Elizabeth took a cup and a grateful sip before explaining. “Malcolm’s having a tantrum about being the last bachelor in the family,” Elizabeth explained, accepting her tea. “Richard’s been secretly in love for seven months.”
“Ah.” William settled beside her, one eyebrow raised. “That explains the mysterious weekend trips and the suspicious cheerfulness.”
“You knew?” Malcolm demanded, looking betrayed anew.
“Not for certain,” William said. “But Richard’s been whistling. He never whistles unless he’s particularly content about something.”
“I don’t whistle at all,” Richard protested.
“You do,” Georgiana called from the piano. “Last week you whistled your way through an entire Bach prelude.”
The conversation devolved into an argument about Richard’s alleged whistling habits, which somehow led to Lydia insisting on a demonstration of everyone’s musical abilities.
Elizabeth found herself watching William navigate it all with growing amazement. Last Christmas, he’d been careful and polite, holding himself slightly apart from the Bennet family madness. This year, despite still feeling a little dazed by it all, he had entered into the thick of things—debating Lydia over whether “Jingle Bells” counted as a proper Christmas carol, helping Mary rescue sheet music from Waffles’s latest investigative mission, and even contributing to Kitty’s impromptu photo session with what appeared to be genuine enjoyment.
“Better than last year?” she asked when the musical portion of the program had ended, and people were dispersing to various corners of the room.
“Much better.” William's smile was warm and unguarded. “Though I reserve the right to hide in the library if things escalate any further.”
“You’ll have to share with my father. Oh, speaking of which,” Elizabeth said, remembering, “we should talk about the wedding planning before someone else plans an event and steals the best date.”
“How is that related to your father?”
“He hides every time we mention wedding planning.”
“Wedding planning!” their mother exclaimed from across the room. “Oh yes, we must discuss the wedding planning!”
And then the entire room was focused on them with laser intensity.
William sighed. “Finely tuned hearing.”
“Mum,” Elizabeth said with a sigh, “we weren’t—”
“Nonsense!” Her mother settled in with the purposeful air of a general preparing for battle. “You know I think June weddings are gorgeous, though May might be cooler and just as nice for photographs. Have you thought about venues? Guest lists? Flowers?”
“We’ve been thinking about something quite small,” William replied. “Just family, perhaps—”
“Small!” Lydia gasped in horror. “You can’t have a small wedding! What about dancing? What about a proper party? What about all of us getting gloriously drunk and embarrassing ourselves in public?”
“That’s not typically the goal of a wedding, Lydia,” Jane said with gentle amusement.
“It’s not?” Lydia looked confused. “Then what’s the point?”
“The point,” Mary said with authority, “is the symbolic union of two people in a ceremony that reflects their values and commitments—”
“Boring,” Lydia interrupted. “The point is cake and dancing and an openbar.”
“The point,” Elizabeth responded before the conversation could derail further, “is that William and I haven’t decided anything yet except that we’d like to be married.”
“Well, you need to make a decision about a date,” her mother insisted. “Good venues book up months in advance, and if you want anything decent, you’ll need to—”
“You know,” Georgiana interrupted from the piano bench, “I was wondering if you might consider having it here.”
The room went silent.
“Here?” Elizabeth repeated.
“At Pemberley,” Georgiana clarified, her cheeks pink but her voice steady. “The ballroom would be perfect for dancing, and the gardens are beautiful in late spring. We could have the ceremony outside if the weather’s nice, or in the saloon if it rains—it’s certainly large enough for the size of crowd you were mentioning. Maggie”—she turned to address the other Bennets—“Mrs. Reynolds—has been hoping someone would ask. She’s been planning menus since September.”
