A/N: Here is the second helping of Christmas served! Happy Easter!
Chapter 47: Christmas Dinner
When they got back to the house, it was almost time for dinner. Mr. Gardiner was just walking out of his house to go to the Bennets'. When he saw the snow sentries on his doorsteps, he turned and saluted them. His children, still in the stopped sleigh, clapped and yelled, "Papa, Papa, we made the snow soldiers! They are not real!" Then the two older ones tumbled out of the sleigh to run to their father. By the time the Gardiner family arrived at the Bennet House, Mr. Darcy had handed Elizabeth from the sleigh and taken over Harry in his arms, and a groom was ready to take the sleigh to the stables around the back.
"Darcy, Lizzy, have my children been adequate chaperones? It must have been quite a romantic sleigh ride in the park if not for these rascals," said Mr. Gardiner while smiling fondly at his brood.
"Papa, we are not rascals! What is a shap-prone?" asked Tommy.
"It is C-H-A-P-E-R-O-N-E, Tommy, a person to watch over betrothed people," interjected Emily, almost old enough to know many such concepts.
"Clever girl, Emily! You have not just turned nine years old for nothing," praised Mr. Gardiner.
"They are delightful companions, Mr. Gardiner. They were very inquisitive during the sleigh ride so that Miss Elizabeth and I could do naught but to keep our wits together to answer all their questions," said Mr. Darcy, assuring Mr. Gardiner that nothing untoward happened during the ride. Indeed, he and Elizabeth had no hands to even touch each other as they had to secure a child or two with their arms during the trip in addition to handling the horses. Of course, he would not mention the fact that his thigh was pressed against Elizabeth's practically the whole way through.
'Well, well. All is well then. Lizzy, I will suggest to your father that your young cousins will be pleased to provide their chaperone service before you are safely married," said Mr. Gardiner with a twinkle in his eye.
"Uncle, you will rue the day that you make this suggestion. Have you noticed that Harry has been in Mr. Darcy's arm and he has not yet asked to go over to you after just one sleigh ride?" said Elizabeth with a mischievous glint.
"Lizzy, as your father often says, nothing escapes your notice,' said Mr. Gardiner. 'I will have to reassess the suggestion in view of the prospect that the children may demand to move to Darcy's house permanently once you are installed there. Now, Harry, would you come over to your Papa and relieve Mr. Darcy of a big burden? You have grown to be a big boy!" Harry leaned over to his father who feigned an exhale of relief, "Phew! All is not lost!" This got a laugh out of all the grown-ups.
They proceeded into the house as Mrs. Bennet came up to the group and told them that dinner would be served in twenty minutes. Colonel Fitzwilliam was quite comfortably ensconced with Mrs. Gardiner on one side, and Jonathan Phillips and Lydia Bennet on the other. The other Bennet sisters were seated in a circle in front of him. He was regaling the group with the more sanguine portion of his wartime experiences - how balls were still regularly given close to the front, and officers needed to be battle-ready and instead of dance slippers, wore boots with spurs which occasionally got caught on the dress of a lady and caused a pileup of tripped dancers and so on. His audience was especially interested in anything related to Lieutenant-General Viscount Wellington under whom the Colonel had briefly served the previous year. He was describing the near shipwreck of the HMS Surveillante with the Lieutenant General on board near the Isle of Wright when he was en route to take command of all the forces in Portugal. "The storm was raging, and the ship was in some real danger. The captain asked someone to go below deck to request the General to put on his boots to go on deck just in case they might have to abandon ship. But the General answered that he would swim better without his boots and preferred to stay where he was reading the newspaper!" The group listened with rapt attention because Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had met the General at a dinner given by Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Bennet, in honour of the occasion, created a dish called Beef Wellington which the General proclaimed to be a new favourite.
When Mr. Gardiner entered the room after handing Harry to his nurse, he exclaimed, "Ah, one of His Majesty's finest among us!" Mr. Darcy stepped forward to introduce his cousin to Mr. Gardiner, who said, "Colonel, well met. You were in the briefing yesterday, were you not? Welcome to our Christmas celebration! I dare say you savour having these beautiful ladies around you today after being surrounded by all too many grumpy old men yesterday."
"Indeed, Mr. Gardiner. This is a real treat for this roughshod soldier. I have leave from this morning to tomorrow morning and then I will have to be back at the barracks among all manners of uncouth young men for another month at least."
"Ah, then you deserve to enjoy the magnificent dinner table set by my sister, Mrs. Bennet, for all your personal sacrifices to keep England safe."
