by C. P. Odom
“I suppose I should speak to you since you are Miss Bennet’s protector,” Fitzwilliam said in resignation.
“Not to me, but you will unquestionably need to speak to your parents, and Miss Bennet will speak to my wife, but I believe we three understand everything necessary. I shall send an express to Mr. Bennet, but I suspect his approval and blessing will be forthcoming. He and I do have a certain understanding, you know.”
Fitzwilliam could tell Darcy was amused, but the amusement was warm and contained no hint of undue glee or irony. So he simply ignored his cousin and took Jane’s hands in his.
“Perhaps you might give us a few moments alone?” Fitzwilliam asked.
“I wonder whether the two of you being alone is altogether a good idea, but I suppose it is too late to conform to every jot and tittle of propriety,” Darcy said lightly. A moment later, Fitzwilliam heard the door softly close behind him.
He looked intently at Jane. “Are you sure?”
“More than I have ever been of anything.”
“Can it be that I shall be as happy as my cousin?”
“Or I as happy as my sister?” Jane’s smile was warm, and her lovely eyes were bright as she clasped his hand more tightly.
It took little effort for Fitzwilliam to pull her towards him. That was all the invitation Miss Jane Bennet needed to release his hands and step into his embrace. With his strong arms about her, she raised her lips instinctively to his.
***
When the two of them started down the stairs a few minutes later, Fitzwilliam immediately saw that Darcy had lost no time in announcing his matchmaking success. Their whole party was gathered about the foot of the wide stairway, and all eyes were fixed on them. Everyone was beaming happily, none more so than Fitzwilliam’s mother, and she was quick to cross to Jane.
“Darcy brought the wonderful news just now, dear Jane,” she exclaimed, embracing her and kissing her on the cheek. “I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to hear my stubborn son has finally decided to marry. I have often worried he was going to end his days as a crusty old bachelor!”
“Mother!” Fitzwilliam groaned.
“Well, you cannot blame me, son,” she said, embracing him in turn. “And that you finally settled on a girl as worthy as Jane is an added reward. Of course, you have afforded Darcy a triumph beyond measure.”
Fitzwilliam looked at Darcy, who was accepting the congratulations of his father and his brother, and he groaned again as he imagined his cousin relating the story of his success at family gatherings for years to come.
Jane, with a pretty flush on her cheeks, was being warmly embraced by Elizabeth, and Fitzwilliam quickly concluded he could easily grant Darcy his reward even if he had not accomplished his goal in the exact manner in which he had stated it. The prize he would receive was worth any gentle teasing he might have to endure, and Fitzwilliam walked over to join the party around their host.
***
As she received the felicitations of Mr. Bingley and his wife, Jane could not help remembering her long-ago affection for Georgiana’s husband and her troubled speculation over the years about what might have been. She had never disclosed her thoughts on the matter to her sister; as close as they were, some subjects were simply too painful to share.
But, as Mr. Bingley offered his enthusiastic congratulations in the most guileless manner possible—so typical for that uncomplicated man—Jane could discern no dissembling on his part. She was convinced he felt no emotion other than sincere enjoyment of the happy news just announced.
His wife’s congratulations, however, were offered in a perfectly polite but significantly cooler manner, as might be expected for someone who continued to retain such unwarranted objections to Elizabeth. As Georgiana and her husband walked away, Jane’s eyes followed them, and their easy conversation and the unconscious way they had of touching each other as they talked was the clearest possible indication of the affection they shared.
It bespoke everything she had observed, for she had not been able to stop herself from wondering how the two of them got on together. She had guiltily told herself to desist from such spying since, even if they gave evidence of having a cold, distant relationship, it did not mean she and Mr. Bingley would have been happy together. And now, after the commitment she and Fitzwilliam had just made, such imaginings dwindled into insignificance.
When Jane looked at Richard, she was conscious that any shadows of lingering regret that still remained were swept into oblivion even as she watched. Her chest tightened with emotion as she viewed his masculine figure—wide-shouldered and trim-hipped in the manner of an expert horseman—and his deeply tanned face split with one of those honest, genuine smiles that came so easily to him.
He turned in her direction as though he discerned her gaze, and the warmth in his smile sent a thrill down her spine. At that moment, Jane’s love for Richard convinced her that the delay occasioned by the past four years had been worthwhile. She was certain that she could have been happy with a man such as Mr. Bingley, but she was uncertain that she could have made him as happy as his wife. She knew her nature well and was certain her happiness with Mr. Bingley would have been more of a placid, contented happiness rather than the surging passion that gripped her now.
In her innocence, she was somewhat shaken at the emotions flooding through her as her eyes kept returning to her future husband while she tried to make herself concentrate on the congratulatory conversation swirling about her. Desires that she had never before dreamed of crossed her mind, and she felt anticipation as she thought of being married to this man soon, of being alone with him in the privacy of their chambers.
Her life had definitively changed, suddenly and immeasurably, and Jane already longed for the intervening days or weeks before she might be married to Richard to pass quickly. Her innocence was not so complete that she did not realise young people occasionally anticipated their marriage vows. She was a bit dazed that the thought caused her no guilt, and if Richard gave the slightest indication of desiring it, he would be surprised at her reaction.
