by Anna Harlow
Soon after, Caroline had disappeared to see to the task, and Elizabeth willingly remained to spend some time with Georgiana, Mrs. Avery, and the two babies. When she saw her, Fanny smiled excitedly and got to her feet. She took three tentative steps toward Elizabeth before falling flat on her face.
“Oh, baby, are you okay?” Elizabeth gasped, running over to help. But she wasn’t crying, like the women had first believed. Instead, the little girl was laughing.
“What is so funny?” Georgiana asked her curiously.
“Want Lizzy!”
“Yes, sweetheart, I see,” said Elizabeth, smiling as she picked her up. “Would you like to try again to reach me? Come on, you are such a big girl. I’d love to see you walking.”
She squealed with delight at such praise. “Lizzy! Lizzy!”
Getting to her feet, she took five steps over to her and grabbed ahold of her leg. The three women were so excited they were crying.
“Come on!” said Georgiana. “We’ve got to tell him. He’ll want to know.”
“Won’t he be jealous though?” asked Elizabeth.
“No way!” she insisted. “To him, you are an angel. All that will happen is that he will marvel at yet another of your skills.”
Elizabeth giggled. “Maybe we should wait until later. We’re supposed to be getting ready for dinner. He told me he wanted to get dressed. I imagine Bingley is going to help him. They could be working on it right now.”
“If we are not to demonstrate it yet, it would be cruel to tell him,” Georgiana pointed out.
“Then we must determine what he is doing,” said Elizabeth. “If he is changing his clothes, as I suspect, we must wait. And if he is not, he shall soon learn what has transpired.”
“Mrs. Avery, if my brother is changing clothes, you may as well take the children upstairs now, so that Lizzy and I might go change as well. Come along with us, so that we might determine your next action together.”
“Of course, Miss Georgiana,” she agreed. “Let me capture my son, and I shall join you directly.”
Elizabeth was still holding Fanny, so she and Georgiana started out the door. Mrs. Avery soon caught up with them, and Georgiana knocked on the parlor door. From the door to the water closet further up the hall, Bingley called out.
“He is not in there, ladies.”
“I suspected as much,” said Elizabeth, casting the others a knowing glance. “Let him know we are all going upstairs to prepare. Georgiana and I will be down in about an hour.”
“Only one hour?” Bingley chuckled. “I shall be quite amazed if that is so. There is no fashionable young woman on earth who would prepare so quickly, you know.”
Elizabeth said, “Sir, do not tease me so. I have other incentives beyond my clothes.”
“Ah yes, indeed,” he grinned. With a conspiratorial wink, he said, “I will let him know.”
Blushing, Elizabeth asked, “You’ll let him know what, sir?”
“About the fact you are changing your clothes,” he teased. “I am certain the rest is for you to disclose.”
As she changed her clothing, Elizabeth realized Bingley was quite right. If her feelings for her fiancé were becoming more tender, she really ought to tell him so. Her smile at such a notion must surely light up the room as she headed back down.
Chapter Twenty
Dinner was progressing quite well. Darcy had been placed at the end of the table, with his leg resting on a stool, just as planned, and he was quite content since Elizabeth was seated to one side of him, with Bingley but a short distance away from him on the other. In total, six families were in attendance, and Caroline had also insisted on the presence of five officers, including Colonel Forster himself, and four men of his choosing.
For Darcy’s sake, she had asked that Mr. Wickham not be one of his selections. Though Darcy did not know if Georgiana had taken Caroline Bingley fully into her confidence, revealing the fact that she’d been tricked into an elopement with the gentleman, it was at least clear from Caroline’s behavior that his sister must have told her there had been trouble between them.
“It is too bad that Wickham was not included among the officers,” Lydia Bennet complained to Elizabeth. “He is quite my favorite among them, although Denny is an obliging enough companion if I must do without him.”
“Lydia, Mr. Wickham is not so well liked among some of the current members of this household, and it would be quite prudent of you not to make further mention of him,” Elizabeth informed her. “You can certainly tell him all about your adventures another time, dearest.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “Mr. Darcy seems to have changed you a great deal in just ten days, Lizzy. You never used to consider the feelings of other people in such a manner.”
“That is not true at all,” Darcy defended her. “She certainly discerned mine quickly enough, and even attempted to comfort them, during the assembly dance. I believe I began to like her even then.”
“Sir, it was both myself and Charlotte Lucas who discovered your discomfort,” Elizabeth scolded him. “You must give credit where it is due.”
“Very well, I shall also thank your friend,” he agreed with a chuckle, and nodded to Charlotte, who was seated just beyond Elizabeth, on one side of Mr. Collins. That gentleman, who was seated between Charlotte and Mary Bennet, divided his conversation between the two ladies in a spate of non-stop verbiage as the rest of the guests took their places for the meal.
