by Katie Bright
She turned her attention back to her packing and soon heard a gentle tap against the door.
“Come in Jane,” she replied.
“How did you know it was me?” Jane asked as she entered.
“Because you are the only one who ever bothered to knock. Where are the little ones?”
“Enjoying being fussed over by their grandmother, whilst trying to pour a packet of marshmallows into their hot chocolate. Do you need a hand?” Jane asked as she sat down on her bed.
“No, there isn’t much left to pack,” she replied. “Did you come to hide from Mamma too?”
“Is it that obvious?”
“Frankly, yes.”
“Oh Lizzy, if I hear another word about this wedding…”
“Papa feels the same way. Although I can’t see why Caroline invited me to her wedding unless it is to rub my nose in it.”
“I honestly couldn’t say,” Jane replied. “Even Charles was a little shocked.”
“I’m not surprised,” she said as she gently folded her dress and put it into the suitcase. “Fancy not allowing children at the wedding, I’d have thought that Henry and Alice would make a perfect page boy and flower girl.”
“As did Charles’ mother,” Jane added. “She’s most upset with Caroline.”
“But look at who she’s marrying. I don’t like to speak ill of the groom on the eve of his wedding, but we all know how he is. I’m sure he’ll expect his own children to be seen and not heard. Or possibly not to be seen at all. They will probably pack them off to boarding school once they turn five, hoping not to see them until they graduate university.”
“Lizzy, you only met him a few times.”
“A few times too many. Rather her than me,” Lizzy replied.
“Then why are you going?”
“I don’t know really. Curiosity I suppose. Then can be no other reason for it. After all, it is a church wedding in the private chapel on his estate no less. Well, at least I suppose I won’t be the only one freezing, I can’t see the chapel have any type of heating, can you?”
“Not really. Do you want me to sit on your suitcase?”
“No, I am just contemplating whether thermal underwear will show under that dress,” Elizabeth remarked.
“Yes, it will,” Jane said as she shut the suitcase and sat on it.
“I don’t even know why I am going. Tomorrow is Saturday, I could be having a lay in. But I suppose it is the last Bingley wedding I will be attending for a while until your children get married. Or at least until Caroline or Louisa gets a divorce.”
Jane shook her head.
“Honestly Jane, do you think I’m just there to make up the numbers?” She asked as she did the zip up on her suitcase.
“Possibly,” Jane said as she sat back down on the bed.
Elizabeth put her suitcase on the floor and joined her.
“This wedding has just fuelled Mamma again.”
“Is she nagging you and Mary to get married?” Jane smiled.
“Well, yes. It’s alright for you and Lydia, even Kitty had the sense to get a job in London away from here. But look at me, I’m still stuck working for our uncle, living here, with the same tiny car, the same tiny life.”
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself Lizzy. Kitty is living in someone’s cupboard and is paying nearly half the rent. Lydia has four children and George Wickham as a husband and I, well I am…”
“Living the good life, with a good man and two perfect little children,” Elizabeth replied.
“I suppose I am.
“Are you two finished up there? Your dinner’s getting cold,” their mother called.
“It’s like old times,” Jane replied.
“For you Jane, for some of us it’s never changed.”
∞ ∞ ∞
Chapter Two
Something New
The next day, as the icy wind whistled around her legs, Elizabeth regretted not having picked an outfit with trousers. Her long winter’s coat did little to protect her legs and she was reminded of bitterly cold mornings as a child, waiting in the playground before they could go into school. Luckily for the guests at the wedding, they didn’t have to wait to enter the church. Ushers stood in the entrance handing out hymnals and directing people to their seats. And she was curious to see exactly where she would be sitting.
She didn’t recognise either of the ushers. Elizabeth presumed that they must be from his side of the family. Because after five years of Jane marrying into the Bingleys, she was familiar with almost all of the extended family and some of their friends.
“Bride or groom?” one of the ushers asked Charles.
“Bride,” he replied.
“Any seats on the left-hand side of the church, but not the front four rows. They are reserved for the immediate family,” the usher replied.
“I am the bride’s brother,” Charles explained.
“Oh, I see.”
Elizabeth had to suppress a grin, Charles was so easy going that it was a rare thing to see him even slightly angry. Jane glanced at her as she took her hymnal and order of service from the usher. So, she bit her lip and followed them down the aisle to where Charles’ mother sat with Louisa’s husband.
“Charles, you’re here,” Mrs Bingley said as she stood up and embraced her son.
“Yes Mother,” he smiled.
“Jane dear you are looking well, and Lizzy I’m so glad you could come,” she added.
“I was delighted to receive the invitation,” Elizabeth smiled as she took her seat in the pew.
“No plus one?” she asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Never mind, perhaps you’ll find one at the wedding.”
Mr Hurst was too busy snoring to notice they had arrived.
“Well Charles, what do you think of this wedding?” his mother asked.
“They could have trained the ushers better, that’s for sure,” he replied.
“I know, they had no idea who I was. It’s all a bit slapdash if you ask me, but if Caroline is happy, what more can I ask for?”
