Chapter 6
Richard left the next morning before breakfast. Since many of the guests had left, the ladies decided to forgo the picnic to spend the morning shopping in Lambton. Georgiana had spoken to William about Elizabeth's desire to order a few dresses, and he had encouraged her to speak with the dress maker about obtaining for Elizabeth some of the things she would need for a Derbyshire winter. Before the women left for Lambton, he had a similar conversation with Mrs. Gardiner, who had just smiled at him before nodding her agreement.
Gardiner joined Darcy riding out on the estate. Although he had made his fortune in trade, Darcy found the man to be knowledgeable in estate matters. He was also good at dealing with people and provided valuable insight in managing them. Darcy had already been impressed by the man, and his help that morning raised him even more in his estimation. Gardiner also was impressed by Darcy and the two made strides in further cementing a solid friendship.
The ladies arrived back from Lambton just before the gentlemen returned from their ride. After refreshing themselves, they gathered for lunch and discussed what they had all accomplished that morning. The dressmaker had been pleased the task of updating the riding jacket to fit Elizabeth's form and several additional dresses and other items had been ordered that would be appropriate for a Derbyshire winter.
When the conversation turned to what the gentlemen had been doing, Darcy was impressed by Elizabeth's knowledge and understanding of estate matters. They had not discussed these things before, but it was apparent that Elizabeth would be even more of a partner than he had anticipated.
Darcy excused himself after lunch to complete some necessary business in his study. He had several letters he needed to send and to meet with his steward about the upcoming harvest, especially since he would apparently be spending a significant amount of time in London that fall.
While the Gardiners once again called on some of Mrs. Gardiner's friends from Lambton, Elizabeth and Georgiana went for a walk in the gardens, with Georgiana pointing out many of her favorite spots and telling her of the history of the estate. Apparently, each mistress of Pemberley had added something, and Elizabeth wondered what her contribution to this grand estate would be. She had the thought that it was something she needed to discuss with William but realized that nothing needed to be decided right now.
Darcy found the two of them sometime later in the gardens, after he had met with his steward. He moved to escort both ladies, but after a few steps, Georgiana excused herself to return to the house.
"Ahh, finally alone, Elizabeth," he said smiling down at her as he placed his free hand on her hand on his arm. She brought her other hand to cover his as well and smiled up at him.
"Yes, it has been hours since we walked in this same location this morning, William," she grinned. "But I did want to ask you how you managed to convince both your sister and my aunt to order far more at the dress makers than I ever would have thought of. We are not married yet." She fixed him with a hard glare, but it quickly became a smile as she looked at his sheepish expression.
"Georgiana spoke to me this morning after our walk. It was her idea to ensure you had clothing for a Derbyshire winter, and she wanted to purchase it for you as a gift," he told her. "But I wanted to speak to you about this anyway, do you want to winter in London or would you prefer to return to Pemberley after we are married?"
"If I am to spend most of September in London, I will be eager to return to the country after we are wed," Elizabeth said. "I know that we will return to Longbourn for the wedding, but I would prefer to avoid too much time in London."
"I would like to return to London for a brief time after the wedding, Elizabeth. I, umm, I do not wish for you to have to spend our wedding night in an inn if it can be avoided. We could return to London for a fortnight or so and then return to Pemberley until Spring."
Both colored slightly at this, and Elizabeth just nodded. "Whatever you deem best, William," she spoke in an almost whisper and her face was rosy.
He pressed his lips to her hair. "We should go back to the house, my love," he said when he could finally speak.
They were quiet for a time as they walked back to the house. "When are you due to depart for Hertfordshire with your aunt and uncle?" he asked after several minutes.
"We planned to stay for about ten days in Derbyshire. We arrived on Saturday and should leave Monday next. Three days or four days of travel would have us at Longbourn on that Wednesday or Thursday," she told him.
"If I can manage it, I would like to travel with you and the Gardiners to Hertfordshire. With Georgiana traveling as well, you could perhaps ride with us part of each day, or I could ride with the Gardiners if they will permit it. I find the longer you are here, the less I want to be parted from you," William breathed.
She smiled up at him, "I dread the idea of being separated from you, as well. I would like it if you could accompany us."
He kissed her hand as they mounted the stairs into the house.
The days at Pemberley passed all too quickly for the couple. Most mornings, William and Elizabeth walked in the gardens before breakfast, discussing estate matters and the tenants and their plans for the future. After breakfast, time was spent in the larger group, occasionally taking shopping excursions into Lambton and several more riding lessons. William spent most afternoons in his study, attending to his business and correspondence, while the Gardiners visited friends and Georgians and Elizabeth laughed and talked as sisters. On several occasions, Elizabeth rode out to visit tenants with William and Georgiana and was introduced as the future mistress. She also joined him in the study for brief periods and he acquainted her with details about the harvest and they made plans for the harvest celebration, as well as gift for their tenants for Christmas.
