liysyl: I can barely believe I'm done ;)
LoveInTheBattleField: Here it is :)
Next chapter: after midnight CET (so, 13 hours from now).
The so-called "Valentine Auction" was set up to be conducted on the 17th of February, and the whole house had been carefully prepared for the purpose. The ground floor had been transformed into a guest-ready place with the help of both the students cleaning crew and several additionally hired people specialising in setting up art displays. All the family personal belongings, normally scattered across that area, had been collected and deposited in their respective rooms and one of the estate workers was stationed at the top of the stairs to ensure that nobody would wander "by accident" into their private space.
The girls were dressed very smartly. This time they went for a full "identical twins" option and convinced her to get Evie to sew them dark teal suit trousers and waistcoats, which – matched with boy-cut aqua shirts – made them look like two little blue fairies. These fairies were fluttering from one end of the house to another, watching everything and getting just the teeniest bit underfoot.
She had to pause her progress through the crowds every now and then, checking on their location (task not that easy due to their height, but aided by their colour choice). Sometimes, she still felt uncertain if she fully believed in the simple truth that they were all there, just there, then, home, Pemberley. All the Darcys. Together.
Very much together. What with Rose's bomb about her having joined the choir (the girls were definitely glossing over some details as to how it happened, but Elizabeth decided not to pursue that for the time being), they were spending even more time together. And, seeing as Rose had already gone through some practice with the guitar, Mina was now hard pressed to catch up to her, which she applied herself to with admirable stubbornness. At the same time, she helped Rose with her voice exercises whenever her older sister showed any signs of wavering in her new resolution due to some unforeseen obstacles.
It was exhilarating to be having this with both of them, not to mention the experience of all five of the Darcys spending most of what was left of their so-called free time on making sure the ground floor was as guest-proof as it was possible to make it. Twins had really got themselves deeply invested in the outcome of the auction, with Rose leading the way and explaining and reminiscing about the previous such events and her sister following eagerly and helping wherever she could, from simply collecting things that weren't supposed to be found where strangers would be sticking their noses in to checking the daily post, sorting out all the invitation responses and entering the new updates into their giant tracking sheet.
Elizabeth had insisted on having a proper tracking sheet and Rose and Mina took to it like ducks to water, leaving their bemused father in the dust, convincing him finally to cede the tracking and home logistics to his ladies, while he focused on ensuring the timely delivery of required hardware, from display cabinets, to floor coverings, to lighting installations. Georgiana and Mrs Reynolds managed the pre-delivered drinks storage and, supported by several tall and appropriately strong cleaners, prepared the kitchen for the catering services to be able to do their last-minute work.
Everyone became involved. The house felt like a giant, well-organised hive, everyone moving in coordination around each other in order to achieve a common goal. She really hoped that night would go off without a hitch, if only for the sake of all the people who got so invested in getting this done.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, checked again for the location of her daughters and turned towards the Great Hall. William was supposed to be somewhere in that spacious chamber, but there were too many people for her to see anyone easily, even if it was her tall husband.
The number of people in attendance was enormous. She had felt slightly daunted by the size of the stack of invitations (proper, stiff creamy cardstock invitations) that William had sent out before Christmas, but he explained that he always invited way more people than he expected to show up – simply because it made sense to have spare participants for these things. He had been rather surprised to see all the positive replies flooding in, but he still expected some of them to simply not show up...
As she watched them from the top of the stairs, it seemed as if everyone had arrived. And more. She had no way of comparing the numbers to the tracking sheet right now (and her fingers were itching for her tablet overwhelmingly), and even despite having been formally introduced to a number of their visitors already, she couldn't match faces to the names – there were simply too bloody many of them.
The invitees spanned several vastly different social groups that were somehow linked with either William's business, his charity work, their shared acquaintances, family or neighbourhood – among them were local entrepreneurs of various calibres, last remnants of the Derbyshire landed gentry (or, in some cases, lesser nobility), academics from Buxton, representatives of William's family (Richard and Evan, plus Richard's sister-in-law), Mary (the only of her sisters who braved that event, with Jimmy left upstairs under a competent care of a very well-recommended nanny), Charles (by Jane's order – she would be taking a weekend off two weeks later), some of the parents from the girls' school, about half of William's employees, a number of elderly ladies ("They hated aunt Catherine," William had informed her at some point, when they had been sorting the invitations), various people of importance from Lambton and neighbouring towns (the headmaster and his wife), an investor or two from Sheffield and some of Will's old university cronies ("The sensible ones").
