Authors: Elizabeth Ann West
Elizabeth’s head shot up. “Fear? Why ever should I fear him?”
Madeline Gardiner took a deep breath and sighed. “There are some wives who do not learn until it’s too late their husband is a brute and takes his own pleasure with or without regard to their wives’ wishes.”
Elizabeth’s mouth dropped in horror, and Mrs. Gardiner nodded her head to confirm that what she was thinking was indeed the nightmare her aunt was trying to describe.
“It’s an ugly business, that. And unless a woman has a father or brother to step in . . . well, you have nothing to worry about.” Mrs. Gardiner attempted a wane smile in support.
Leaving Elizabeth stunned in her chair, Madeline Gardiner rose as her husband and other nieces entered the home. He had taken Kitty and Mary to the warehouses to pick out fabric for their wardrobes for the coming Season. The only reason Elizabeth had remained home was that Mr. Darcy had insisted on paying for all of her needs at the same modiste that served both Miss Darcy and Lady Matlock.
“Edward, how went the hunt?”
“Oh, Aunt, there was this most becoming emerald silk, but Uncle said you’d skin him alive if he allowed me to select such a color.” Kitty pouted and looked at her uncle with dismay.
“Indeed she would!”
“But Mama is allowing Lydia to wear such shades. And she is not married!”
Madeline Gardiner pressed her mouth into a thin line of disapproval at the news of her sister-in-law’s choice to indulge the youngest Bennet daughter, but quickly arranged her features to appease Kitty. Taking the young woman’s arm to bring her further into the house, she gently stroked Kitty’s forearm. “Yes, but Lydia will not be invited to so many balls and plays. You will be observing a full London season and just think how jealous Lydia will be of that!” Kitty began to nod her head but then stopped in her tracks. “I am to observe?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and blew out a breath. She knew this confrontation was coming, and as the eldest Bennet sister in residence, it shouldn’t fall to her aunt to allay Kitty’s immaturity. “Lady Matlock advised that we include you as we would Georgiana in society, a limited observance in anticipation of you enjoying a full coming out next Season.”
Mary stepped forward to offer her own support of the plan, but the addition of Scripture didn’t seem to help Kitty’s disposition.
“So I’m to be the only sister not out? It’s not fair!” Kitty’s face clouded with anger and tears began to form. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner shared a glance, and Mr. Gardiner wisely chose a stealthy retreat to his study. The women in the room surrounded the visibly upset Kitty and attempted to simultaneously ply her with positives in support of waiting to come out next Season. Still the young girl wailed and sobbed at the injustice of it all.
It appeared a bleak situation until Elizabeth looked up in frustration to see the butler tending to the doorbell, a sound she could barely hear over the cries of Kitty and compliments from her aunt and sister.
“Kitty! Look, that’s Mr. Darcy here to take us all to Hyde Park. Go through the dining room to the kitchen and take the back stairs up to your room. Refresh your gown and hurry back so that we may all go enjoy the afternoon. Otherwise, you may find contentment by staying home.”
Kitty immediately stopped crying. “Stay home? I do not wish to stay home. That’s the point entirely!”
“Then go, quickly, before he sees you and asks why you’re upset.”
As Mr. Darcy and Miss Darcy were invited inside, the room seemed to have an odd sense of appearing too casual that made Darcy pause and take stock of the inhabitants. There was Elizabeth, glowing as always, though it appeared as if she had just been angry. Miss Mary wore a blank expression of indifference, and Mrs. Gardiner was radiantly enthusiastic in her welcome. He bowed as his sister curtsied and crossed the threshold.
“Is Miss Catherine not to join us?”
“Oh, she had a small accident with her dress and will be right down,” Elizabeth said in a hollow and slightly higher-pitched voice than her normal tremor. “Georgiana, how lovely to see you! I hope you received the sheet music I sent?” “Indeed, it arrived yesterday. Thank you for such a thoughtful gift!”
Elizabeth beamed at her soon-to-be younger sister. “When William and I were shopping for new books, I saw it in the music shop next door and knew you’d love the latest waltzes. I hear the dance is the highlight of every ball on the Continent.”
