After leaving the Gardiners' residence, Darcy went back to Darcy House where he knew that a pile of correspondence, both business and personal, was waiting for him. He had arrived there the previous night after receiving the Prince's summons at Netherfield. He had not been able to give his staff warning of his arrival, but his housekeeper, Mrs. North, had the house ready for his unexpected arrival at all times. He had dined alone as there was not sufficient time to invite himself to his uncle's house, where Georgiana was staying while he was in Hertfordshire.
His summons had not specified why the Prince wanted to see him, just that it was important. After the threat given to the Earl, he did not dare treat it lightly. When he met with the Prince early this morning, he was shocked when he was told about Miss Elizabeth's saving of the Prince's daughter and the rewards that were being given to her. He certainly knew how good her connection was, so he would not underestimate her again. When the Prince asked him to assist her with her new estate, he had no choice but to accept, and accept with good grace. His appreciation of Miss Elizabeth rose tremendously.
When he began to tackle his correspondence, he first sent a note to his uncle telling him that he was in town and would like to go there in the morning to see Georgiana and to tell him the latest news. He dined alone for the second night in a row, which was unusual for him as normally his sister would have been with him. After dinner, he returned to his office and took his pen in hand once again. He did not stay up late as he was tired from a full day of surprising occurrences.
He did not get to sleep right away as he reviewed the day's events, thinking mainly of the new Baroness Longbourn. Before today he had convinced himself that she was not suitable as a wife for a person of his class, no matter how attractive he was finding her. Now, with a title and her own estate, he wondered if he was suitable as a husband for a person of her elevated status. He had not meant to think about this, but lying there in the dark, his thoughts turned to her fine eyes, womanly figure, and sparkling personality. He finally went to sleep with a smile on his face to dream pleasant dreams.
In the morning, after breaking his fast, he went back into his office to try to finish going through the pile of papers. A footman brought him a cup of coffee, even though he had not ordered it. His staff knew what he needed almost before he did. The extra boost of energy from the coffee enabled him to get through the correspondence just in time for him to go to his uncle's house.
When he arrived at Matlock House, he first asked to see Georgiana. She rushed down to him and gave him a big hug. "Fitzwilliam! I did not expect to see you here so soon. You said you would be with Mr. Bingley in Hertfordshire for several more weeks. When did you get in? Did you have to come to town because of that lady there? Uncle told me and Cousin Amanda about some problem you had with a young lady when you first arrived there. He warned us that you had to sort things out with her or it could affect our future. Is everything all right now?"
"Georgiana! Slow down! We should go find our uncle and aunt so I only have to tell the story once. However, do not worry. Everything will be just fine."
They went to the drawing room where the Earl and Countess were having tea. "Darcy! You are just in time. Sit down and have some tea; then you can tell us your news." They went in and their aunt served them tea.
Darcy knew that he had to tell them the whole story to make sure that everyone knew all the facts. "I have some very surprising news about that lady in Hertfordshire. I am not sure if all of you have heard all the details, so I will be comprehensive and perhaps repetitive.
"The lady in question is Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the second daughter of a gentleman who has only a small estate, called Longbourn, which happens to border the estate that Bingley is leasing. He has only five daughters, which is a major problem for them as the estate is entailed to the male line. A distant cousin is the heir presumptive. It happens that this heir is Aunt Catherine's parson, William Collins.
"This summer, Miss Elizabeth went to Ramsgate to spend the month of August there with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner and their children, who live in Cheapside. Georgie, I understand that you met Miss Elizabeth in Ramsgate at a tea party held by Lady Morley. While I was at Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth remembered meeting you and asked if you were my sister." He could see that his sister was trying to remember meeting this lady. Suddenly she smiled and nodded when she remembered the introduction and the face connected with it.
"Apparently, while she was in Ramsgate, Miss Elizabeth did something very brave. She jumped into the ocean to save a young girl who had fallen into the water from a pier. That young girl happened to be the daughter of Prince Augustus Frederick. No one else thought to save her, only Miss Elizabeth. It was fortunate that she knew how to swim or the girl would have drowned for sure.
"The Prince was horrified that he almost lost his only daughter and so was very appreciative at Miss Elizabeth's actions. He promised to reward her for her bravery and heroic action. The Prince and Lady Augusta invited all the Gardiners and Miss Elizabeth to their house in Ramsgate and subsequently took her to some entertainments, including Lady Morley's tea party where Georgiana was introduced to her.