Not everyone was expected to take an active part in the auction, but she hoped all the objects would go to people who would appreciate them, and not to some calculating manipulators who would only buy them to curry favour with William.
One of her blue fairies was dashing through the entrance hall, just in front of her, when she stopped dead in her tracks. Elizabeth looked towards the main door and, well, well...
Teddy does clean up nicely, that much we knew, but this? This is almost ridiculous. Is this boy even real?
This evening the Stricklands were represented by the male part of the family. Little Theresa had been feeling poorly and Irene decided to stay with her instead of joining her husband for the evening, but she called ahead to check with Elizabeth whether the event would be appropriate for Theodore to come instead of her.
Elizabeth had been happy to confirm that it would be and there he was, with Percy, both looking very properly dressed up for an evening of socialising and semi-professional networking (although Teddy was probably intent on talking mainly to one specific person). As far as Lizzy could see, Mina was most definitely impressed by the way her boyfriend looked in a well-cut suit and a bow tie. The question was, what would Teddy think of his girlfriend out of her school uniform and her customary dresses and skirts.
Judging by the way Teddy was now looking at Mina, she could have been wrapped in sackcloth and he would have been delighted anyway, but most probably the teal-and-aqua ensemble didn't hurt.
Young love.
#
There were also some examples of much more mature love available at the event, to wit, representatives of William's closest family.
Richard and Evan were, frankly, glowing. Their wedding plans were set, at last, the guests were being invited ("small family affair, no more than one hundred and fifty people," Evan said with a completely straight face), Mina was psyching herself up to singing their chosen music (show tunes), Richard's sister-in-law was trying to make them pick a theme for the party ("Lizbeth, do people really do that?") and Richard had come to ask her to be his witness.
"William is my cousin and I love him like a brother – more than my own brother, I'd say, at least sometimes – but I want Elizabeth Darcy to sign the registry with us," he said when she tried to work out whether he was joking or being serious. It turned out he was, for once, completely serious.
"Richard, I'm sure you have friends who would–"
"Lizbeth, you are a proof that true love does in fact exist. And can be victorious. Also, it will be a poke in the eye of there stiff old fuddy-duddies that my pater feels an obligation to invite for the ceremony. They are already all a-flutter about me, a proper upright soldier, marrying a bloke – and a military one, to boot – so think what they will do if I have a– best woman."
"I won't set up any kind of bachelor's party," she warned sternly. "And don't expect me to participate in some crazy wedding reception stuff."
"But you will give a speech?" he waggled his eyebrows insolently.
Elizabeth sighed.
"I will. I will give a proper best woman's speech for you, you silly man."
He captured her hand and pressed a lingering kiss to it.
"This will be a party this whole county will be talking about for years to come," he declared and flounced off, leaving her alone for a few heartbeats.
"I see Richard found you," William chuckled. "He didn't want to tell me why exactly he wanted to talk to you–"
She pulled him down into a kiss.
"This wedding of theirs is going to be the scandal of the decade," she declared. "Now, let's go and see to the auction."
#
There were things on display that were not going to be sold during the auction, but still were presented prominently in order to promote the creators. Elizabeth squirmed in embarrassment at William's blatant praise of her handmade productions he had insisted on including among the artwork displayed. His words on the labels pronounced them to be "a combination of traditional craft techniques with modern computational technology and unique eye for design". Pieces by local artists, both lent for the decoration of the event and provided for the auction were hanging and standing in the company of, among others, Mina's pink quilt. The girls have agreed to have their favourite pieces put on display (only after their father promised everything would be returned immediately after the event and that nobody would be buying them). The label describing the quilt still made her blush hotly when she recalled the words of praise William ordered to have printed there.
#
"But, Will–!" she cringed as she checked yet another label. "This sounds like–"
He caught her hand and brought it to his lips.
"Exactly like what it is. A man in love describing the art of the most important woman in his life."
"William!"
