One Thread Pulled: The Dance With Mr. Darcy (76 page)

At this, Darcy laughed and complied with her request, this time finding Elizabeth's soft mouth eagerly responding beneath his lips. “I must go now,” Darcy said resolutely when he finally broke away. He grasped her bare hand in his gloved one. “I believe you may be right, Elizabeth. Six months will be much to endure.”

He mounted in an effortless motion and whistled softly to Apollo as he started off for Netherfield, glancing back to see Elizabeth making her way back to the house before he urged Romeo into a canter.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Dreams Come True

M
r
. Bennet, a word?” The door to the study squeaked as Mrs. Bennet pushed it open just far enough for her face to peer in at her husband.

A slight frown crossed the weary features of his face. “What now, Mrs. Bennet? Have you not enough lace to trim a wedding hat for the pig?”

Her face brightened. “Stuff and nonsense! Of lace, I believe we have sufficient, but there
 
is
 
something that we have need of. Should the wedding fall upon a day that is overcast, we shall need more wax candles. A dreary house on such a day would be insufferable, and tallow will not do! I know that we have exceeded the funds you extended for the wedding, but I assure you this is essential!”

“Another essential expense?” Mr. Bennet sighed. “It would seem that I am doomed to endure frivolity in the budget yet again, but I suppose our guests cannot eat their breakfast in the dark. Now go, before I regain my senses and revoke it all. Shut the door behind you—I am in dreadful need of some peace.”

Mrs. Bennet departed with a satisfied air, and Mr. Bennet patted the pocket of his waistcoat, where a key to the lock on the study door provided no small degree of comfort and assurance that should he choose to exercise the option, he could secure a modicum of peace quite readily.

He could, from his reading chair, hear the decidedly boisterous voice of his wife calling out orders to various persons as she raced from one task to the next. Mrs. Bennet was a woman possessed of great energies, which she had faithfully devoted for the past several weeks to acquiring the finest of wedding clothes for Jane. Her attentions were now turned to planning the wedding breakfast and ensuring that Longbourn was in a state of spotless perfection to receive their wedding guests three days hence.

Kitty and Lydia, who had initially been delegated an excessive number of wedding chores by Mrs. Bennet, had appealed to Mr. Bennet for relief, which he had granted in the form of assignments of an academic nature. His two youngest daughters had thereafter devoted themselves with surprising steadiness to their education. Mr. Bennet harbored no delusions that this would continue after the wedding, but he was pleased for the time being at their compliance, particularly that of Lydia, who demonstrated far greater capacity and intellect than he had thought his youngest and silliest daughter capable of.

Mr. Bingley had become a fixture in the Bennet household, his amiable nature and cheerful countenance a dramatic foil to Mr. Bennet's ever more cantankerous demeanor. He was pleased to assist Lydia and Kitty with their studies and delighted, with Jane, to jointly chaperone Mary and Mr. Timmons in the sitting room, freeing Mrs. Bennet of the burdensome obligation.

Mr. Darcy had departed for London immediately upon the announcement of the engagement between himself and Elizabeth, with promises of returning in time for the marriage of Jane to Mr. Bingley. While this seemed hard to Elizabeth, she reluctantly reconciled herself to the separation and assisted, as her health and mother would allow, in the wedding preparations.

~*~

“Lizzy.”

“Yes, Papa?” Elizabeth's head peered with some trepidation into her father's study. She had attempted to pass the door undetected so as not to excite his temper.

“The post has arrived, with yet
 
another
 
letter from Mr. Darcy! It appears that the man is remarkably fond of correspondence, judging from that which arrives daily.” He nonchalantly tossed the letter onto the tray for outgoing post, although his indulgent smile revealed his growing approval due to the attentive nature of the man who aspired to be his future son-in-law.

“Thank you,” Elizabeth picked the letter up from the tray where her father had dropped it, her eyes scanning the beautiful lettering of her name on its cover, only a second ahead of the longing fingertips that caressed it.

“For a man of so few words in company, he seems positively verbose with the pen.” Mr. Bennet chuckled. “And your daily replies seem to encourage all these letters flying back and forth! I myself cannot be prevailed upon to return a letter at all unless it is a matter of great urgency, and, even then, I wait no less than a full fortnight as a matter of principle!”

Elizabeth wavered in the doorway, clearly eager to read her letter in privacy but loath to break away from a father who was suddenly witty rather than dour.

“You have come to depend on those letters, I do believe,” Mr. Bennet observed. “It is a good thing that he is only in town and not off to the war like so many young men are today. I do not know what you would do then!”

“Papa…” Elizabeth smiled charmingly at her father.

“Go. Go and read your letter,” he smiled indulgently. “And then perhaps you might be persuaded to rest. You seem not to have recovered fully…”

“Oh!” Mrs. Bennet said from behind Elizabeth. “Another letter from your Mr. Darcy! When is he to return, Lizzy? I have never heard of such a thing as his leaving so soon after your engagement. It is most vexing. His manners are…”

“He had matters to attend to that he could not postpone. He will be here in time to stand up with Mr. Bingley. Do not worry, Mama.” Elizabeth smiled reassuringly at her mother as she opened the letter and scanned its contents. “He has called on Aunt and Uncle Gardiner to discuss my stay in London, and he is to help Uncle expand his trade connections! Oh, that will certainly put him in their favor!” She folded the letter against her mother's curious eyes as she moved down the hall toward the stairs. “Excuse me.”

“Jane! Jane! He is here!” Kitty suddenly appeared in the hallway. “Where is Jane? Mr. Bingley has come!”