***
Tuesday, December 24, 1816
Pemberley, Derbyshire
The engagement of Colonel Sir Richard Fitzwilliam to Miss Jane Bennet brought Georgiana Bingley and her sister Caroline to the lowest ebb of a visit to Pemberley that had already proved stressful.
For Georgiana, every day since she arrived had given rise to more and more dissatisfaction. She and Caroline had never expected to see William and Elizabeth getting on so well. It could not be contradicted or denied, even for the newly married, though both of them wished it could. Seeing William laughing and flirting with his wife, being teased by her and teasing back in his turn, and then vanishing upstairs to their rooms during daylight hours was behaviour too singular to be feigned. It was evident to Georgiana that her brother was unquestionably enamoured with and completely pleased by his new wife. It was equally undeniable that his affection was returned in full measure by this insufferably self-satisfied country nobody.
To hear Elizabeth Darcy call her brother “William” as Georgiana had always done was supremely upsetting. Until October and the stunning surprise of his wedding, she had been the only person who had ever called him by that name. Not even their parents had done so, instead calling him by his detested given name. Even worse was hearing Miss Jane Bennet call him William.
And now this sudden announcement! It was as though her entire world had become unhinged and all her anchors had broken loose!
Not that Miss Jane Bennet is completely objectionable, Georgiana thought. She is well mannered and sweet natured, and Caroline even admits they were once on a friendly basis. And all the children appear to adore her as does everyone else—including young Mrs. Reynolds.
Her last thought was the most disquieting, for Georgiana could not escape the conviction th
at, however polite and charming the wife of Captain Reynolds might be, she was not at all suitable to be a guest at Pemberley nor, if truth be told, was her husband. Beyond doubt, her mother and father never would have approved of the son of their butler being invited for Christmas, much less the daughter of a Pemberley cook.
Georgiana shook her head as though to silence the voice of her conscience that complained she ought to feel more as her brother did—that Captain Reynolds had earned the right to be in their midst at Pemberley. Like every child of the kingdom, she was well aware of the debt owed to the efforts of the Royal Navy. If not for their skill and bravery, Napoleon could not have been bested, and the malevolent tyrant would almost certainly have installed a French governor in the Tower by this time—after first sending the entire royal family to the guillotine! Perhaps her aunt and uncle might even have ridden the tumbril and mounted the stairs to that infamous device!
But even if she could reluctantly force herself to agree that this naval captain had earned his elevation to a new station in life, the same could not be said for his wife, who absolutely did not belong in the class to which her parents as well as her aunt and uncle had been born. Not even the chivalry of a man who remained true to his childhood love was enough to justify such a drastic break from the customs of their society.
Georgiana looked across the room where the captain and her cousin Fitzwilliam stood, talking amiably. Though their martial spheres of sea and land hardly overlapped, they were the only military officers in the party and obviously found much in common to discuss.
A sudden roar of laughter from her uncle drew her eyes, and Georgiana was dismayed but not surprised to see the same uncle and aunt of whom she had just been thinking laughing merrily and sharing a jest with Elizabeth Darcy.
She seems to get on well with everyone, Georgiana thought bleakly. Everyone except Caroline, Louisa, and me. And the entire staff here definitely worships her! She has only to look up, and a half-dozen of them spring forward, vying with each other to do whatever she wishes!
She sighed as she looked at everyone in the room since she was embarrassingly aware that everyone present had made note of her aversion to William’s new wife.
The countess had told her she was being foolish to hold a grudge and had given the same reasons her brother had advanced. William also had attempted to speak with her several times since she arrived, but she had rebuffed every attempt. Fitzwilliam had only looked at her with disapproval, saying nothing. Prior to his engagement to Jane Bennet, she had not avoided him, but now he had no time to spare for her. He spent as much time as possible with his future wife.
***
Caroline Bingley’s spirits were even lower than Georgiana’s. The reason was not her aversion to Elizabeth Darcy, which had diminished over the years, but rather the announced engagement of Colonel Fitzwilliam to her erstwhile friend Jane Bennet.
Over the past four years, Caroline had glumly accepted that Mr. Darcy would never succumb to her charms. Even so, the announcement of his marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet had stunned her beyond measure. She hardly remembered the impertinent Miss Eliza from the autumn of 1811, but she had a dim memory of Mr. Darcy being a bit attracted to her. So, the announcement that Mr. Darcy had married her should not have been as astonishing as it was.
In the succeeding two months, she had gradually concluded there could be no other explanation for this sudden marriage other than a deep love for Elizabeth Bennet that Darcy had successfully concealed since that time in Hertfordshire. With these unpleasant thoughts rattling about her mind, Caroline could not evade the thought that she was on the verge of spinsterhood. When she began her long and fruitless pursuit of Fitzwilliam Darcy, she had been in her early twenties. Now she was nearing the age of twenty-six and had no prospects of marriage.
