Chapter 18:
Mrs. Gardiner had not seen Mr. Darcy smile so much in their entire acquaintance and it was obvious to her that his affection ran deep. She was sure her niece's heart was likewise engaged, though she did not show it as much as he did.
They had been welcomed marvelously by Mr. Darcy with a fine supper and light conversation. He had announced at supper that his sister, Miss Darcy, would be joining them the next day and then extended an invitation for Mr. Gardiner to join him for fishing in the morning. Mr. Gardiner readily accepted and they met at the appointed time the next day.
Miss Darcy arrived at midday from London and though was eager to meet her new sister, she was painfully shy. Mr. Darcy saw her carriage arriving and joined her in the drawing room, where he was even more eager to introduce her to his Elizabeth.
"Georgiana, may I present to you Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her aunt, Mrs. Gardiner. Elizabeth's uncle, Mr. Gardiner is still fishing. I did not want to end his trip simply because I was eager to see you, my dear" he said, making the introductions. After a significant look from Miss Darcy's companion, Mrs. Annesley, who Mr. Darcy had also introduced, Miss Darcy called for some refreshments and acted as the hostess for her brother.
"You must call me Lizzy" said Elizabeth, "For we are to be sisters!"
"I have always wanted a sister" said Georgiana timidly.
"Well now you will have five" said Elizabeth, smiling.
"My! Five sisters!" said Georgiana, "I am so happy for you and for Fitzwilliam, he is the most wonderful brother and deserves so much happiness"
"He is wonderful" said Lizzy, smirking at him. He was listening to their conversation while speaking to Mrs. Gardiner. The conversation flowed from all ends and Mr. Darcy was happy to see his sister's conversation easing with Elizabeth's encouragement.
After the fruit and cold meat arrived, and Mr. Gardiner had joined them, Miss Darcy excused herself for she wanted to freshen up from her traveling.
"Of course, my dear" said Mr. Darcy, "You must be tired. I was eager to make the introductions, thank you for joining us directly"
"It was my pleasure" said Georgiana, smiling broadly. She was followed by Mrs. Annesley, who likewise went to her own rooms.
"Would you like to join me for a tour of the house, Miss Elizabeth?" asked Mr. Darcy, looking at the Gardiners for permission.
"I already got a tour from Mrs. Reynolds" teased Elizabeth.
"There are other parts of the house I'd love to show you" he said, "And there is one particular view I think you will enjoy. I know you are very fond of the outdoors"
"I am" she said, remembering their walks in Rosings. He must have been thinking of the same thing for her was likewise smiling.
"Of course" said Mrs. Gardiner, giving her permission as her guardian. "We will follow Miss Darcy's example and freshen up before supper."
"Thank you for this morning, Mr. Darcy, it was marvelous!" said Mr. Gardiner.
Once they had left, Fitzwilliam reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles.
"Oh how I've missed you" he said in almost a whisper, which brought butterflies to her stomach.
"And I, you Fitzwilliam" said Lizzy, teasing him. He hesitated, wanting to kiss her, but they were surrounded by his staff and he wanted them to respect her as the Mistress of Pemberley when the time came.
"Come, let us walk" he said, offering her his arm. She gladly took it and he led her towards the main entrance, down the spiral staircase, to one of the gardens near the house. They walked in silence—Mr. Darcy building up the courage and Lizzy observing and admiring.
"My mother loved this garden" said Fitzwilliam, "She was also very fond of the outdoors"
"I would have loved to meet her" said Elizabeth.
"I think...I know she would have loved you. It brought me joy to see you and Georgiana speaking. I am very glad to have you here Elizabeth, my darling Elizabeth" he said, stopping to face her and hold her hands in between his.
"Fitzwilliam" she said, feeling him close the distance between them. He reached for her face and caressed it softly.
"Elizabeth" he said, "I had hoped to ask you a question whilst you were here which I have wanted to ask for a long time now"
"Oh" said Elizabeth, her heart beating fast for her was standing so close to her now.
"Will you marry me?" he asked, raising her chin to look straight into her mesmerizing dark brown eyes.
"Yes!" she said, leaning in and kissing him, melting into his arms. After a few moments he took a step back and offered her his arm, leading her to a bench nearby.
"When would you like to get married?"
"Soon" she answered, "I told you I wanted to wait until I loved you...and I think I do" she said, smiling broadly at him. "I know I do. My heart is yours"
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The Gardiners and Elizabeth only stayed in Derbyshire for a week for the Gardiners were eager to return to Longbourn, where they left their children and Elizabeth was eager to plan her wedding and return here, her new home, in a month's time. Her only heartbreak was that Jane, as she and her husband's family were in mourning, would not be able to attend the wedding.
During her week stay, Elizabeth became better acquainted with Georgiana and all of Pemberley. She loathed to leave for she had really begun to love it. Though she would hate to agree with anything Miss Bingley said, Caroline was right, Pemberley was the most beautiful place in England.
Lizzy returned to Hertfordshire with her heart full and likewise empty, and was very eager to see her Mr. Darcy in a few weeks time.
