Shortly before the entire party was to depart for London, Bingley arrived with his sisters and brother-in-law in tow. Bingley had been expected—the others had not. As he had done before, Darcy made his displeasure known about the additional guests arriving uninvited and without warning in spite of Bingley’s claim of having written to inform him of the additions to his party. Knowing his friend’s poor penmanship, he suspected the letter had gone astray.
Reluctantly, Darcy agreed to house his party for a day or two as they wereen routeto their family home in Scarborough but not without a serious discussion with his friend about the presumption of showing up as he had. Bingley and Darcy had maintained a correspondence over the last few years though they had seen one another rarely. Unlike the correspondence between Elizabeth and Darcy, the letters exchanged between the two gentlemen were far more superficial and had done little to advance the friendship.
Elizabeth met with the Bingleys and Hursts on a few occasions in London. She knew she was disliked by Caroline Bingley, mainly because Elizabeth had Darcy’s attention whereas the other lady did not. However, neither Elizabeth nor Darcy was aware of the extent to which Miss Bingley disliked Elizabeth, for Miss Bingley came nearer to hating Elizabeth than merely disliking her. She believed she deserved the attention of her brother’s friend, and despite the rumours of Elizabeth’s dowry being almost as large as her own, she felt that Elizabeth was beneath her, both in beauty and in wealth.
It was not widely known that Elizabeth’s dowry surpassed the fifteen thousand pounds left to her by the elder Mr. Darcy. In the two and half years since receiving the legacy, it had very nearly doubled, between the investments made by Mr. Gardiner on her behalf and having added the interest on the accounts back into it, enabling the funds to grow to closer to twenty-five thousand pounds. Of course, Gardiner himself had been setting aside small amounts to be used as Elizabeth’s dowry ever since she came to live with them, for Elizabeth had proved to be rather adept in suggesting investments that did well and enabled her to prosper.
When Miss Bingley and her sister entered the drawing room where the party was gathered for dinner, she sidled up to her prey almost as soon as she entered the room, grabbing at his arm and attempting to ingratiate herself with the gentleman.
As soon as he could, however, he moved away from her and came to sit next to Elizabeth, boldly taking her hand in his own. “Bingley since I have not had the chance to write to you of my news just yet, I would like to announce that Elizabeth and I are engaged. We are to wed in London in October, and my aunt,Lady Matlock, will be hosting our wedding ball to celebrate the event.”
Bingley immediately stood and went to shake his friend’s hand. “Congratulations, Darcy, Miss Gardiner. I must say this is quite unexpected. I had believed your interest lay in another direction.” He said this as he looked toward his sister, who was struggling to control her expression at this news.
Darcy could only blink at his friend in surprise. “I cannot understand what you could mean, Bingley. I have been courting Miss Gardiner for several months now. In fact, as soon as we saw each other again at the ball my aunt hosted in her honour, I knew I would marry her. She is the only woman who has ever drawn my interest.”
Such a statement confused Bingley and irritated the gentleman’s sister. She had been feeding her brother lies for months, telling of his friend’s apparent interest in her and speaking of Darcy’s frequent calls on her at the Hursts townhouse in London that spring. If Bingley was surprised to have never encountered his friend on one of these calls, he never questioned it, but had believed his sister’s claim that the gentleman was courting her.
"But Caroline said you were calling on her," Bingley asserted, turning to look at his sister in confusion.
"Bingley, all of London knew that I was courting Miss Gardiner, especially since she was staying at the home of my aunt and uncle, who wholly favoured the match. I do not know what your sister’s scheme is, but I have never once called on her. The only time I have visited the Hursts' house on Grosvenor Street, I was in your company. Not only that, but had I been calling on your sister, do you not think I would have spoken to you about the matter?" Darcy demanded.
Bingley turned to glare at his sister. “Caroline?”
The lady could only glare right back at her brother. “You are mistaken, Brother. Mr. Darcy, please forgive my brother for his apparent misunderstanding. Miss Gardiner, I suppose congratulations are in order?”