Darcy cleared his throat and turned slightly red that Elizabeth had used his Christian name so casually. But perhaps it was safe enough here at the Gardiners’, but he shuddered to think of what his cousins would say to him if she should slip at Matlock. Kitty rejoining the sitting room interrupted his worries, and he soon found the women all looking at him expectantly to follow them out to the carriage.
“Mrs. Gardiner, it is always a pleasure. I am saddened you could not join us this afternoon.”
“I thank you, Mr. Darcy, but I believe a rest is most welcome to me this afternoon.” She laughed as she allowed him to escort her to the hall where the younger ladies all congregated. “I trust you with my girls; please keep them safe.”
“Always, madam. You have my word.” Darcy bowed and helped the ladies into the carriage. As much as he wished to have joined them inside, he mounted Poseidon and rode alongside the carriage the number of blocks back towards the fashionable side of town.
The picnic had barely been set when a bombastic voice called out to their group. “Darcy! You started without me, old man?” The colonel walked with such pomp in full uniform up the path towards their little knell by the pond. While all of the ladies in attendance turned to see Colonel Fitzwilliam’s approach, Elizabeth watched William’s face as he pursed his lips for half a moment.
“Did you not wish for your cousin to come?” she whispered.
“No, I simply hoped his errands at the War Office would have lasted a little longer,” he replied.
Elizabeth sat perplexed by Mr. Darcy’s meaning until the introductions and greetings took her attention away. the colonel happily sat himself between Kitty and Mary and quickly had all three of the younger girls giggling at some joke. “Colonel, I heard you just came from the War Office. I dare to hope you are not being called back to the front lines?”
The younger girls all shared a look of ghastly horror, but Richard nodded his head. “Sadly, it appears my Major General has high hopes for a title or two, and recently volunteered his units for another tour of duty. I won’t abandon my men, so if they go, then I am afraid I must as well.” Kitty let out a whimpered sigh at the colonel’s bravery and batted her eyelashes at the man. the colonel looked at her for a brief moment, and disconcerted, he found his glass of wine poured by one of Darcy’s servants and handed to him just before his pretty speech.
“Be truthful, Richard. You relish the excitement of going back. I posit you would agree to just about any scheme to get away from the balls and demands of your mother.”
“Ho, ho, Darcy! Be not ruinous to the one trait I can claim above your wealth. My valor is above impunity.”
“Surely, you are correct in that regard, but I also know your Major General gave you an opportunity to teach a future cavalry unit here. And you are vacillating between the two duties.”
“I think there’s great honor in a man who stays behind to train the men going to war. If they are not aptly prepared, their instructor is little more than a murderer, so the man who stays behind to train is of the highest honor, indeed.” The entire group turned their heads to look at Mary after her sudden outburst, but Mary Bennet did not flinch, and instead she stared directly at the colonel. The silence hung in the air for a few moments until the party began to busy themselves with eating. Kitty finally found a way to break the silence.
“Miss Darcy, would you like to take a stroll with me over the bridge? Would that be alright if we had a footman accompany us?”
“There’s no need,” Richard said as he stood and dusted the crumbs off his brilliant red coat, “I’ll be happy to escort you ladies myself. Miss Mary?”
But Mary Bennet shook her head. “I should like to remain here, with my sister and Mr. Darcy.”
“We hardly need a chaperone, Mary. Half of London is here today,” Elizabeth tried to entice Mary to leave, but her sister wasn’t budging. Giving up, Elizabeth turned to William. “Which two days was it again that your aunt suggested for the ceremony?”
Darcy loosened his cravat and leaned back on his hands. Snatching up a pretty red apple, he took a loud bite from it, garnering a soft giggle from Elizabeth. “She recommended either May 14th or May 21st so that we might travel to Scotland before Sunday.”
“And it takes three days to travel to your estate there?” Darcy nodded. “Well, I think you should tell her that if we can’t manage it any earlier, then May 14th sounds like a perfectly lovely day to become Mrs. Darcy.” She looked at Mr. Darcy and wiggled her nose like a bunny, their public gesture of affection ever since the dinner at her aunt and uncle’s home. Darcy smiled widely at her, until suddenly his face soured. Walking back to their little picnic was the trio that had left to explore the path around the pond, but they had two extra in tow, Mr. Bingley and his sister Caroline.
