Their wedding contracts were ready to be approved and signed by Mr. Bennet. Their special licenses would allow them to marry in Hertfordshire. Their engagement and wedding rings were in their vest pockets and at regular intervals they patted their pockets to reassure themselves that they hadn't lost them. The dozens of wild flower bouquets would be delivered fresh on the morning of their wedding. Their wedding suits were gently packed in one of the trunks.
"What have we missed?" Bingley asked. "Surely we've missed something."
"Stop fidgeting," Darcy growled. "If we've missed something we still have five weeks to rectify the omission. And don't forget, we'll have to return to Town next week to file the marriage contracts. I will not have you making me a nervous wreck before I see Elizabeth. Tonight will be soon enough for that."
Richard had headed for Newcastle at the behest of his General and Anne had arrived in London three nights earlier feeling restless and a desperate need to make more changes in her townhouse to accommodate her future husband. Fortunately, the Hurst's were willing to return to Netherfield to act as chaperons for the two remaining couples. They would arrive on the morrow. Upon hearing this, Caroline left for a visit with a friend in Shropshire still unable to comprehend that these marriages were to take place.
The Earl and Countess of Matlock had promised to attend the weddings. They at first had been uneasy about Darcy's marriage but Richard had assured them both that Elizabeth was the best thing that could happen to Darcy. Anne had also written them singing the praises of Elizabeth so in the end, they were resigned and hoped for the best. Besides, there was really nothing much they could do about their nephew"s impending marriage. Darcy was his own man and had proved time and again that he was a man of strength and acuity. If he had chosen a penniless country girl as the mistress of Pemberley he must know something they didn't know and they were determined to welcome her into their family. Naturally, they were overjoyed with the marriage of their son Richard and hoped that it would settle him down at last.
As for Thomas, Mr. Gardiner was delighted with the man's knowledge but felt there were still many things he needed to learn about the field of fine arts and gems. Towards that end, he offered Thomas an apprenticeship with a small salary and a rent-free flat in Cheapside. It wasn't the right time of the year to cross the Atlantic ocean but Mr. Gardiner had high hopes that under his tutelage Thomas would be fully prepared and ready to sail in April. In the meantime, Mr. Gardiner worked on a viable plan and sent dozens of letters to his contacts who lived in the various British colonies.
Darcy had never seen Thomas as animated as he was when he had returned from Mr. Gardiner's shop that first night. In many ways he reminded Darcy of Charles Bingley. Thomas paced and flung his hands about unable to contain his excitement. "To see new worlds! To be my own man! To come home to the woman I love! Sir, you have no idea of what you've done for me. A month ago I saw my life continuing on for the next twenty years in the same old way the last twenty years have passed. At the end I saw myself in a small house living out the rest of my life full of regret that I had been content with a wasted life."
A lesser man might have taken umbrage at the idea that Thomas had wasted his life in service to the Darcy family but Darcy understood perfectly. How many lonely nights he had ruminated on the injustices of the world. He particularly dwelled on it after a long carriage ride or when a letter got lost. He wondered how many uneducated men and women might be great inventors who could figure out a quicker form of transportation or a better form of communication. Maybe in the future, but probably not in his lifetime.
"Darcy?"
"Hmm?"
"How will you greet Miss Elizabeth?"
"Well, if I meet her somewhere on the road to Oakham Mount which is where I hope to see her, I will shake her hand and ask after her family."
"Really?"
Darcy rolled his eyes. "Good heavens, Charles. I'm madly in love with the girl. I haven't seen her in a week. Do you really think I'd want to greet her by shaking her hand? Dinner with the Gardiners was pure agony. There I was trying to be a great host and all I could think of was Elizabeth and what she was doing and if she was missing me as much as I missed her. She has me completely bewitched. And I love it."
"Bingley looked doubtful. "You sound like you're in agony and you love it?"
Darcy grinned, "I've never felt more alive.
Bingley frowned, "I'm beginning to think I never knew you. You've always been so restrained. I was always trying to get you out of your shell, and all the time you were hiding a frustrated romantic."
Darcy threw his head back and laughed hardily. "And you, Bingley, were always out there falling in love with every pretty girl you laid eyes on." When Bingley didn't share his amusement, Darcy grew serious, eying his friend. "And now you seem to have grown more restrained. What is it, Charles? Surely you're not still worrying about what Caroline said?"
Bingley attempted a laugh and failed. No, not really. I don't know what's gotten into to me." Dismissively, he turned his attention to the window, idly watching the countryside move past as they neared the turn-off to Meryton.