At length, she seized on a frighteningly slender reed of hope as an escape from the dilemma in which she had trapped herself by her fixation on Darcy. As she saw it, her one remaining advantage was her position as the sister of Darcy’s particular friend, and she could see only one possible way to use that. She was well aware of Darcy’s unmarried cousin, the son of an earl, though she had only met him briefly. She knew Colonel Fitzwilliam was the younger son of a noble family, and she had heard Darcy speak of his amiability and good manners though she did not remember him as being particularly handsome. Surely, her fortune of twenty thousand pounds, added to whatever income he had from his military position, ought to provide an attractive enticement to him. If she could find a way to attract him and form a connexion leading to matrimony, she would have a link to both the Darcy family and to the nobility.
It would not be comparable to being the mistress of Pemberley, to be sure, but Caroline had already accepted that disappointment. She could see no other possibilities quite as desirable as a match with Darcy’s cousin. So she had come to Pemberley this Christmas with a new objective firmly in mind: to end the looming probability of becoming a spinster.
But all her elegant machinations had come to naught soon after her arrival. It had not taken long to comprehend that in Colonel Sir Richard Fitzwilliam she had encountered a man of the world who had experience with young ladies such as herself. He had been polite when they conversed, but he had shown no inclination to spend as much time with her as she desired. Her every attempt to isolate the two of them—either in a walk in the garden or a corner of the room—had been evaded with a deftness that showed considerable experience and expertise.
And now even this opportunity was gone, and Caroline Bingley was faced with the bleak fact that she had no real possibilities available to her. And both of her intended preys had been snatched away by one of the Bennet daughters! Such ill fortune was not to be borne!
***
By afternoon, Georgiana felt as though the walls were closing in on her, and she fled upstairs, seeking the solace of her rooms. Perhaps a bath would release some of the tension she was feeling. Something was plainly necessary, and she hurried towards her chamber.
The surprise as her cousin Richard suddenly stepped out of his room and into her path brought her to a sudden and lurching halt, so much so that he had to steady her. Frustrated at her way being obstructed, Georgiana tried to step around him, only to be stopped by his arm in front of her.
“We need to talk, Muffin,” he said, motioning her towards the open door to his room. Georgiana tried to resist, but Richard’s grasp on her arm was gentle but firm. With an angry shrug, she gave up, knowing there was no way to evade talking with him on a subject she would prefer to avoid.
So it came as a considerable jolt to find that his room was not empty. Her cousin Edward was present along with his wife, Dorothea, making the coming interview even more stressful. Also present were Miss Jane Bennet and Captain Thomas Reynolds, both of whom were only newly introduced to her. Georgiana’s lips clamped in disapproval at the thought that Richard might share private family matters with people so wholly unconnected to her.
“I thought you wished to speak with me,” she said angrily. “I had no idea you intended to conduct our conversation before so many others.”
“I invited them because they have things to offer that I could not do justice to,” Richard said calmly. “But please, everyone take a seat so we can be more comfortable.”
He waited until everyone had seated themselves before continuing. “Georgiana, I am sure you can guess that I wish to speak of the unfair and unjustified dislike you have taken to your brother’s wife. Elizabeth Darcy deserves better from you, her husband’s sister. Indeed, she deserves better of her new sister. Surely, you have noticed how happy she makes Darcy, and you also cannot help but note that everyone other than Bingley’s sisters and yourself are quite taken with her. Can all the rest of us be in error while only you see Mrs. Darcy as a reprobate?”
Georgiana glared at him, and then her gaze shifted to Miss Bennet and Captain Reynolds.
“Do not attempt to assert family privacy,” Richard said with a smile. “Neither Darcy nor Elizabeth know of this conversation, and I invited Thomas and Jane because they can testify to the error of some of your suppositions far better than I can. And Edward and Dorothea are here as part of our family.”
Georgiana’s glare did not appear to have any impact on Richard, who then turned to Captain Reynolds.
“Perhaps you would be good enough to begin, sir?”
“Certainly,” Reynolds said, squaring his shoulders and facing Georgiana. “In my case, Mrs. Bingley, Sir Richard desired me to relate some of what I shared with him about the open and generous nature of Mrs. Darcy.”
Georgiana said nothing though her face was incapable of disguising her suspicion, and Reynolds continued, “While both my wife and I are deeply appreciative of the honour and liberality of our host in inviting us to Pemberley, your brother told me the initial suggestion was made by Mrs. Darcy, not him.”
The comment ruffled Georgiana, but she quickly recovered. “I find that exceedingly hard to believe.”
“You may ask your brother if you do not believe me,” Reynolds said. “In addition, I think all here can testify to the open and cheerful manner in which she has received my wife. In my opinion, she is one of the most exceptional women I have ever known. I count it a high honour to have made her acquaintance, and my wife naturally joins with me in that opinion.”
After a minute or so in which nothing was said by anyone in the room, Reynolds spoke up. “That concludes my part in this conversation. The rest may well pertain to family affairs more properly discussed in private. So, if you will excuse me, I shall return to my wife.”
After the door closed behind Reynolds, Richard indicated Jane, saying, “Now, I think it is time you heard some of what Miss Bennet has told me since we became engaged. As Mrs. Darcy’s closest relative, she has been privy to everything her sister related in addition to what she witnessed herself.”