John Lucas came by early in the afternoon to say that the wedding of Charlotte and Mr. Collins would take place in the village church on Friday at 10:00.
“I hope Charlotte knows what she is doing,” he said in a voice that showed how unhappy he was with his sister’s choice of husband. “Mr. Collins is driving everyone at Lucas Lodge to distraction. He is always going on about something that is of no interest to anyone but himself. At least I can get up and leave, but Charlotte can’t. And once she gets to Kent, she will not have any place to hide to get away from him.”
“Charlotte will be fine,” Jane reassured him. “Since Mr. Collins rarely requires a response, she may choose to ignore him if she is so inclined.”
“I hope you are right because, excuse me for being so blunt, he is a pompous arse,” and he took his leave.
John Lucas’s departure was quickly followed by the arrival of Tom Smart, one of Mr. Bingley’s servants at Netherfield. “Miss Bennet, I’ve come to tell you that Mr. Bingley’s back, so I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of you at Netherfield ”
“Most definitely,” she said, and she could not suppress a smile. “How do things go with Mr. Collins and Mrs. Crenshaw?”
“I never seen anything like it. Mr. Collins will say something about Lady Catherine, which will cause Mrs. Crenshaw to remember something what Lady So and So said, and so it goes. And when Mr. Collins ain’t talking, he’s humming. It is irritating, but it does give us fair warning that he’s coming, and we make ourselves scarce.”
Before leaving, Tom asked if he might say hello to Mrs. Hill in the kitchen, and the sisters exchanged glances, knowing that the person he really wanted to say hello to was Betsy, their kitchen maid.
After he left, Lizzy said, “Love is in the air. Tom and Betsy, Mr. Collins and Charlotte, Mr. Bingley and you.”
“And Lizzy and Mr. Darcy,” Jane said, completing the list. After reading Mr. Bingley’s note and tucking it in her pocket, she told Lizzy that they had been invited to dine at Netherfield Park. “Mr. Bingley is to send his carriage at 3:00. I think I shall put on one of my better frocks. Will you do the same?”
“There is no need for that. Once Mr. Bingley sets eyes on you, he will not see anyone else. It will be as if I am not there at all.”
“Well, let us dress up anyway.”
“Whatever you say, as I am in a most agreeable mood.”
As soon as Bingley and the Darcys entered the foyer of Netherfield Park, the now voluminous Mrs. Crenshaw attempted to embrace her brother. Also there to greet the party from London was Athena. Although the little imp made a perfect curtsey and welcomed Miss Darcy to Netherfield Park, Georgiana would trust her only as far as she could throw her.
When Charles informed his sister that Jane and Elizabeth would be dining with them, Mrs. Crenshaw could barely contain her enthusiasm.
“Oh, that is such good news, brother. Mr. Collins has gone to Lucas Lodge to visit Miss Lucas, who has completely recovered from her illness. I must confess I am glad that he will not be at table with us. He talks a good deal and rarely gives the other party a chance to say anything, but he is a pleasant man and, for the most part, has been good company.”
Georgiana and Will looked at each other. This was a complication they did not need. Once Mr. Collins realized he was under the same roof as the nephew and niece of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, they would become a captive audience. That was not going to happen if Georgiana had anything to say about it.
As soon as the carriage conveying Jane and Lizzy pulled up in front of the manor house, Mr. Bingley was out the door and whispered in Jane’s ear. It was obviously something very special as Jane nodded her head in approval. After greeting Mrs. Crenshaw, Charles suggested they go into the drawing room, but told Lizzy that a friend of hers from town had asked that he deliver a letter to her and that he had placed it on the desk in the library.
When Lizzy went into the library, it was very dark, with only the glow of embers in the fireplace providing any light, so she was startled when a man stepped out of the shadows.
“Hello, Elizabeth.”
“Mr. Darcy!” and she placed her hand over her chest to calm her heart. “You are not in London?” And she could hear the quaver in her voice.
“No, I am not in London. Do you not know why I am here?”