Elizabeth glanced around the church to see who she could recognise. On the bride’s side were a lot of familiar faces, although some it seemed were still yet to arrive. Whilst on the groom’s side of the church it looked like a who’s who of the country set, or at least an abridged version of Burke’s Peerage.
Mrs Bingley tapped Elizabeth on the shoulder to gain her attention. She was the source of Charles’ kind and gentle manner, he had his mother’s ways, whilst his sisters seemed to take after their father who was always more aloof.
“Do you recognise any of them?” Mrs Bingley asked.
“Only from the society pages of magazines,” Elizabeth replied.
“If you look over there next to the pillar, they have a minor royal,” she informed her.
But no matter how much Elizabeth tried to see who it was, she was thwarted by large wedding hats and people taking their seats.
As the church started to fill up, she noticed the groom and his best man coming out of the vestry and taking up their positions. She supposed he was handsome enough, tall, fit and healthy. But he was no Darcy. The Duke of Sommershire was a catch that Caroline could not resist, and a title was the only thing that Darcy was missing.
Why had he sprung to mind? Perhaps it was because she was sure that she would see him with Georgiana at the wedding. But so far there was no sign of either of them. But they could have easily been missed especially now the church was at full capacity.
The wedding march started to play, and everyone’s head turned in the direction of the approaching bride. And for a moment all thoughts of Fitzwilliam Darcy went straight out of Elizabeth Bennet’s head, but not out of her heart.
∞ ∞ ∞
Chapter Three
Caroline’s Parting Shot
The wedding ceremony went by smoothly. There were no sudden objections from old beaus or past loves, and with little fuss or to do the couple
were declared man and wife. As the church bells rang out, the newlyweds were showered in confetti, before the real test of endurance began. The wedding photos.
Elizabeth thought that she would only be needed for one or two photos. Especially as Louisa was Caroline’s maid of honour and the bridesmaids all looked like they had stepped off the cover of Vogue. She noticed that none of Charles’ plainer cousins had been picked to walk behind Caroline up the aisle. Instead, the Duke’s family and friends had supplied the entourage, no doubt because it would make the photos more sellable to the right media outlets.
However, Mrs Bingley insisted that Elizabeth be in far more of the photos than was necessary. So eventually when the photographer finally asked for the bride and groom only, she was glad to walk across the immaculate lawn to the reception in the main house.
The next thing that had to be sat through were the speeches. The best man, it seemed, was not familiar with the saying ‘the shorter, the sweeter’. Instead, he seemed to prattle on for nearly twenty minutes aided by a slideshow he had compiled of ‘hilarious’ photos, mainly of himself and the groom on various holidays and nights out. She was glad that she had not been invited on their shared hen and stag party, otherwise, she may have ended up on the slideshow too. Like Jane and Charles had a few minutes earlier.
As he started into his twentieth minute, Elizabeth’s eyes wandered around the room. From what she had seen of the house, it was easily as big as Pemberley, but it was not as fine. To Elizabeth’s eyes, it had none of its splendour or majesty. Whereas Pemberley sat so well in its surroundings, the hall here seemed to jar with the grounds.
The aspect from the grand dining room also seemed at odds. Instead of the room presenting the best view of the gardens or parkland, it only seemed to display an old oak. Which Elizabeth was almost sure had never held a king or anyone else of note.
As the speeches receded and the messages and well wishes were read out, it was time for the couple’s first dance. Caroline’s beautiful gown was shown off to perfection and upon seeing them together, Elizabeth had to admit, they were a good match, both in temperament and in character. They would no doubt live happily ever after, with any row being settled by Caroline sulking in a suite in Claridges until he turned up to apologise with a present from Aspreys.
Elizabeth smiled as she saw Charles lead Jane to the dance floor, whilst Louisa urged her husband to get to his feet too. And as her eyes once more searched the room for Darcy, she realised that he wasn’t there to ask her to do the same.
She had often wondered over the years what her life would have been like if she had said ‘yes’ instead of ‘no’. It was true that her pride had been dented by his proposal and she had given him a knock to his own ego too. But they seemed to have found a happy truce afterwards, and at one time she had thought that they had found something more.
She was brought back to the present moment when she realised that Caroline was standing in front of her.
“Caroline, or should I say, your grace,” Elizabeth said. “You look wonderful, as does your wedding.”
“Thank you Eliza, do you know you are the first person to call me that,” Caroline remarked. “Are you on your own?”
“Yes, plus ones are short on the ground at this time of year. I believe they fly south for the winter,” Elizabeth replied. “I always thought that if I was at your wedding, you would be marrying Darcy.”
Caroline picked up a champagne flute from a passing tray.
“A woman can only wait so long Eliza. And when the person you are waiting for decides to live like a monk and turn his darling country estate into a hermitage, then trust me, I wasn’t about to wait any longer,” Caroline replied as she took a sip of her champagne.
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked.
“Sorry, someone’s calling me. I must mingle,” Caroline explained as she walked away.
Elizabeth was confused. What was all this about Darcy living like a monk? It was true that she hadn’t seen him for a few years. At least not since Alice’s christening. But how could he have changed so much in so little time?
