AN: Sorry so it took so long.
Elizabeth would have liked to spend a few quiet days in her family circle, but it was too much to hope for. In her mother's eyes having a daughter bonded was the next best thing to having a daughter married and it was impossible she would not have planned a dinner, impossible that Mr. Wickham would not be one of the party. Elizabeth could hardly have objected to his having been invited without explanation. She contrived not to sit next to him at dinner but afterward, he approached her to offer his congratulations.
"I understand," He added, "that your father did not send you?"
"No. The Sire Right was sold. It was only by chance I happened to be there at the right time."
He raised an eyebrow. "By chance, of course. How very clever. Now Darcy will have to supply hunting grounds. There is a certain poetic justice to his being forced by fate to do for you what he stopped his father from doing gladly for me. I worry though about your being so dependent on him. I hope he will not be unjust."
"I am not afraid of his being unjust. Mr. Darcy was more gracious than I would have expected. I admit I do not like being dependent on him but it is for Euphrosyne's sake and for her I would do anything. As would any bonded."
"Of course. She is a beauty." He smiled at Euphrosyne, "Aren't you a beautiful girl, yes you are, yes you are."
Euphrosyne hissed.
If Elizabeth had not been watching Mr. Wickham closely she would have missed the anger that flashed in his eyes before he adjusted his features. "Shy is she?"
"Not normally. She insisted on Colonel Fitzwilliam petting her."
"Ah, he was there, of course, was he very disappointed? I believe it would have been his third try."
"I cannot imagine he was not extremely disappointed, but he is a gentleman and accepted her choice with dignity and grace."
"You liked him then. His manners are very different than his cousins."
"Yes, very different. But I think Mr. Darcy improves on acquaintance."
"Indeed!" cried Wickham with a look that did not escape her. "And pray, may I ask - ?" But checking himself, he added, in a gayer tone, "Is it in address that he improves? Has he deigned to add ought of civility to his ordinary style! - for I dare not hope," he continued in a lower and more serious tone, "that he is improved in essentials."
"Oh no!" said Elizabeth. "In essentials, I believe, he is very much what he ever was."
While she spoke, Wickham looked as if scarcely knowing whether to rejoice over her words or to distrust their meaning. There was a something in her countenance which made him listen with an apprehensive and anxious attention while she added -
"When I said that he improved on acquaintance, I did not mean that either his mind or manners were in a state of improvement, but that, from knowing him better, his disposition was better understood."
Wickham's alarm now appeared in a heightened complexion and agitated look; for a few minutes he was silent, till, shaking off his embarrassment, he turned to her again, and said in the gentlest of accents, "You, who so well know my feelings towards Mr. Darcy, will readily comprehend how sincerely I must rejoice that he is wise enough to assume even the appearance of what is right. His pride, in that direction, may be of service, if not to himself, to you and Euphrosyne, for it must deter him from such foul misconduct as I have suffered by. I only fear that the sort of cautiousness, to which you, I imagine, have been alluding, is merely adopted on his visits to his aunt, of whose good opinion and judgment he stands much in awe. His fear of her has always operated, I know, when they were together; and a good deal is to be imputed to his wish of forwarding the match with Miss De Bourgh, which I am certain he has very much at heart."
Elizabeth could not repress a smile at this, but she answered only by a slight inclination of the head. She saw that he wanted to engage her on the old subject of his grievances, and she was in no humor to indulge him. The rest of the evening passed with the appearance, on his side, of usual cheerfulness, but with no further attempt to distinguish Elizabeth; and they parted at last with mutual civility. The next day she learned from Kitty and Lydia that Mr. Wickham had suddenly found it necessary to attend to some business in London and had left early in the morning without giving a definite plan as to when he would be back.
Elizabeth was glad of the news and hoped she might not see him again before leaving the neighborhood. Kitty and Lydia chose to attribute his absence to a falling out with Miss King who left the neighborhood within the week to stay with an uncle in Liverpool. To their disappointment, and Elizabeth's relief, Mr. Wickham did not return to the neighborhood when Miss King was gone.
