GREEN
When the carriage pulled into a broad drive, Elizabeth assumed they were either at Darcy House, or he had asked them to stop at a very well‑funded asylum to have her committed. She gently shook her husband awake and was amused at how he looked. He had been so perfectly turned out every time she had seen him previously, even when he was thunderously angry or in some otherwise disagreeable state. Elizabeth had always assumed it to be a point of vanity, although whether it was Mr. Darcy's vanity, or his valet's was a matter of conjecture. This was the first time she found him in less than pristine condition, and she had to admit that he looked all the more appealing for it.
Elizabeth removed a small horn comb that had been a cherished gift from her grandmother from her reticule, told the gentleman to sit still, and performed a minor repair to his coiffure. She reckoned it would suffice until he could do a better job himself. Once that was done, she put her bonnet on, and her husband gave her a small hand mirror from a cabinet on the side of the carriage. She straightened herself up to the point where she was not the least bit frightening and then allowed her husband to hand her from the coach.
Darcy House was a sight to behold, but she tried to keep her enthusiasm in check, only asking, "I am reminded of your story about walking out your own front door to insure that you were in fact at Darcy House when you were arguing with Lady Catherine. Since you are such an expert on geography, perhaps you can set my mind at ease by verifying our present location."
Darcy chuckled. "If it is not Darcy House, then I am worse off than we thought."
With a light chuckle, Elizabeth Darcy entered her new home for the first time with a small smile on her face, which, all things considered, was probably a good thing – especially since she had previously thought she would enter it kicking and screaming.
She was met by a thin woman of about her mother's age, with the look of pure competence that marked her as likely to be the housekeeper, but wearing what appeared to be a carefully schooled and stoic expression – which was just what Elizabeth expected, since it seemed unlikely her husband kept the most important members of his staff entirely in the dark about his nuptials. Even if he had said nothing, the abruptness of the marriage said all that needed to be said, and Elizabeth thought she would have her work cut out for her. She was not afraid of her ability to gain the housekeeper's trust. It was just something that had to be done.
Standing beside the matron was a man who looked so much like a butler that she thought if they ever made picture dictionaries for children, his visage would be the entry for that profession. The obvious heads of the household staff were flanked by two men who had the look of senior tradesmen of some kind. Elizabeth guessed a man of business and perhaps – solicitor? Factor? Agent? Something of the like.
She curtsied exactly as she would if she were a mistress coming into the house without a cloud of suspicion, reckoning that if she was not intimidated by her husband, she was for certain not going to be frightened by her housekeeper.
Darcy surprised her by saying, "If nobody objects, I would like to do the introductions in the parlor. Did you bring what I asked?"
Curious about what kind of mischief her husband was planning, Elizabeth nodded took his arm again, and walked into a parlor around twenty feet further into the house. She looked around surreptitiously as she went, and she had to admit to being impressed with the décor. It was obviously expensive, but subtle, understated and in very good taste.
Darcy asked in a whisper. "Do you like it?"
"Very much so. I do not believe any sensible person could disapprove."
Darcy chuckled, but did not feel it the time to comment on either of their sensibleness, which, considering their history was highly suspect.
Once in a very nice parlor decorated primarily in greens, Darcy surprised Elizabeth by speaking to the assemblage. "Have you the papers I asked for."
Three of the four produced notes of about a page or two each, which they handed to the master looking perplexed, as did Elizabeth.
Darcy walked over to the fire, and threw them all in, watched them burn a moment, and returned to the assemblage.
"I must confess that everything I said in those notes was absolutely and irrefutably wrong. I was entirely in error. My hubris took an incorrect assumption and blew it out of proportion to a scandalous level. I would beg each of you to either forget everything I ever said or assume the exact opposite. I would also ask that you write to your counterparts in Pemberley to tell them the same. That said, let me perform introductions."
He walked over to Elizabeth, pulled her still gloved hand to his lips for a kiss that was well on the long side of propriety's requirements, even for a newlywed husband, then put her hand on his arm, and turned to face the assemblage.
"This is my wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy, and she is the finest women I have ever known. She is the mistress of this house with all that entails. From this moment forward, her word is law in all my homes. I have begged her forgiveness for my churlish earlier remarks, and I would ask each of you for the same, as it has placed you in an awkward position. However, your mistress is a forgiving sort, so let this moment be the beginning it should be, agreed?"
