Chapter 16

At Longbourn, the effects of the Darcys departure from Longbourn were immediate. As soon as Fitzwilliam walked out the door, Mrs Bennet rushed from the hallway and into the drawing room where her family had remained. She immediately blurted out what she had just learned. "Mr Darcy is not merely a barrister; he owns an estate or will own an estate soon, and his uncle is an earl!" she cried.

"What!" Jane exclaimed, already annoyed that Elizabeth had not only married before her but had somehow managed to ensnare not only a very handsome man, one who was much younger than she would have expected, but one who was apparently now a landowner.

"Just before he departed, he said that he had inherited an estate from his grandfather, who was an earl, and that the house where they stayed while in London was owned by his uncle, the Earl of Matlock," Mrs Bennet said, still agitated by the events that had just transpired. "Lizzy has married much better than we thought, but he says he will never invite any of us into his home. I will have to write to that girl immediately and demand she invite her sister to visit her for the Season in London. If Lizzy could manage to ensnare such a handsome man and one with such exalted connections, surely my Jane could marry a peer. She is twice as pretty as her sister."

"Mama, but you just said he will not invite any of us into his homes. Why would Lizzy want to invite Jane when she all but accused Lizzy of behaving badly? And did not the two of you tell the milliner just a few days ago that you would not be surprised if Lizzy had an early babe? Charlotte was here, and she and Lizzy have always kept in touch, so if any gossip of that sort is being spread in Meryton, then surely Lizzy will know who the culprit was." Kitty questioned her mother.

Mrs Bennet and Jane both sputtered at that. "I did no such thing, Kitty. How dare you accuse me of such?" Jane protested. "Lizzy has always treated me very kindly, and I am certain if I write and ask her for an invitation, she will invite me to London."

"Do you know where to send your letters?" Lydia asked. "I thought I heard you and Mama complaining after the wedding that you did not have any address other than the Gardiners. Mama was saying that she did not know what kind of rooms a barrister would keep, and the two of you were laughing at the idea of Lizzy and her new husband sharing rooms in a boarding house somewhere on their wedding night."

Jane looked aghast at her comments being repeated. "I said no such thing, Lydia, and it will do you no good to repeat such nonsense. When I am invited to London and marry much better than Lizzy, you will regret saying such things to me. Do not say another word," she commanded her sister.

"But Jane …" Kitty began before her mother cut her off.

"Enough of this, both of you. Do not dare repeat anything you think you may have heard about Lizzy and her new husband. If you ever want to be invited to London with my Jane marries a wealthy man, then do not say another word," Mrs Bennet demanded of her youngest daughters. "Now, Jane, tomorrow we will go and visit all of our friends and neighbours to tell them of Lizzy's good fortune. Once Charlotte writes to Lizzy and tells her how well we think of her and her new husband, then they will be sure to invite us. Perhaps you can discover Lizzy's address from Charlotte — you can say you lost the paper Lizzy gave you with the address."

"We should go this afternoon, Mama," Jane persuaded, but her mother shook her head.

"No, Jane, we cannot," the matron replied. "We must write letters to Lizzy immediately explaining our misunderstandings and convincing her that she must invite you to town. If your new brother is the nephew of an earl, then they can introduce you to other titled men. You will marry extremely well, my dear child."

So said, the two scurried from the room to write the proposed letters. Mr Bennet rose to depart from the room, returning to his book room and quiet he found there, leaving Kitty and Lydia alone. They both spent a moment staring at the other, trying to figure out exactly what had happened.

"Lydia, I cannot imagine Lizzy doing as Mama and Jane believe she will. If nothing else, she will depart on her wedding trip and will not be in town for a month or more. Probably more since he said they intended to spend a week at his family's house at the Lakes," Kitty said thoughtfully. "Do you think we should write Lizzy a letter, telling her what was said after she left? If we give it to Charlotte, she will post it for us, even if she will not give us the address."

Lydia agreed with this plan, although she preferred not to write if she did not have to. After some discussion, the two hurried upstairs to dress, having decided to go to Lucas Lodge and tell Charlotte what they had heard. This way, Charlotte would have to write the letter instead of their doing it.

