by Linda Wells
“Mama, I know about Aunt Sarah, and how you came to be married to Papa.”
She stared at her in shock. “You do? But how? He said never to speak of it!”
“He told William, and I confronted him. I have written to my aunt. I now understand so much of your marriage, Mama. I want you to know that I am very happy, and … I do not fear what will come tonight.”
“Are you sure, child? I can offer few words of comfort, only to say that … no, Mr. Darcy cares very much for you. Anything I could say would be useless.” She patted her hand and smiled slightly. “Your husband will be gentle and kind, I am sure. Follow his lead and you will be well.”
Elizabeth smiled and kissed her cheek. “I know that I will.” Mrs. Bennet embraced her.
“I expect many letters, daughter. I want to know how you get on.” She sniffed and turned quickly to the door and opened it. Elizabeth watched her go, her heart ached for her, seeing the devastation that a loveless, friendless marriage could wreak, and realizing again how extraordinarily rare her relationship with William was.
She gathered her spencer and looked about for the bonnet, and remembered it was downstairs. Lydia and Kitty walked up to her with giggles and handed it to her. “It looks lovely Lydia, thank you. You have a great talent for this.”
Lydia’s eyes widened. “Thank you, Lizzy!”
Kitty bit her lip and drew out a confection of yellow ribbons and lace. “There are no flowers in the garden anymore, so I thought you might carry this.”
Elizabeth laughed. “It is beautiful!” She looked at the roses she had formed with the ribbons and lifted it to her nose. “Did you sprinkle this with rosewater?”
Kitty giggled. “You noticed! That was Mary’s idea!” Mary appeared from around the corner and smiled slightly. Elizabeth took her hand.
“Thank you, it was a wonderful idea.”
Mary suddenly flung her arms around her and whispered. “I shall miss you so much.”
“Then you will have to come and visit, Georgiana will like that, and so will I.” Elizabeth hugged her tightly. “Until then I want you to write.” Mary nodded and sniffed.
“All right ladies, to the carriage!” Mr. Bennet appeared and shooed them all away, then looked sadly at her. “Well, you have chosen to fly the nest.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Yes, Papa, you should be glad, one less mouth to feed.”
He shook his head. “No my dear, I would have gladly kept you here forever, but it seems that Darcy had other plans.”
“ARE YOU NOT NERVOUS?” Bingley stood by Darcy’s side, watching the unreadable face. Darcy’s eyes were bright and alive.
“No.”
“I would be nervous.”
“How fortunate that I am not you, then.”
“Come now man, this is forever! Every day, the same woman, the same voice, the same …”
Darcy raised his brow and looked at him speculatively. “I believe that you became engaged yesterday Bingley, are you certain that you are not speaking of your own misgivings?”
“NO! No, no … I am … This is not right Darcy. You are so damned stoic!” Bingley glared at his friend’s perpetually calm demeanour.
Darcy’s lips twitched. “Would you prefer me to be pacing, twisting my gloves, shaking in my boots … perhaps resembling you?” Bingley’s hat was in his hands and he was ruining the brim with his twisting. “I am the one marrying this morning, and I am calm because I will at last be happy, and my home truly will be a place that I can not wait to enter, and be with my love. Why on earth are you so nervous?”
“I … I am just seeing my future is all.” Darcy tilted his head. Bingley sighed. “I am hoping that I am seeing my future. Do you realize that Jane is the only woman I have not disappointed by running away to find another? Our courtship was so short, I proposed yesterday on an impulse, I am afraid that my old habits might return and I might never be standing in this position, at an altar, again.”
“Do you love her Bingley?”
“With all of my heart, with a fervour that I have never known, that I did not even realize I was capable of possessing.” Bingley stopped his nervous twisting and leaned against the pulpit, looking at his serene friend. “I am … Darcy, you know my habits. In honesty they are not that different from yours.”
Darcy’s cough made him smile. “Well, you know; my habits in bedding ladies. I daresay I visited the courtesans no more often than you … well, perhaps a little more often.”
