“I shall not raise Jane’s hopes by saying so, but I shall pray your assessment of your friend is correct, Mr Darcy.” Elizabeth bestowed upon him a wider smile. “Indeed, if it is and we see Mr Bingley sometime soon, I believe that any harsh words which have passed between us shall be quite forgot, and I shall be brought to see you as a dear friend of all the Bennet family!”
Darcy inclined his head to her gravely. “Then I too, shall pray for that outcome. Whether or not you believe it at this moment, Miss Elizabeth, I count all of the Bennets as friends of mine, and people with whom I am proud to associate.”
“Then should the courtship between Jane and Mr Bingley come to anything, you would not feel obliged to cut the connection?” She arched an eyebrow at him, that old teasing note back in her voice.
“Oh God, pray do not remind me of the awful things I said,” Darcy said dismally. They had reached the end of the garden, and turned around. This time, Darcy offered his arm, and she had no hesitation in putting her hand on it.
“Mr Darcy, I believe that I now have a lot more understanding about the state of mind you were in this morning when you said those words, and I think you have a great deal more justification for your behaviour than I do for mine.”
“I would not say so, but for the sake of not wishing to start yet another argument with you, I will allow you to make the excuse for me.”
“See, you are learning!” Delightedly, she squeezed his arm. “When you only come to accept that I am right all the time and you should not argue with me at all, we shall be in perfect charity with each other!”
To his own surprise, Darcy burst out laughing. Impulsively, he put his other hand over hers where it nestled in the crook of his arm; even through gloves, her fingers felt so very tiny beneath his.
“Whatever disagreements we have had, and may yet have in the future, I hope that you will allow me to tell you that I truly do admire you a great deal.”
Elizabeth’s mouth opened wide with shock. She was looking up into his face, could see his very evident sincerity. She could not think of a thing to say.
“I see that I have shocked you. Were you truly so sure that I had taken you in despite?”
“From the very first moment when you declared to Mr Bingley that I was not handsome enough to tempt you.”
Darcy stopped dead, forcing Elizabeth to stop as well, by necessity. “You heard that?”
“I have always been said to have quite exceptional hearing.” Her eyes glinted as she looked up at him.
He gave a heartfelt groan. “Truly, I am amazed you ever deigned to speak to me at all. You should have given me the cut direct.”
“Mama would have made my life a misery if I dared to do any such thing, Mr Darcy.”
“Yes.” Darcy looked thoughtful, his brow creasing. “I think I may have done your mother an injustice, as well. Raising Georgiana alone is enough to turn my hair prematurely grey; raising five of you… well, I am discovering that Mrs Bennet is rather more admirable than I had previously realised.”
“It seems that we are both learning things about each other, and our families, that we had not previously recognised,” Elizabeth said, in a gentle peace offering.
“Indeed,” Darcy agreed, and they smiled at each other in the tentative beginnings of a new understanding.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Yoo hoo!” a voice called, making them both start and look away from each other.
“It is my Aunt Phillips, with Lady Lucas and Charlotte Lucas,” Elizabeth murmured, unsure whether Darcy would remember the ladies. “No doubt they have heard the news about Wickham - it will be all over Meryton by now - and are here to gossip with Mama about it. Your presence here will no doubt incite much discussion, too.”
“Will you send them away?” Darcy asked quietly as the three women approached.
“That would only give rise to more speculation, I fear. No, we shall stick to our story, that you and Georgiana were passing through Hatfield when she fell ill, and on encountering you there we offered to bring her here to nurse her. Wickham’s flight is entirely unrelated to your arrival.” Her gaze sparkled a little as she met his gaze. “You just act in your usual taciturn manner, Mr Darcy. Let Mama and I handle everything.”
He trusted Elizabeth’s discretion absolutely, but had no time to say so as the ladies were now within earshot of anything above a whisper. Mrs Bennet was another matter, not that he exactly had any choice.
“Mr Darcy!” Charlotte, a step or two ahead of the older ladies, was the first to recognise him, her jaw dropping open.
“Miss Lucas.” He bowed elegantly to her. “A pleasure to see you again.”
