The Ashes of Longbourn (3 page)

             
As I have not yet been able to speak with her father, this news must be kept between us.  Only you and Richard will be aware of the courtship until after I speak with Mr Bennet.  I do not wish for Aunt Catherine to learn of the news and for she would try to cause problems.  I will not be able to speak with Miss Elizabeth’s father until I finish at Pemberley and London.

             
I cannot wait for you to meet her.  Perhaps after you return from Scotland you and I can stay in Meryton so that you can meet Miss Elizabeth.  I am certain that you will love her.

             
Keep safe and give Aunt Rebecca my love.  I pray that Cousin Audrey has a safe confinement. 

             
With all my love, 

William

Darcy sealed the letters and called for his valet, Jordan, to have him send the letters off as directed.  With any luck, Bingley would be in London and, after reading the express, would head immediately for Netherfield and begin courting Miss Bennet.  And Darcy also prayed that
Miss Bingley would not wish to return to the country estate.

With the letters
finished and being sent off, the next on his list of things to do was to speak with his cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.  The men were as close as brothers even though their personalities were quite different from each other.  Where Richard was friendly and outgoing, Darcy was shy and withdrawn.  Richard was easy to carry conversations with others while Darcy tended to avoid speaking with new acquaintances and large groups.

But in spite of the differences between them, Darcy knew that Richard would lay down his life
in defense of both Darcy and Georgiana.  And Richard knew that Darcy would do the same for him. 

Fortunately, Richard was preparing to take his horse out for a ride.  “Richard, would you mind if I came along?  I could use the workout and I wish to speak with you with regards to a private matter.”

“Of course, William, you are always welcome to join me.  What is the issue you would like to speak of?”

“I would prefer to speak with you away from here.  Give me a moment to saddle Zeus and I will meet you here in a few moments.”

“I will wait.  I need to look at Apollo’s hooves.  I noticed he was walking differently.”

It did not take Darcy long to saddle his horse and return to Richard
, waiting in front of the main house.  “Is Apollo ready to ride?”

“Indeed.  There was a stone stuck in the one shoe, but I took care of that.  I was thinking to ride towards the bridge to the south. Is that a good location for our chat?”

Darcy smiled.  “That would do quite nicely.  Thank you Richard.”

The men rode off as they raced towards their destination.  It had been several months since Darcy had last had a ride such as this, allowing the horse to run as fast as he could.  By the time they reached their destination, the horses were in
need of a rest.  As the horses drank from the stream, the men dismounted and tied the reins to the bridge.  Then the men walked towards an old tree which had fallen over when they were just boys.  The tree became a bench for the cousins to sit and talk in private, as well as fishing from time to time.

             
“So, William, what is it you wish to discuss with me?”

             
“I have the privilege to inform you that I have been given the honor to court Miss Elizabeth Bennet. We spoke earlier today.”

             
Richard had come to enjoy being in company with Elizabeth, but he knew that his cousin held Elizabeth in a tender regard.  “I am pleased to hear this news.  Why are you not on the rooftop calling out your joy?”

             
“First, due to Miss Elizabeth’s being here, not at her family’s home where I can speak with her father.  Second, when Aunt Catherine learns the news, I plan to have Elizabeth far from Rosings so that our aunt cannot find a way to harm her.  And I have to travel to Pemberley, then to London, so it will be at least three weeks to a month before I am able to travel to Longbourn.  I have told you and written to Georgiana, and I insist that no other know of the news until after I have spoken with Mr Bennet.”

             
“No one will hear the news from me, Cousin.  I do not wish to be in your shoes, in love and given permission to court the woman but have to be apart from her for weeks.  I would not wish to be you or, in fact, be near you. I can imagine how frustrated you will become not being able to see your Miss Elizabeth.”

             
“I am already suffering from the thought, I do not know how I will be able to tolerate even a day apart.”  Darcy grumbled.  “I wish we could go to Scotland and marry immediately and then she could come to Pemberley with me.”

             
Richard shook his head as he chuckled.  “My dear cousin, you have truly been struck by love.  I never thought I would see the day that you would be smitten.”

             
With a love struck look on his face, Darcy nodded his head.  “And I tell you, Richard, it is the most wonderful feeling in the world. 

             
                                          ~~ ** ~~

             
Darcy made his way to Pemberley.  The entire journey found him thinking of all the changes that he would have made to the house, especially to the Mistress’s chambers.  He knew that his mother had decorated the rooms after she had married his father, but Darcy felt that it was time to decorate more in fashion with Elizabeth’s taste.  An idea struck him and he decided to decorate the rooms to look as if she were living in a spring meadow.  With her love of the outdoors, what better way of bringing her beloved trails from Hertfordshire with her to Derbyshire?  He planned to hire an artist to spend some time in Hertfordshire, exploring the area surrounding Longbourn, and have the artist then transform the Mistress’s bedchamber and the sitting room that was shared by both the Master and Mistress chambers.

             
Upon his arrival, Darcy found a mound of paperwork and correspondence on his desk.  He knew that the sooner he made himself busy, the sooner he would have time to explore the rooms in which he wished to have changes made.  Darcy took his meals in his study for two days, working tirelessly to complete his tasks. His steward came and went, bringing new information, as well as performing tasks that were assigned to him.

             
Darcy also spoke with Mrs Reynolds, the housekeeper of Pemberley, of the changes he wished made while he was away.  Mrs Reynolds was also to order furnishings for the suite of rooms to match the work of the local artist who had been hired.