"You have to start accepting the simple fact, Mrs Darcy. You will be showered with compliments. You will be told, daily, that you are brilliant," he kissed her pinky, "courageous", her ring finger, "highly intelligent," the middle one, "talented," the pointer, "and beautiful," the thumb. "And you have to understand, I'm going to remind you on a regular basis how deeply and madly I am in love with you."
"Will–"
"I am going to hang this by Mina's quilt, no question. It is pure truth," he pulled her closer. "And everyone is going to see it."
She could only shake her head at his silliness.
#
The dining room had been morphed into a display area, the great hall (with the food tables) was where most of the people were milling about right now and the music room – the pianoforte carefully moved into the corner and surrounded by a museum-style plush rope barrier – became the auction chamber.
Elizabeth walked up to the first row, passing by Rose, who was sitting with Evan and explaining something at about fifty miles per hour and Mina, sitting next to Percy with Teddy's arm around her shoulders.
"Ah, Mrs Darcy," one of the older ladies caught her wrist and Elizabeth winced, pulling it away. "I see you are adjusting quite well to your new role, hmm?"
"I don't think I have the pleasure of understanding you."
"Well, you would be taking over the Darcy Foundation, I suppose," another tittered. "This is a traditional task of a wife, isn't it?"
"No, actually it is not," William appeared by her side and his warm hand on the small of her back felt like a declaration of unwavering support.
"Well, I think–"
"My father started it after my mother died," he continued evenly, ignoring the splutters. "There was no 'Mrs Darcy' in this family then, so how can it be a traditional work of the wife?"
"There are many other houses–!"
"I have a job of my own, Mrs. Kleine," Elizabeth interrupted her without remorse. "I don't think managing the Foundation would be the best utilisation of my skills."
"Well, I never–!"
"While I, on the other hand, enjoy it immensely," William smiled and leaned down to her lips for a kiss. "Elizabeth has her own work, and I would not expect her to give it up just because someone thinks that charitable work should be done by the women of the family."
"Which is complete rubbish," she smiled sweetly and slid her hand into his, tangling their fingers together. "Have a nice evening."
The auction itself started with a few hiccoughs – wrong order of the smallest items, missing description for at least two of them – but soon it was all sorted out and the guests fell into the rhythm of presentation – bidding – soft applause for the winner, while the objects presented went through the useful, the bizarre, the uncommon, the artsy to unique and made especially for that purpose. There were several of the last kind – a landscape painting by one of the local artists, a tiny carved wood replica of Kympton church tower, an offer of creating a personalised library stamp and a quilt.
The quilt.
#
Their return journey took longer than predicted, as the weather in all Europe turned and some of the planes were delayed or outright cancelled. William managed however to procure a set or ferry tickets – sea view cabins (were there cabins with no sea visible?) – and called ahead to inform Georgiana and the twins that they would be arriving with a day and a half of delay, as they'd be in Hull the next morning at eight o'clock. The girls expressed their disappointment but were heartened by the fact that their parents had some safe means of getting home at all. Lizzy and Will were told that they should relax, watch the sunset or sunrise or whatever and bring home some nice photos. Gifts were, very carefully, not mentioned directly, but left as a subtext.
Obviously, their luggage was already bulging with various bigger and smaller objects they had picked on the way, the latest of which, bought in Amsterdam, Rose would only be able to make use of in the fall – six bags of various tulip bulbs – and some which would make the girls either groan with embarrassment or squeal in delight – being as they were Moomin-patterned. Elizabeth simply hadn't managed to resist buying a number of cereal bowls and teacups and had already decided that the ones with the Groke would belong to her. William had immediately requested for the set with the Ancestor to be reserved for him, leaving still four more different patterns for the girls to choose from. Of course, it was a tourist trap kind of purchase, she knew. It was also something that she decided she was going to spend some of her hard-earned money on, period. If she wanted to have a cereal bowl with Groke, she could.
Well, that, and a bunch of new cookie cutters, including one in the shape of a Hatifnatter.
The ferry was a rather indulgent way of getting back home. They ate dinner at one of the onboard restaurants, watched the sea outside their cabin, made a thorough use of the bed and fell asleep in the shared warmth, William's arms around her waist, their bodies resting flush with each other.
An early dawn woke them and they spent several minutes documenting the beauty of a sunrise over the sea, as per the girls' request, but soon it was time for breakfast and then they were in Hull, their luggage on a trolley and a rented car waiting for them in the car park.
