by Zoë Burton
“And your cousin, Miss De Bourgh? Is she also expecting an offer from you?” Elizabeth was relieved to hear from the source that Miss Bingley’s words were wrong. Even though she had known all along they were, having confirmation from her beloved allowed her to set aside the small bit of anxiety she had carried over it.
“My cousin is in love with the heir to a local estate. For years now, they have carried on a quiet courtship under my aunt’s nose. Now that the gentleman’s father has passed away, Anne expects an offer any day. I have not received a reply to the letter I sent her informing her of our nuptials, but that tells me Lady Catherine may be dealing with a far greater shock than my marriage to someone who is not her daughter.”
Elizabeth and her father laughed, seeing the twinkle in Darcy’s eyes and hearing the humor in his words.
“Very good, Mr. Darcy!” exclaimed Mr. Bennet. “That certainly saves you a spot of trouble!”
“Thank you, sir,” he replied, then he paused. “If I may, I would ask…Mr. Collins is the gentleman I met at dinner the night of Miss Elizabeth’s attack?”
“He is.” Mr. Bennet rolled his eyes. “He is rector to your aunt, Lady Catherine De Bourgh, and heir to this estate, unfortunately. He was very eager to marry one of my girls when he first arrived, and was quite put out to find the two most eligible were either already engaged or ‘soon to be so’ as Mrs. Bennet puts it. He began arguing with me within a day or two that Lizzy must have no betrothed after all, since one had not come to visit.”
Elizabeth picked up the tale. “Oh, yes, and he was affronted by Papa’s vehement insistence that I am indeed engaged and that you were in London for a se’nnight to have the marriage articles drawn up and the license purchased. I thought perhaps he might try to court Mary, but he seems to have turned his attention elsewhere, as he has rarely been found at Longbourn since Miss Bingley was here.”
“If he is rector to my aunt as you say, I am not surprised to hear of his ridiculousness. My aunt prefers those who serve her to be obsequious sycophants. The atmosphere at her estate is far different than what my father established at Pemberley and that I have maintained since his death. At Rosings, there is always the sense that one is being watched, a feeling added to when Lady Catherine suddenly begins asking one questions about things she should not have known happened.
“She attempts to make everyone around her grovel. It is my belief that she enjoys wielding the power she has as one of the wealthiest ladies in her area, and the only female running her own estate in the county of Kent.”
Mr. Bennet nodded, “Yes, it is always unpleasant for others when a person lets power make him conceited.”
All three were silent as they contemplated his words. Their reflection was cut short when the bell rang to call them to dinner.
Chapter 8
Finally, the day of the wedding arrived. Mrs. Bennet was relieved to see that Elizabeth’s injuries were healed enough to be unnoticeable. She had spent a large portion of the previous two weeks bemoaning the condition of her least favorite daughter’s face and her tendency to wander the estate at will, getting into all manner of scrapes. Mrs. Bennet had not been given the true reason for the bruises. Out of fear that she or one of the youngest three girls would let slip the truth, they were only told the story the neighbors heard. Her exclamations about Elizabeth’s habits were a small price to pay for peace of mind.
The ceremony was everything the new Mr. and Mrs. Darcy could have wished for. The groom’s cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, was in attendance, having escorted his ward and Darcy’s sister, Georgiana, to Netherfield. The bride’s favorite aunt and uncle, the Gardiners, came from town to attend.
Darcy was astounded at the difference in comportment between Mr. Gardiner and his sisters, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Phillips. He wondered how they could be from the same family. Then, he thought about his mother and Lady Catherine and realized that families are all the same. Each one has members to be proud of and members who made the rest cringe. He was taking away the best of the Bennet family. He hoped they felt they had gotten the best of his.
~~~***~~~
The wedding breakfast was in full swing when the ridiculousness of one member of the Longbourn contingent collided with that of a Meryton resident.
Mr. Collins had returned to the estate he was to inherit the day before the wedding, full of the news that his esteemed patroness’ daughter had defied her mother and gotten herself betrothed to a local man, and that when Lady Catherine received the additional intelligence that the nephew she had pinned her hopes on was engaged to wed a young woman no one had ever heard of, she was overset and refused to see anyone, including her rector. In fact, the great lady ordered him to return to Hertfordshire to inform her nephew of her displeasure. Darcy took this in stride, knowing his aunt’s tendency toward the dramatic. He assured Mr. Collins that once she was recovered from her shock, Lady Catherine would likely demand he return to his parish immediately and that in the unlikely event she did not, Darcy himself would assist him in locating a new one. The exceedingly grateful Collins spent the rest of the day in obeisance to him.