(0)v(0)
Elizabeth had taken to sleeping in her father's library with Daskalos and Georgiana to simplify feedings. Mr. Darcy had not instructed Elizabeth in milking Georgiana and it seemed simpler to let her nurse, even if Georgiana would allow such an intimacy which Elizabeth did not wish to ask without good reason. Now that their mating was over there was no particular affection between Daskalos and Georgiana but they were cordial and things had been rearranged in the library to make room for a second Griffin. Male Griffins were said not to have an attachment to their offspring but Elizabeth often noticed Daskalos proudly watching Phrosy when he was pretending to read.
A few days after her encounter with Wickham, Elizabeth's father looked up from his desk to say, "I have a letter from your Patron.[i] He writes to say that he has found a woman he wishes to hire as a companion for you and will be sending her here in a few days so that we may give him our approval."
"What does he say of her?"
"Only that she is a widow and comes to him through the recommendation of some mutual acquaintances."
"It is kind of him to provide a companion."
"He could have stuck to the letter of the law and only provided hunting grounds but it is to his advantage to have you at Pemberly. I would have preferred he paid someone closer to home."
"That is true and yet, it does seem strange to be under such an obligation to him, it seems unfair he should be required to provide for her at all."
"No more unfair than the situation with the entail preventing your having the opportunity. If Mr. Darcy does not mind it why should we? He says in his letter you saved Georgiana's life."
"Even so, it seems odd to be dependent on a man so entirely unconnected to us."
"Is this a hint for me to give you an allowance? Will 50 pounds a year soothe your conscience?"
Without a firm understanding of what she would need, Elizabeth expressed her gratitude for his generosity. It would be enough, she reasoned, to hire a maid and, if she were careful, to supply anything she might need during her time at Pemberley. Once Mr. Darcy moved her to a cottage she was less sure, but she hoped to have come up with a better plan for herself and Phrosey by then. It would be ideal if she could find a widow, with a large estate, in want of a companion, or even a family in want of a governess who would allow Phrosey to hunt in exchange for her services. It would not be equal value but a family without any bonded members might be happy to have a Griffin in residence. Or perhaps they could find some sort of work together. She knew the army was always short of bonded pairs to act as scouts but she had never heard of them allowing a woman, nor did she know if it would be enough to provide for Phrosey if they did. She wished she had questioned Colonel Fitzwilliam more closely but she hoped to have another opportunity. She knew neither of these plans were particularly likely. Her best chance, she was forced to admit, was to marry well. Her chances were better now that she was bonded. Her lack of dowry might easily be overlooked if her children had a chance of bonding. On the other hand, she was not likely to meet anyone in Derbyshire aside from friends of Mr. Darcy which was not an idea to bring comfort.
She did not ask what her father had really been paid in Sire Rights. She had raised the topic with him once and he only winked and asked her not to spoil his final surprise. If he were reinvesting the interest she would not wish to take away from what would be left for all of them and she had time, she reassured herself, she had time.
"Is something else bothering you, Lizzy?" Her father interrupted her train of thought. "Do you not wish to go so far from home? I do not like to have you so far away from me. But, when Euphrosyne is grown enough to ride you will be able to visit easily, and you were born to be bonded Lizzy, it would be selfish to keep you with me."
"You speak as if you had a choice. Did you mean for me to bond?" She kept her tone light and teasing and her father seemed to take it as a joke.
"How could I form such a plan? Could I have anticipated that if you were in the area you would by some accident make your way to the barn at just the right moment?"
"Perhaps not and yet your contract with Mr. Darcy would almost seem to anticipate the possibility."
"It was Mr. Darcy who used the word heir. I would be a fool to offer more than he asked, regardless of how unlikely it was circumstances would turn out as they did."
"Indeed."
"Do not make yourself uneasy my dear Lizzy. Georgiana wanted you there and Euphrosyne chose you. In the end that is all that should matter.
Elizabeth was not entirely comfortable with his answers but she did not want the little time she had left with her father to end on a sour note and she let the subject drop.
(0)v(0)
Later that same day, Elizabeth happened to look out the window and saw Eleos approaching. She ran outside expecting to greet Bingley when to her great surprise, and even greater delight, it was Jane riding him.
Jane dismounted clumsily and embraced her sister laughing, "Only to see you dearest Lizzy would I try such a thing. I have been wild to see you since receiving your letter and my dear Bingley, suggested we leave immediately but we had one or two engagements that for his sake I did not wish to cancel, and then the journey was taking so long and then there was a delay at the post and…oh Lizzy, she is beautiful!"