Elizabeth was as surprised by her husband asking for agreement from his servants as she was by the overall declaration. It sounded an awful lot like the 'try' concept had been replaced entirely with 'do'. However, despite her complete shock, she managed to keep her composure, and turn to greet the four properly as her husband performed the introductions quickly.
"Mrs. Radcliff, our housekeeper here at Darcy House - your new mistress, Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy."
Mrs. Radcliff curtsied appropriate to the situation and showed a level of relief on her face that was palpable. Elizabeth smiled, and greeted her warmly. "Mrs. Radcliff, I believe I have read several of your novels."
Everyone laughed at the joke that had probably been worn out for decades, and a smiling Mr. Darcy continued.
"Mr. Vaugh, our butler. Mr. Windham, my man of business, and Mr. Miller, my solicitor."
The solicitor was the last tradesman, and Elizabeth was mildly happy that she had gotten the rest of them right on the first guess. She gave each the greeting appropriate to their station and the current situation, and she was somewhat pleased that her husband did not seem surprised that she understood all the rules of propriety and decorum. She was keen to prove that some Bennets need not cause embarrassment.
Darcy said, "I called all you here tonight to make abundantly clear that Mrs. Darcy is my choice for a wife. I will not pretend that our courtship followed the usual pattern but make no mistake – she is the woman I have been looking for all these years. Pity I did not recognize it sooner. She has my utmost confidence."
Elizabeth wondered just what in the world he had told them before, but thought it was probably best if she never delved into that painful subject. One boil a day was entirely enough for her.
Darcy continued, "I am a bit ill, and my wife has, very sensibly suggested I see a physician. Has Dr. Warren been called?"
"Yes, sir. He will be here within the hour."
Darcy nodded, saying, "Excellent. That should give us time to refresh ourselves, and my wife time to look at the mistress' quarters and see if anything needs to be done tonight for her comfort before any serious redecoration effort commences."
Elizabeth wondered just why the housekeeper winced, while all the men smirked, but assumed she would know soon enough.
"Mrs. Radcliff – Mr. Vaughn – I imagine you will want to come with me, but first I should send Miller on his way."
Elizabeth watched curiously as Darcy went to the wall, unlocked a strongbox, pulled out an aged parchment and read it quickly. When he was done, he handed it to Mr. Miller. "Make a clean copy of this, change the date to tomorrow, and the maiden name to 'Elizabeth Amanda Bennet', and bring it back as soon in the morning as you are able. While you are at it, update my will in accordance and bring an unimpeachable witness to sign. Have it here by six o'clock, just in case."
Miller raised an eyebrow at Darcy, but he just said, "Any issue, Miller?"
"No, sir. I can drag a few clerks out of bed for the task, and for this, I suspect I can get someone of high status but known to be opposed to the Darcys and Fitzwilliams. It will be costly, but you do not seem intimidated. Six o'clock might be a bit much, but I will try."
Curious, Elizabeth leaned over to see the parchment. She was trying to be surreptitious about it, but in that moment found herself about as subtle as her husband.
Darcy handed the document to her. "I am asking for the witness and the will changes because I want to amend the marriage contract as soon as possible. In my confused state, I fear I gave you the stingiest contract the law would allow. I plan to rectify it, so I am going to rewrite it. There is a problem with the signature, since I am now your husband, I would have to sign for you. That puts me to be effectively signing both sides of the same contract, so we need to insure it cannot be challenged."
Elizabeth nodded. "Yes, that would be tricky, I suppose. I could get my uncle here by six o'clock if that would help. I suppose we could also drag my father out of his bookroom, but frankly, I'd rather get out the lance again than that."
Everyone but Darcy looked confused by the exchange, but that was not important.
Darcy looked to Miller, who said, "The uncle might be good, but I suppose it would not hurt to delay that until the afternoon."
Elizabeth said, "That sounds sensible, but where did you get the contract, Fitzwilliam? Do you keep a collection of contracts, or did you prepare one in advance?"
Darcy laughed gently. "No, I do not collect them. This is the very last one I will ever need. It is my mother's, and I reckon if it is good enough for the daughter of an Earl, it should be adequate for you.