On the Saturday before they were to leave, Elizabeth finally received a reply from Jane and William received a letter from Mr. Bennet. Elizabeth was surprised by Jane's letter, as it did not mention anything related to her engagement or wedding plans but did mention that Mr. Bingley had returned and had called on her several times. She had been surprised when Bingley told her that Elizabeth was at Pemberley.
Elizabeth went in search of William, carrying her letter. She found him in his study reading his own letter, a strange look on his face. He looked up at her entry.
"Jane wrote but chastises me for not writing and mentions nothing of our engagement. Mr. Bingley is there but has not mentioned it, but of course, we told him not to discuss it with anyone. He has visited Longbourn a few times, but they have not had an opportunity to speak," Elizabeth told him upon entering.
William grimaced. "Your father must have withheld your letter to her. I know you have written to her more than once since you have been here, not counting the letter the day after I proposed. He is not pleased with our engagement." His hand pinched the bridge of his nose as though he were fighting a headache. "His letter to me," he held it up, "expresses his great unwillingness for our marriage. He refuses both his consent and his blessing and states that if you chose to marry me, you will not be permitted to do so from Longbourn. I know I made a poor impression in Hertfordshire, my dear, but I do not know what I have done to garner this level of abuse from him. From his letter, he is very angry with both me and your uncle."
"May I read his letter?" she asked.
"I think it better that you not, love. At least not without your uncle's having read it first," he replied. She made a face, but nodded, willing to defer to her betrothed and her uncle on this matter.
He rang a bell for a servant. Within moments, a footman appeared and was sent to bring Mr. Gardiner to the study. He arrived quickly and looked between the two, a letter in his own hand.
"I take it you heard from Mr. Bennet as well," he stated. "Just you Darcy, or did Lizzy receive one as well?"
"Only I had that pleasure," Darcy replied mockingly. "Elizabeth received a letter from Jane, but it appears as though she has not received Elizabeth's letters to her. Would Mr. Bennet have withheld it?"
"Not normally, but with so many letters arriving at the same time, he may have kept it back until he read his. I do not know if he would have read her letter, or merely kept it," Gardiner stated. "I do not understand his level of vitriol. May I read what he sent to you?"
He handed it over to the man and offered his own. "Elizabeth asked to read it, but I asked her to allow me to consult you first. I would prefer she did not."
The two men read the letters while Elizabeth watched their faces. Both grew angry as they read, but she detected that William's face held a touch of sadness as well.
When they looked up, William looked at Elizabeth, his eyes sorrowful.
"I am sorry, Elizabeth," he said, looking at the face of the woman he loved so dearly.
"Is it so very bad?" she asked.
Her uncle answered. "I would not like for you to read all of what he says but he is unhappy about your betrothal, to say the least. He is angry at me for permitting it and for bringing you here in the first place and is quite harsh in his criticism of Darcy. I would have expected a certain measure of reluctance on his part, given that he had always favored you, but got him to spew such hateful words is shocking."
"Do I have any chance of changing his mind, do you think?" she asked.
"He states if you come home still engaged to Darcy, you will not be permitted to enter Longbourn," Gardiner told her. "He has read your letters and remains unconvinced. He believes Darcy is deceiving you and will not actually marry you. Although he says he cannot prevent the match, if you do go forward with it, he says he will no longer claim you as his daughter. And he will not let any of his daughters write to you or accept your letters to them. They will not be permitted to contact my family either, regardless of the outcome.
"We are permitted only to claim our children when we arrive and will be expected to leave immediately after. As I said, you will only be allowed to enter if you have renounced any notion of marrying Darcy."
She sat in shocked amazement. "Are you serious, Uncle? He would disown me over my engagement to Mr. Darcy. I can scarce believe it."
"I admit, I am astonished as well. I would have never dreamed her would react this way," Gardiner replied.
"Dearest, I am sorry it has come to this. I do not like that you have been put in the position of choosing your family or me. I will, of course, abide by your decision, and no matter what you chose, do anything I can to be of assistance to you," William said softly.
"There is no choice, William," she said emphatically, walking toward him to take his hand. "My future is with you. I do not understand Papa's reaction whatsoever, but if he wants to make me choose between him and you, I choose love. I choose you."
