A Most Wonderful Surprise
Early one morning, about a week after their experience at Rosings, Elizabeth dressed quickly and hurried down the halls. Today was the day her sister Jane and Mr. Bingly would visit. Elizabeth was terribly excited as she ran to the drawing room and sat in a comfortable chair near the window which overlooked the front lawn where she would be able to see any carriages that came up the path.
She sat there for most of the morning, counting the minutes as to when Jane would arrive, and completely forgetting about breakfast.
"Elizabeth?" Elizabeth looked up in surprise to see her husband in the doorway, staring at her in interest. "I've been looking all over for you. You missed breakfast and I was wondering what you were doing," he spoke up. Elizabeth smiled but turned back to the window.
"I'm sorry, William, I am just excited to see my sister again," she grinned, staring out at the beautiful grounds. Mr. Darcy smiled.
"I'm sure they'll be here soon, darling. Do not fret. I would prefer to have you walking the grounds or in the library, than staring out a window for a couple of hours," he chuckled, walking farther into the room.
"Oh, well I suppose I should be doing something useful. I just don't know what to do to pass the time," she sighed.
"How about breakfast for starters?" Mr. Darcy offered, and held out his hand. Elizabeth smiled and took it.
"I suppose I should not run off on an empty stomach," she giggled as he escorted her to breakfast.
"No indeed," he laughed. Their breakfast was more cheerful than it had been for the past few days. Mr. Darcy could visibly see a change in his wife's character. Her eyes were aglow and her complexion seemed to sparkle. She laughed and smiled at him across the table and Mr. Darcy wanted nothing better than to have her always be smiling. Once breakfast was finished they crossed back to the library, but the two of them were too anxious to read and instead decided to walk about the grounds for a while.
They walked arm in arm, talking amiably about many subjects, until Elizabeth suddenly froze.
"Do you hear that?" she whispered excitedly.
"Hear what, love?" Darcy inquired.
"That sound! Oh it is the sound of a carriage, William, I am sure! Make haste!" she laughed and spun around to hurry back toward the house. Darcy shook his head and hurried after his excited wife. As he strode toward the house, he did in fact realize that there was a carriage there. Just as he got closer, he could see Mrs. Jane Bingly stepping from the carriage and embracing her smiling sister so jovially.
"Oh Lizzy!" he heard her say, before turning his attention toward the other. Mr. Bingly stood watching his wife and sister-in-law greet each other with a wide smile on his face as always.
"Darcy!" cried he, as Darcy made himself known. "It is such a pleasure to meet you again, my old friend!"
"The pleasure is all mine, Charles," he chuckled as the two men shook hands. "Do please come inside, and I'll have my men bring in your bags."
So the four of them walked inside, Jane and Elizabeth already immersed in each other and how their lives were going, and Bingly and Darcy talking as freely as they always had. The four of them got along quite nicely as the hours passed, and Darcy was very pleased to see his wife with her sister to chat with. However, this did not stop him from staring at her across the room as always. Bingly tried, and failed on several accounts, to get his attention.
"Pardon?" Darcy asked, slipping out of his dreamy state, to see his friend staring at him.
"I had just asked you, Darcy, if you should like to show me the stables? It might take your mind off of things," he chuckled. Darcy felt a little embarrassed for the way he had been caught staring, and decided to take up Bingly's offer and show him the stables. The two men took leave of the ladies, leaving Elizabeth and Jane more time to explore the house themselves and talk more.
"He still looks at you so fondly," Jane giggled once they were alone, and exploring the labyrinth of Pemberley.
"If I must confess, I'm rather flattered with it," Elizabeth smiled.
"I am so happy for you, Lizzy. You managed to find a happy relationship and not only that, but a wealthy one." At this both girls laughed heartily as Elizabeth led them to the library.
"I spend most of my time in here, and William usually joins me…although I'm not sure how much time is spent reading or looking at me," she giggled. Jane smiled at her sister's happiness.
"I was so happy when I heard I would be able to see you again. Of course mama was in an uproar, telling me I shouldn't leave her so lonely, though I do not even live there anymore," Jane said.
"Oh I suppose, and how is mama and papa, or Kitty and Mary?" Elizabeth inquired as they sat down together near the window.
"They are all in excellent health, though did you hear that Kitty has found a new favorite?"
"Indeed I did not! Who could possibly win the heart of wild Kitty?" Elizabeth chuckled.
"His name is Thomas Seavers. He's not as rich as Mr. Darcy, but he has a moderate fortune. It is enough to provide a comfortable home, quite like Mr. Collins."
"If he is anything like Mr. Collins, Kitty should not accept his hand," Elizabeth laughed. Jane joined in.
"Lizzy, I only want the best for all of my sisters and family. If Mr. Seavers is a respectable man and Kitty loves him, then I hope their relationship blossoms," Jane sighed.
"Oh Jane, how I've missed your kind heart!" Elizabeth smiled as she and her sister embraced quickly. As they were pulling away, however, Elizabeth's sharp eye noticed something out the window.
"Who is that?" she inquired softly, staring at the carriage that was now rolling up the path. Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingly were also coming back from the stables.
"Were you expecting someone else?" Jane asked, also following the small carriage.
"No, not at all. Though I suppose, we should go to greet them, for I am mistress of this house and it would be rude not to," Elizabeth smiled as she and Jane met their husbands outside.
"Ah, there are the two finest ladies in the land!" Mr. Bingly announced proudly as Jane stood by his side and Elizabeth by Darcy's.
"Were you expecting someone else, William?" she asked softly as the carriage came closer.
"Actually I was. I hope you are not against my decision," he spoke up.
"Not at all, but who else did you invite?" Elizabeth smiled as the carriage came to a halt in front of them.
"See for yourself," Darcy muttered as the carriage men held open the door.
"Oh girls! Lizzy! Jane!"
"Mother!" Elizabeth and Jane cried at the same time.
"Don't forget about me!" Kitty giggled, stepping out behind her mother, followed quickly by Mary. Mr. Darcy smiled as Jane and Elizabeth embraced their mother and sisters.
"Oh mama, I did not expect to see you here at all!" Elizabeth laughed.
"Did not expect? Did not expect? What, didn't Mr. Darcy tell you anything?" she cried, staring at Mr. Darcy's smiling face.
"Why no, he did not," Elizabeth replied in a shocked voice before turning to look at her husband.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," he explained quickly.
"Well, that right there, is a good man, Lizzy. You've found yourself an excellent husband indeed," remarked her mother. In truth, Elizabeth's mother had begun to warm up to Mr. Darcy, since he had such a kind heart, and had a lot of wealth which Elizabeth was now mistress of.
"Thank you very much, madam, but shall we all go inside for some tea? I'm sure you are all very exhausted from your journeys," Mr. Darcy smiled and held out his arm to escort Elizabeth inside. Bingly escorted Jane in front of them leaving the other three women to follow behind. As they walked, Elizabeth could hear is her mother behind her.
"Oh girls! Can you believe we'll be staying at Pemberley?" followed by squeals of laughter, most-likely coming from Kitty and her mother.
A/N: And, I'm not sure if I'll ever finish this fanfiction. I mean, I'm working pretty hard on my own book right now and I'm not a great Romantic and Drama writer. I honestly wasn't sure if I was ever going to pick this up again, but because of all my wonderful reviewers, I have to say that I cranked this chapter out just for them, because so many people liked it :) So I hope you all enjoyed it, I'm not sure how well written it was, though.
Anyway, since there were so many of you who reviewed last time and everything, I've decided to be lazy and just thank you all flat out. So thank you so much for the reviews! I appreciated all of them, and thank you for telling me how you felt and everything! I read all of your reviews, every single one and they all made me smile! So you all get virtual cookies!
Also thank you to whoever added it to their favorite's list or on story alert! So thanks a lot!
I know, this may seem like the plot is slow, but to tell you the truth, I don't know how much more I'm going to write. I do have a dramatic plot in mind though (or something of the sort) so I most likely will write more in the future and I will definitely try to make is a little more dramatic instead of all happy-go-lucky, because Jane Austen's books weren't all joyful all the time. :) So I hope this chapter exceeded expectation, and once again
THANK YOU!
For all of you wonderful reviewers and readers! :D Until next time!