Charlotte was too well-bred to ask what on earth he was doing at Longbourn, but she looked from him to Elizabeth with her eyes wide. Mrs Phillips had no such compunction.
“Mr Darcy! Whatever are you doing here?”
“Do come inside, it is turning very cold,” Elizabeth forestalled an immediate inquisition. Stepping forward, she dropped her hand from Darcy’s arm to usher them all inside.
“Lady Lucas, Mrs Phillips!” Mrs Bennet came to the parlour door to greet them, crying out with delight in her usual manner. “And dear Charlotte! How good it is to see you! Pray, how go the wedding preparations?”
Charlotte looked a little uncomfortable, glancing sideways at Elizabeth.
“All is in readiness, Mrs Bennet,” Lady Lucas said rather smugly. “The bridegroom of course cannot join us until after Epiphany, but the wedding will take place on the ninth of January as planned.”
“Is there to be a wedding?” Darcy said, seeing a welcome opportunity to keep the conversation off difficult topics. “Pray, who is getting married?”
“I am, Mr Darcy,” Charlotte said. She did not smile.
“To Mr Collins,” Mrs Bennet added.
“Good God, really?” Darcy expostulated. He realised that he had been thoughtless when Lady Lucas drew herself up and glared at him. “Not that it is an unequal match in terms of circumstances, but, Miss Lucas, I did not find Mr Collins to be a very sensible man.”
“A sensible woman, however, must take whatever opportunities to secure her future which present themselves,” Charlotte said into the silence that followed Darcy’s statement.
“Humph,” Mrs Bennet said, “if only Lizzy thought that way, then we might be celebrating her wedding in January.”
Bemused, Darcy looked at Elizabeth; red flags of colour rode high on her cheeks as she busied herself with the tea tray.
“Never mind that now, Mrs Bennet,” Mrs Phillips interrupted, “have you heard the news about Mr Wickham?”
Darcy moved quietly away as the babble began, went to stand beside Elizabeth. “What did your mother mean, that you might have been celebrating your wedding?” he asked quietly. “I was not aware that you had any suitors.”
“It occurs to me that I do not know how you like your tea, Mr Darcy,” Elizabeth said in a tone of forced brightness. “Do you like honey, sugar, or lemon?”
“A little honey, if you please. Miss Elizabeth?”
She closed her eyes with humiliation. “Mr Collins proposed to me first, before Charlotte,” she finally confessed quietly. “I declined. With some vehemence. There was a degree of unpleasantness with my mother.”
“Why in God’s name would he ever have thought that you would accept?”
Darcy sounded utterly incredulous. Opening her eyes, Elizabeth looked up at him, cocked her head curiously. “Do you realise that Longbourn is entailed?” she asked.
“It is?” Darcy blinked. “I… did not, no. Upon Collins?” Suddenly, a lot of things made sense. Mrs Bennet’s panicked desperation to see her daughters settled, to the extent of having them all out at once and all but throwing them at any available man who crossed their paths, was indeed quite understandable under such circumstances. Elizabeth’s apparent tolerance of Collins’ inane attentions was explained too; she had been pressured into it by her mother.
“
Yes. Fortunately, my father took my side and refused to allow Mama to browbeat me into changing my mind. I fear that if he had not, I would indeed find myself in Charlotte’s place.” Elizabeth did not hide a shudder.
Darcy did not know what to say. “I am so glad your father supported you,” he said finally. “I cannot imagine you married to that man. It would crush your spirit.”
Her dark eyes were soft as she smiled up at him. “I think you understand me better than you realise, Mr Darcy.”
“Lizzy!” Mrs Bennet was shrill as she demanded her daughter’s attention. “Come here and hear this… you will not look so kindly on your favourite once you hear what he has done!”
“My favourite? I do not know who you mean, I am sure, Mama.” With a last, secret little smile for Darcy, Elizabeth turned away.
“Wickham, of course! Oh, I know you claimed he was nothing to you once he started courting that Mary King - and apparently he proposed to her too, but that is all come to naught now! Just wait until you hear what happened to poor Mr Goulding!”