             
It was not long into the third week at Pemberley that Darcy received an express from Scotland.  He saw his aunt’s handwriting and became alarmed.

Dearest William,

              Our dear Georgiana took a trifling cold a little over a week ago and was put in her bed by the physician.  Yesterday evening, the physician informed me that he believes that she has now developed a very dangerous fever. He is not certain that she will survive if the fever is not brought down soon. 

             
I am fearful for our beloved Georgiana.  I pray that you can come immediately to be with her.  Perhaps it will give her the strength to pull through.  Please, William, come immediately.

Your loving aunt,

Rebecca Winthrop

              Immediately, Darcy began sending for staff to make preparations for his departure to Scotland.  He prayed that his sister would still be alive and would survive this illness.  Darcy did not wish to lose the only family that he had left.  Before leaving, he wrote a letter to Bingley informing him that he would not be arriving at Netherfield as planned due to the emergency with Georgiana.  If only he could speak of the situation to Elizabeth, so that she was aware of his dire situation.  How he wished that she were with him and that they could marry in Scotland.  He wished that she would be with him, giving him the strength to withstand this uncertain time with his sister.  Most of all, he prayed that Georgiana survived so that the two most important ladies in his life would meet.  He knew that they would each love the other.

             
                            ~~~~~~~ ** ~~~~~~~

Chapter 3

             
Elizabeth returned to Longbourn from Rosings to find her sister had returned from London just two days before.  And Jane was not alone.  Mr Charles Bingley had returned               to Netherfield Park. Jane could not contain her joy, as Jane traveled home in Bingley’s carriage, with a maid acting as chaperone. After Bingley called on her at their uncle’s home and made the arrangements to bring her home, there was little doubt in anyone’s mind that the couple would soon be engaged to marry.

             
Mrs Bennet was thrilled to see Bingley’s return and his daily calls which he paid to see Jane.  While she spoke freely of the great fortune of having such a fine young man besotted with her beautiful daughter, her youngest two daughters found more excitement in visiting Meryton and spending time in the company of the militia.  After learning of Wickham’s true nature, Elizabeth had no desire to be in the company of the man or his friends.

             
There were constant gatherings to attend, and the Bennets were normally in attendance.  The more time she spent in the company of others, the more she longed for Darcy’s arrival.  Elizabeth began to daydream of taking walks with Darcy on her favorite paths surrounding her home.  She could imagine the two of them sitting together, admiring the view from Oakham Mount, her favorite location to take in her neighborhood.  It was not uncommon for someone to have to repeat their words to her after finally garnering her attention.

             
As was to be expected, Elizabeth was often in the company of the militia at the gatherings.  Whenever they were in company of others, Elizabeth was polite to Wickham, as she was to all of the others from the militia.  She spoke at great lengths to Colonel Forster of their plans to move to Brighton within a few months.  When Elizabeth mentioned meeting Colonel Fitzwilliam, Colonel Forster was pleased to speak of his friend, as the two had known each other for many years.  He was especially pleased to tell her a few stories that she could tease Colonel Fitzwilliam with the next time they met.

             
The day after she arrived home, Elizabeth spoke to her father with regards to curbing her younger sisters and their flirting with the young men of the militia. Mr Bennet’s reply was that the militia was to be gone soon and there would be no further problems with them.  Nothing that Elizabeth had to say could convince her father to make any changes to the behavior of Lydia and Kitty.  There had even been talk of Lydia accompanying the militia as a personal friend to Colonel Forster’s young wife.  This was the most disturbing news, for Elizabeth knew that, once away from her family, Lydia would have no one to curb her behavior, which could lead to her disgracing their entire family.

             
To make matters even worse, Elizabeth was not able to communicate with her dearest aunt, Madeline Gardiner, as her aunt and uncle had taken their entire family on a very important business trip to Ireland, and would be gone for several months.  Her weekly letters would be ceasing, as the Gardiners would be traveling to many locations in Ireland.  They had invited Elizabeth to join them, which she declined as she waited desperately for the man she was losing her heart to return to her.  Taking her aunt into her confidence, Elizabeth explained her reason for remaining at Longbourn.  Mrs Gardiner was thrilled for her favorite niece, and looked forward to seeing Elizabeth settled in an arrangement by the time the Gardiners returned to England.

             
Elizabeth had informed Jane of the news from Hunsford, especially what she now knew of Darcy with regards to Wickham.  She told Jane of Lady Catherine’s behavior, of the sickly and pathetic Anne de Bourgh, of Mr Collins and his ridiculous rambling over the shelves in the closet which had been a dictate to him by Lady Catherine.  Jane particularly enjoyed hearing of Mr Collins spending time chasing the pigs from the garden that Charlotte had encouraged her husband to tend.

The news that had garnered the most attention from Jane was
that Darcy was in love with Elizabeth.  It was difficult for Elizabeth to become accustomed to the way her heart fluttered whenever she thought of Darcy.  When he said his farewell to her the day before she left Hunsford, he placed a kiss on the back of her hand.  He also gave her a pocket sized book of sonnets to keep with her and read whenever she thought of him.  It was small enough to keep in her reticule so no one would know that she had accepted a gift from a gentleman.  She showed it to Jane, as she ran her fingers lightly over the lettering.  It had become her most treasured possession.

             
A little over two weeks after they had all returned to Longbourn, Charles Bingley came to speak with Mr Bennet as early as was respectable. “Mr Bennet, I wish to ask for your approval to marry your daughter, Jane.  I love her dearly and wish to spend the rest of my life with her.”