He stood and pulled her to him in a fierce embrace. They remained that way for several moments before her uncle cleared his throat and the couple separated. Taking her hand in his, Darcy led Elizabeth to the settee once again and they sat down.
"So, that decision made, what do we do next? We are to leave Monday, and Darcy, you plan to accompany us, do you not?" Gardiner asked.
"Yes, sir, I do," he said.
"I propose a slight alteration to our plans," Gardiner began. "You and Georgiana should go directly to London rather than stopping in Hertfordshire. Elizabeth may accompany you if she wants to avoid Longbourn entirely. I will try to slip Jane a letter explaining as much as I can, or you can write your friend, Darcy. Hopefully, he will marry Jane soon enough and then you will be able to see her once again, Lizzy.
"Once in London, Darcy can apply for a common license, and you can be married there. We may still want to consult with your aunt and uncle to see what they think may be best. We want to avoid anyone believing you marrying due to a compromise if we can, and Lizzy, you are unknown in society."
"If I am not to be permitted at Longbourn, I would rather go straight to London. But uncle, where would I stay?" Elizabeth asked.
"I imagine one night at Darcy house with both Georgiana and her companion in residence should not matter too much. Do you agree, Darcy?" Gardiner proposed.
"I do not see a problem with it, so long as Elizabeth agrees. We can also check with Mrs. Annesley to see if she has any objections to the idea," Darcy answered.
Elizabeth smiled at William and nodded her agreement with the scheme.
"I will go to write my father a letter. And one for Jane that you can perhaps include in a letter to Bingley," she remarked.
"And I need to speak to your aunt and write my own letter to Thomas. Darcy, my letter will express my anger over what he wrote, if you think you must write one as well, keep it conciliatory and respectful for now. Do not include any of our plans. Keep your anger in check – save it for after you are wed and if this continues. Hopefully it will not be needed then."
Gardiner left, leaving Elizabeth in the study with the door wide open. "Are you certain, Elizabeth? I do not want you to resent me later because you were put in this position," William asked hesitantly, but needing to make sure Elizabeth was okay with her decision
"You did not put me in the position to choose, my father did. And marriage is already about choosing to move loyalty from one family to a new one. I am just doing that a bit sooner. No, William, I chose you unreservedly. You are my future, and I chose to move forward with you at my side. If it were possible, I would leave Derbyshire on Monday as your wife, but alas, that cannot be. I may regret that I had to make a choice, but I will not regret choosing to keep you in my life."
He kissed the hand he held. "The wedding will be soon enough. You make me inordinately happy, my love."
Reluctantly, they began to part. Hesitantly, he suggested, "Elizabeth, there is a writing desk over by the window. I could move it nearer and you could stay here in my study to write your letters if you would like."
She beamed at him. "I would like that very much, William."
"Perhaps, when we are married, we could add a desk in here for you to use. There is a mistress's study as well, but I would enjoy having you in here with me whenever possible."
"That is a lovely idea," she gushed.
He grinned and moved the small table in front of his desk where he could watch her. He gave her writing supplies and they both sat to write letters. His took longer than normal, both because he often watched Elizabeth but also because he had to carefully craft at least one of the letters so his anger would not be too obvious.
Finally, though, he completed the letter to her father and brought it to Elizabeth to read.
Mr. Bennet
I write to assure you of my honorable intentions toward your daughter. I love her; I have loved her for many months. Her strength, her intelligence, and her character all drew me to her and that has turned into a deep and abiding love. Not only do I love her, but I respect her and admire her greatly. As I have come to know her better, I have recognized in her the ability to be my partner in all things. She will be brilliant as my wife – and especially in her role as the mistress of Pemberley. I have every faith in her abilities to do everything that is needed.
If you make her choose between her family at Longbourn and me, it will break her heart. If she is forced to forsake her family by choosing me, it will be one kind of heartbreak. Since she loves me as much as I love her, choosing her family will result in breaking her heart in another way. Neither option is good and either would have long-reaching impacts. I beg you to reconsider your ultimatum. I would be happy to pay a visit to Longbourn if it would help and offer you any reassurances you require.
Yours, etc.,
Fitzwilliam Darcy
She looked at him and smiled. "You do have a way with the written word, William. Here, read mine."
Father,
I do not understand why you are forcing me to choose between my love for Mr. Darcy and my family. If you will issue ultimatums, know that I will choose to marry the man I love. As I have learned to understand the man better, I have found that he truly is the best man I have ever known. What your specific objection is, I do not know or understand, and your ultimatum prevents me from discussing this matter with you.