Taking a seat beside Charlotte, Elizabeth listened with every appearance of fascination at hearing the news, gasping with horror at all the appropriate moments. Once the ladies had shared their exciting gossip, however, their attention inevitably returned to Mr Darcy’s unexpected presence at Longbourn.
Elizabeth found herself genuinely astounded by her mother’s acting abilities. Not for a moment did Mrs Bennet act in the least out of her ordinary character; she twittered and flapped just as she ordinarily did while spinning a tale of half-truths, of meeting Darcy in Hatfield in distress because his sister had fallen ill.
“How terrible! You were on your way to London, I suppose, Mr Darcy?” Mrs Phillips turned her beady eyes on him.
“From, actually. We were on our way home to Pemberley for Christmas.” Darcy thought fast. “Our servants had gone ahead in another coach; I decided to ride with Georgiana, to spend some time with her. She fell ill so quickly, though. I was at my wit’s end when I fortuitously encountered Mrs Bennet and Miss Elizabeth.”
“Speaking of Miss Darcy, I really should get back to Jane,” Elizabeth said apologetically. “I only intended to go for a few minutes’ walk.”
“Is there anything I can do, Lizzy?” Charlotte asked. Lady Lucas gave a little shriek.
“Indeed not, Charlotte, we cannot expose you to illness and risk you falling ill before the wedding! Indeed, we must be getting back, it grows dark so quickly this late in the year. Sir William thinks it will snow before Christmas, what say you, Mrs Bennet?”
“Perhaps,” that lady allowed, “though we lack only two days until Christmas Eve.”
“And when does our brother arrive?” Mrs Phillips said eagerly.
“We expect them tomorrow,” Mrs Bennet nodded. “I am so looking forward to seeing them again; I am sure the children will have grown so much since last year!”
They were all making their way outside, the ladies putting on the coats and hats they had shed upon entry. Darcy politely bade farewell to the visitors, and caught at Elizabeth’s sleeve as she turned to follow her mother back inside.
“Your family is expecting guests for Christmas?”
“Yes, my Uncle and Aunt Gardiner and their children.” A very familiar glint came to Elizabeth’s eyes. “I am sure you heard Miss Bingley speak of them, Mr Darcy. They reside in Cheapside.”
“I think you are once again jumping to conclusions about me, Miss Elizabeth. I only meant to ask if I should vacate my bedchamber for them. I can quite comfortably take a bed in the servants’ quarters, or at the inn in Meryton if necessary, though I would prefer to stay close to Georgiana…”
Elizabeth looked instantly contrite. “Indeed no, Mr Darcy, I would not for the world have you leave Longbourn now, and nor would Mama suffer you to sleep in the servants’ quarters, I do assure you! No, my aunt and uncle will take the room Colonel Fitzwilliam vacated, and the children will sleep in the nursery rooms upstairs. You need not be concerned.”
“Would not your aunt and uncle prefer their own rooms, though?” Darcy queried.
A tinge of pink came to Elizabeth’s cheeks. “They never have before, Mr Darcy. I do not see why they should start now.”
Darcy found his own cheeks reddening. “I see. I do not wish Georgiana and myself to be an inconvenience to the household, that is all. Christmas is a time for families to be together, and here we are, imposed upon you…”
“Mama’s philosophy on Christmas has always been, the more the merrier,” Elizabeth interrupted him with a smile. “There will be more than enough roast goose and plum pudding for everyone, I assure you, Mr Darcy.”
“You will let me know if there is anything I can do?” He did not like to feel useless.
“Oh, I can think of at least one task you can perform, Mr Darcy.” Elizabeth flashed him her impish smile. “Your marvellously tall presence will remove the need for me to stand on a chair to place holly atop the picture-frames!”
He had to laugh as she turned away and scampered back up the stairs. Standing at the foot for several long minutes after she disappeared from sight, he finally sighed and turned around, only to find Mr Bennet standing in the door of his study, watching him.
Caught out pining after Elizabeth, Darcy reddened. Mr Bennet looked highly diverted.
“You make me more relieved than ever that I flatly refused to allow Collins to have her,” Mr Bennet said.