Darcy grew uncomfortable and looked down. “I am not proud of that Bingley, and I told Elizabeth of it. She accepted my honesty, but I know it hurt her.” He looked up. “It will never happen again.”
“I doubt that I will ever speak of it to Jane, she is all that is sweet and pure … not that Elizabeth is not.” He added hurriedly. Darcy shook his head and indicated that he continue. “I have never bedded any woman of society. I was tempted, it was offered, but I did not. I also never felt an inclination to marry any of them either, Jane is the first …” His voice trailed off.
“Do you doubt your ability to remain constant to her, despite the obviously elevated feelings you have for her, beyond everything you have ever experienced before? Truly Bingley, you should have held this debate before proposing. Your honour is engaged now.” Darcy’s gaze pierced him, and Bingley knew what was being left unsaid. His friend had told him many times not to trifle with Jane.
He looked up and drew a deep breath. “I suppose … I suppose that I …” He smiled. “I suppose that I am finally growing up. I no longer want to flit from lady to lady. I want to have a wife, a home, and children.” He nodded as he looked at his friend who was forced to instantly become an adult at an age when Bingley was only concerned of the next dance partner and if she was pretty. The realization finally sunk in. Darcy knew long ago what responsibility was, and he was only just feeling it, first with his sister, and now with this new commitment to Jane. “I guess Darcy, it is that being in this place right now, and preparing to witness the awesome pledge that you are about to take with Elizabeth … I am leaving my boyhood behind. I may not be taking the vows today, but when I look at Jane, I will be repeating them to her.”
Darcy smiled widely; his friend had finally taken the great step to being his own man. “Then you will be here soon. I have every faith in you.” Darcy clapped his back and turned to greet Reverend Mosby and his clerk. Bingley; still lost in his epiphany, jumped at their sudden appearance.
“Mr. Darcy, are you prepared? Do you have the ring?”
Darcy smiled. “Well, my friend does.”
“The ring! My God … Oh, forgive me Reverend … Oh where is it?” Bingley began patting his coat, searching desperately. Darcy tilted his head and calmly reached forward, grabbing his flying right hand.
“Bingley.” He stopped and stared. Darcy pointed to his little finger, where the wedding band rested on the tip.
“Oh, thank heaven.” He smiled ruefully at his friend. “I suppose that I am nervous now about failing you at your time of need.”
The church doors opened and Mrs. Bennet and the girls entered. Jane took her place at the altar, smiling at Bingley, and then looking concerned at his somewhat flustered appearance. He smiled at her and she relaxed. She glanced at Darcy, but his eyes were riveted to the back of the church, where the vision of his dreams stepped into reality. Elizabeth stood with Mr. Bennet and saw nothing but William’s gaze fixed upon her. Mr. Bennet looked between them.
“He is worthy of you.”
“Then take me to him, Papa.”
Mr. Bennet swallowed down the lump in his throat and began walking. Elizabeth’s eyes remained locked on William’s, noticing the slight smile that played on his lips, but concentrating on his expressive eyes, bright and glowing with love and unshed tears. She could barely make out his face by the time they arrived at his side, her own vision was so blurred.
Mr. Bennet placed her hand in his warm clasp. Elizabeth felt the tremble that showed nowhere else, and knew
that it was not fear. The Reverend began the service, and the words encircled them, bound them, just as tightly as the invisible spirit of the love and commitment they already shared had done long ago. When asked for the ring, Bingley’s gaze was fixed upon Jane, and he did not hear the request. Darcy bent and removed it from his unmoving finger, and found the payment for the service inside of his coat, serving as his own best man. Elizabeth’s eyes danced and Jane furrowed her brow at him. Bingley suddenly realized that he had been asked to perform his duty and closed his eyes in mortification to see the ring already resting on the bible. He caught his friend’s eye and shook his head. Darcy’s lips twitched; then he turned to face Elizabeth and his eyes twinkled in barely repressed glee as he promised her everything that he was or ever would be. She promised him forever her love and devotion, and when Darcy finally slipped his great grandmother’s ring on her finger, the smile that lit his face matched perfectly the joy on hers.
