Mr. Darcy laughed as Elizabeth spilled out of the carriage on the final day of their travels. They had stopped at the top of a hill, so she might see Pemberley laid out in all its glory. She rushed to the very crest of the mound, and looked upon it.
"My dear," he said, for she had been both Elizabeth and my dear, since the first night they had slept next to one another, "Pemberley will not vanish in the time it takes for me to properly help you out of the carriage."
She turned back to him to smile, and a gust of wind nearly blew her bonnet off her head. She clapped a hand to the top of it to keep it in place and was rewarded by Mr. Darcy smiling and shaking his head as he joined her on the hill.
"It is beautiful," she said, looking at the grand house on the horizon, it's white-grey walls rising starkly from the green park.
"It is ours," he said into her ear, and if their driver and footman had not been watching, she knew he would have wrapped his arms tight around her shoulders and held her close. He was ever so fond of a snug embrace, Mr. Darcy was.
She let out a breath that was more a sigh.
"Georgiana will be waiting, won't she? Since we took the, well, the scenic route?" she looked up over her shoulder at him and was again happy to see him smile. How could she have ever thought him dour and prone to misery? He was quite pleased at all times, and indeed, one might even have referred to him as elated in the past few days.
"Yes, so unless you would like to stand here and look at your new home, I would much prefer if I could show it to you, up close, where you may appreciate all of its intricacies." There was a slight heat in his tone, a knowing turn of phrase and she shot him an amused look for it. Impertinent man! His grasp upon the English language was firm, firm enough that he was like to have a little play upon words from time to time to tease her. She might give as good as she received, but only in private. She was still too shy to make any hint at their evening relations within the hearing of anyone else.
Nevertheless, he was right. She returned to the carriage, allowing him to assist her into it since he seemed to derive so much pleasure from that small act, and kept her peace until they had pulled up to the front of Pemberley. The entire staff having been notified of their arrival, waited out of doors for them. Georgiana was first to greet them, with a laugh and a shriek as she streaked towards her brother. A broad grin, perhaps wider than Elizabeth had ever seen on him, broke across Mr. Darcy's face as he picked up his younger sister and in a display of absolute impropriety, gave her a long hug.
"I was not gone so long, to warrant this kind of greeting," he said as he set her down again. She curtsied to him, and he bowed in return, and then she curtsied to Elizabeth. They had not spent many hours together, and Elizabeth had been somewhat discomfited at the idea of being a good role model and an elder sister to Georgiana (not that she hadn't had plenty of practice with her own sisters), since the girl came from such a higher caste in life than she. Georgina put all those worries to rest when she had first met Elizabeth, and her friendly countenance continued here.
"I am so pleased that you arrived in one piece," Georgiana said, a sly smile going to her brother. He blinked at her, the picture of manly innocence.
"One piece?" Elizabeth asked, glancing at Mr. Darcy. He shook his head, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "This sounds like a story I would very much like to hear."
"You shall, once we are in the drawing room, and I have forced you to play with me on the pianoforte," Georgina insisted.
"Georgiana," Mr. Darcy said, his tone a warning. She simply raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, before turning and walking into the house. "My apologies," Mr. Darcy began.
"No, please, don't apologize. She is not at all impertinent. Just happy to have her brother home again. Let's follow her. I must admit, my playing is quite dreadful, and I can only say I am pleased that the first time you should hear me at the pianoforte is after our wedding vows were sworn to," Elizabeth said as Mr. Darcy took her arm gently in his and lead her up the stairs as the staff parted for them, curtseying and bowing.
"I do not think I could believe you to be dreadful at anything you set your mind to, Mrs. Darcy," he said quietly as they entered the house. She paused for a moment, eyes widening at the grand foyer, the high ceilings, the art and statuary. It was very overwhelming. When she caught her breath she looked up at her husband and smiled, very coyly.
"Well you will soon learn that is the truth, but in all honesty I never set my mind to the pianoforte at all, and there we have the crux of the matter," she said.
He laughed, still seeming to not notice his surroundings but keeping his eyes on her, as if her opinion and reaction to Pemberley were all that mattered to him. She let him guide her to the drawing room, and indeed, showed him how very rarely she had set her mind to the pianoforte.