"You know that I had promised to help Bingley learn how to manage an estate. This autumn he leased one, called Netherfield in Hertfordshire, and I went there with him. The first day that I arrived there, Bingley told me we were all going to a local Assembly that very night. I really did not want to go as I was tired and not in a good mood." He did not mention that his bad mood had resulted from Georgiana's near elopement with Wickham in Ramsgate.
"I could not refuse to go as I knew that Miss Bingley would stay home with me if I did not go. You all know how desperate she is to be Mrs. Darcy. I decided that going to the Assembly was the lesser of the evils. While we were there, Bingley insisted that I should dance and he offered to introduce me to Miss Elizabeth. I refused by saying that she was only tolerable in appearance, even before I really looked at her. I thought that only Bingley heard my words, but she must have very keen hearing as she heard my insult." He noticed that they all shook their heads, either in amazement or disgust, when he said this.
"Miss Elizabeth must have been in regular correspondence with either the Prince or Lady Augusta as she must have told them about my words. They told the Prince Regent and he sent his senior equerry here to threaten you, Uncle, with severe reprisals if I did not apologize immediately and abjectly. Now I understand how her connection with the Royal Family came about.
"Georgie, you know that Uncle went to Hertfordshire and the two of us went to see Miss Elizabeth and her father. I apologized to her most abjectly in his presence. She made it obvious what she thought of me for the disparaging words that I had uttered at that Assembly. I am not sure if she really accepted my apology, but at least she was polite to me after that whenever we met." He stopped to take a sip of his tea.
"Two days ago, I received a summons from Prince Augustus Frederick to go see him at St James's Palace. Of course I could not refuse to go. Yesterday, I met with him at the Palace and he told me how he was going to reward Miss Elizabeth for her bravery. First they ended the entail on Bennet's estate by Royal Decree. Next, I was invited to attend an investiture presided over by the Prince Regent where she was made Baroness Longbourn; so she is now Lady Elizabeth Bennet." This piece of news impressed them just as much as it had impressed him. His Uncle and Aunt immediately thought that this lady now was eligible to be connected with their family. They had both long wanted to see Darcy find a suitable wife.
Georgiana was confused. "But why did the Prince summon you? What have you got to do with her elevation?"
"In addition to her title she was given an estate in Leicestershire that has not been occupied for some years. The reason I was summoned was to 'ask' if I would volunteer to help her get the estate back up to the condition that it had been in years ago. I believe that the Prince asked me specifically to make sure that my relationship with Lady Elizabeth was completely back to normal. He may even have been adding to my punishment by forcing me to be in Lady Elizabeth's presence if she was still annoyed at me. Of course one does not refuse a request by a member of the Royal Family, so I agreed. In fact, I have come to appreciate her company; she is very intelligent and witty, so I am actually looking forward to helping her."
Darcy stopped talking as everyone was digesting everything that he had said. While they all knew parts of the story, his explanation made them appreciate everything that had happened.
Georgiana was the first to ask a question. "But what is Lady Elizabeth like? I only met her briefly at Lady Morley's."
Darcy was not sure how to answer this as everyone was watching him. "She is very intelligent and well-read. That is the most obvious feature about her."
His uncle interrupted with a smile, "You mean after you notice that she is very attractive. Her eyes are one of the first things you notice about her. There is something about them that is intriguing. I guess you could say that they shine with her intelligence. They sparkle. Right, Darcy?"
"If you say so. I obviously did not notice them when I was first in her company." This drew a laugh from everyone.
The Earl continued, "So how are you going to help her with her new estate? I assume you will have to go to Leicestershire at some point in time."
"We talked about going up there quite soon so we could assess what shape the house and lands are in. We need to go before the weather makes travel too difficult. We expect to be there about a week. That should give us enough time to inspect the house and the land. Right now, no one has any idea what shape they are in. We do not even know how many tenants there are or how the lands have been utilized."
The Earl nodded at this plan, but Georgiana was excited. "Fitzwilliam, I would like to meet Lady Elizabeth. Would it be possible for me to go with you?"
"I would like you to meet her again, but I think this trip is not the one that you should go on. We have no idea what we will find in the house or even what staffing is there. We may have to rough it at first. From what I know of Lady Elizabeth, she will likely be pleased to invite you to see her again and to see her estate, but just not yet. I expect that we will have to go back again several times this winter to see how any repairs are progressing and to prepare for the upcoming growing season. This spring will be important to make sure the fields are planted properly. I have no idea if the tenants even have seed for planting. Mr. Bennet and I will spend our time seeing what the tenants need."
They spent more time talking about this and Darcy's plan to return to Hertfordshire before they went up to Leicestershire. He then returned to Darcy House for the night. He warned his staff that he would be leaving for Hertfordshire first thing in the morning.