Barnes came to the parlor door requesting Bennet's assistance with some items on the inventory. Darcy and Elizabeth decided to join the rest of her family in the drawing room while Bennet headed to the study.
Miss York was seated with Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia to one side of the room. All three were working on embroidery projects. Miss Lydia seemed pleased at the occupation. Darcy remembered Elizabeth telling him that her youngest sister enjoyed decorating her gowns and bonnets and had learned most types of needlework very early on. She rarely had the patience to complete large projects, Elizabeth had told him, but Miss Lydia was very good at any decorative task that could be completed quickly. Miss Kitty seemed to be struggling with her project, but Miss York was offering patient assistance.
Miss Bennet sat with her mother to the other side of the room. The older woman was holding forth on all the wedding clothes that would need to be purchased. On seeing them enter Mrs. Bennet called out, "Lizzy! Lizzy! Come here! We have so much to discuss! Oh, hello Mr. Darcy."
He suppressed a chuckle. Mrs. Bennet had become less shrill since the discussion about the entail and with the assurance that three of her daughters were soon to be wed, but she was no less exuberant in her conversation. He bowed in greeting to all the ladies and then spoke up. "Miss Bennet, Miss Kitty, Miss Lydia. I have already spoken with your sister, Mary. We decided that since I am very soon to be your brother we would drop more formal forms of address when in private. I would be honored if all my soon-to-be sisters would call me Will and allow me to address you by name. You, also, should call me Will, Mrs. Bennet." The older woman smiled brightly. He turned to Miss York. "Miss York, if you believe it would be better for Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia to wait until after the wedding for propriety's sake I bow to your judgment."
Miss Kitty and Miss Lydia turned attention to their governess, who smiled and said, "As you say, the wedding is very soon. As long as it is only in private, not outside the family group I see no problem with them using informal address."
"I am glad to call you Will," said Lydia with a giggle. "We have called Georgie by her name and she always referred to you as Will. It seemed so funny we had to call you Mr. Darcy." Kitty nodded agreement.
"I would be pleased to have you call me Jane," said Elizabeth's oldest sister with her gentle smile.
"That's all settled then, Will," said Mrs. Bennet with a giggle similar to Lydia's. "Now do come sit down. We need to talk about the weddings."
Darcy sat next to Elizabeth, taking the hand of his betrothed in his, and listened to Mrs. Bennet talk about her plans for the wedding breakfast to follow the upcoming double wedding. She also insisted on hosting a small dinner party on Saturday the 14th to celebrate all three engagements. She had felt cheated by the interference of both Lady Curlow and Lady Catherine and wanted a chance to redo the event even better.
"I understand your mince pies are very fine," Darcy said, remembering the story Elizabeth had told. "Will you have one at the dinner?"
"Indeed they are," said Mrs. Bennet, "and if it would please you I will be sure one is served."
Elizabeth squeezed his hand sharply and gave him an amused look. He just smiled and said, "I will look forward to it."
Eventually he felt it was time to be getting back to the dower house, so he made his farewells and set off on the return walk. A light snow began to fall again. He watched as it drifted to fill the footprints they had made on the earlier trip. He walked to the side of their earlier trail and listened to his footsteps crunch in the fresh snow. Elizabeth was right, it was fun. He had a grin on his face all the way home.
He arrived at the dower house to find Dr. Burrows had come to pay Mary a visit. Darcy joined them for a little while as they sat in the drawing room with Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley. He suggested to the doctor that they also address each other less formally as they would soon be brothers. Burrows agreed and the bargain was made. Darcy also told them of Mrs. Bennet's proposed dinner party.
"Will I be able to come to this one?" Georgiana asked.
"I see no harm if you are careful," said Burrows. "You did well at the inventory party."
"Yes, Georgie," Darcy said. I would enjoy having you there with us. I expect it to be very festive."
He went on to briefly cover Mrs. Bennet's plans for the wedding breakfast. "I am sure your mother wishes to discuss it in more detail with you, Mary," he said. She grimaced at the thought and they all laughed.
After a little more conversation Darcy picked up his letters and went up to his room to read through them. He knew if he stayed downstairs he would be drawn back into the discussion and he felt he needed to give full attention to his business. A letter regarding further issues with the business partner he had been so frustrated with the week before he came to Hertfordshire gave him cause for concern. He realized he needed to see to it in person and the sooner the better. The snow was only falling lightly, so he thought he could easily make London before dark, deal with the matter in the morning and return the next afternoon in order to still attend church with Elizabeth on Sunday.
Darcy called his valet and asked him to pack a change of clothes in a saddlebag just in case he got stuck on the way. He went downstairs and explained why he needed to leave. He asked Burrows to inform Richard and Bingley and asked that Burrows or Richard visit the next day to ensure Georgie and Mary would be well, although he knew Mrs. Annesley and Mrs. Evans would take good care of them. He wrote notes to Bennet and Elizabeth and called his messenger to deliver them after having the groom saddle Darcy's horse. Satisfied with the preparations, he returned upstairs to change into riding clothes and retrieve his saddlebags. Then he was off.
As he rode away from the dower house on Stormchaser, he hoped his horse's name, taken from the name of a Saxon battle horse in an old chronicle he had read as a teenager, would not be prophetic of the journey ahead.
