the menu. I thank you for your offer, but your are on holiday. Please, go enjoy yourself; there is no need to fret over my household.”
“But, Lizzy, are you sure? I have so much more experience than you at hosting lavish parties. Why, look at the splendid job I did hosting yours and Jane’s double wedding. I have recently had such good practice that I am sure my assistance will be invaluable.”
“Thank you, Mother, but no. I must learn to manage these things myself.”
Fitzwilliam squeezed Elizabeth’s knee under the table, proud of how easily she was handling a difficult situation.
“Very well, Lizzy, but when everything falls apart you will have no one but yourself to blame. Do not come running to me later if you will not accept my help now.”
Mrs. Bennet turned her attention to Fitzwilliam as if she had not been scolding his wife seconds before. “Fitzwilliam, the room you gave us is wonderful. I do not think I have slept that well on a bed other than my own since before I was married.”
“I am glad you approve of it, Mrs. Bennet. Elizabeth picked the room especially for you.” It was a half-truth, for had Elizabeth received more advanced notice that they were coming, Mrs. Reynolds would have advised her to put her parents in that room.
“I am sure with only a few weeks to get to know the manor, and such a large manor it is, that it is unlikely she would have known the best rooms to offer her guests. I am sure we only received the room because of your vast knowledge of the estate.”
Jane was mortified that their mother was belittling every action Elizabeth performed in her own home. It was the exact thing she had been doing at Netherfield for the past three weeks. She was proud of Elizabeth for standing up for herself and wished she had the courage to do the same.
Elizabeth was surprised how fast the time of their guests’ arrival crept up on her. It seemed she had just gotten up from breakfast when Mrs. Reynolds sought her out to inform her that the Matlock and Fitzwilliam carriages were spotted coming up the drive. Just yesterday she had stood at the same window watching the progress of their guests, and now she was doing it again, and with just as much trepidation.
“Elizabeth, my dear, they are here,” Fitzwilliam said as he entered the room and stood watching her with concern. She had not been her lively self today, but rather was prone to silence and deep contemplation. He had asked her, when they had a moment alone, if everything was all right, but, as women do, she assured him she was fine and put on a charming smile with all pretense of happiness. He had come to know her well the past months and knew it was a show to put him at ease while she fretted in silence.
“I have been watching their progress.” For a moment, Elizabeth let her guard down. “Do you think everything will be well, or shall we end up with as many disasters as we have already had? To think, we have had these complications with only half the family in residence.” The nervousness upon her countenance was clear, and Fitzwilliam wrapped his arms around her for comfort.
“Fear not, all the mishaps are sure to be over. We haven’t many relations left to descend upon us, unless, of course, Aunt Catherine decides to grace us with her presence.”
Elizabeth swatted him in a gentle scolding. “Do not even think such things. If she arrives, you will have to admit me to an asylum, for surely I would lose my good sense and go insane.” Her anxiety drove her desperate desire to taste his lips again. She turned in his arms, and despite the fact that her rational mind was screaming that their guests were eminent, she sought his lips for a sustaining kiss. It was not until she heard the butler open the door that she pulled away from him, reached for his hand, and led him towards the front door. Their sudden yet passionate contact had not been much, but it was enough to whet his need for her. Fitzwilliam silently cursed the arrival of so many guests, and wished they could return to the solitude of their rooms that their first few weeks of marriage had afforded them.
As soon as they stepped into the hallway, Georgiana rushed to her brother and threw her arms around him. “I am so sorry, Fitzwilliam. I did not know how not to invite them. They were pressuring me so much. Please do not scold me.”
“Fear not, Georgie, we are not upset with you.”
“What a relief, brother! I have been on nerves these past two days complete.”
Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam and the Earl and Lady Matlock entered the house in a more refined manner than Georgiana had. “Fitzwilliam,” Lady Matlock cooed as she approached him, engulfing him in a motherly hug that he always enjoyed. In the years since his own mother’s death, she had been a surrogate mother of sorts to him and Georgiana. “I am so glad Georgiana invited us to spend the Christmas holiday here at Pemberley. It has been far too long since we were here. Why, I think the last time we were here at Christmastime was before your poor mother left us, God rest her soul.”
“Welcome, Aunt. We are pleased you could come,” Fitzwilliam said. Upon his statement, the door opened again to receive Lord and Lady James Fitzwilliam and their three lively children.