Darcy could discern a bit about how those two must be feeling at the moment. He was certainly glad he need not take any part in their torture himself. During the entire course of the meal, the gentleman scarcely rested his voice, somehow managing to pause but little whenever he took a bite of food.
But, as he was soon to discover, Mr. Collins did not stop at this. As desert was brought forth, the gentleman stood up and clanged his fork against the crystal goblet in his hand. “Your attentions, if you please, everybody. I know it is a bit unusual at such a large assembly, yet with no other dinner engagements available to me before my impending departure, I feel a great desire to do this now. It was my intention, upon coming into Meryton, to select a bride from among the Bennet daughters, for I am to inherit Longbourn estate, and I keenly feel the injury the entailment has done to them. And, as I have made my decision which of the young ladies I will ask, I feel confident enough in my suit to do it here, among all of her family and friends.”
“Oh, no!” Mary gasped, her eyes widening in alarm.
Mr. Collins then turned to face her, attempting to capture her hand, Mary was quick to place both of her hands beneath the table and look as far away from his gaze as possible.
“Miss Mary Bennet? Will you do me the great honor of consenting to become my wife?”
Various emotions crossed over her face, but at the last Mary sprang up from her seat in anger, “Why did you do this here, sir? I do not like such a private matter to be brought to the attention of half the neighborhood!”
“But Mary, I felt that you would be pleased to share our joy,” Mr. Collins protested, blushing.
She turned and started to run for the door, then stopped to glare at Darcy. “Sir, I blame you for this entirely! If you hadn’t gotten injured, he would have surely be asking for Lizzy!”
“A circumstance I find I cannot apologize for, Miss Mary,” Darcy replied, and then she darted for the door.
Caroline smirked from her own vantage point across the table. “What interesting relatives you have, Miss Eliza.”
Elizabeth glared at the woman before she, too, darted from the room, most likely in pursuit of her sister. Darcy rolled his eyes at Caroline, who had the good sense to say nothing more.
“It is quite all right, everyone,” said Mr. Collins as he sat down again. “I fear I took my fair flower by surprise, nothing more. I am certain that once she has calmed down, the lady shall most certainly accept my offer.”
Miss Lucas, the gentleman’s other companion for the evening, did her level best t
o distract and amuse Mr. Collins for the remainder of the meal. Darcy, having grown weary of the business, and in much need of discovering what had happened to the sisters out in the hall, signaled for the two men Caroline had enlisted to help him, asking them to please return him to his couch.
They discovered Elizabeth and Mary talking there, and Darcy was sure it had been by Elizabeth’s design, for she knew that the room was closed to visitors at this time.
“Is all well herein, or shall I endeavor to walk a bit more?”
“Sir, of course you must not,” Mary protested. “I am sorry for singling you out in my dismay. It was most uncalled for. You must understand that I was overwrought.”
“Sister, I understand the inducement quite well,” Darcy reassured her. “You shall hear not one word of reprimand from my lips—though it is certain you are likely to hear many from your mother.”
“My mother!” Mary gasped. “Oh, do not remind me, sir! The only thing she cares about is saving Longbourn. She knows that Mr. Collins will have it once our father dies, and fears we shall all be thrown out into the streets before he is cold in his grave. Having one of us marry him—well, I suppose that would make her think she will not be abandoned completely. That she would still have a home.”
“It is an understandable sentiment, do you not think?” Darcy pointed out.
“Yes, I suppose so,” she agreed, sighing deeply. “Yet, I cannot find it in my heart to give myself to such an odious creature. How could I ever entrust him with my life, in exchange for hers?”
“Mary, listen to me,” Darcy told her, catching both her hands to give them a squeeze. “I am about to marry your sister, and I have got more money than I know what to do with. You do not need to rescue anybody, least of all your mother. If your father dies, I could easily get another house for her.”
“Truly, sir?” she asked, bursting into tears again. “After what I said to you, you would still do that for us? I can never apologize to you enough!”
“If you want to make me feel better, madam, you must start by not being such a watering pot,” he teased her. “I cannot stand to see a woman crying, especially once she has already been given her promise.”
She laughed, and turned to hug Elizabeth. “He’s funny, Lizzy. I am so happy for you. Sir, I ought to return to the others.”
“There is no hurry in it,” Darcy told her. “You may wish to avoid the mayhem for a while. You are welcome to stay with us in here.”
“Darcy? I had hoped to visit with the guests, and Mary shall certainly not wish to remain here without my presence,” Elizabeth pointed out. “You may stay, if you would like, but I should like to join the others. It is certain my mother will not make any attempts to reprimand Mary among so much company. Her decision, and the answer she must give—I am sure both of them can wait.”
“Lizzy is right, sir,” said Mary, wringing her hands. “I cannot hide forever, in any case. It is hardly her fault that Mr. Collins has not the sense to make his offers privately. She should certainly not have to pay for it.”
