"You look positively frazzled for someone who is not our esteemed hostess," commented Henry as he observed his wife glaring at the collection of gowns strewn around her chambers, and the accompanying articles that he was sure somehow made up the rest of her outfit for Christmas day.
Emily sighed, running a hand through her loose blonde hair as she gestured to the maids to leave the room. They left hurriedly, exchanging looks of fright. Their mistress had clearly not been in a good mood for the entirety of the morning.
"Frazzled is a good word for it," she said finally, sinking down into an armchair by the fireplace and offering her husband a small smile. "I did not realize you would come looking for me."
Henry shrugged and sat down opposite her, carefully removing a roll of lace from the back of his chair as he did so. "Richard is refusing to leave his wife's side currently, no doubt finally realizing that his idiotic decision to leave means he will not see her for nearly a year. The new Mrs. Darcy is delightful, yet I cannot seem to find her or her husband this fine morning. Mamma is unbearable without you to shield me from her exclamations, and Father has locked himself away in the library."
"You could have gone to see Georgiana," commented Emily, her eyes fixed on her left hand as she rubbed at a chipped nail slowly.
Henry scoffed. "And what does one talk about with a girl who is not yet a woman but no longer a child?"
Emily smiled a little, still refusing to look up. "And what about your children?"
"Margaret is asleep, and Henry is far too invested in a new drawing. I wonder at his love for art," mused Henry, remembering the look of concentration on his son's face when he had wandered into the nursery earlier. "He certainly does not get it from my side of the family."
"My Pappa quite liked to draw," said Emily quietly. "And no doubt he has been inspired by Diana."
"The boy positively worships her," agreed Henry. Then, he quirked an eyebrow. "Pappa enjoyed art?"
"Yes, he did," Emily looked up and smiled at her husband before vacating her chair, moving towards the dresses scattered across the bed. She began to pick them up, fold them neatly and place them in a pile in the corner. Henry watched her from his chair, taking note of the way his heart had practically skipped a beat when she had smiled at him. His observations were almost detached, as if he were reading about his emotions rather than experiencing them. That he loved his wife was no secret; he doubted there was a person alive who did not know of their rather unconventional courtship and marriage. Still, it was odd, the way she said so little and yet made him feel so much. Emily was talkative on her bad days, and on her good days she was a force of energy, the sun in his drab world of politics, meetings at the club and meals he would rather have in his room.
However, when they were alone together, a curious shyness had always seemed to take over her. And for the first time in over eight years, Henry wondered at it. He had no idea what was making him think such things. He was perfectly content in his marriage, happy, even. Emily was beautiful and good and kind, an excellent mother to his children and a dutiful daughter to his parents. She was wonderful as a wife – she knew his likes and dislikes, his moods and his secrets.
And yet, she did not respond to his every touch the way Diana responded to Richard. She did not watch him from across the room the way Elizabeth watched Darcy. It had never bothered him before, but now he felt it did; was that how couples in love were supposed to act?
"You're being very pensive," her sweet voice jolted him out of his reverie. He blinked and refocused on her face. She was standing in front of him, smiling but looking rather concerned. "Are you alright, Henry?"
Henry shook his head, getting to his feet and nodding briskly. "Quite," he cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward and dying to break the tension. A thought came to him, and he pounced on it. "I have something for you," he said suddenly, moving towards the table on his side of the bed. He rummaged through the drawer for only a moment before carefully drawing out the single white envelope he had hidden in it some days ago. When he turned back, Emily was still standing in the middle of the room, arms folded across her chest and a small smile playing at her lips. It made him smile, too.
"So mysterious," she said teasingly. "Is this a Christmas present? I thought we would open them with the rest of the family after luncheon."
"I would rather give this to you in private," replied Henry, holding out the envelope. When she saw it, her eyebrows shot up. The last time Henry had given her anything but jewellery at Christmas was before they had been married. Throwing him a bemused glance, she flipped it over, took out the single piece of paper within and read through it quickly. When she was done, her eyes widened. She looked up at him with wonder. "Did you –"
"I did," Henry smiled sheepishly. "I did not think you would object."