The last was directed at Euphrosyne. Elizabeth could not help laughing herself to hear Jane speaking so excitedly. She almost sounded like Lydia. "I am sorry to be the cause of your shortening your trip but I am glad you are here! I have longed to see you. Oh, Jane, I have so much to tell you, but you must tell me all about Bath, and of how Bingley adores you, and of how you liked flying."
"Yes, yes, we will talk of everything, let us go into the hedge." She stepped forward, on wobbly legs, "Or rather, let us find a place to sit while I recover, out of view of the house. It is selfish I know but I wish to keep you to myself for a little while, and I must stay the night. Bingley is following by post and will be here late tomorrow. Then turning to Eleos, she said, "Thank you, Eleos, it was very kind of you to offer me a ride."
Eleos bowed his head, made a happy noise toward Elizabeth and Euphrosyne, and flew away. Elizabeth and Jane talked until they felt they could no longer keep Jane's presence from the rest of the family and went inside to surprise the others. Then at the end of the evening, they went to the room they had once shared and were up half the night continuing their conversation.
"Lizzy," said Jane during the course of their talk, "I know you will need to be at Pemberley in the beginning but you always have a home with Bingley and I should you wish it. Bingley feels it as strongly as I do, he brought it up himself before I could even think of it."
"That is very generous of you both. But one of your own children may bond I would not wish to take that chance away."
"Surely we can come up with a solution."
"I cannot take advantage of Bingley. It is exactly what Mr. Darcy was worried about for his friend."
"If Bingley does not feel you are taking advantage why should you worry what Mr. Darcy thinks?"
"I could hardly think well of myself to refuse Mr. Darcy's hospitality only to burden my brother."
"I am glad your opinion of Mr. Darcy has improved."
"Do not give me too much credit for that."
Elizabeth also took the opportunity to ask Jane about Rachel. It might have been prudent not to hire a maid and depend on those already at Pemberly while she was there. But, it had been clear when she and Mr. Darcy spoke that he took her having one for granted and she did not want to correct him for fear he would hire one for her. Besides, it would be good to have a servant of her own she could trust and she had not forgotten Rachel. Jane assured her she had no objection and Elizabeth sent for Rachel to offer her the job.
"I will understand completely." She told the girl. "If you do not want to position, I know I am not offering you much and you would be doing the duty of a Ladies maid for the two years, while I am at Pemberley but after that I do not know what will happen, even a maid of all work may be beyond my means. The most I can promise is to give you a good reference if I cannot keep you with me."
Rachel's eyes shown, "Oh Miss! I would like nothing better, and Mr. Wilkes[ii] spoke so highly of Pemberley, but a ladies maid, I've no training, only helped out here and there with the mending, and once I attended to Miss Bingley when Miss Fancy[iii] was ill and Miss Bingley was not… that is, I was not up to her standards."
"If you can do my hair as well as you fixed it for me that evening at Netherfield I shall be very well pleased. And what is more important, no whisper of gossip ever got around about me in regards to that evening. That tells me I can trust you. But you must think of your interest. Do you have family here? Anyone you do not like to leave?"
"No one Miss. I can be ready whenever you and Mrs. Bingley agree to it."
A few days later the woman Mr. Darcy was putting forward as a companion, arrived with a letter of introduction. She was a young widow whose husband had left her in financial distress. Shortly into their interview, she said, "I hope Miss Bennet, that you will not think it too forward of me if I ask you to call me Harriet. I have no one left to me who does and it is dispiriting to always be called by my late husband's name, it makes me think of what I have lost." Elizabeth readily agreed. Neither she nor her parents had any objections to Harriet and she was agreed to as Elizabeth's companion. Harriet returned to London to tie up her affairs. She would return with Mr. Darcy when it was time to leave for Pemberley.
The following days melted away quickly and it seemed as if no time at all had passed before Mr. Darcy arrived to take Elizabeth and Phrosey away.
i He means Darcy.
ii Darcy's Valet
iii Miss Bingley's maid. It is not clear if her name was really Miss Fancy or if the other servants called her that behind her back and Rachel slipped up in using it.
AN: And now I can finally bring them back together, "To Pemberley therefore they were to go." Thank you all who read and reviewed Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed.