Darcy quietly said to Elizabeth as he led her to the dining room, "Miss Bennet. I am very glad that you accepted our offer to come to Pemberley. I hope that you know that we would love to have you stay with us for as long as you like, even after the Bingleys have to return home. It will be good for Georgiana to have a friend near her own age. I worry that the gap between our ages means that what interests me may not interest her. I know that you will not have the same problem as you have younger sisters. I hope that you will treat Georgiana as just another sister. If there is anything you need to make your visit more pleasant, please do not hesitate to let me know."
Elizabeth was pleased to hear this invitation, but she realized that she could not stay with them if he intended to court her; it would not be acceptable at all. She responded to him just as quietly, saying, "Thank you, Mr. Darcy. My plans are not fixed as yet and I would rather see how our visit goes before I make any commitment." She then turned to Georgiana and said, "Georgie, my rooms are something! They are much larger than any I have ever stayed in. I am glad that we will be close together. Are all the bedrooms like this?"
"Actually, no. Your suite is the same as mine and there are several others similar to them. I assume they were intended for sons and daughters, but as I am the only daughter, your suite has sat unused for many years. I had the staff clean it to get it ready for you. I hope that you will be comfortable in it. Of course, Fitzwilliam is in the master's suite; that and the suite for the mistress are even larger. My Mother was the last person to use that one, so it has also sat unused for many years. I will show them to you when we get a chance."
After they had finished dining, Georgiana asked their visitors if they would like a tour of the house as Jane had never been there before. Jane said that she would like to see the house, but Bingley had been there several times before and he said that he would remain with Darcy while the ladies made their tour. Georgiana first showed them the public rooms and Jane was suitably impressed with everything she saw. She even had several ideas on how she could make their house in London more attractive by following some of the examples she was seeing. They then went up to the next floor to the guest wing, where both Jane and Elizabeth expressed their surprise at seeing how many rooms were there and how nicely they were furnished. They did not enter the suite that had been assigned to the Bingleys.
When they finished touring the rooms in the guest wing, they went to the family wing. Elizabeth noticed that these rooms were mostly larger than the guest rooms and had a much better view as they faced the lake and gardens. They ended up at the Mistress's suite, which was the largest of all the rooms that they had seen. In addition to the dressing and sitting rooms, it also had an attached bath room with a large tub. Georgiana opened a door in the bedroom and said that led directly to the bedroom of the Master's suite. When she went through the door, Elizabeth said, "Georgie, I do not feel comfortable intruding on Mr. Darcy's personal bedroom. If you do not mind, I will not go in. I assume it is similar to this suite, which is the nicest I have ever seen."
Georgiana did not insist on their going in, but in her mind, she hoped that Elizabeth would get to see it at some time in the future. She hoped that the Mistress's suite would be hers in the not too distant future. She had planned to do everything that she could to promote this possibility. She could see from how her brother looked at Elizabeth that he had strong feelings for her. She only wanted to see him happy.
Elizabeth's tour of the house made her realize just what she had lost when she refused Darcy's offer at Hunsford. This house was so grand! She could have been Mistress of it all! Just seeing the Mistress's suite brought the thought that this would have been her own room and that the door to the Master's bedroom would have been well-used. This thought made her blush, which she hoped that Georgiana and Jane did not notice.
After their tour, they returned to find the gentlemen in the music room. Darcy asked Georgiana to play for them, which she did after Elizabeth had encouraged her. As the Bingleys were sitting together on one sofa, Elizabeth sat on another. Darcy came to sit beside her. "Miss Bennet, I hope you will play and sing after Georgiana. I greatly enjoyed hearing you in Meryton. Once again, please allow me to say how pleased I am to see you here. If you are still inclined to walk early in the morning, I will be pleased to show you some of our gardens. I will ask that you be careful when you first enter the woods as they are quite extensive. I would not want you to become lost. Of course, I believe it will not be long before you know your way in them quite well. There are a few roads and paths for you to explore."
Elizabeth did play and sing after Georgiana had played several numbers, to Darcy's complete enjoyment. He sat there entranced, wishing that he could convince her to make her stay here permanent. He decided that he should follow his sister's advice and not rush her before she appeared to be ready to accept his attentions.
As the visitors were tired after their long journey, they did not stay up late. Darcy was going to ask Bingley to join him in a last nightcap, but he saw that Bingley wanted to join his wife when she went up. Their close attentions to each other made Darcy jealous, as this is exactly how he hoped that he and Elizabeth would behave when, not if she became his wife. Just seeing her again made him even more sure that this is what he wanted and that they would be very happy together when he finally convinced her to accept his hand.