Christmas dinner was another joyous and somewhat noisy occasion. The children were allowed to join the grown-ups at table, even young Harry. They were all very well-behaved and each one was in the care of a Bennet cousin. Mrs. Bennet outdid herself once again. There was white turtle soup, turkey and venison, lobsters, veal, numerous side dishes of vegetables, cheeses, sausages, and fish.
There was no separation of the sexes after dinner, which ended at four o'clock in the afternoon. Tea, coffee, hot cocoa and glühwein were served in the drawing room along with desserts. There were the ubiquitous Lebkuchen and stollen, a delicious apple strudel, a very rich chocolate cake with layers of thick chocolate cream filling and ice-cream on account of the snow on the ground.
Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth helped serve the tea. Elizabeth finally had a good look at her future cousin. The Colonel was around thirty, not handsome but in every way a gentleman. His manners were pleasant, and he seemed to be completely at ease among new acquaintances young and old. Elizabeth was pleased that she would likely find another ally in her new family. Mr. Darcy already told her that his uncle the Earl Fitzwilliam was enthusiastic about his engagement to her, and even his aunt Lady Catherine who had designs on having him as her own son had grudgingly given her blessing.
Mr. Darcy brought back his teacup and stood next to her. He asked, "I have noticed that you were staring quite intently at my cousin. Should I be worried?"
Elizabeth turned with surprise on her face. Noticing the mischief in his eyes, she answered, "Well, you are safe for now. Your cousin is no question an amiable gentleman, but he is too old for me - he must be thirty if not more - and he is not as handsome…."
Mr. Darcy smiled brightly and said, "You think I am handsome?"
Elizabeth immediately replied, "Oh, I was not finished. I meant to say he is not as handsome as Harry!" When she saw Mr. Darcy's face fell, she added, "You are also not as handsome as Harry, but you are handsome enough to tempt me, silly man!" Mr. Darcy was painfully reminded of his rude comment at the assembly and was about to apologize again when Mary came up beside Elizabeth and took over the tea service. "Lizzy, Mamma asked me to take your place. Please go sit down with Mr. Darcy. You two are leaving teacups empty."
Darcy and Elizabeth sheepishly left the tea service, and Mr. Darcy said to Elizabeth, "Richard will be going back to the barracks early tomorrow morning. He may not be able to come to our wedding. Would you like to get to know him better before we are wed?"
Mr. Darcy led Elizabeth to a chair close to where Colonel Fitzwilliam was sitting and chose to stand behind her. Before she had even smoothed down her dress after sitting down, the colonel moved closer to her and said, "Miss Elizabeth, finally! It is not right that Darcy monopolizes your time. This poor solider sorely longs to get to know the future cousin of the fairer sex. You do not know half of the trials of being constantly in the company of this…." he turned to Darcy and spat out, "ugly mug!"
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy looked at each other and grinned. Elizabeth said, "Colonel Fitzwilliam, I understand that you have at least two very fair cousins. It would not do to poison my mind against them even before we have even met."
"Ah, Miss Elizabeth, one of our female cousins is so constantly cross that we honestly do not know whether she is fair or not. Darcy's sister, Georgiana, will indeed grow to be a beautiful young lady. However, at the moment, she is not yet out and is still very shy. She is also gentle, and in every way delightful. How she could have come from the same stock as her dour brother is a mystery in the family. So, you are our only hope for pleasant company in the near future."
"Colonel, I think you just answered your own question. Mr. Darcy is also reserved in company, but he has never been less than amiable with me almost since the beginning."
The colonel looked over to Darcy with surprise on his face. "Indeed! I am very glad to hear that. I reckon that he has found the one person who would make him happy and forgot to look forbidding and yes, glum, in your presence. I also saw the looks and grins you gave each other just now. I imagine that you have already stored up some inside jokes into which we mortals would never be admitted. Hitherto I have never given a thought to finding my own happiness in marriage. Seeing the two of you together has started me thinking in the direction of marital bliss. After all, if Darcy could have done it by finding such a delightful partner for life, we, the more amiable bunch, should at least give it a try."
"From what Mr. Darcy told me about the house party at your father's estate, it appears that the happy event would occur sooner rather than later, should you wish it," answered Elizabeth saucily.
The Colonel turned to Mr. Darcy and raised an eyebrow.
"I had told Miss Elizabeth about the house party, and how the attention of the young ladies was instantly turned to you after I had announced my engagement," Darcy defended himself.