“I would rather not guess. Can’t you just tell me?”
Darcy stepped forward and traced the outline of Elizabeth’s face with his fingers. “I am here so that I might tell you how much I love you—unconditionally, with no restraints, and with all my heart.” And then he kissed her, and all the passion of their first kiss at Pemberley returned, and she felt drawn into his very being, that is, until she heard someone coming down the hall, and that someone was humming.
“Mr. Darcy, quickly,” and she took him by the hand and led him to a space between two bookshelves, and she put her finger to her lips and whispered, “It is Mr. Collins.”
As the reverend went in search of a book, the lovers remained stranded. For fear that she would break out laughing at the absurdity of their situation, Lizzy buried her head in Mr. Darcy’s chest.
Mr. Darcy reacted differently. He gathered Lizzy in a tight embrace and ran his hands down her back until they rested on her waist, and then he pulled her hips toward him. Without hesitation, she moved against him, and she felt a warmth in every part of her body. After pulling her sleeve down her arm, he kissed her shoulder with his lips and tongue, and she thought that there was nothing as wonderful as this. When they finally heard the door close behind the humming parson, Lizzy pulled up the sleeve of her dress and stepped away from Mr. Darcy. As he moved toward her, she placed her hands upon his chest and said, “Please, sir. We are not married, and I fear if we continue, we will be acting as if we were.”
“You are right,” he said, half laughing and half in agony. “Why is Mr. Collins at Netherfield?” he asked and shifted his weight to deal with his discomfort. After Lizzy explained about the postponed wedding, he inquired, “Do you think he will come back to the library?”
“It is possible. When he stayed at Longbourn, to my father’s great distress, he was in and out of his library all day long.”
“Then we must go elsewhere.” After thinking about the rooms that were available, he finally decided on the billiards room. “No one will go in there at this time of day.”
“But it is across the foyer. We might be seen.”
“Well, then we will have to risk it. I have much to say to you, and I will not be kept from it. Once Mr. Collins finds out I am here, he will seek me out and talk and talk and talk. At Rosings Park, I was sequestered with that gentleman on a rainy afternoon and had the privilege of listening to him expound on the pollination of cantaloupe.”
Now Lizzy started to laugh. “Are you suggesting that we tippy-toe across the foyer to the billiards room?”
“No, I am suggesting that we run,” he said with a smile, and taking Lizzy by the hand, that was what they did.
The reason Mr. Collins had been able to make a selection from the many volumes stacked on the shelves of the library in such a dimly lit room was because he only read two books: Fordyce’s Sermons and Thomas Secker’s Four Discourses on Self-examination, Lying, Patience, and Contentment. With its title concealed in the fold of his arm, he walked around the house with one or the other of those books merely as an affectation. He had successfully fooled all of Charlotte’s family, as well as Mrs. Crenshaw, into thinking of him as a voracious reader. However, the reason for his success in doing so would have disturbed him. No one cared what he read.
When Mr. Collins went into the drawing room, he was happy to see Miss Bennet and Mr. Bingley. As gracious a hostess as Mrs. Crenshaw had been, he was getting tired of her constant interruptions. Unlike Charlotte, who sat quietly doing her needlework while he talked, Mr. Bingley’s sister was not a good listener.
Mr. Collins was pleased to report that his darling Charlotte had fully recovered. “To
think Charlotte’s loving presence as the companion of my life might have been denied me,” Mr. Collins continued. “Fortunately, there was an intervention, and I believe it very likely divine, that saved me from a life lived in loneliness and alone.”
While her cousin rambled on, Jane wondered how Darcy and Lizzy were doing in the library, and she decided that if it was taking them this long, then they must be getting on quite well. Mrs. Crenshaw was so happy to have company other than Mr. Collins that she had not yet noticed Lizzy was missing.
“May I speak, Mama?” Athena asked, with an angelic expression. Because Athena was the oldest child remaining at home, she was allowed to sit with her mother and the other adults so that she might fetch whatever her dear Mama required.