Elizabeth for the first time looked at the verbiage and the amounts, and was just shaking her head in disagreement, when Darcy snatched it from her hands, saying, "You have won every round so far, Elizabeth. Let me have this one."
Elizabeth sighed. "There is only problem. My name is not Elizabeth Amanda Darcy nee Bennet. It was recorded incorrectly in the marriage lines, and I did not notice it until later. My middle name is actually 'Anne'.
Darcy said, "Like my mother. I like it."
He looked slightly troubled, and Elizabeth wondered if the misnaming had been deliberate, perhaps a strategy to later annul the marriage, but she very sensibly decided to let that sleeping dog lie.
Darcy handed the contract to Miller, who decided the best part of valor was to be outside the arena when the inevitable marital spat began, so he bowed and was gone like a ghost.
Darcy turned to his man of business and said, "You may as well take a rest, Windham. I will want you after consulting with the doctor, so it will be a few hours. Go to bed if you like or take a nap on the couch. We will roust you out when the time comes."
"That seems sensible, sir."
With that, he looked towards the housekeeper. She rang a small bell, and when a footman appeared, she sent him off to see to her guest.
Darcy took Elizabeth's hand. "Let us refresh ourselves before the doctor arrives. Mrs. Radcliff can assign you an upstairs maid until yours arrives," and then looking over his shoulder, he said to the housekeeper, "Mrs. Darcy has her own maid, thought she apparently can use some training. She is arriving from Pemberley in two days."
Mrs. Radcliff had the sense not to question why the mistress had her own maid, but she was already at Pemberley. She would evaluate if the girl was properly trained, and if not, then she would see to it that she was.
Elizabeth nodded and smiled at the lack of confusion, and they went up the stairs, down a long hallway and to a set of double doors.
"I warn you, Elizabeth, you may want to cover your eyes."
Surprised, Elizabeth looked in confusion as her husband threw the doors open abruptly. What she saw explained his warning perfectly. It was the most garish looking room she had ever had the displeasure of witnessing. She recoiled in horror, and her husband said, "My mother, and her sister, Lady Catherine, were both daughters of an Earl. They never forgot it, nor would either of them ever let anyone else forget it. This is the style they liked."
Elizabeth was happy to see a shake of revulsion in the man. She guessed from his confused demeanor that he was conflicted about his mother. That was not an issue for her, since she was entirely conflicted about her own mother and did not expect to resolve it any time soon – or ever for that matter. They were not the first to have ambiguous feelings about their parents.
She said, "As you surmised, this does not …" then she paused quite a time, before finally adding, "… suit my taste."
Mrs. Radcliff chuckled. "I expect we will be redecorating it soon, Mrs. Darcy, but for the moment, I wonder if there is something that we can do quickly to make it slightly more palatable."
Elizabeth shook her head again. "Are there any – err – better – rooms in the house?"
"Follow me, ma'am."
Elizabeth walked twenty or thirty feet down the hall, and Mrs. Radcliff showed her a room that was much more to her taste, saying, "Miss Darcy redecorated this room just after she turned fifteen."
Elizabeth liked it very much, and was quite impressed with her now-sister, as the decorations were well balanced, the colors matched nicely, she had avoided most of the common mistakes of youth (usually overdoing nearly everything), and had produced quite a nice result.
She asked, "Does Miss Darcy live here?"
"No, ma'am. She has her own room. She did this mostly for practice, and she also expected some guests."
Elizabeth nodded. "This is just too easy, Mrs. Radcliff. If you have footmen about, just have them move everything in this room to my chambers, and everything there to here. Much as I am tempted to burn it all, it might be valuable to other people with more money than …"
She stopped herself just on the edge of criticizing her long-dead mother in law, and sputtered, "… well, anyway, do you think you could get that done in the next couple of days?"
The housekeeper looked shocked. "Couple of days, pish – we will have it done in the next couple of hours. Now, you have time to change if you like before the doctor visits. Do you have something more comfortable for the house."
Elizabeth nodded. "If you will put a blindfold on me and lead me through to the dressing room, I would be much obliged, Mrs. Radcliff."
With a hearty laugh that showed her true humor, the housekeeper lightly slapped Elizabeth on the arm, saying, "Oh, you!" then somewhat louder, she called to the butler asking him to gather his troops for an assault on ugliness.