"This is a – a – a –" Emily stuttered.
"A letter confirming what date the inn expects us to arrive and the various carriages booked to take us onwards," Henry nodded. "I promised you we would go to the Lakes when we married. I may be a decade or so late, but I wanted to keep my promise."
"But the children –"
"We have an excellent nurse, and Diana has graciously agreed to help Mamma in looking after them."
Emily's face broke into a smile, and suddenly she was as beautiful and lively as she had been the day he had met her, all sunshine and laughter and twinkling eyes. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely, pulling back just long enough to kiss his smiling lips before resting her head against his shoulder again, her arms still tight around him.
A breathless laugh escaped her mouth, and Henry chuckled along with her. Yes, his marriage was not the same as his brother's, or his cousin's. But he was happy, and he made the woman he loved happy. For the time being, it would suffice.
!
"I feel as though we are being terrible hosts."
Darcy rolled his eyes. "They can hardly expect us to be available all the time."
"Forgive me, husband. Have I not been an attentive wife these past weeks?" Elizabeth's eyes sparkled in amusement as she turned around in his husband's arms, raising an eyebrow teasingly at his sour look. They were in the mistress' chambers, still in their nightclothes and enjoying a lazy morning by the fire. The rest of the house was not awake, and even if they were, most of them had clearly found other ways to occupy themselves until luncheon, when the family would meet downstairs to open presents.
Despite his mood, Darcy smiled. "You are as attentive a wife as you are a hostess, my love."
"Hopefully that reflects well on me, then."
"It does. My aunt is most impressed."
"Your family are quite easy to please," Elizabeth sighed. "I fear it is my family we should be worrying about."
"Why?" for once, it seemed her husband found the source of her distress amusing, rather than the other way around. "Pemberley is big enough to avoid all your sisters and their husbands for however long they choose to come and stay."
Elizabeth hit his arm half-heartedly, contemplating his words for only a moment before shaking her head. "I know how hard it is for you to –"
"It isn't," interrupted Darcy gently. "You dealt with Lady Catherine for me, Elizabeth. I would deal with a hundred Mrs. Bennets and Miss Bennets for you."
At the mental image of her husband going up against one hundred clones of her mother, Elizabeth had to laugh. "We are lucky there is no chance of you having to do that, then," she smiled. "However, say what you will about my mamma, she is not nearly as bad as Mrs. Harris."
"Diana's mother?" Elizabeth frowned and Darcy frowned. "That woman is a creature unto herself."
"It amazes me how Diana is so sweet. Her mother is truly awful to her."
"Her father was a good man," Darcy played with a lock of his wife's hair absently. "No doubt that has something to do with her temperament. And she spent a great deal of time with my aunt, after he passed. That was another positive influence."
"I wonder if things would have been different, had she been able to marry Richard before," mused Elizabeth. "They fit so well together."
"If nothing else, she does make sure he acts his age," commented Darcy dryly. Elizabeth laughed again. He kissed the top of her head. "They are very happy together," he murmured quietly. "But we are happier."
"I said much the same about us when I wrote to my aunt about our marriage and Jane and Bingley's," Elizabeth shook her head smilingly. "I do think they would disagree, however."
Darcy ignored her remark, raising an eyebrow curiously. "What did you say to your aunt?"
"Only that I was happier than Jane, because she would only smile while I would laugh."
Darcy chuckled. "Did you plan from the very start to make a joke out of your husband, Mrs. Darcy?"
Elizabeth winked. "Would I be your Lizzie if I answered that truthfully?"
Her husband smiled adoringly, pressing another kiss to the crown of her head. "You are my Lizzie no matter how much you tease me," he murmured. "As long as you keep laughing."
"That does not sound too difficult," Elizabeth rested her head against his chest contentedly. "I don't think you would ever give me cause not to be happy, Mr. Darcy."
!
"Is unwrapping presents always this exciting?" asked Diana in amusement as she sat down by Georgiana. Elizabeth laughed and shrugged helplessly, as much a newcomer as the other woman into the Fitzwilliam/Darcy family traditions, but Georgiana looked surprised.
"Was it not as loud in your home?" she asked curiously, accepting a present that Richard tossed her from his position at the base of the tree – he was gleefully throwing packages to their recipients, but one pointed glare from Diana had made him smile sheepishly and gently hand over what was left of Henry's presents to the little boy instead of teasingly holding them out of reach.
Diana's smile faltered, but fortunately Darcy inquired as to Georgiana's gift, effectively engaging his sister in conversation before she had to respond. However, Elizabeth was still watching her. Diana shrugged when she caught her eye. "The Herberts were not a close-knit family. Christmas was never a large affair."
Elizabeth smiled sympathetically. "Surely you had many enjoyable holidays as a child, though?"
Diana smiled. "My pappa liked Christmas," then she wrinkled her nose. "Mother enjoyed the presents."
Elizabeth laughed lightly, and Diana winked before turning back, just in time to catch the package her husband had tossed in her direction. She glared at him again, and he laughed. "Good catch!" he called out cheekily.
"The nerve," muttered Diana, rolling her eyes at his childishness. Endearing as he was, he had been unbearable since Christmas day had dawned, dragging her out of a pleasant slumber at an inappropriately early hour for equally inappropriate activities that, while enjoyable, required more energy than she felt herself capable of mustering after such little sleep. When they had finally wandered downstairs the rest of the family had joined them soon after breakfast-time, except Emily and Henry. Though the children were restless, Emily had soon sent Henry down to say if someone even tried to open presents without her they could spend the next few nights in the nursery – everyone had waited patiently after that threat.
"Most of us gave presents before the ball, I cannot understand how so many are left," sighed Elizabeth, expertly catching another, slightly smaller package as she gazed around at the presents.
"I think the only exchange left is between the Fitzwilliams and the Darcys now," said Diana. "I certainly do not expect any more gifts from them after all they have given me."
"And you did not have to get us anything at all, we are simply glad you came," said Elizabeth, looking down pointedly at the package she had just caught which had Diana's neat handwriting on it.
"You hosted my wedding, Elizabeth," Diana rolled her eyes. "I would truly be a terrible guest if I didn't get you anything."
Elizabeth snorted. "You should wait until my mother comes before giving out that title so casually."
Diana laughed. "I like your mother," she giggled at Elizabeth's surprised look. "She ought to spend more time with mine, I daresay they would be good for each other."
"Or they'd rip each other apart."
Diana winked. Elizabeth laughed, then sighed again when she saw Georgiana catch another present. "I did not realize how big a deal Christmas was here, if I am being honest."
"Neither did I, dear, though I do recall Emily saying that the Fitzwilliams love any chance to give gifts," Diana smiled. "Darcy is surely the same. How many presents have you received today?"
Elizabeth blushed. "Three," she admitted. "And I feel terrible since I could never offer him anything as grand as what he has given me."
"In my experience, men do not seem interested in payback from the women they love," Diana rolled her eyes and patted Elizabeth's shoulder. "Specially in this family. They really are an odd bunch, aren't they?"
Elizabeth laughed again, and then they both winced as Richard tackled his brother to the ground for no apparent reason, laughing merrily at the ensuing curses. Emily glared at them both and shielded her son's ears from his father's foul language.
I have been gone for so long! The internet in my part of the world is truly awful and I've been going through some personal things - my family is moving from the country I've lived in my whole life, and even though I'm at uni in a different country and I travel back and forth a lot anyway, it's just a very confusing time for the younger kids in our household (bearing in mind I live in a joint-family home!). This story is normally my safe space, but I haven't been able to make myself work on it with as much love as I normally do. I'm hoping this chapter is a nice, light alternative to the angst everyone can expect in the sequel and the last few chapters.
Special thanks to my reviewers from last time, catelyntully11, Gaskellian (I started reading North and South on your recommendation and I'm loving it1!), Deanna27, Motherof8, Jansfamily4, HarnGin. It's nice to know people are still enjoying the story. More soon. Much love xxx
