In the morning, Georgiana arrived in Gracechurch Street and took Elizabeth and Mrs. Gardiner to her modiste. She had not been able to give notice that she would be coming, but the modiste knew her well from her many purchases she had made there and welcomed her and her guests.
"Good morning, Miss Darcy! How good it is to see you again. How may I assist you?"
"Good morning, Madame. These are my friends Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Bennet. Miss Bennet will be attending the Matlocks' ball in two weeks and we would like to find a gown suitable for this event. I know that other ladies have come to you for the same reason, so I am confident that you will know what she needs."
"I will be very happy to do this. I see that Miss Bennet is very attractive with such lovely chestnut hair. I have several different materials and colours that would suit her perfectly." She motioned to an assistant and told her which bolts of cloth to bring. The ladies soon settled on the material they thought would look best on Elizabeth and then they began to look at designs. Once they had finally agreed on this, Madame had her assistants measure Elizabeth. Before they left, Georgiana told her to put everything on her account. The modiste promised to have the gown ready in lots of time.
They then returned to the Gardiners' to drop Mrs. Gardiner off and to pick up Tommy, his nurse, and Elizabeth's maid. All of their luggage had already been loaded on the Longbourn carriage. They returned to Darcy House where they found that Darcy's largest traveling carriage was waiting and ready. They had decided that Elizabeth and Tommy would ride in Darcy's carriage with Georgiana as it was newer and had better springs, so the maids, Tommy's nurse, and Darcy's valet entered the Longbourn carriage. Darcy also had decided to bring his riding horse as it would be more convenient to use in Meryton, so he had one of the grooms ride it behind the carriages. They made quite a procession when they left Darcy House for Herfordshire.
Tommy proved to be a good traveler, so they did not need to stop many extra times. Elizabeth was impressed that Mr. Darcy soon had Tommy becoming friendly with him as he pointed out the different animals and sights that they passed. It was not long before Tommy was sitting with Darcy on his side of the carriage. Darcy's attention to Tommy did not hurt Elizabeth's regard for him as she had worried how he might react to her brother now that he was aware of her suspicions about his true parentage.
They arrived at Longbourn in the late afternoon, which was much later than they had anticipated, but Mrs. Hill had everything ready for them. She had not been informed about a guest coming to stay, but the guest room was always ready. Darcy left with his valet, carriage, and horse to go to the inn after promising to come back for dinner. He rode back to Longbourn on his horse as this made less work for his grooms.
Dinner was as good as it had always been when Mrs. Bennet was the Mistress at Longbourn, even though there were just the three of them. After dinner, Darcy asked both ladies to play for him, which they did. Darcy did not stay late, but they decided that Elizabeth would take Tommy and Georgiana to Netherfield in the morning to meet Jane. She asked Darcy to come in the afternoon and stay for dinner. Again, their farewell was warm and Darcy kissed her hand, which was bare this time as he was the one leaving. Elizabeth felt his lips on her hand and she almost turned her face up for a proper kiss, but she only smiled at him.
In the morning, Elizabeth took Georgiana and Tommy to Netherfield. "Elizabeth!" Jane exclaimed, "we missed you and Tommy. How was your trip to town?"
Jane looked at Georgiana and Elizabeth introduced them. "Jane, this is Miss Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy's sister. We happened to meet in a park in town and I invited her to come to stay with me for a couple of weeks. Mr. Darcy is here as well, but is staying at the inn. Georgie, my sister, Mrs. Jane Bingley."
Jane was astonished to hear that Lizzy had somehow reconnected with Mr. Darcy as she knew the full details of their last meeting at Hunsford. "Miss Darcy, I am so pleased to meet you. I hope that you will enjoy your stay here. If I may be so bold, I believe that Charles would like to meet Mr. Darcy. He was not happy with him for some time, but that all happened years ago. You know how forgiving he is. Lizzy, Miss Darcy, we have to figure out how to get them together."
After Tommy had greeted his sister, he ran off to find Anna, his favourite playmate, followed by his nurse who had to hurry to keep up with him.
Georgiana said, "Mrs. Bingley, I am very glad to meet you as well. I have known Mr. Bingley for many years and also hope that he and my brother will forget the past and become friends again. But I hear that you have two delightful children and I would love to see them."
Somehow Georgiana had found the perfect way to earn Jane's affection by complimenting her children. Jane asked a maid to have them brought down, so they had a great time with the children. The baby Donald was not yet a year old, but Tommy and Anna were lots of fun to play with. Elizabeth and Georgiana took turns holding the baby, feeling their maternal instincts grow at his presence.