Darcy didn't believe him. Something was gnawing at his old friend and he had a suspicion as to the cause. As much as he denied being upset by the cruelty of Caroline's words a man like Charles Bingley could not live without passion anymore than Darcy could.
"Charles," he said, feeling his way, "you do understand that the dictates of society won't allow Miss Jane to show any kind of passion until you take the first step."
"Is that the way it was with you and Miss Elizabeth?"
"Of course. Charles, I've seen the way Miss Jane looks at you. She adores you."
"I know she loves me, Will."
Silently, Darcy groaned. He knew he should probably wait and discuss this with Elizabeth but if she suspected problems between Bingley and her sister it would make her uneasy. And if she asked her sister about it, it would make Jane uneasy.He rather wished he hadn't started this conversation.
"Charles, I'm about to ask you an invasive and extremely personal question and fill free to kick me out of the coach if it makes you uncomfortable."
Finally, Bingley turned and looked at Darcy, "should I be afraid?" he asked with a smile.
Darcy returned his smile with one of his own. "I'm the one who should be afraid," he responded.
"Ask what you will, Darce."
"Charles, do you ask Miss Jane for permission to kiss her?"
Bingley reacted in shock, "of course I do. I'm not a thug."
Despite the answer and the shock behind the reply, Darcy laughed in relief. "Bingley, when I see Elizabeth today, I won't ask her anything until I've kissed her long and thoroughly. Then I might ask her if she missed me, but the chances are I'll have my answer long before then."
Bingley stared at Darcy in silence. "And she doesn't object?"
"Charles, Elizabeth loves me. And I know for a fact that Jane loves you. The moment you get a chance, take her in your arms and tell her how much you love her and how much she means to you. Bare your heart to her. And don't ask if you can kiss her. Just do it."
"And suppose she goes running back to her father?"
"And suppose you have to fight her off?"
Bingley grinned, "I'd let her win."
"Then go to it."
At Netherfield they called for their mounts to be saddled then entered and rushed up the stairs. After a quick wash up Darcy dressed quickly making a mental note that he had better find a valet and soon. They made good time and within twenty minutes they were on there way to Longbourn. When they reached the turnoff to Oakham Mount Darcy saw Elizabeth standing halfway up the slope leaning against the stile. He handed Bingley his reins and dismounted. "Look for Jane in the garden, Charles. And when you see her grab and kiss the hell out of her."
He began to run up the slope as Elizabeth came skipping lightly down to meet him. When he reached her he grabbed her hand and began to stride back up the hill with Elizabeth laughing and trying to keep up with him. At the stile he turned to her and took her by the shoulders and stared into her face before he leaned against her and held her close. He followed his instructions to Bingley and told her how much he loved her and missed her. He nibbled at her ear making her squirm in pleasure, and then he kissed her so softly and gently that she fell against him entwining her hands behind his neck breathing hard. "Only five more weeks, sweetheart," he promised. "Then we'll be free and won't answer to anyone but each other."
He took a large square amethyst ring from his vest and slipped it on her finger. "In a certain light your eyes are just this shade." He kissed away her tears. "Don't cry Elizabeth," he chided. "I bought the ring to give you pleasure, not to bring you to tears."
"I think I must be living in a fairy tale world."
"Am I still your knight in shining armor or am I an ogre."
"A little of both, perhaps?" She smiled and kissed him.
When Darcy and Bingley returned to Netherfield after dinner at Longbourn they headed for the library automatically. They sat in such a long silence that at last Darcy became uncomfortable. Bingley was unusually quiet, not at all like himself. He was serious and reflective. Darcy wracked his brain trying to remember his demeanor during dinner but he could remember little. He was too engrossed with Elizabeth. Whenever he was in her presence everything else faded to nothingness, even the insipid prattle of the younger Bennet girls, and he invariably went deaf whenever Mrs. Bennet opened her mouth.
"Bingley! For heavens sake, speak to me. Is everything alright?"
Bingley looked up in surprise. "More than alright. I have simply been sitting here contemplating the nature of happiness."
"You what? Mr. Bingley, I know for a fact that you are incapable of contemplation. You were born happy and no doubt will die happy. Are you saying you're attempting to contemplate yourself?"
"Don't be ridiculous, Mr. Darcy. That would be too complicated a subject."
Darcy rolled his eyes. "Do I dare hope that all is well with you and Miss Jane?"
"Yes, Mr. Darcy, all is well. Though I was unable to drag my sweetheart halfway up a mountain, there are many hidden nooks on the grounds of Longbourn and I spent a most enjoyable hour with my angel who, I might add, has a bit of a devil in her. I dare say we will be the happiest of men, Mr. Darcy."