If you are willing to discuss this matter, I would be pleased to do so. However, my choice is made and my loyalty from this point on is toward my future husband. Since you have not seen fit to contact me regarding your decision, and since you have declared in my uncle's letter that I am no longer your daughter, I no longer owe you any loyalty. Apparently, I only had value so long as I am doing what you wished.
Farewell,
Elizabeth
"I hate this for you, Elizabeth. I do not understand his reasoning and he gives no reason in either letter that I can determine, other than the assumption I am toying with you and will not actually marry you. Although, if that were the case, why would I have bothered sending letters to him if I had dishonorable intentions."
"I do not understand it either, William," she said, patting his hand. "I would have expected him to be disappointed that I would settle so far away, but to go so far as to disown me for marrying you is an outrageous overreaction. Especially as he cannot be bothered to check my younger sisters. To threaten to disown me over marrying an honorable and wealthy gentleman who loves me and who I love in return is ridiculous."
He stood and pulled her into arms. They stood embracing for several minutes before he kissed the top of her head. "I am sorry that you have been placed into this position, my love. I would take away all your pain if I could."
"Thank you, William, but know you have nothing to apologize for. You have not created this; he has for reasons unknown to any of us. He could not even bother to write me a letter – only to you and my uncle. He values me so little. I am surprised, I admit, since I had believed myself to be his favorite, but I was only his favorite when it was beneficial to him."
He hugged her tighter to him then release her. "Perhaps his fear of losing you caused him to react badly. Maybe after a little reflection, he will change his mind."
"Perhaps," was all she said. Then, after squeezing him briefly, she stepped away. "We still have letters to write. Let us finish those so we call my uncle and send them on their way. Before luncheon, I would like to walk in the gardens."
They both sat again and wrote letters to send to Netherfield. Elizabeth wrote a short letter to Jane that William would include inside his letter to Bingley. William's letter explained the change in plans due to Mr. Bennet's response. Those letters completed and sealed, they sent again for Gardiner.
When Gardiner arrived in Williams's study, he saw his niece sitting on the settee next to her betrothed discussing the upcoming harvest and the harvest celebration. With the wedding, William would be missing both, but his stewed and housekeeper would have things well in hand.
"If I did not know better, I would think the two of you had been married for several years already," Gardiner said.
Elizabeth flushed at his comment but greeted her uncle. "We have both written letters to my father but left them open for you to review before we send them. William has a rider waiting to carry them to Hertfordshire as quickly as possible and prepared to bring us any letters in return. William also wrote to Mr. Bingley, and I have included a note for Jane if he can pass it to her without being observed."
"Very good, Lizzy. It does seem that she is not aware of anything that has been going on. I am surprised she was able to send that one letter," Gardiner replied, accepting the letters William offered him. After reading them both he nodded and handed them back to be folded and sealed. He handed over a another already sealed letter as well.
The rider was summoned and handed the letters with instructions to ride first to Netherfield and then to Longbourn. If there were replies from either location, he was to wait for them and deliver them to the travelers on route. He had the names of the inns where they were to stay and money enough to ensure quick travel.
After he left, Gardiner excused himself to go back to his wife and the engaged couple walked out to the gardens.
In the sitting room attached to the Gardiner's bedchambers, they discussed the situation. Mrs. Gardiner was making plans for what would need to be done to prepare for Elizabeth's wedding now that it was to take place in London.
"I do not understand Thomas's reaction and it is clear that my sister is not aware of any of this. I cannot imagine they she would allow Thomas to refuse his consent to allow any of her children to marry such a wealthy man. Of course, she has always claimed that Lizzy would never marry and would not have expected her least understood child to make such a spectacular match. But she would be in raptures at Lizzy's good fortune and would expect to use her new connections to assist her other daughters," Gardiner told his wife.
"It is shocking," his wife replied. "And I hate that he is making Elizabeth choose."
"She did not hesitate even a moment before she chose Darcy," Gardiner told her. "Her loyalties shifted when she agreed to marry him, and she will not waver. If anything, her father's ultimatum will only serve to make her even more determined to wed gun. She heard enough to rouse her protective instincts and she is not one to be cowed."
"No, she is not, and she protects those she loves fiercely. Thomas's reaction will only serve to make her more determined to wed William," Mrs. Gardiner agreed.
"She will go straight to London with the Darcy's until we arrive. We should only be a day or so behind them. Then the two of you may begin shopping for her trousseau. Darcy also suggested speaking with his aunt and uncle about the plans for the wedding to see what suggestion they may make," Gardiner added.
The two discussed other necessary changes to their plans for their return note that they would not be staying at Longbourn any longer than it took for them to gather their children. Both Gardiners wrote letters – some to post and some they hoped to deliver in person.