“Yes, my sweet.”
“I have heard Mr. Collins say that Miss Darcy and Mr. Darcy are relations of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Does Mr. Collins know that they are here?”
“Mr. Darcy! Miss Darcy! Here at Netherfield?” Mr. Collins said in a voice indicating his astonishment. “I am deeply moved that the niece and nephew of my esteemed patroness should have come so far to be witnesses to my wedding.”
“Yes, they are here, but Miss Darcy is resting, and Mr. Darcy is writing business letters. However, they will join us shortly,” Jane said in an attempt to silence Athena.
“But I saw Mr. Darcy go into the billiards room with Miss Elizabeth,” Athena responded, now with a sharper edge in her voice.
After Mrs. Crenshaw stopped laughing at the absurdity of a lady being in the billiards room, she told her daughter, “That was very funny, Athena, but please let the adults speak.”
“But I wasn’t being funny, Mama. I saw Mr. Darcy holding Miss Elizabeth’s hand as they ran across the foyer to the billiards room.”
No one was laughing now, not even Miss Bennet, whom Athena did not like at all. She was the reason Gaius and Lucius were in Scotland, and if it weren’t for her interference, the bossy Mr. Campbell would not be coming to Netherfield. As soon as he arrived, Athena and Darius would be subjected to endless recitations of sums, spelling vocabulary words, and reading poetry and stories with morals.
“Surely not,” Mr. Collins said, rising. “Miss Elizabeth is an unmarried woman. I can assure you my cousin would never be alone in a room with a man who is not her relation.”
“I can show you,” Athena said, looking straight at Jane.
Charles did his best to alert the couple of their approach. He walked slowly, but loudly, and pretended to have a fit of coughing. Jane hoped it would be enough. As the door creaked open, she was reminded of the time Mr. Carter’s wagon had overturned on High Street in Meryton and how everyone had gathered around to see how many of his chickens had been killed. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
After successfully crossing the foyer, Darcy had shut the door to the billiards room and started laughing. “Now I understand Antony a little better. There is something to be said for clandestine meetings. Do you know he once had to climb down a trellis, for reasons I won’t mention, and he had to jump the last few feet and landed in a hedge? I never thought the story was funny until now.” And then he put his arms around Lizzy’s waist and picked her up and spun her around.
Although Lizzy would have gladly stayed in Mr. Darcy’s embrace, she realized that one of them had to keep a cool head, and it was not going to be Mr. Darcy.
“Why are you stepping away from me? Do you not trust me?” Darcy asked.
“Of course I don’t trust you. You are a man.”
“I have waited all these many months for you, and now I am to be denied a few kisses?”
“You have waited for me! It was not I who was running back and forth to London. It was I who waited for you.”
“Let us agree that we were both waiting, but what is the harm in a few kisses now that we are together?”
“Because we cannot stay here. The servants will be coming in to stoke the fires and…”
“The servants will not come in here until we are called in to supper. They have enough to do without tending fires in empty rooms.”
“All right. I shall concede that point. However, Mrs. Crenshaw knows I am here. Surely, she is wondering what has happened to one of her guests.”
“She thinks you are with Georgiana.”
“Why would she think that?”
“Because that is what Georgiana told Bingley to say.”
“My goodness, what a clever girl.”
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said, laughing at the thought of all of his sister’s maneuvering. “Now, may I kiss you?”
“You said we were going to talk.”
“I did not say that was all we were going to do.” He briefly kissed her before putting his arms around her again. He could hardly believe that after all this time and all the hurdles, he was finally free to hold the woman he loved. But then he suddenly stepped back and asked, “Was Athena in the foyer when you came in?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Elizabeth, you have to leave immediately,” he said, taking her by the hand and walking with her to a door that was hidden by the wood paneling. “There is a door just like this one on the other side that will exit into a hallway leading to the foyer. Please go quickly. I do not trust Athena.”