When they arrived at Lucas Lodge, it was just after the Darcy carriage had departed. The two girls watched it leave and noticed that Lady Lucas was accompanying the couple in the equipage. Surprised, they knocked on the door and requested to visit with Charlotte and Maria Lucas for a few minutes. The two were soon shown into a sitting room with the others and quickly related the conversation that had taken place after their sister departed. Charlotte merely shook her head at the audacity of Mrs and Miss Bennet before assuring the girls that Lady Lucas was taking care of any gossip about the couple. She also promised to write to Lizzy to tell her what had occurred at Longbourn after their departure. Charlotte thanked the two girls for their information and left to go write to her friend. The other two girls stayed a while longer, visiting with Maria before eventually returning home.


The Darcys' journey north took three days as the couple stopped regularly to view the sites. The journey, at least the first part of it, was familiar to Fitzwilliam, as he had frequently travelled between Pemberley and London. On the last day, they began to head west toward Cheshire. Foxwood Hall sat near the River Dane, close to where Cheshire and Derbyshire met. It was in Peak District, and Elizabeth was thrilled by the sights as they came into that region. They reached the manor house early in the afternoon and, after greeting the senior servants and changing from their travelling clothes into those suited for riding, went to the stables.

"You do remember that I do not ride particularly well, do you not, Will?" Elizabeth asked her husband.

"It is good that I only asked for one horse to be saddled then," he replied. "We will begin your lessons soon, love, but for now, I want to explore the estate, and the best way to do that is on a horse. I would like you to accompany me, but if you would prefer to remain here, I will not require it of you."

She looked down at her boots for a moment. "I would like to go, but, Will, I am not a particularly good rider. Papa did not keep horses suited for riding, and while I did occasionally attempt it against advice, I was never particularly successful. I had a few disjointed lessons here and there, but …"

"I am a good rider, as that was something my father ensured all of his children could do well," he told her. "And you will be with me, and I would never let harm come to you. I look forward to teaching you when you are ready, but for now, all I want to do is to ride with you. You will not need to do a thing."

They had reached the stables, and a groom was waiting with a large black stallion. Fitzwilliam lifted his wife onto the saddle and then used the stirrups to mount behind her. "Hold on," he told her as he used his heels to tell the horse to move. Mere moments later, they were galloping across the field behind the house, and Elizabeth buried her face into his chest as the wind whipped her hair from its pins. She had never done anything like this before and enjoyed every moment of it, only regretting that it ended far sooner than she might have liked. After a time, he reined the horse in and slowed him to a walk. "What do you think, Elizabeth?" he whispered.

"It was wonderful, Fitzwilliam," she said, turning in his arms to kiss him. "You must teach me to do this."

He laughed at her enthusiasm. "I will, my love," he replied. "Perhaps I can have the servants at Pemberley convey some horses for us to the cottage, and we can begin our lessons there. Riding is a necessary skill for the master and mistress of an estate and will make it easier for you to visit our tenants at whichever estate we choose." He looked around him for a minute. "We have not seen Oakridge Manor, but this estate is stunning. We are near the Peak District, and Oakridge may be as well. I am not sure how we will make a choice between the two."

"We will need to explore the house tomorrow, and that may help us decide. You will need to review the books while I interview the servants. If both houses are equally beautiful, then perhaps we can decide based on how well we get along with the servants," Elizabeth offered. "Otherwise, I do not know how we will decide. Perhaps on how comfortable the bed is?"

Fitzwilliam laughed. "That can be easily fixed, Elizabeth. Maybe we can make a decision based on the nursery or the stables."

Elizabeth arched her eyebrow as she looked at him. "The nursery or the stables?" she inquired.

He shrugged. "Equally as nonsensical reasons as deciding based upon the bed," he replied. "Just as our hearts spoke to each other about when we met, perhaps our hearts will tell us which house to choose."

She leaned into him and smiled. "That seems to be a far better way to make a decision," she agreed. "Maybe when we see the other estate, we just will know, and the decision will be made for us."

