Hartwood’s only reply was a raised eyebrow.
“Besides, I would notdecideto dress that way.”
The raised eyebrow remained.
This is what both frustrated Darcy and pleased him about conversations with his family, they simply did not see the need to treat him with the deference that was his usual reward for his bearing and position.
“It is important.”
“Why?”
Darcy struggled to put what he wanted to say into words. He stepped over to the bookcase and pulled two books out, glanced at their title pages, and then put them back in place. Hartwood watched him as he did so. “I do not want her to be sneered at… it hurts me when she is not valued as she ought to be.”
“Then tell herthat. But also make it clear that no matter how she dresses, you will not be one of those who sneers at her. Make it clear to her your affection will remain unchanged, even if she is made a laughingstock by every haughty matron at Almack’s.”
“She ought to knowthat,I would never sneer at her.”
Except he had, frequently, sometimes even after they had married.
“Such things bear repeating. Many times. Besides, my mother is ridiculous. No one will raise an eyebrow if Mrs. Darcy dresses with taste, but in a cheaper style — and her taste is decent. Better than what most possess.” Hartwood shrugged. “It will beoddif your wife dresses like the wife of a gentleman with a smaller income, but that is not… you are a fool if you pick an argument with her over the matter.”
Darcy did not reply, for a while. “It is also my name.”
“And maybe, if you are inclined to listen to my advice, ask herwhy— how a person dresses is an essential matter forthem. Mrs. Darcy will resent it if you impose your will on her, especially in this matter. And you’ll not succeed if you try to impose too much onher. She has a will of her own.”
“I know. I know that. Sometimes to my regret.” Hartwood’s words reminded Darcy of that late night. Two hours after midnight. Her face, soft, glowing in the candlelight, her lips lifted towards his, and the way he justwanted.
The door bursting open, Mrs. Bennet exclaiming, “Lizzy and Mr. Darcy! Oh my clever girl!”
“What really happened?” Hartwood asked. “What is the basis of the rumors we have heard?”
“I made a severe error of judgement that was contrary to my ordinary character, and after that lapse, when I had returned to my senses, it was too late for me to back away from the choice made then, and all that was left was to carry off the whole as best I could.”
“Then carry it off. If you wish to have a happy relationship with your wife, she must believe that you areherchief companion in life, just as she is to be yours.”
Lady Susan and Lady Matlock had joined Georgiana and Elizabeth, while Lord Matlock drifted towards Darcy and Hartwood.
Rather than continuing the conversation, Darcy walked towards Elizabeth and the women. She looked at him in a manner that showed thatheranger had not been wholly buried.
Darcy found he could not say anything to her.
He was suddenly shy at the thought of saying anything to her. He stood near them awkwardly, as he remembered himself often doing before they were married.
She was so beautiful.
After a minute Elizabeth said archly to him, “Did you come here in all your state to frighten me? I tell you, I rise to any attempts to intimidate me.”
Georgiana giggled.
“I certainly did not come to frighten you,” Darcy replied, “for I would never wish you to be scared.”
That night they came together as ordinary, but with more intensity and need on both their parts. He’d feared that Elizabeth’s anger would make her resist him in bed, but her reaction was the opposite.
After they were done, when his panting slowly calmed, and Elizabeth rested her head comfortably on his chest, Darcy asked, “Does it matter to you greatly that you be allowed to make your own choices with regards to your clothes, without any reference to the considerations I suggested earlier?”
“It is.”
“Then I’ll never say anything more about the matter.”