Darcy smiled and relaxed. "I daresay we will, Mr. Bingley, if we can survive the next five weeks."
The next four weeks were a mixture of delight, tedium and exasperation. Darcy and Elizabeth were still able to catch a few precious moments together but never again were they allowed to walk to Oakham Mount without a chaperon. Mr. Bennet had decided to exert the few remaining weeks of his parental rights by keeping a sharp eye on his daughters and their suiters. They would only be allowed to go to their favorite tryst if Moral Mary accompanied them and that would be too exasperating. Mary took her father's instructions literally and never let them out of her sight.
Walks to Meryton proved most unsatisfactory since all Darcy wanted to do was hold Elizabeth and kiss her and such an public act was unacceptable. So, they were relegated to the grounds of Longbourn. Bingley generously shared the many hidden nooks and Darcy and Elizabeth took advantage of them all.
All these misfortunes played into the hands of Mrs. Bennet who now had her two eldest daughters close at hand on most days. It seemed to Darcy and Bingley, who was also suffering now that he had had a glimpse of the devil in his angel, that her incessant blabber about ribbons, lace, cakes, jewels and carriages would eventually dry up but it wasn't to be as she was capable of repeating herself ad infinitum.
Mrs. Bennet had once bragged that she dined with four and twenty families and it seemed like all four and twenty families wished to dine with the Bennets and their suitors. It did not matter that by now no one in Hertfordshire could stand the sight or the sound of Mrs. Bennet's crowing, they would all do their duty and invite the luckiest woman in the world to dine with them. There was not a night that the long-suffering couples did not dress in their finest and dine with one of the families in or around Meryton.
The two suiters had a short reprieve when they returned to Town to have their contracts filed but it was short-lived for they agreed that enduring Mrs. Bennet was preferable to doing without the company of their ladies, sporadic as it was.
Once more Bingley offered his sister Caroline an olive branch asking her if she would share hostess duties with Louisa for the ball he was holding two days before his wedding. This letter was followed by a letter from Louisa exhorting her sister to come to Netherfield or she would regret it. She never replied to either letter but did appear at Netherfield a week before her brother's wedding. She claimed that both letters were lost in transit. No one believed her but generously let it go.
She immediately began to exert her authority over the servants and in less than a day several of them were threatening to quit. Georgianna tried to calm her but Darcy's sister no longer had any power now that Darcy had chosen a penniless country girl to be the Mistress of Pemberley. Louisa fared no better but shrugged it off as it was best to let Caroline have her way. She was an excellent hostess and she had just one more week to reign over the nobodies of Hertfordshire and show them what true elegance was.
Shortly after her arrival, the guests began to trickle into Netherfield.
First came Guy and Josh who had their own great news. In April they would be marrying the cousins Pamela and Prunela. Josh described Pru as blond with eyes the color of cornflowers. This reassured Bingley to know that his friend was not marrying a women who resembled a bowl of prunes.
Two days later Anne, accompanied by her mother Lady Catherine de Bourgh and her stooge William Collins arrived in Meryton.
The parson was dropped off in town to make his way on foot to Longbourn where he was greeted with sighs, groans and snorts.
Anne and her mother continued on to Netherfield where Anne was greeted with compassion and her mother was greeted by sighs and groans. Only Lydia Bennet was known for snorts and she was at Longbourn.
The moment Darcy learned that Mr. Collins was to stay at Longbourn he had his mount saddled and headed for Longbourn. He wouldn't trust the righteous rector not to insinuate himself into the wedding ceremony. Mr. Collins thought too highly of himself not to want to run the entire proceedings. Darcy, who had become a favorite of the housekeeper, Mrs. Hill, spoke softly to her, "where's our girl, Mrs. Hill?"
Mrs. Hill whispered back, "in the drawing room. And Mr. Collins is there too."
"Trouble?"
Mrs. Hill rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't surprise me."
Darcy nodded, "I'll find my own way."
Instead of heading straight for the drawing room, Darcy slipped into the small music room which adjoined the drawing room. Fortunately, the door to the drawing room was slightly ajar and he was able to hear the preacher's gibberish.
"Mrs. Bennet, as the clergyman of Lady Catherine De Bourgh whose daughter and two nephews are to be married here in Hertfordshire, it would be an insult to her ladyship to have such an auspicious ceremony be performed by a simple country cleric and I am pleased to say that I have, after much thought, decided it is my duty to take responsibility. Naturally, it goes without saying, that my esteemed patroness is in complete accordance with me."