Darcy went up with Georgiana and Elizabeth. While Georgiana had hoped that she would be able to talk to her friend before they separated, she saw that her brother also wanted a last word with her. Therefore, she left them together and went to her room. Darcy stopped at the door to Elizabeth's room and she turned to him. "Mr. Darcy, I would like to thank you again for your invitation to come here with the Bingleys. Pemberley is a wonderful home."
Darcy wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms when she smiled at him, but he managed to restrain himself and only took her hand. "Miss Bennet, I am very pleased to have you here. As I said, please do not hesitate to ask for anything that might make your visit as enjoyable as possible." He raised her hand and kissed it, perhaps just a bit longer than he should have. "Good-night, Miss Bennet. I hope that you have pleasant dreams." He looked deeply into her eyes before he let her hand go.
Elizabeth saw that he wanted more than just to kiss her hand. The warm feelings that his lips on her hand had created make her wonder how much nicer it would be to be held by him and to kiss him properly. She went into her room in a daze and was distracted when Emma helped her get ready for bed. She lay there, thinking about him. She knew that her feelings for him had undergone a complete change from what they had been in Hunsford and she hoped that he would continue his romantic behavior towards her. She lay there regretting her rude rejection of his suit and hoped that he saw that her attitude had changed about him. Her dreams that night were much more pleasant than they had been for many months.
Elizabeth woke when the sun's first rays entered her room in the small space between the curtains on the windows. As she felt quite refreshed after her sleep, she decided that she would like to see the gardens when they were still covered with dew. She dressed simply without waiting for Emma and went down the stairs to look for a door to the gardens. She saw a footman and asked him which door led to the gardens. He led her to a side door and opened it for her. When she went out, she saw that she was on a small patio that had steps that led directly to a path between rose bushes. As she went down, she took a deep breath to enjoy the freshness of the early morning air. When she stopped by a plant that was covered with blooms, she bent down to take in the fragrant smell.
When she stood up, she was surprised to hear, "Good morning, Miss Bennet. I thought that you might come out first thing to enjoy a walk. May I join you? I would like to show you some of the gardens." She turned to see Mr. Darcy coming down from the patio. He was smiling at her and offered his arm to Elizabeth, which she readily accepted. They wandered through the flowers, stopping often so they could admire certain blooms and smell the fragrance.
When Elizabeth complimented him on his gardens, he said, "I cannot take credit for the gardens as my Mother redesigned much of the layout to make them less formal and, in my opinion, more enjoyable. I have not changed anything except to ask the gardeners to ensure that there are always some flowers in bloom from early spring to the first frost."
Elizabeth said, "Mr. Darcy, I love your gardens. Your Mother was absolutely right in how she designed everything to be so inviting. I imagine that it is different every month as different flowers come into bloom. I love just wandering down these paths with so many colours and different smells. However, I also see that there are several different paths leading into the woods and around the lake. I cannot wait to explore them as well."
"You are very welcome to explore the whole estate, but I would again ask that you start slowly when you enter the woods as they are quite extensive. I would not want you to get lost, so please stay on the trails until you know your way around." In his mind he decided to instruct the gardeners to follow her very discreetly to make sure she would find her way back to the house when she began to extend her walks to include the woods.
Elizabeth greatly enjoyed seeing the gardens as they were some of the best she had ever seen. However, the wonders of the garden and the impressiveness of the house forced her again to think of what she had so rashly refused when she was in Hunsford. She could have been Mistress of all of this, but it was likely too late for that possibility to be offered to her again. Mr. Darcy was proving that he was a very good man, likely the best man that she had ever known or would ever know, but her rejection of him was so rude that she could not imagine that his pride would allow him to consider her seriously ever again. Thus, her enjoyment of the luxury and beauty of Pemberley was offset by her despondency of the rash words that she had said to him.
She forced herself to act her normal cheerful self for the rest of the day as she did not want to upset her hosts. Dinner was again as elegant as she had expected that it would be. Every dish was presented very tastefully and was delicious. Even though she tried to maintain her positive appearance, Darcy, who was constantly watching their guest, noticed that several times she seemed to exhibit sadness, especially in her fine eyes. He could not account for this fleeting impression but decided he would do whatever he could to help her overcome her sadness. He wondered if it had to do with the death of her father as he knew that they had been very close. He did not consider that she might be regretting her refusal of him. If he had, he would have been very happy.
After dinner, they again went into the music room and the ladies entertained them with several pieces, much to her enjoyment. Darcy hoped that this would be only one of many evenings spent in such a pleasurable manner. He did not notice any glimpses of sadness in Elizabeth's eyes when she was playing, but he could not always see them when she was sitting at the piano. They did not stay up very late, but, as before, the Bingleys went up first, then Georgiana and Elizabeth went up together while Darcy stayed behind for a final glass of brandy.