Mr. Bennet had agreed to do what he knew he must and what would cost him more than he knew how to afford, finishing school for Lydia. He waited until Lizzy returned to announce his plans during supper.
"My, how lonely we will be in a few weeks time, my dear Mrs. Bennet" he began, as always teasing his audience.
"What do you mean, Mr. Bennet?" she asked, incredulous, as always.
"Well, our dear Lizzy will be joining her sister Jane in the rank of married women and we will have one less at our table after that" he said, awaiting his family's shocked response. He was not disappointed. Lizzy raised an eyebrow in question—did he think she was taking Lydia? She had thought she had made it very clear.
"Lydia will be going to finishing school in Scotland" he said. Lydia spluttered soup onto her lap and acted as unladylike as possible, further reinforcing her father's resolution that it was the only choice.
"I do not want to go to Scotland!" said Lydia, "Whatever for do I need finishing school?"
"The fact that you do not see why nor how you need it, is proof, my dear" said Mr. Bennet sarcastically, "However I cannot blame you for I have been remiss as a father in correcting your poor behavior. I am endeavoring on doing better."
"Mr. Bennet, surely you not be serious" said Mrs. Bennet, as sad as Lydia, for it was her favorite child. "Why can we not have a governess?"
"We cannot afford it" he said simply.
"But what will our neighbors and society think of us? It is not for a gentleman's daughter to attend finishing school" asked Mrs. Bennet.
"I am afraid you should be more concerned with what they already think of us" grumbled Mr. Bennet, "I fear this is the only choice but fret not dear child, this will be good for you" he added cheerily, taking another bite from the potatoes.
"I will not go to school in Scotland!" screamed Lydia, storming out of the dining room.
"Oh Mr. Bennet" said Mrs. Bennet with exasperated breaths. Elizabeth looked down at her plate uncomfortably, she did not know what was best for her younger sister but she knew that to Pemberley she could not come. It was in a somber mood that the Bennets finished their supper and retired to the drawing room, Lizzy with a dreadful feeling that Lydia might do something foolish.
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"What news do you have from Longbourn?" asked Lady Mary, sitting next to her sister Jane in the drawing room.
Jane smiled at her sister and closed up her letter, placing it on the table next to her.
"Lizzy will be getting married in a fortnight" Jane announced happily. Even in dark clothing, Jane was radiating. She was genuinely happy for her younger sister as much for herself.
"It is a shame we shall not be able to go for I daresay Mr. Darcy will make a very handsome groom" teased Mary, taking a purple grape from the table.
"Mary!" chastised Jane, chuckling, "He is to be married to my sister!"
"A married man can still be handsome Jane, and perhaps the argument can be made that he can be even more handsome by marrying" said Mary, winking at her sister as she sat next to her. "Fret not, Matthew is more handsome than Mr. Darcy, though I daresay I am not surprised for it is in the Crawley blood. You two will make beautiful children, I cannot wait to spoil them!"
"Of whose children do you speak of, Mary?" said Lady Grantham, joining her daughters in the colorful drawing room. Though all the Crawleys present were dressed in dark black, the rest of the drawing room was light colors with freshly picked pink flowers.
"Oh you both look so lovely together. I simply adore how comfortable you look with our family Jane" she said, squeezing her hand gently and sitting next to her. "I wish Laura were here" she said, letting out a heavy sigh. "I fear Lord Grantham was not the same after that ordeal. He loved her—she was the jewel of his eye and it pained him to cut her off"
"I am very thankful for Laura for she brought me and Matthew together" said Jane.
"Oh no dear" said Lady Grantham, patting her hand sympathetically, "fate brought the two of you together and for that I am very glad. Have you any news from your family?"
"Elizabeth is marrying Mr. Darcy in a fortnight and they will go straight to Pemberley after a short stay in London" said Lady Mary.
"You should invite them in the summer my dear, we are not able to formally host but as family it would be acceptable for them to join us for a short time" said Lady Grantham.
"That would be lovely but I fear they will not be able to this summer for they plan on taking their honeymoon trip then and then being in London for the season" said Jane. "You will see them often, I am sure" said Jane to Mary.
"Perhaps" said Mary without feeling. She was growing weary of being the spare. She wanted to carve out her own future. It would be her dream to build something like Downton—the only question was how.
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I do not know if it felt rushed the trip to Pemberley but when I originally thought of this story, there was one scene that I knew I wanted to happen which was for Darcy to propose in Pemberley and though they announced their engagement already, they both knew that they were not officially engaged and it all just came together for me here, in pemberley. but for the sake of the story. I once heard JK Rowling (who I obviously love!) that Hagrid was always safe because she had this image from early on of Harry being carried by Hagrid in the final battle at Hogwarts and thats what always kept him safe because she could not kill him off since she had this image in her mind of how it would play. So I feel the same about this image, even though other parts of the story have changed (or the characters have just demanded what they wanted and I, the mere author, have obliged), this was one scene that I knew had to be there. 1. bc oh so romantic and 2. bc its when lizzy goes to pemberley that she realizes she really loves darcy in the original p&p and I wanted to keep that here.