"Mary!"
"Lizzy! Jane!"
Mary threw herself into her sisters' arms as if they had been separated for months, rather than days, and Elizabeth was pleased to see the distracted, anxious look finally receding from Jane's face as she chattered happily with Mary, learning all she could about how her sister was adjusting to married life, and whether they were well settled with Colonel Fitzwilliam's brother and sister-in-law.
The night before Darcy and Elizabeth's wedding, in a fit of hospitality, Mr Philip Fitzwilliam had thrown open the doors to his home, inviting not only Darcy, his own cousin, but the entire Bennet clan who found themselves in London for the nuptials. He even extended his invitation to Mr and Mrs Gardiner, and so the party gathered around the dining table was a loud, boisterous one. Richard could neither understand nor explain his brother's sudden desire to be hospitable, but he was evidently pleased to see so many friendly faces warming the usually cold threshold of the Fitzwilliams' house.
"I credit this as being Mary's doing," he confided to Elizabeth, watching with delight the way Mary sought to introduce Jane to her new sister-in-law and pleased to see the usually superior Louisa smiling and chatting as if the three were old friends rather than brand new acquaintances. "My brother would certainly not have been so enthusiastic, were I here alone."
"Not even for the cousin you share?" Elizabeth asked, glancing over to where Mr Darcy and Mr Fitzwilliam spoke, and noting the stilted nature of their conversation reflected in their stiff postures. The two were not at all alike to look at, indeed, Elizabeth could trace more likeness between Darcy and the gentleman beside her than she could between the Fitzwilliam brothers.
"Alas, my brother has never been entirely fond of family connections. I expect it is merely due to his age: for he is above a decade older than me, and we were rarely together when I was growing up."
"Still, it is very generous of him to invite us all to dine here before the wedding," Elizabeth acknowledged.
"Kind, yes," Richard said, shortly. He lowered his voice, and the merest hint of a wry smile coloured his features. "I am sure he has his reasons for doing so. Whether or not we are ever party to them is a different matter altogether." He lifted his drink to his lips. "But, Miss Elizabeth, you must think me incredibly rude for dominating the conversation with my own worries. Tell me all about the plans for the wedding."
Elizabeth laughed, herself.
"And what can I tell you that you do not already know? For Mr Darcy told me of your assistance to him in making all the arrangements."
"Indeed, it was a pleasure to be a help to the two people who so ably assisted in my own marriage," he said, saluting Darcy across the room with his cup. Darcy caught the motion, and excused himself from his cousins' clutches, winding past the gaggle of Bennets and Gardiners to the quiet corner that housed Elizabeth and Colonel Fitzwilliam.
"I see you have found the only sensible arena for conversation in the place," he remarked.
"I thank you for crediting me with sense!" Richard said.
"Ah, a notion of which I must disabuse you of immediately, cousin, for I directed my comment to you: in conversing with my dear Elizabeth, you have found quite the most sensible lady in the room to share a quiet word with."
Everybody laughed at this disingenuous compliment, and Elizabeth felt heat rush to her cheeks in hearing herself thus mentioned. My dear Elizabeth. It was not the first time Darcy had referred to her thus, but there was something in his tone of voice, some ease or familiarity that had been lacking in his previous forms of address. He might still insist, when they were alone together, that their marriage was one of friends only, but she began to detect the merest hint, here and there, of the true nature of his feelings towards her, and she could only admit she liked it.
"Richard!" Mary's voice broke through the quiet, summoning him to clarify some point of interest between her sister and Louisa, and with an apologetic nod towards his companions, he excused himself.
"And so the day is almost here!" Darcy said, sliding into the place Richard had vacated. "Although I confess I shall not relax until it is over."
"Nor I!" Elizabeth agreed. Despite nursing her own secret suspicions that Darcy's true feelings for her might echo her own, she was still plagued by doubts that would not permit her to speak of it aloud. They had agreed to marry for the most formal and pragmatic of reasons, she did not wish to upset the applecart by declaring feelings she was as yet not entirely certain he returned. The arrangement, indeed, their entire engagement, felt precarious and she would not relax until the matter was settled before God on the morrow. That it would be a small wedding, conducted in the sight of only those present here this evening, helped settle her anxieties a little.
"What a pity your sister could not join us," she mused, watching the interaction of Mary and Jane with Louisa and wondering, idly, how Georgiana would fare in such a situation.
"Alas, it could not be changed," Darcy said, gruffly. "But you will see her before long, for she will join us at Pemberley in the new year."
"I look forward to it," Elizabeth said, although she was not entirely truthful. She was a little afraid of meeting Georgiana Darcy for the first time, fearful that she would see through the charade entirely, and despise Elizabeth for marrying her brother under false pretences. Or will her presence force us to be truthful at last? she wondered.
Darcy appeared preoccupied: he had not noticed the note of anxiety that rang in Elizabeth's words, and for that she was grateful.
"Lizzy!" Mrs Bennet's voice rose above the volume of conversation and tugged at Elizabeth's attention, until both she and Mr Darcy looked over.
"Lizzy!" Mrs Bennet gestured towards her daughter with a wave. "Come, dear, and tell your aunt a little more of your plans for the future. Mr Darcy, you must join us too, for we are eager to hear more of Pemberley."
Exchanging a look of humorous forbearance, Darcy offered Elizabeth his arm, and the two crossed the room in perfect synchronicity to join her family.
If my family have not failed to welcome Mr Darcy, and to rejoice in our connection how can I persist in fearing my fate in the hands of his sister? Surely she will be every bit as warm and welcoming to me. The words were true, yet they did not entirely erase the slight sense of foreboding she felt, and she was forced to suppress it, focusing instead on the immediate present, listening with interest to her soon-to-be husband describing the estate he loved, that would soon be her own to enjoy, whatever the opinion of his sister.