They knelt, holding hands, half-listening to the final blessings, and taking turns wiping the tears pouring down the other’s face. When finally the prayers ended, Darcy stood and beaming, aided Elizabeth to her feet. Bingley met Jane’s smile and looked down, shaking his head and smiling to his shoes. “Darcy will never let me forget this.”
A deep warm chuckle began in Darcy’s chest, followed by Elizabeth’s bubbling laugh. Soon the church was filled with the sound of laughter. Elizabeth held out her arms and Darcy, towering above her, fell into her embrace for the homecoming he had wished for his entire life. They walked to the register, and he sat, signed his name, then handed the pen to his wife, who leaned over his shoulder to write her maiden name one last time. He took the pen from her, and then captured her hand, holding it to his chest.
“I do not have the words, Lizzy … Thank you.”
“Take me home, Will.”
Chapter 32
“Two hours, Mr. Hendricks! Two hours!” Mrs. Hendricks glared at her husband as she tore around the master suite, watching the chambermaids fluffing the bedding and dusting furiously. “What was the master thinking? He was not to marry until next week and then they were to go to Pemberley!”
“It seems that he made the decision to come here just this morning.”
She ran through the door into the adjoining sitting room, checked to see that supplies for the fire were in place and then entered the Mistress’ chambers. She paused, watching the activity of the maids. “Well at least this room was completely redecorated this summer.” She turned to him. “He must have known he would marry her then.”
“I do not know. Roberts and Danny are very tight-lipped about Mr. Darcy; they only seem to talk to each other.”
“I heard that, Hendricks. Mr. Darcy only entrusted the secret to us, and specifically said not to speak of it to the staff. They were engaged for almost two months.” Roberts came into the room and looked around. “Well, this is quite a change.”
“Mr. Darcy wanted nothing to be left untouched. The wall coverings, the furniture, the rugs, even the mattress was replaced. He wanted no memories of …” Mrs. Hendricks grew silent, and the three old staff members looked at each other, remembering Mrs. Darcy and her turbulent marriage. He had done something very similar to the master’s suite when his father passed on.
“It will be good to have a mistress again.” Mr. Hendricks said softly.
“What is she like, Roberts?”
He smiled slightly. “Well, I saw her but rarely, but I can say that she has had a remarkable affect upon the master. Perhaps you should ask her abigail.”
“Susie!” The young girl appeared from the dressing room and stood in frightened anticipation before her new superiors.
“Yes ma’am!”
“How long have you served Mrs. Darcy?”
Susie startled, not used to the new appellation. “Oh, three years, I cared for all of the Bennet girls.”
“Well then, you know her best. Will this room please her?”
Susie looked around the room and smiled. “Yes, it looks like it is set in a garden. Miss Eliz … Mrs. Darcy is very fond of the outdoors.”
“She does not seem to have a great deal of luggage.” Mrs. Hendricks looked at the few worn trunks, now being carted away by two footmen.
“No, there was little time for preparing her wedding clothes, especially after …” Her eyes widened and she looked at Roberts, unsure if she could speak of what had happened in Hertfordshire. The housekeeper and butler turned to regard the valet.
Roberts cleared his throat. “Later.”
Mrs. Hendricks turned back to the girl. “Is your mistress particular about anything? Any likes or dislikes that we need to address before she arrives? Anything urgent?”
“I can not think of a thing. She is a very happy, warm lady. Very kind and … I like her very much.” Susie blushed and looked at her toes.
“Very well then, return to your duties.” Mrs. Hendricks swept out of the room to speak with the cook. Mr. Darcy had sent specific requirements for a supper to be left in the sitting room. He wanted no large meal waiting for them, which was fortunate as there was no time to prepare it in the first place. She cast a critical eye over the house, everything was spotless, as usual, despite the fact that the master had not been in residence in nearly five months. As the time flew by, a footman was stationed by the front door, and at almost the exact predicted moment, he raised a cry. “They are here!”