“Well,” Mrs. Bennet sniffed at Elizabeth's rebuff before she allowed herself to be pleasantly distracted. “A person could nearly set the clock by Mr. Bingley. It will be no surprise to Jane that he is here, Kitty. Elizabeth, go up to her room and tell her to come down. I myself have no time for social calls and certainly shall not until after the wedding is over.” She waved her hands around her head to emphasize how busy she was and turned toward the kitchen.

“Yes, Mama.” Elizabeth proceeded down the hallway. Hill had just received a beaming Mr. Bingley into the foyer as Elizabeth rounded the corner to go up the stairs. Elizabeth stopped at the bottom of the stairs in order to extend a brief greeting when the silhouette of a taller man filled the entryway behind Mr. Bingley, darkening the foyer.

“I hope you do not mind, said Mr. Bingley with a grin as he gestured toward the man and a woman who had also stepped through the door. “I have brought some friends along today.”

Elizabeth curtseyed and offered an uncharacteristically shy smile, lowered lashes and averted gaze. “Your friends are very welcome.”

“Very welcome, indeed!” Darcy cried as he closed the distance, stopping short of embracing her.

Elizabeth took a step backward into the dimmer light of the hallway. “Do not doubt me! You
 
are
 
very welcome, sir, but I did not know you were coming!”

“Did you not receive my letter?” Darcy looked at the paper in her hand with raised brows.

“It only just arrived. I have not fully read it yet.” Elizabeth moved aside, further into the shadows as Jane descended the stairs, and waited, with slight impatience as Jane greeted Mr. Darcy, Georgiana and Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth's eyes did not leave the face of Mr. Darcy—and his only left hers for a brief instant to acknowledge Jane's greeting.

Jane blinked, then smiled knowingly, and suggested that Mr. Bingley and Georgiana might find the comforts of the sitting room to their liking, adding that her sisters would be most delighted to learn of Georgiana's arrival. Elizabeth greeted Georgiana warmly, drawing her into the dimness of the hallway in order to do so. She smiled and nodded when Lydia and Kitty came to claim Miss Darcy, each taking one arm and linking it with her own.

“My sisters are excessively fond of Miss Darcy.” Elizabeth said as she watched them escort Georgiana away. “They have missed her these past weeks since you went away.”

“And she, them,” Darcy replied with a nod, adding softly, “as did I, you.”

“Were you able to conclude your business in town?” Elizabeth glanced fleetingly at Darcy and looked away.

“I was.” Darcy nodded again.

“I am pleased to hear it.” Elizabeth wandered to the foyer table and began straightening the dried lavender, herbs and greenery that Hill had placed in a vase, her back turned on Mr. Darcy in so doing, although the wintery light now fell upon her hair and neck as she fumbled with the arrangement.

“Please turn around,” Darcy whispered.

Elizabeth froze at this request and then dropped her hands to her sides. “I was hoping that I would have recovered more fully before your return.” From where he stood, Darcy could see that Elizabeth was trembling.

“I wish to look at you,” Darcy replied gently. “For a fortnight, although it seemed a year, I have dreamt of your face, your voice and your laughter, keen to return to Hertfordshire and be near you. Do not deny me the sight of that which I have yearned for daily.”

Elizabeth nodded and slowly turned. As the light fell across her face, Darcy understood her reluctance. The luster was gone from her complexion, and her eyes were cradled in skin so dark that it appeared bruised. “Oh, Elizabeth,” he said softly, “this will not do.” He reached for the anxious face before him and cupped her chin in his still-gloved hand, raising it gently upward. “I have brought fresh fruits and vegetables from the hothouses in London. I sent them into your mother's kitchen upon our arrival. I did this to surprise your family with delicacies not usually to be had in winter, but I am exceedingly pleased to know that they will serve to strengthen you … restore you.”

Elizabeth raised her eyes to meet his directly and found that they shone with that same kindness and tenderness that she had known before his departure for London. “Thank you,” she replied to his expectant gaze and added, “I enjoyed your letters very much, Mr. Darcy.”

Darcy's hand fell away from Elizabeth's face, and with a disappointed sort of smile, he removed the gloves from his hands, and handed them to Hill, who had stood quietly by while holding Mr. Darcy's greatcoat and hat. Hill hung them and disappeared, leaving Elizabeth and Darcy alone in the entryway.

“Miss Bennet,” Darcy said, one eye squinting slightly. “Would you be so kind as to show me to the parlor?”

“The parlor?” Elizabeth quizzed.

“Yes, I am informed that Longbourn has a parlor.”

“Why, yes. It does.” Elizabeth blinked and waved her upturned palm toward a doorway. “It is right here.”

Darcy looked at her expectantly, so she led the way through the door. The room had been freshly decorated in preparation for the wedding day guests, and Darcy nodded appreciatively as he looked around the room. “This is a fine parlor,” He finally said, his eyes scanning the ceiling.

“Mama would be pleased to hear your praise, Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth said, adding, “I am, however, certain it does not rival even the smallest rooms, nay, not even the closets of Pemberley.”

“You are wrong,” Darcy replied. “Quite wrong.”

Elizabeth muttered something unintelligible as she ran her hand along the back of a chair, and Darcy continued. “Bingley personally informed me of the splendors of the Longbourn parlor. Indeed, he was in raptures over it and insisted that I experience the beauty of this room first hand as soon as possible.”

Elizabeth looked around her in some disbelief. “The furnishings, sir, are older than I am.”

“That well may be, but it has a certain country charm about it. The architecture is sound and versatile too. Look here,” he waved toward a recessed area. “Bingley suggested that I would find this part of the room particularly exceptional.”