Elizabeth smiled knowingly at the bitter, jealous harpy. “I suppose they are, Miss Bingley. I suppose you will be quite disappointed to miss the wedding since you will be with your family in Scarborough when we marry.” Elizabeth knew what the lady was about with her comment and answered in a similar fashion. Mrs. Gardiner fixed her niece with a look; in fact, everyone in the room, except perhaps for Mr. Bingley, understood the slight Elizabeth intended by her comment.
No further discussion took place about the wedding that evening. Darcy persuaded his friend to leave the next day, and soon peace returned to Pemberley.
Chapter Seventeen
The rest of the party departed from Pemberley for London only a few days later. With August coming to an end and the wedding to take place in a little over a month, they spent much of the journey discussing the plans that had already been made and what was left to do.
Upon their return, Elizabeth was introduced to the staff at Darcy House as its future mistress and began planning any changes to her suite that would need to be done before the wedding. The mistress’s chambers had not been occupied in many years, so the rooms would need to be cleaned and aired, and the bedding changed, along with the curtains. The furniture appeared to be in good shape, and only a few items needed to be changed out based on Elizabeth’s preferences.
Elizabeth spent nearly a full day going through Uncle Gardiner's warehouses along with her aunt and Darcy's to select fabrics for the curtains and the bedding in her rooms, along with many other fabrics for dresses that still needed to be created. Elizabeth's dress for the wedding was nearly done—a note from the modiste was delivered the day of their arrival from Pemberley requesting Elizabeth come try on the dress and ensure all was as it should be. She also had fittings for the rest of her trousseau, which required Elizabeth to spend two full days at the modiste being poked and prodded. The end result was quite a few dresses that Elizabeth truly did like, though she hoped she would not have to endure such an event again.
A fortnight after their return to London, Elizabeth had a rare day at home to rest. Her uncle was at his office, and Mrs. Gardiner needed to visit several friends she had been neglecting since her return. Elizabeth had the rare opportunity to stay at home and rest, as she did not need to accompany Mrs. Gardiner on her outing, and the children were being taken care of by their nurses and governess.
She sat in a sitting room in the back of the house, reading and waiting for her intended. Darcy would call on her early that afternoon, for he had business with his solicitor that occupied him in the morning.
When the post arrived, the butler brought it directly to her since she was the only one at home. Upon sorting through it, she noted that there was a letter for her, addressed in a somewhat familiar hand. There was another letter for her uncle which she laid aside, staring at the one addressed to her.
“Please, take these to my uncle, but ensure he sees the one on top. Ask him to come to me when he has read it, or to send for me, if you will,” Elizabeth requested, still staring at her own letter, uncertain and a little worried about what it might contain.
In all the time she lived with the Gardiners, she had never received a letter from her father. This was the first and she doubted it contained good news. Elizabeth did not believe anyone in Meryton knew of her upcoming wedding.
There had been no announcement of their engagement published in any of the London newspapers and though the connection between Elizabeth and Darcy had been speculated about in the papers’ gossip columns since they first met again at her debut, little had been written that overtly mentioned the engagement. She knew this in part because of the letters Darcyreceived from his aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, complaining about the frequent mention of him in company with 'some tart' as she called Elizabeth, though she did not know who the lady was. Despite the confrontation at Pemberley shortly after George Darcy's death, Lady Catherine still attempted to claim Darcy was engaged to her daughter, but all the family merely rolled their eyes at her insinuations before correcting her, yet again. Still, it seemed odd, and more than a little concerning, that Mr. Bennet would write to her so close to the wedding date.
Slowly, she opened the letter. It contained no greeting, only a few words:
Elizabeth, it is time for you to return home to your family. We expect you to arrive no later than Michaelmas. Sincerely, Thomas Bennet
Darcy was announced into the room only moments later. He must have seen some of what she was feeling in her face, for the greeting seemed to die on his lips and he immediately strode in her direction.
"Fitzwilliam," she breathed, her voice tremulous as she saw her intended standing in front of her.
Immediately,Darcy moved to Elizabeth's side, his worry mounting when he noticed the tracks of the tears on her dear face. Upon realising they were alone, he knew whatever it wasmust be serious. Quickly, he took the seat beside her, capturing her hand with his own and bringing it to his lips for a kiss. "What is it, my darling Elizabeth? What is wrong?" It was then he noticed the letter in her hand. She held it warily, and barely looked from it.