Colonel Fitzwilliam could hardly believe that he had heard the right thing – Darcy was gossiping to his betrothed. His cousin has changed indeed! He turned and took a questioning look at Mr. Darcy. Sensing his unease, Elizabeth said calmingly, "You need not worry, Colonel, that your cousin has turned into a gossip. He was just reassuring me that I had nothing to fear from all the beautiful ladies with enviable fortunes and impeccable connections as they instantly abandoned him before the battle even began to happily strategize their assaults on you!"
The colonel barked out a laugh that drew the attention of the rest of the room. What a treasure his cousin had found for himself! She was indeed special and could bring out the part of Darcy which had not revealed itself often even to his closest family and friends in recent years. From there the cousins teased each other for a little longer until Darcy told the Colonel, "Miss Bingley is now much improved. She has been thoroughly reformed. You may want to consider her as well." Mr. Darcy looked over to Elizabeth fondly when he said this. The colonel, being the military intelligence officer that he was, immediately drew the conclusion that Miss Elizabeth must have been instrumental in the transformation.
"That is simply incredible! She could have been quite an attractive lady without her affected airs and speech, whom I have never had the privilege to behold. Perhaps we should put Anne in Miss Elizabeth's care as well." The colonel turned to Elizabeth, "and let you do your magic." Elizabeth blushed mightily at such an accolade while Mr. Darcy's face shone with unbidden pride.
The trio soon joined Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner and talked about the design and construction of the townhouses, and the imminent development of the surrounding areas. The colonel could not help his growing admiration not only for Elizabeth but also the extended Bennet-Gardiner family. Since he was a little late to the game and the oldest two Bennet girls were out of his reach, perhaps he should look at the next oldest daughter, Miss Mary. From what he had found out in the few hours, she was a bit too young for him and seemed very clever. She was also not as beautiful as the eldest two sisters at first glance, but by no means plain. In fact, her face showed a kind of distinctive character that became more attractive as he looked at her more. He shook his head to chase away these thoughts as he would be in the army for a long while yet; and with Bonaparte still on the loose on the Continent, he would not be free to make any offer to any young lady for the foreseeable future.
After desserts, there were games and carol singing. The Bennet sisters again displayed their considerable talents. Colonel Fitzwilliam was dumbfounded that so much beauty and musical gifts could be found in these young ladies, especially his future cousin. He had never experienced such abundant familial love, harmony and good will in a large family gathering in his entire life.
On his way back to Darcy House with his cousin after a long evening of more food, games and merriment, Colonel Fitzwilliam said, "Darcy, I envy you. Your Miss Elizabeth is one in a million in beauty, graceful liveliness and accomplishments, and I do not mean the conventional kind of accomplishments of a lady of the ton, and without the benefits, or detriments as the case may be, of a formal education. More importantly, she brings out the best in you. I could not recognize the cousin of yore who was austere to the state of being stony, and staid to the degree of being lifeless. You are now back to the Darcy before even your mother's passing. And her family! So full of life, talents and… energy and yet still with perfect decorum. I have never had a more enjoyable Christmas celebration in all my life!"
Mr. Darcy reflected upon his cousin's comments and said, "I exult in my good fortune every day, Richard. Could you believe that for a while I thought Elizabeth's station was beneath mine and your family would not approve? Thank heavens that I came around rather quickly."
"It would not surprise me that the old, stale Darcy would think the way you did. Now though, it must seem so completely ridiculous. It will be a couple more years before I can think about settling down and getting married. Perhaps by then Miss Mary or Miss Kitty will not look so young and will still be available. Will they have decent dowries? I could afford to marry a lady without a large dowry, but somehow I have the impression that the Bennets are well-off."
"Richard, each of the Bennet daughters will have twenty thousand pounds, and likely more as inheritance. However, when I decided to offer for Elizabeth, I did it without regard to her dowry. If you cannot reach the same conclusion before you pursue any of Elizabeth's sisters, I, as their future brother, must guard them against fortune-hunters!"
"Ah, they are all heiresses then. Once I have helped Wellington get rid of Bonaparte, I shall sharpen my charm and come a-courting!"
Chapter notes:
1) The anecdote on the officer's spur catching the hem of a ball dress of his partner was from 'An Elegant Madness' by Venetia Murray. The same source told of the ball given by the Duchess of Richmond on the eve of Waterloo in Brussels when all the officers had to dash off from the ball to get changed and to get their gear.
2) The anecdote on the shipwreck is from the Wikipedia entry of Duke of Wellington.
3) The dish, Beef Wellington, as we know it, has the beef wrapped in pastry. Mrs. Bennet's version might or might not be the same. During her time, beef baked in pastry was already popular and might have come from France. Mrs. Bennet, with her culinary influence from the Continent, could have come up with an especially scrumptious version of the French original.