Darcy did not even attempt to mask his shudder of revulsion at the mere idea. Only imagine if he had gone on his usual visit at Easter to his aunt’s home at Rosings, to find Elizabeth married to that fool!
“Bestowing Miss Elizabeth upon a man like Collins would be the very definition of strewing pearls before swine.”
“Quite,” Mr Bennet agreed. “Of course, all I did was ensure that her decision was respected. She rejected him in no uncertain terms, I assure you. Elizabeth was certainly not afraid to decline a marriage proposal she considered to be unsuitable.”
Darcy swallowed. “I see.”
“I think that you do, yes.” Bennet nodded to him and returned to his books, closing the study door behind him in a clear indication that he did not desire company at that time.
Irresolute, Darcy stood alone in the hallway for a few moments. Tempted to go to his room to spend some time alone in thought, he took a step toward the stairs before pausing and looking at the open parlour door.
If he wanted Elizabeth to look upon him with favour, he needed to demonstrate that he truly did respect and esteem her family - all of them. Elizabeth might not be present to witness his efforts, but that did not mean that he could evade the necessity. Squaring his shoulders, he entered the parlour and sat down opposite a startled Mrs Bennet.
“I understand you expect your relatives the Gardiners for Christmas, ma’am. No doubt you are extremely busy with the management of the household at the present time, and I do beg you, if there is any service I may perform, you have only to name it.”
Mrs Bennet beamed on him with the greatest delight. “Why, Mr Darcy, what a gracious offer! But you are our guest, I could not dream of pressing you into service.”
“Please,” he said, “I am unaccustomed to idleness. Georgiana and I make extra work for the household, since Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth are fully occupied with attending her and cannot take on their usual tasks. With Mrs Annesley and a couple of our servants to join us here once Fitzwilliam has dispatched them from London - likely they will arrive Christmas Eve, if the snow holds off - that makes quite a few extra mouths to feed. I confess I cannot cook, but certainly I could go into Meryton tomorrow and collect some more supplies, if needed.”
“Well,” Mrs Bennet looked surprised, but very pleased by his offer. “I daresay you are right about that, Mr Darcy; no doubt Cook should be having words with me about the state of the pantry in a day or so. I shall speak to her in the morning and write a list, and yes, if you would care to go into Meryton I am sure there are some thi
ngs we will need.” A glint entered her eye then. “Perhaps if Miss Darcy is feeling a little better, Lizzy could walk with you. She is a great walker, you know.”
She is trying to matchmake Elizabeth and I, Darcy realised. He had to fight down the delighted grin that threatened to break out; the jig would be up if he did, and Mrs Bennet would no doubt place a great deal of pressure on Elizabeth to accept him. He did not want that; he wanted Elizabeth to accept him because she truly wished it, because she truly respected and cared for him. He hoped that they had made a beginning towards mutual respect today, but rushing her would likely lead to Elizabeth digging her heels in and turning him down out of hand. Darcy had no intention of disregarding Mr Bennet’s not-too-subtle warning.
“Perhaps,” was all he said in response to Mrs Bennet’s suggestion. “We shall see.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The doctor arrived while Darcy was doing his best to make conversation with Mrs Bennet without giving away his partiality to Elizabeth. Grateful for the interruption, Darcy went upstairs with the doctor and this time was allowed in to see Georgiana after the doctor had completed his examination.
Jane left the room as Darcy entered, taking a packet of herbs the doctor had given her down to the kitchen to be made up into a medicinal tea. Elizabeth was sitting in a chair by the bed, Georgiana’s hand held in hers as she listened to the doctor’s words.
“Will!” Georgiana exclaimed as he entered the room, ducking his head beneath the low lintel of the door frame. He smiled to see her sitting up against the pillows; while fever flags still flew high on her cheeks, her eyes were clear, her hair brushed and braided into a long plait over her shoulder, a clean white nightgown swathing her form. Wondering if it was Elizabeth’s nightgown, Darcy castigated himself for the thought. He really had no business thinking about Elizabeth’s nightgown. Or the fact that this was her bedchamber, her bed where his sister now lay.
A Christmas Miracle At Longbourn (The Darcy And Lizzy Miracles Book 1) Page 11