“I fear we are about to be invaded,” he whispered and Elizabeth’s head whipped around to look behind her, then she quickly returned to look at her William.
Sighing, she supposed it was Miss Bingley’s right to enjoy a public park on such a warm day, but she wondered what excuse Mr. Bingley would give for abandoning Jane in Hertfordshire? Plastering a smile in place, Elizabeth adjusted her seat to greet the advancing party.
“Miss Eliza! How splendid to find you in London and to think we nearly just missed you according to Miss Kitty. An Easter at Matlock, what a heavenly invitation for a family of such limited means.” Miss Bingley allowed the colonel to escort her to the blanket and she gracefully lowered herself to sit at Mary’s feet. Elizabeth watched as Mary’s legs involuntarily twitched every so slightly before her sister calmly tucked them up underneath her right side.
“Mr. Bingley, Miss Bingley. I hope the roads from Hertfordshire were kind? How are my mother and sisters?”
“Fine, fine, Miss Elizabeth, though Miss Lydia has been awfully ill of late. Poor Jane, I mean Miss Bennet, has been attending her and it was on her advice that we have taken the opportunity to visit London since she has not been able to entertain callers,” Mr. Bingley said.
“Oh, dear, how ill is Lydia? We’ve heard no reports of this!” Mary said.
“She’s probably fine, just pining away for Wickham. She’s just pretending to be sick so she can keep getting sympathy.”
“Kitty! We do not discuss that subject in public.” Elizabeth hissed, as Caroline Bingley preened and smiled at the gossip. Elizabeth’s stomach soured at the sight and turned to her fiance. “Mr. Darcy, I’m afraid I am finding myself rather satisfied with Hyde Park. Perhaps another time we might visit with a gig?”
Darcy nodded and motioned for the servants to begin packing up.
“It was lovely to see you again, Mr. Bingley and Miss Bingley. I’d invite you to call, but I’m afraid we are to leave town just as you have arrived. A pity. I’m sure my aunt could use my help in preparing our dinner plans.” Elizabeth plastered a smile in place as she farewelled the Bingleys, even as her blood began to boil that Charles would dare to abandon Jane because Lydia was ill.
“You’re hosting a dinner? Are you having a large to-do?” Miss Bingley asked with a tone just asking for the guest list.
“No, just intimate friends and family, I’m afraid, though my brother, the Viscount, is attending.” The colonel had endured enough of Caroline Bingley’s barbs the entire walk back to the main group and felt little regret in putting her in her place, even if it meant he also slighted Bingley. Both Kitty and Mary looked at the colonel with adoration, but it was Miss Mary he offered an arm to along with Miss Georgiana to help them back up the hill towards the Darcy carriage.
As Darcy and Elizabeth finished the farewells, Darcy made a point to offer his arm to Miss Kitty as well. Walking up the same hill as his cousin before him, Darcy wondered once more how he was going to warn the sisters to guard their tongues. Every scenario in his mind played with Elizabeth becoming so cross at him, he was at a loss for what he was to do. Ultimately, he decided once they returned to Gracechurch Street, he would have no choice but to ask Mr. Gardiner for his aid.
Chapter Eight
Throbbing pain in Elizabeth’s temples made her happy to retire for a rest on the fourth afternoon at Matlock. Her feet ascended the thirty carpeted steps up the main hall as she still couldn’t stop the details swirling in her mind for Easter dinner. Lady Matlock had helped her go through all of the escorts and privileges, but was Lady Sefton to be escorted in by Lord Marlborough or the Viscount of Eaton? She shook her head and remembered that Darcy’s aunt was not going to let her fail.
The last room on the left in the visitor wing was hers, a completely separate hall from where Mr. Darcy was roomed on the family side of the mansion. With great effort, she pushed the heavy, medieval styled door and found Becky laying out her evening attire. Becky immediately curtsied, then seeing Elizabeth’s color, she rushed forward to help her lady to her bed.