Darcy had barely thrown off his jacket, chalked his cue, and tossed a few balls in the pockets before he heard Bingley knocking on the door, and he was not surprised to see Athena among the group.
“Hello, Bingley. I hope you don’t mind that I did not immediately join your party. I have been in carriages too often of late, and I was not quite ready to sit down again. Please forgive me, Mrs. Crenshaw,” he said, bowing, “if I caused you any inconvenience.”
“None at all, sir,” she replied.
“Mr. Darcy, this little girl was having some fun at our expense,” Mr. Collins stated. “She thought Miss Elizabeth was in here with you.”
But Athena knew what she had seen, and the little schemer dropped to her knees, looking under the table to see if Elizabeth was hiding there.
“A lady in a billiards room? Well, that would be very odd,” Darcy answered. “But no harm done,” he said, looking down at the kneeling Athena.
“That is very generous of you, Mr. Darcy,” Mrs. Crenshaw said, but she was not amused by her daughter fabricating a story about one of her guests, and she sent for Tom Smart and asked him to escort Athena to the nursery. Shortly thereafter, Lizzy and Georgiana came into the billiards room, walking arm in arm, and both smiled as they passed Athena on her way out.
“Lizzy, whatever possessed you to leave the library and go into the billiards room?” Jane asked on the ride to Longbourn. “My heart was in my mouth at the thought of everyone finding Mr. Darcy and you alone.”
“It wasn’t but a minute or two after Mr. Darcy and I had started talking that we heard Mr. Collins approaching. We hid between two bookshelves for what seemed like an eternity,” a very pleasant eternity, Lizzy thought. “We were afraid he might come back, so we hurried across the foyer. We were talking when Mr. Darcy practically pushed me out of the room, and it was a good thing he did. I had barely circled around to the foyer when I could hear Mr. Bingley knocking on the door.”
“From Mr. Darcy’s sour look all through supper, I suspect you did not have ample opportunity to talk. He is not very good at hiding his feelings.”
“That is because he does not try. He is a man who is used to having his own way and scowls or pouts when he does not get it. It did not help that Mrs. Crenshaw never stopped talking, and of course, there is Mr. Collins, who requires no further comment. But the reason Mr. Darcy excused himself after our meal is in my pocket.” Lizzy showed Jane a note Mr. Darcy had written to her.
Dearest Elizabeth,
When, where, and how are we to meet? I have much to discuss with you, but no place in which to discuss it. Please advise.
Love, Will
“Poor Mr. Darcy,” Jane said, laughing. “He is very un
happy that he cannot be with you. I am sure Mr. Bingley could empathize with him as he has the same complaint.”
“I understand Mr. Darcy’s frustrations, but there are good reasons why unmarried ladies should not be left alone with their suitors,” Lizzy said, while thinking of the passion of Mr. Darcy’s kisses and his reaction to them. “When he leaned against me in the study at Netherfield, it was impossible not to notice that there seemed to be a third party present, and I had to be very careful, because it would be two against one.”
Jane nearly doubled over laughing. Lizzy had always been more comfortable in discussing the relationship between a man and a woman, but now that she was experiencing love for the first time, Lizzy had thrown off all restraints. It gave Jane hope that a week from Saturday, her wedding night would be pleasurable—something she had not anticipated.
Mr. Darcy was neither smiling nor laughing. Because all of his efforts had been directed toward disentangling himself from Miss Montford so that he might be with Elizabeth, he had not given any thought to what would happen once he got to Hertfordshire. Since the weather had turned cold, there were to be no strolls along woodland paths or walks to the gazebo or riding in the park. It seemed as if their brief respite in the library and billiards room might be the only time they would be alone together until they were married. He would have to wait until Charlotte’s wedding and hope that he could have a few minutes to speak to Elizabeth alone.
As for their engagement, it could not be publicly announced for several weeks, at a minimum, or it might prove embarrassing to Miss Montford and risk Sir John’s ire, and it would not make him look very good either—courting one woman while romancing another. Good grief, what a mess!
A Wife for Mr. Darcy Page 22