They returned to the house after riding a bit further and returned to the rooms assigned to them and freshened up before coming downstairs for dinner. The cook had prepared a delicious meal, and they relished every bite, sending their compliments down to the cook, who had no doubt made every effort to show off. After dinner, they wandered around the rooms on the first floor, discovering the library and the music room, along with several sitting rooms. There was a game room set up, complete with a billiards table. Elizabeth asked about the game, and Fitzwilliam showed her how to play, but soon, they elected to continue their play in the chambers.


After three days of exploring this estate, the Darcys departed to visit the second. Oakridge Manor was in Dovedale, also in the Peak District and the park and manor were as lovely as Foxwood. Similar to that estate, Oakridge Manor boasted beautiful parklands and an elegant manor house. The manor was strategically positioned on a ridge, offering a stunning view of the surrounding Peaks and was backed by a large grove of Oak trees, giving the house its name.

As they explored this estate, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth took note of any changes that might be required in this house as they had the other, but it was the library in this house that sold them on its location. According to Fitzwilliam, the library in this house was nearly as large as the library at Pemberley and almost as well supplied.

"Give me a year or two, my love, and I will make sure it rivals the collection at Pemberley. In the years since I finished school, I have collected quite a few books of my own, and as George is not as fond of the written word, he had not made as many purchases. The next time we are in London, we will visit every bookseller and secondhand shop we can discover so we might fill in a few of the shelves that are empty. We can move some of the older books to the second story and keep our purchases at a more convenient distance," Fitzwilliam teased. "Now, does this room speak to your heart?"

She laughed. "Indeed it does, William," she replied, moving in to kiss her husband on his chin, which was as far as she could reach on her tall husband, even on her tiptoes.

Their decision made, Fitzwilliam wrote a letter to his uncle to inform him of it, so his uncle could begin the transfer of the estate into his name. The couple ensured the door to the library was locked before celebrating their new home in the way common to newlyweds.

They remained a fortnight at Oakridge Manor before heading north. Having spent longer than intended at Oakridge, the Darcys decided to delay their visit to Pemberley until after the Lakes. He had written to his brother to ask for two horses to be sent on from Pemberley to Darcy Cottage, and George had handled the arrangements, so when they arrived, they found the horses there waiting for them. The horse selected for Elizabeth was a gentle chestnut mare named Miranda, and Fitzwilliam thought her perfect for his bride. His brother had selected for him a big black stallion who he had deemed as Ferdinand, causing Fitzwilliam to laugh uproariously when he read the note that accompanied the horses. Apparently, George had thought these an appropriate gift for the couple and had named them after the main characters in The Tempest.


During the month they spent at Darcy Cottage, Elizabeth became a rather adept rider. Their lessons had been a very enjoyable time for the couple as they had learned much about each other in the endeavour. Elizabeth could be stubborn nor did she take direction well, and this had led to the couple's first argument. Fitzwilliam had refused to allow Elizabeth to ride until she was willing to take his direction, claiming that he was doing so for her safety. Unused to someone being concerned about her safety, Elizabeth took some time in their chambers to contemplate their argument and, after writing a letter to her aunt where she complained about her husband's highhanded ways, soon came to the realisation that she was being a fool. Once again, she had acted precipitously and eventually threw her letter into the fire and sought out her husband, who was pacing in the home's library.

"I am sorry, Will," Elizabeth whispered when he turned at the slight noise she made as she entered. "I should have been willing to listen to you in this: I am afraid that I am far too used to being left to my own devices."

He quickly strode to her and brought her to him in a tight embrace. "I love you too much to allow you to come to harm. While I realise you are a quick learner and have become a good rider in the last fortnight, you are not yet ready to jump fences. Allow me to protect you, my dear, and know I would never deny you anything if I can help it. However, I have come to realise that I could have explained my reasoning better, and perhaps you would not have gotten so angry with me."

She shook her head where it was lodged against his chest. Pulling back, she moved a hand from where it rested around his waist to caress his cheek. "I was too angry to listen to explanations, and I acted like a spoiled child. I doubt you could have done anything in this instance that would have caused me to react differently. You have not married a child, Fitzwilliam, that I promise you. I will not change overnight, but I will strive to do better in the future."

They continued to hold each other as they both allowed the emotions of their argument to settle.