The ladies decided that the Bingleys would come to Longbourn in the afternoon when Darcy would be there. Bingley returned from visiting his tenants before Elizabeth, Georgiana, and Tommy left, and he made a happy reunion with Georgiana. She complimented him on his family and estate, and he complimented her on how she had grown into such a fine lady.
Darcy arrived at Longbourn when he said he would and, when asked, said that the inn was quite comfortable for a short stay. The day was sunny and warm, so they took Tommy outside so he could run off more energy, of which he seemed to have an unlimited supply. They saw the Netherfield carriage come, and Tommy and Anna were immediately running off into the garden, chased by their nurses. Elizabeth and Georgiana were again soon passing the baby back and forth, both wanting as much time to hold him as they could.
Bingley went right up to Darcy and smiled, "Darcy, it is so good to see you again. I am sorry that we have not seen each other for so long. While I was not happy with you for some time, I now realize that you might have done me a big favour. When I returned to Jane after those months apart, I knew that I still loved her and soon found that she loved me as well. I knew that if our love could endure being apart for so many months, that it would last forever, and it has. So, thank you for teaching me that. You can see that we have made a great family." Bingley smiled at his wife and children.
"But how have you been? How is your family? I can see that Georgiana has become a very attractive young lady who must be the toast of the season. I am sure that she has had many a suitor wherever she has been. Any news about anyone special?" Bingley smiled when Georgiana blushed at his question.
Darcy saw that his former friend was unchanged, perhaps even more outgoing than he had been. Marriage and being a father seemed to have suited him very well indeed. Darcy was so happy to renew their friendship that he impulsively went to give Bingley a very warm handshake. He told him how glad he was to meet him again, then he told him the news of his family.
They had a very enjoyable afternoon and even had tea outside on the lawn. Jane turned down Lizzy's offer to stay for dinner, saying that they had to get the children home, but she invited them all to come to Netherfield on the morrow to dine.
Before they left, Bingley asked, "Darcy, where are you staying, here at Longbourn?"
"No, that would not be proper; I am at the inn in Meryton. It is fairly decent for a short stay."
"That will not do at all!" Bingley looked at Jane, who nodded, knowing what he was about to ask. "Darcy, you must come to stay with us. We have lots of room and it will be much more comfortable. I hope that you will tolerate our lively daughter and the baby's noise. The house is not nearly as quiet as it was four years ago."
Darcy was pleased to receive this invitation, which he readily accepted. A Longbourn groom was sent to the inn to instruct Darcy's valet to pack his belongings to take to Netherfield and to have Darcy's carriage and horses moved to Bingley's stable. Darcy was especially pleased when he thought that his valuable horses would receive much better care than they would at the public livery stable.
Before they left, Bingley said, "The monthly Assembly in Meryton is in just two days. We should all go there, just as we used to go all those years ago. Miss Darcy, I know that our Assembly will be nothing compared to balls in town, but you might enjoy yourself. I have a feeling that Darcy will not stand around glaring at everyone as he did the first time I dragged him to one. Now he has three ladies to dance with, and we might even be able to convince him to dance with other local ladies as well."
They all had a laugh at this, even Darcy smiled. "Bingley, I know that I will never be able to compete with you about how many dances I might have, but I will try as long as Miss Elizabeth grants me the first and supper sets and Mrs. Bingley the second. Georgie, I will reserve the third set for you. I am confident that you will not lack for partners."
Bingley said, "Then I must ask my lovely wife for the first and supper sets as well. Miss Darcy, if you will grant me the second set, I will dance the third with Lizzy. I know all of the eligible young men here, so I will introduce you to everyone who would like to meet you. I agree with Darcy that you will likely not be able to sit down even once."
Georgiana blushed and said, "Thank you both. If we are all going to be friends, please call me Georgiana or just Georgie. 'Miss Darcy' sounds so formal."
Both Jane and Mr. Bingley agreed as long as she would call them by their first names as well, acknowledging that they clearly intended to be good friends with Darcy's sister, and perhaps even more.
The ladies were all very pleased that the two gentlemen had rekindled their friendship so quickly and so easily, thanks mainly to Mr. Bingley's easygoing personality. As promised, they went to Netherfield the next morning.
When they arrived, Bingley said, "If you ladies do not mind, I would like to show Darcy what I have done on the estate. I hope that he will give me some suggestions to make it even better. Darcy, I will have our horses saddled."
The ladies did not mind the absence of the gentlemen as the children gave them plenty to talk about. Georgiana was given a tour of the house and was asked for suggestions for improving its appearance and furnishings. She was reluctant to say much, so she mainly complimented Jane on her good taste. They all laughed when Jane described how her mother had insisted that Jane should have much more colourful wallpaper and more ornate furniture. They all agreed that what Jane had done was in very good taste.