The staff hurried to assemble in the foyer; Mr. Hendricks inspecting each of them for their uniform and deportment, then joined his wife at the front door. Two footmen raced out to open the coach’s door and begin collecting whatever luggage remained. The older couple leaned and watched as Mr. Darcy’s finely polished boot appeared on the step and he descended, immediately offering his palm to someone inside. A small, slender gloved hand appeared and rested in his, and then a bent, bonneted head. The small woman looked up and smiled into the eyes of her husband. Darcy took her arm and turned towards the house, a warm, glowing smile on his face. Mrs. Hendricks’s breath caught and she lifted a hand to her mouth, and glanced at her husband, who was fighting back the tears in his eyes. He cleared his throat and straightened, awaiting their approach.
Elizabeth looked up at the house and faltered a moment. Darcy immediately looked down. “What is it, Lizzy?”
“I … Oh William, it is so …” She looked at him in distress. “How am I ever to be mistress of this?”
Darcy smiled and kissed her hand. “My love, it is merely a house. If I could run it with the help of my staff, you can as well. Come, come into our home.” Elizabeth nodded her head and drew a breath, then took a determined step forward. Darcy chuckled softly, thinking that she could hardly fear a household after taking on Wickham.
They climbed the steps and Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks greeted them. “Sir, congratulations.”
Darcy smiled widely, and they stared at the novelty. “Please forgive my impulsive decision. I only made it this morning. I will understand if there was not enough time to prepare for our arrival.”
“Not at all sir, all is in readiness, as you requested.” Mrs. Hendricks smiled, and then looked to Elizabeth, who was watching him.
“Ah excellent.” He paused, then noticing the assembled staff, he moved forward. He stood before them and stepped slightly away from her. “I would like to introduce you to Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, my dear wife. Please welcome her into our home, and give her the courtesy and respect that you have given me. I have no doubt that you will soon count yourselves as fortunate to have such a mistress.”
Elizabeth blushed deeply with his praise and the staff broke into a round of applause. “Thank you all for your kind welcome, I very much wish to continue the traditions of Darcy House, and I hope that you will all bear with me as I learn.” Her warm smile and the master’s apparent happiness with his wife settled any questions they had over her.
“Sir, your baths will be ready in a quarter hour, the meal you requested is in the sitting room. Is there anyt
hing else?” Mrs. Hendricks asked.
“No, not at all. We will require nothing until the morning, and …” He looked down at Elizabeth then back to his housekeeper. “We will ring when it is wanted.” Elizabeth blushed again and Mrs. Hendricks nodded and held back her smile. “Yes, sir.”
Darcy breathed out a long sigh. That was finished, now, to get his wife upstairs! “Come my love; let me show you your chambers.” Instead of offering his arm, he took her hand, and entwined his fingers with hers. Elizabeth squeezed and they made their way up the steps. He watched her taking in the home with some anxiety. “Do you like it, Lizzy?”
“It is beautiful. Perhaps we might have a tour tomorrow?” She smiled and felt his squeeze.
“Perhaps … If you wish to leave our rooms.”
“William!” She glanced around to make sure that no servants were near, and he laughed in delight. “It seems you have great plans for me.”
Darcy raised her hand to his lips. “For us, my love.”
They arrived on the second floor, and he showed her the door to his chambers, and then took her farther down the hallway to her door. “This was completely redecorated this summer. I … I did it with your memory in mind, you see … I knew, even before we came to Hertfordshire that I would ask you to be my wife.” Elizabeth lifted her hand to caress his face. He covered the hand with his own, and then kissed her palm. “Thinking of you in this room is what kept me sane while waiting for …” His eyes grew bright.
“My letter.” She whispered, and he nodded. Reaching out, he turned the handle and they stepped into the room. “Ohhhh.”
They stood together, taking in the décor. “It is … oh William; it is like a walk in a garden on a spring day.” She turned and embraced him. “It is perfect, thank you!”
Darcy beamed. “I am so glad that you like it.”