Surely Charles would know, she would have to ask him when he and Jane finished dancing. But every time she waited for the music to end, another song started, and all the while the thought of Darcy played on her mind. She tried to spot Jane and Charles on the dance floor, but it was now so full of bodies, she couldn’t see them.
Getting to her feet, she made her way across the room in search of her brother in law. Spurning the usher’s requests for a dance along the way, she accidentally bumped into someone and spilt their drink on the floor.
“I’m sorry, it’s so crowded,” Elizabeth started to apologise, but as she saw who it was, she realised that they could answer her questions better than Charles ever could. “Georgiana,” she greeted Darcy’s sister.
“Oh Elizabeth, you’re just the person I was hoping to see.”
∞ ∞ ∞
Chapter Four
A Meeting of Minds
Georgiana Darcy hadn’t really changed. Perhaps she was a little more confident, but she was just as pretty as Elizabeth remembered her to be. Her gentle manners were like that of her brother’s and as they found a quieter corner to stand in, Elizabeth couldn’t wait to ask her about Darcy.
“How good it is to see you, you look well,” Elizabeth remarked.
“I am.”
“And how is your brother?”
“Have you heard then?” Georgiana asked.
Elizabeth could feel a nervous knot growing in her stomach.
“I have heard something, but I didn’t believe it was true.”
Georgiana bit her lip and looked away as she tried to bring her emotions into check.
“So, it’s true then, he’s become a recluse,” Elizabeth stated.
She turned back to Elizabeth, the tears clearly welling up in her eyes.
“I thought I was doing so well today, keeping my mind off everything. He had promised me he would come to the wedding, catch up with his friends. But he’s not here,” Georgiana explained.
“Surely it can’t be as bad as all that?” she said hoping it to be true.
“Oh Elizabeth, it’s far worse than anyone suspects or imagines. Tell me, when was the last time you saw my brother?” Georgiana asked.
“I confess, it must be two years or more.”
“And in those two years he has become a shadow of his former self,” Georgiana said looking down at the floor as if it would offer up an answer.
Seeing how upset she was, Elizabeth spotted an open door and touched Georgiana on the shoulder to gain her attention.
“Come on, let’s find somewhere else to talk, shall we?”
Georgiana followed Elizabeth out into the hall. A myriad of doors presented themselves to them, some of which were locked. But Elizabeth’s persistence eventually found a small room that was being used to store extra chairs for the wedding. She took two down off the stack and as she closed the door behind them, she turned to Georgiana and smiled.
“Now we’ll sit down, and you can tell me everything. Then we’ll see what can be done.”
Georgiana took a seat and slowly started to explain it all.
“Two years ago, we got a phone call just before Christmas from our family solicitor. It seemed that the last of our family’s investments had dried up. My brother is not one to rely on these things, he thinks an estate should always pay for itself. But it seems that over the past few years, he had been relying more and more on the money. Initially, I thought the change in him was just the stress over losing an income. But now looking back on it, I think it was just the final straw,” Georgiana explained.
“So, you think that it’s more than just the money that’s worrying him?” Elizabeth asked.
“Oh, some of it is. But there was something else too before that. When the investment went, he seemed to just give up. He shuttered up the house and took up residence in the old butler’s quarters downstairs. All the fight
has left him, all of his pride too.”
“That is not necessarily a bad thing,” Elizabeth replied.
“I know what you mean. But these past five years he has been a humbler man than I ever knew him to be before. I once asked him why he changed, and he told me that he had once been under the influence of a good woman. Elizabeth, he meant you.”
She didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t thought that she would still be on Darcy’s mind. Surely any affection he had felt for her had passed long ago. But didn’t she still kindle a flame for him?
“Pemberley used to be his pride and joy, but he finds neither in it now. I’m worried that he will just withdraw so much into himself, that not even I will be able to draw him out. Please Elizabeth, can you help me?”
“I’ll try my best Georgiana,” Elizabeth reassured her, she just hoped her best was good enough.
The day after the wedding, as they journeyed home, Elizabeth had contemplated discussing Darcy’s plight with Jane and Charles. But for some reason, she didn’t want to. To her, it felt like a betrayal to gossip about him behind his back. But somehow, she had to acquaint herself with as many of the facts as she could. After all, Charles was Darcy’s best friend, perhaps he knew things that Georgiana wasn’t aware of. The trouble was she couldn’t decide what to do for the best.
She thought that work might distract her, but her uncle’s office was quiet. She had reorganised the filing system and had even rearranged the office furniture much to the surprise of her colleagues. But no matter how she filled her time, still Darcy was on her mind.
By the middle of the week, she found herself dining with Jane and Charles at Netherfield. Now with the children tucked up in their beds Elizabeth finally approached the subject. Jane looked quite saddened at the mention of Darcy’s name.
“Oh Lizzy, I thought you knew,” Jane said.
“Knew what?” Elizabeth asked.
“About Darcy. I thought surely you of all people would have noticed the change in him the last time he visited.”
“You’re forgetting I was on holiday the last time he came to Netherfield. Why didn’t you say something?” Elizabeth asked.