His obsequiousness did not stop until Darcy rather forcefully ordered him to cease his praises for the duration of the wedding celebration. Mr. Collins began to back away, bowing several times. Not having eyes in the back of his head, he was not able to watch where he was going, and unbeknownst to him, Miss Jennings was staggering in his direction. When he finally turned around, he ran into her, causing them both to fall to the floor. The instinctive response of each was to grab for something to hold on to, which in this case was the clothing of the other person. Mr. Collins’ height and weight caused him to fall rather heavily, pulling the inebriated Miss Jennings on top of him, but not before ripping the bodice of her dress in two, exposing parts of her that would normally remain covered. To add insult to injury, when the lady landed, her bosom and its exposed bits were in his face, causing in his person a rather ungentlemanly reaction. Miss Jennings was pulled off him so quickly, he was unable to hide the prominent evidence of that reaction. It quickly diminished, however, when he was pulled to his feet and the father of the lady presented himself before Mr. Collins, exclaiming the ruination of his daughter at the rector’s hand and demanding it be made right.
So it was that Miss Jennings became Mrs. Collins. Within a month’s time, she had gone from being firmly on the shelf to having her dearest wish fulfilled. She found it hard, after all this time, to quit the sherry, however. As a result, the memory of her wedding day was a bit hazy. When she got to Hunsford and was made acquainted with Lady Catherine, she found that a few daily nips were required to maintain her sanity.
For Mr. Collins, the horror of the accident and the resulting forced engagement caused several days’ worth of nightmares and headaches. However, the more he considered his betrothed and the assets so abruptly thrust into his face that day, the more he liked the idea of marriage to this woman he barely knew. By the time his own wedding day dawned, he was eager to get on with it. As he fell asleep that night, he was a happy man looking forward to an exciting future.
~~~***~~~
Darcy and Elizabeth escaped the wedding breakfast in the furor that followed Mr. Collins’ spectacle. After quietly taking their leave of the family, they boarded their coach, headed for London for a few days before taking a tour of the Lake District.
The first part of the ride was bittersweet, especially for Elizabeth, who was leaving her family and the home she grew up in, never to return as a permanent resident. She would visit, to be sure, but the distance from Derbyshire, where they would spend a large part of the year, was too great for frequent visits. Darcy held her as she cried, reassuring her with gentle words of love and kisses to her hair and cheeks. When she calmed, they snuggled together for a nap.
They awoke when the coach stopped to change horses halfway to town. After a quick meal in a private sitting room, they were on the road once more. Now they were wide awake, and spent their
time snuggled together, reading and talking, often distracting each other with long, delicious kisses.
Their arrival at Darcy House was heralded with much fanfare by the staff, who had spent the previous month scrubbing every corner of the building to make it shine for the new Mistress. They were eager to meet her. They had seen the joy in the Master’s face when he was in London that week following the engagement, and knew they would like anyone who made him feel that way. Many had been with the Darcys since Fitzwilliam was a boy, and they had watched as events in his life had caused him to turn further and further into himself, robbing him of much of the happiness he had exuded in childhood.
Exiting the coach in front of the townhouse, Mr. Darcy held his hand out for his wife to place hers in. He helped her alight, then tucked her hand in his elbow, holding it tightly to himself. Grinning at her as she smiled up at him, he placed his free hand over hers and began the walk up the steps and into the foyer. There, his housekeeper, Mrs. Butler, had lined the staff up to greet the new Mrs. Darcy. As she greeted the couple and began the introductions, Darcy looked proudly on. Elizabeth had a warm smile and a kind word for each maid and footman, and they responded well to her efforts.
Once she reached the last person in the line, who was hired as her personal maid and was brand-new to the staff, Elizabeth addressed the group as a whole.
“Thank you, all of you, for your warm welcome. It will take time for me to learn all of your names, so please, do not be shy about correcting me if I call you the wrong one,” she said with a wink. The group laughed in response.
Darcy nodded to Mrs. Butler, who dismissed her staff back to their duties. She informed the Master and Mistress that bathwater was warmed for them and that dinner would be served in two hours. Upon receiving their acknowledgment, she curtsied and returned to her own duties, leaving the couple alone.
“Shall we, my dear?” asked Darcy, gesturing to the staircase.
“Yes, darling, I believe we shall. I look forward to washing the dust of the road off and exchanging this gown for something clean.”