“Grandmother!” the children shouted and ran to the Countess, who knelt down and swept all three of them into an engulfing hug.
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“Hello, my dears, how was your trip?”
Three little voices were heard exclaiming about how cold and uncomfortable it was in the carriage. Finally, little James’s voice was heard above the rest. “Mamma said we could not ride in your carriage on the way here because Uncle Richard and Georgie were riding with you, but she promised us that if you said yes, we could ride home with you. Can we? Can we return to Matlock with you and Grandfather when it is time to go home?” Lady Matlock looked at her daughter-in-law as Roslynd shrugged her shoulders.
“We will see, little ones. I think it will depend on how well you behave at Pemberley.”
“Oh, we will be good, for Mamma and Papa have said they will take all our presents away if we are not.”
Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam smiled at the innocence of the children ruining all their parents hard laid plans to appear as if they had well-behaved offspring.
“Welcome, Lord and Lady Matlock, Lord and Lady Fitzwilliam. We are so pleased to have you here.” Elizabeth stepped forward. “Will you not come in and get warm?”
“Thank you, my dear, but it is just James and Lillian, or Uncle and Aunt, if you prefer. There is no need to act upon ceremony when it is just us.” Lady Matlock wrapped her arms around Elizabeth in a familial hug, something Elizabeth had not expected.
“Thank you, Aunt Lillian.”
Lord and Lady Fitzwilliam stepped forward with their children and offered the same. “James and Roslynd will do for us,” James said, and then leaned in a little conspiratorially and further stated, “though if you are upset, I will let my father respond to James and I will just assume I did not hear you.” Then, as if he had not said anything amiss, he swept his three children in front of him and prattled off their introductions. “This upstanding young man is James III. Then we have our daughter, Evelyn, and our youngest son, Richard.” James, Evelyn, and little Richard bowed and curtsied before Elizabeth.
She knelt in front of them and inquired further about their journey. “Did you have a good trip?”
“Um-hmm.” Three little heads bobbed in front of her.
“I heard you say it was cold. Was it almost unbearable?”
“Oh yes, very cold. Little Richard got to sit on Mama’s lap when his fingers were too cold. I would have liked to warm up on Mama’s lap too, but she says I am getting too big,” stated Evelyn in a matter-of-fact voice.
“Do you think some hot chocolate will help to warm your fingers and toes?” Elizabeth looked to Roslynd for her agreement. She nodded.
The three children’s eyes lit up. “Yes, I think that would help us warm up a great deal.”
“Very well, you three come with me while your mamma and papa go to their rooms to freshen up.” Three little hands reached for her as she led them off to the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “I will take these three with me. Fitzwilliam will make sure you all get to your rooms.” She paused as she remembered one last thing. Turning towards all of them, she said, “We are extremely pleased you have all come to Pemberley for Christmas. I should tell you we had four other unexpected guests arrive just yesterday. In addition to my sister Jane and her husband arriving from Hertfordshire, my father, mother, and two younger sisters also arrived. You all should be aware that we will have a lively group of seventeen here for Christmas.” Elizabeth left their shocked faces to Fitzwilliam as she gathered up her three charges and led them on their quest for hot chocolate.
Georgiana was the most surprised. “Seventeen! What an increase from our expected six. Is it true, though, that Mary and Kitty are here?”
“Yes, they are in their rooms at present. Elizabeth asked to greet you without the confusion of so many.”
“Oh, what fun! I cannot wait to see them again. They are as dear to me as Elizabeth. May I go and see them at once?”
“Yes, I am sure they would enjoy that.” Georgiana began to hasten towards the stairs as her brother called out to her. “Georgie, we are very glad you are home, dearest.” Georgiana ran back to her brother and gave him one last hug.
“As am I, brother.”
As she released her arms from his neck and turned back to the stairs, Fitzwilliam said, “Once you have visited with Mary and Kitty and had a chance to get settled, I would speak with you.”
“Very well, brother, I will come to you later.” Then she ran up the stairs in search of the Bennet sisters.
The three Fitzwilliam children were adorable as Elizabeth set them down in the kitchen with their mugs of hot chocolate and talked with them. It was staggering what could be learned from three young children who liked to talk about everything their parents said, despite the fact that their parents would most assuredly prefer their conversations left unrepeated.