"We'll be home in three hours," William promised. "I just hope it is still standing."
It was, actually. Quiet and devoid of any signs of life – with the girls at school and Georgiana most probably out on some assignment, they'd have the whole place to themselves...
"There you are!"
Ah, Mrs Reynolds was in.
"Thank goodness, finally! I have a lunch ready for you, but first, Elizabeth, you have to go upstairs and see what they prepared for you, because–" the older woman shook her head. "I wasn't sure. But Mina said it would be fine–"
Elizabeth's workroom had been apparently put to use, which in itself wasn't a bad thing – if Mina wanted to sew something, she always could, so it was not an issue, in general. However, the fact that the whole floor was covered in packing paper and pieces of material pinned to it was a surprise.
It was Elizabeth's poinsettia project. Drawn out by hand on packing paper, coloured lightly with pencils, with notes about shades (in RGB) added in some places. The girls hadn't cut anything, but they had obviously been hard at work there, matching the fabric from the containers to the design of the flower she had made on her computer all that time ago – a lifetime ago – in September.
"How did they know what you were planning?" William peeked over her shoulder as she checked the annotations on the margins around the flower.
"We were talking about it in December and they knew the designs are on my computer. I only took my laptop with me for the trip, but the main workstation is here," she nodded towards the corner. "Mina knows where I keep the drafts and knows how I work on them."
"This is– Well, isn't half of the fun actually doing it yourself?" he asked finally. "I mean, I have never been tempted myself, but–"
She shook her head.
"No, no, they did good. This is perfect. They did a great job here, and even– Yes, Mina definitely knew what she was doing," she picked up a sheet of paper. "'need more orange cotton and the green one is too thin', yep, all correct."
"So, you are not angry with them for starting this without you?"
"No, not in the least," she pulled the ties on one of the bundles open. "But I will expect them to help me finish this."
#
And they did, over the course of the following two weeks. With Elizabeth's hand still not up to the task of sewing for too long, Mina was the main sewing machine operator, with Rose stepping up when needed and helping with bigger, more ungainly pieces that had already been sewn together. Rose turned out also to be a rather proficient cutter, so she was quickly taught how to draw an appropriate diamond shape on the fabric and the way to cut it. All Elizabeth had to do was to resolve the most complicated points – the middle of the pattern, where eight diamonds came together and sewing on the bias tape around the corners once it was all quilted together.
William had helped them to transport the whole thing to Evie's shop, where three experienced women and two eager-to-help teenagers put the huge piece through all the contortions needed to finally get it properly quilted. The outcome, by Mina's suggestion and Elizabeth's and Rose's agreement, was put on the auction. And it was going to be bid on as the very last object on the list.
"For the girls' sake I hope it will fetch a fair amount of money," she ran her fingers over his knuckles. "They'd be disappointed if it doesn't get some funds for the cause."
"The cause" being a project of building ecological and economy flats for young people. William's dream of creating whole housing estates for students came from everyday interaction with interns at his firm and the students coming in to work in the house and on the grounds. As he explained, many of them had expressed their worry over their inability to live on their own once they'd graduate, due to prohibitive costs of both rent and maintenance. Not to mention actually buying something. He hoped that with the money collected from this auction and various donations he would be able to start the project in spring...
She felt his fingers tightening on hers.
It was the time for the quilt now.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to mute all the sounds from the room.
"–minimum bid of five thousand pounds!"
She jerked up, looking at William in amazement.
"What? It was supposed to be one...!"
Her husband smiled innocently and shrugged.
First person from the crowd raised their hand and the bidding started.
William's arm around her shoulders tightened.
"Someone," he whispered with a hint of a laugh, "is going to pay at least ten thousand pounds for your quilt, Mrs Darcy. Think about it. I will actually wager it will go for more than twelve."
She tried very much not to dwell on it too much. Instead she sighed and tried to relax into William's steady warmth.
"If it does, it will be because of your talent with words," she whispered back. "You wrote all these descriptions."
"Seven thousand!"
She felt his lips quirking into a smile against hers.
"You are lucky I love you," she added, with just a hint of a threat.
"Oh, I definitely am. Now, may I kiss my wife, or will she be still angry with me for changing the opening bid?"
"Shut up and kiss me, William Darcy."
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