Smiling happily at each other, the couple ascended the staircase. Elizabeth was shown her chambers first, and she exclaimed over the beauty of the room and the fine taste of her predecessor. Darcy’s mother had been the previous occupant, and he explained that she had redecorated the year before she had Georgiana. The room had not been opened since his mother’s death, and if Elizabeth desired to make changes, she was welcome to.
“Oh, no, Fitzwilliam! They are perfect as they are. Your mother had exquisite taste! It matches mine so well. I admit to being a little surprised at that.”
“My mother had simple tastes, for all she was the daughter of an earl. She preferred quiet elegance to gaudy opulence. Lady Catherine is the opposite, as you will see when we eventually visit her. She favors gilt and glitter. The more ostentatious, the better, in her opinion.”
Elizabeth shuddered at the mental image his words produced. “Happily for you, my sweet William, I am not inclined to either spend money without need or to fill my home with gilded vases and picture frames. I am perfectly happy with the colors and fabrics I see in this room, and have no desire at present to make changes.”
Darcy smiled. “I am happy to hear your reassurances.” He reached for her, wrapping his arms about her waist and drawing her close. “If you ever change your mind, there are funds set aside in the household accounts for such things. You do not need to ask my permission to use them.” He bent his head to capture her lips in a slow, sensual kiss. As it ended and he released her lips, her words made him smile.
“Mmmm, my love, that was delicious.” She squeezed his middle, then released him, saying, “Why do you not go to your room and freshen up, and I will do the same? If we stay here like this much longer, we will never get downstairs, and I am hungry.” When he just stood there, grinning at her words, she turned him around and pushed him toward the door. “Go, you insatiable man. I promise to kiss you again later.”
Laughing, he walked to the door that connected their rooms. Hand on the frame of the door, he looked over his shoulder at her to say, “I shall hold you to that, oh goddess mine.” Then he winked and was gone.
Later that evening, after dinner and an hour playing the pianoforte together, the pair walked back up the stairs, holding hands and whispering to each other. They entered Elizabeth’s rooms and were not seen again until noon the next day, when they appeared in the breakfast room. They ate their meal quickly, staring at each other and touching as often as they could manage. Afterwards, they ran back up the stairs, the Master chasing the Mistress, for another afternoon of bedroom games and togetherness. So began a wonderful life full of love and laughter.
~~~***~~~
In due time, Bingley fulfilled all of Mrs. Bennet’s predictions by asking Jane for her hand in marriage on Christmas Eve. Though generally compliant, Jane refused to budge on her wedding date, which she insisted be no more than four weeks distant. Her mother eventually gave up the fight, vowing for all to hear that the next daughter to marry would be forced into a longer engagement.
Elizabeth and Darcy stood up for their friend and sister. Their attention was less on the wedding currently taking place and more on each other and the memory of their special day.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Bingley settled quickly into Netherfield, but only stayed there a year. Eventually, the unannounced and unexpected visits of Mrs. Bennet strained even Bingley’s good humor. With Darcy’s help, they found an estate to purchase within half a day’s journey of Pemberley. The two families remained closely-knit for the rest of their lives.
The End
Before you go …
If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review at the store where you purchased it.
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~Zoe
About the Author
Zoe Burton first fell in love with Jane Austen’s books in 2010, after seeing the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice on television. While making her purchases of Miss Austen’s novels, she discovered Jane Austen Fan Fiction; soon after that she found websites full of JAFF. Her life has never been the same. She began writing her own stories when she ran out of new ones to read.
Zoe lives in a 100-plus-year-old house in the snow-belt of Ohio with her two Boxers. She is a former Special Education Teacher, and has a passion for romance in general, Pride and Prejudice in particular, and NASCAR.
Zoe is a PAN member of the Romance Writers of America, the Northeast Ohio chapter of the RWA, and the Beau Monde chapter of the RWA. She is also a member of the Jane Austen Society of North America, and JASNA’s Ohio North Coast chapter.
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More by Zoe Burton
Regency Single Titles:
I Promise To…
Lilacs & Lavender
Promises Kept
Decisions and Consequences
Darcy’s Deal
Matches Made at Netherfield
Darcy’s Perfect Present
Darcy’s Surprise Betrothal
Merry Christmas, Mr. Darcy
Westerns:
Darcy’s Bodie Mine
Bundles:
Darcy’s Adventures
Forced to Wed
Promises
The Darcy Marriage Series Books 1-3
The Darcy Marriage Series:
Darcy’s Wife Search
Lady Catherine Impedes
Caroline’s Censure
Contemporary Settings:
Darcy’s Race to Love
Georgie’s Redemption
ton, Mr Darcy- My Hero