“Mrs. Darcy, are you angry that we came without being invited?”
“No, James, of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?”
“Because I overheard Grandmamma and Mamma talking, and they said that all of us coming without being invited by you directly is a great impropriety. They said that they should not impose upon a newly married couple so suddenly.” James was pleased he was able to recite his mother’s statements as precisely as he had.
“Mrs. Darcy, what does impropriety mean?” he asked innocently.
“Children, we are family now. You may call me Lizzy if you want.”
The children looked at Elizabeth excitedly, and little Evelyn energetically responded, “I love the name Lizzy. I wanted to call you by it when I heard your sister call you Lizzy at your wedding, but Mamma said I could not until you invited me to. I am so glad you did. Do you want to know what?” Evelyn was bouncing as she spoke.
“What?” Elizabeth asked.
“I named my doll Lizzy, after you. She has the same dark brown hair you have. Her name used to be Mandoline, but I changed it after you married Cousin Fitzwilliam. I like the name Lizzy much better.”
“What a pretty thing to say! Thank you, Evelyn. I am honoured.”
“Lizzy, you did not answer my question,” James protested over his sisters excitement.
“Oh yes, impropriety. Well, the best way to describe it is to do something improper.”
Evelyn spoke up with panic, “Improper! Mamma says we should never do anything improper. That is very bad!”
All three of the Fitzwilliam children became sullen in their expression, afraid they had done something wrong.
“It is only wrong if the other person thinks it is wrong, I am so happy you are here that it could never be wrong or improper.”
Suddenly their faces lit up with broad smiles. “Oh, good, because we want to be here. Are we going to have Christmas pudding?” asked James.
Little Richard looked up with hopeful eyes, his mug of chocolate oversized in his little hands.
“I had not thought about Christmas pudding. Do you like it?”
“Oh yes, we must have Christmas pudding. Grandfather says no Christmas is complete without it, and he would be cross the entire year if he did not eat it at Christmas dinner.”
“He would! Well, we cannot have a cross grandfather, now can we? Christmas pudding it is.” Turning towards Cook, who stood at the cookpot on the other side of the kitchen, she asked, “Mrs. Lacroix, did you hear that?”
“I certainly did, Madame. Christmas pudding is decidedly on the menu.”
Elizabeth nodded her thanks and redirected her attention back to the children. “Is there anything else that you, your parents, or grandparents want to eat at Christmas dinner?”
“Um …” Now that they were put on the spot, their little minds could not think of a single thing; instead they drank down their chocolate and asked for more.
“No, I think I should take you back to your parents. We will have more hot chocolate tomorrow.”
“Promise?” the three called in unison.
“I promise.”
Elizabeth gathered the children and took them to the suite of rooms they would share with their parents. As soon as they entered, all three dro
pped Elizabeth’s hands and rushed to their mother. With excited voices, they exclaimed, “Mamma, Lizzy said we could call her Lizzy. And we get hot chocolate tomorrow, too. She also said she is going to have Christmas pudding at dinner. Now Grandfather does not have to be cross all year. Also, us coming is not improper because she wants us here.” Their enthusiasm would have been contagious had not Roslynd’s distress been heightened with every word they were saying. James and Roslynd looked towards the door where Elizabeth stood. Roslynd’s face was pale and she was nervously glancing between her husband and Elizabeth, unsure if she should start apologizing right away or not.
“You are correct, children. Christmas pudding will certainly be served, and I dare you to get Cousin Fitzwilliam to miss even one day of hot chocolate. As far as being invited to Pemberley, we are family; you may come anytime you like. Whether it is with a month’s notice or without a moment’s notice, you will always be welcome here.”
Roslynd’s relief was palpable, and she smiled at Elizabeth. “Thank you, you have set my mind at ease. We worried about barging in, but we could not resist when James and Lillian said they were coming. We knew Richard would be here too. It is common for us to spend the holiday together. We could not help but follow them here.”
“Do not worry, you are most welcome. Now, if you will forgive me, I want to make sure everyone else is settled. I will see you at supper.”
Elizabeth sought out her husband, who was still with the Matlocks in their rooms. She welcomed them as she had the Fitzwilliams, assured them their coming was actually a blessing to all, insisted she was glad they had come, and had just invited them to supper when her mother was heard in the hall.