Darcy sighed. Mr William Collins was a man on a mission. Next to a royal wedding this would be a great spectacle and he William Collins the cleric and confidant of the esteemed Lady Catherine De Bourgh wished nothing more than to be the center of it all. Darcy listened for Mrs. Bennet's response with baited breath, expecting the worst.
"Mr. Collins," Mrs. Bennet responded, "As the mistress of Longbourn I have had the pleasure of inviting Pastor Wallace to dine with us at least once a month for the past twenty five years. Do you think for one moment I would deny him the pleasure of marrying Jane and Elizabeth?"
Darcy stood in shock. He couldn't believe that this woman who had little sense had actually seen the right of things. He slipped out of the room and walked down the hall and entered the drawing room. His eyes lit on Elizabeth and as usual he felt his heart beat faster.
He greeted everyone with the usual meaningless civilities and approached Mrs. Bennet. He took her hand and kissed it, "delighted to see you in such good health, Mother Bennet," he said. We're all looking forward to seeing you at Netherfield tomorrow night. You'll be happy to know that Pastor Wallace will be joining us. I understand that our weddings will be his last task as the shepherd of his flock?"
Mrs. Bennet seem slightly nonplussed at this unlooked for attention from her formidable future son-in-law but was perfectly willing to babble on about the good Pastor Wallace.
At the first breath she took, Darcy invited Mr. Collins to join him in the garden to renew their friendship. He too was nonplussed at this unlooked for attention by the the master of Pemberley and the esteemed nephew of his esteemed patroness. This reaction by the dullard of a deacon confirmed to Darcy that the man had half a brain.
In the garden, Darcy opened the conversation with a compliment. I must commend you Mr. Collins for the bravery you have shown." At Mr. Collin's dim-witted smile, Darcy continued. "There are not many men who would attempt to thwart my wedding preparations and hope to survive unscathed." Mr. Collin's smile faded somewhat as Darcy's smile broadened for the benefit of the six faces staring out the window. "I give you fair warning, Mr. Collins, that if you ever again try to interfere in my private life, your next post will be somewhere in Outer Mongolia. Do I make myself clear?"
The look of terror on Mr. Collin's face was comical and Darcy felt an urge to laugh in the pipsqueak's face, however he decided that a laugh would defeat his purpose, so continued to stare at his victim with narrowed eyes until Mr. Collins realized he'd been dismissed and scurried away.
Darcy turned and looked at the window and caught Elizabeth's eye, then strode to the back of the garden. He didn't have to wait long before she came running towards him. His arms reached out and gripped her by the waist and lifted her high in the air before lowering her gently until she slid her hand around his neck and pulled him towards her enfolding him in her arms. She kissed him him softly her tongue slipping between his lips prying them apart. When he wouldn't comply she nibbled at his mouth and ran her hand through the curls at the nape of his neck. He groaned and allowed her to penetrate his mouth sucking gently. When eventually they ran out of air they separated breathing hard but he was unwilling to release her completely and his mouth moved to her neck and held her still in an attempt to take control of the situation. Once more his need for her had driven him to the edge. With a final soft kiss he released her and allowed his brow to press against hers.
"Soon, my love," she whispered.
He steadied himself knowing he had to get back to Netherfield. "I'm behaving very badly," he said.
"Nonsense, you are a man without fault."
Darcy rolled his eyes, "Minx!"
Elizabeth laughed softly, "Well maybe not completely without fault but I do think you're wonderful. Especially how you came to save us from Mr. Collins. How did you know?"
Darcy returned her smile. "You're under my protection, sweetheart. The minute I heard that he was here I knew he'd be up to no good. But as it turned out, it was unnecessary. Your mother handled him very well."
"My mother is full of surprises. But what on earth did you say to him when you took him out to the garden?"
"Oh, nothing much. Something about committing mayhem on his humble self."
Elizabeth giggled, "poor Mr. Collins. He's really out of his depth with you."
"But you aren't, are you?"
"No, Mr. Darcy. And you would not have it so."
"No, I would not have it so. But, Elizabeth, you must be more gentle with me. You would not have me waiting at the altar all sweaty and frazzled fearing you will have your way with me and I won't survive my wedding night."
She laughed hardily at his silliness and as he had hoped, couldn't resist kissing him.
They began a slow walk back to the stable where she watched him mount. Her eyes glistened with tears as she reached up and gripped his hand, "Fitzwilliam," she managed, "allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you."