“Perhaps I should have these gentlemen bring me along with you,” Darcy suggested. “It’s certain that you could use the support.”
“I would be pleased also for the escort, sir,” Elizabeth told him, giving him a hug. “You have no idea how happy I am with you right now.”
Darcy smiled. “Almost as happy as I am with you, my dear?”
“More,” she told him as she moved away. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Once the men had situated Mr. Darcy on one of the sofas and went away again, Elizabeth arranged herself in a chair near his head. Mary went to rejoin her younger sisters, while Jane remained close to Mr. Bingley. The other guests in the room were mostly of little significance to Elizabeth, who had mainly come there to see her parents. And her only interest in Mr. Collins was twofold. First, how he might behave toward her sisters or parents after Mary’s antics, and second, what on earth was going on between him and Charlotte Lucas?
For the pair of them seemed in close conversation, and upon closer scrutiny, Elizabeth discerned that they both seemed to be enjoying the exchange. That her dear friend might be attracted to such a staid, long-winded sort of fellow had never before crossed Elizabeth’s mind, and yet Charlotte seemed to be paying him much more attention than a casual friendship would observe.
More importantly, Mr. Collins did not seem to become excited or nervous at all upon the entrance of Mary to the room, despite the fact he had just been making professions of love to her in public. In fact, so content was he with Charlotte’s company, that he did not immediately notice her sister’s arrival at all.
“Mr. Darcy, am I wrong in my observations?” she asked in a low tone. “He just offered for Mary, yet Mr. Collins seems completely taken with Miss Lucas.”
“I think you are quite right, my dear,” he agreed.
“But what can she possibly see in him?”
Darcy chuckled. “A comfortable home? Salvation from the threat of spinsterhood? Escape from parents who pay too much attention to her every action and word?”
Elizabeth smiled. “I think you see the situation far more clearly even than I have done, sir. Yet, what of his proposals to Mary? Were she to have him, how could he honor it, if his heart is actually given elsewhere?”
“Mary’s departure must have assured him otherwise,” Darcy pointed out. “What woman who was inclined to marry a gentleman would run from a room, blaming her misfortune of having been proposed to on someone wholly unconnected to the issue along the way? If it were me, I would consider that a ‘no’.”
Mary stood up and addressed Mr. Collins in a loud, clear voice. “Sir? I have had a chance to calm down and consider your offer, and I am afraid I must go with my first instinct. I cannot possibly accept your hand.”
Mrs. Bennet gasped. “Mary! What are you saying? He will have our house!”
“Mama, I cannot base my happiness on an eventuality which must be something that should not happen until years from now,” she insisted. “I am quite certain all of your daughters should be well and truly married by then, and it would be a small matter to one of our husbands or the other to offer assistance in your further upkeep at that time. I shall not endure years and years with a man not of my choosing simply because one day my father will die.”
If her mother had any further opinion, Elizabeth was relieved to see that the woman did not voice it. For, at this point, it could only make matters worse. That all of this must occur in front of people who were likely to gossip about it to every other family in the area in short order did not sit well with her. It was just one more reason for her to dislike her cousin, who had more verbiage than he had common sense. This matter surely should have been handled in private.
Mr. Collins replied, “I came to Longbourn intent on doing my duty by the Bennet family. An offer was made, and thus that duty has been discharged. I will now freely admit that my heart has been captured by another, but that lady has asked me not to make my sentiments quite so public. I shall only say that I will not languish in Hunsford alone for long.”
He may as well have come straight out with his confession that he and Charlotte were in love, and had done with it, for all the discretion he had just shown. Though Elizabeth could scarcely believe it, the healthy blush on her friend’s face was proof enough that the feeling was mutual. Though she might think it impossible, it could not be denied.
“I had longed to see my family after my time away, but now I am too fatigued even to enjoy it,” she complained to Darcy. “After all that has passed tonight, I wish this whole party would soon be over.”
“I would add one more surprise, if you will allow,” Darcy said to her, and then spoke up so he could be overheard. “Mr. Collins? Might I have a word, sir?”
“What are you doing?” Elizabeth hissed. “Don’t call him over here!”
“It will be well, sweetheart,” he insisted. “Go over and talk to Charlotte for a time.�
��
Elizabeth sighed, though she did as she was told. Charlotte seemed quite curious now to know what was going on.
“I do not know what manner of address the two must now share,” Elizabeth said, sighing. “I only know that he assured Mary that upon my father’s death, he would provide our mother a home. He did not wish to see her forced into the same kind of struggle he himself endured for six years. Charlotte, do you actually care for Mr. Collins? I have not been able to see you, but you could have sent a letter. I should have liked to be told that you have given your heart.”
“Lizzy, I know that Mr. Collins is not to your tastes, but you must allow for differences of feelings,” she scolded. “While he can talk too much in general, I find him quite amusing when we manage to find time alone.”
