Mrs. Jenkinson nodded, her loyalty to Anne unshaken. “Very well, Miss Anne. I will see to it.”
Chapter Fourteen
FRIDAY, 18 OCTOBER 1811
PEMBERLEY
The following morning, Darcy rose later than was typical and made his way to his study with his wife. As he sat at his desk and began to sort through the letters, he found several for his wife.
“You have already received several letters, Elizabeth. Would you like me to show you the study my mother used? She had a small sitting room adjacent to this study, and there is also a study for the mistress on the floor above, near the family wing. Of course, we can set up a desk for you in this room, as I would be delighted to have you nearby while you read your correspondence. But you might prefer your own space for times when I am not here or when I am meeting with someone,” he asked.
Elizabeth seemed to consider this for a moment. “At present, I believe I wish to use this room. We can take a look at these other rooms on another day. Who has written to me so soon?”
Darcy scanned the letters addressed to his wife. “It would appear this one is from your Aunt Gardiner, and the other is from Hertfordshire, so perhaps one of your sisters. Or your mother? It is rather thick, so maybe they included several in one packet.”
Smiling at her new husband, Elizabeth stood from the comfortable spot on the sofa she had taken when Darcy began tocomb through the papers on his desk. Darcy insisted upon a kiss before handing her the letters.
Their embrace deepened, and Darcy, absorbed in the warmth of Elizabeth in his arms, let the stack of letters tumble from his hands, scattering across the floor. When they finally pulled back, Elizabeth’s soft laughter filled the room, her eyes bright with amusement. Darcy, a little flustered but clearly enjoying the moment, crouched to gather the fallen letters. “It seems I can hardly keep hold of anything else when you are near,” he murmured, offering the letters to her with a smile.
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching with playful humour. “Your attention to detail is admirable, my dear husband. For someone so new to the practice, I must say I am growing quite fond of this particular exercise,” she teased, her voice light but her gaze warm.
Darcy’s cheeks were flushed at her words, but he merely winked at her before returning to his desk. Elizabeth sat back down and opened the letters, starting with the one from London. It was, as Darcy suspected, from her aunt.
Her mouth curved up into a smile as she read.
My dear Elizabeth,
I cannot tell you how pleased we were to receive your letter. We suspected something was amiss at Longbourn when first your father, and then my brother Philips, cut off all contact with us. But we never blamed any of you girls and rightly assumed your father was at fault. When he wrote to say he intended to reject Mr. Darcy’s proposal, repeatedly expressing his doubt that the young man would even bother to come for you, we feared this outcome. Wetried to write at least once a month, hoping someone at Longbourn might receive our letters, but eventually realised your father must have been intercepting the post.
This is just a brief note, as I wanted you to receive it as soon as possible. I will follow up with a much longer letter in a few days. When you come to London, please do visit us—we would be delighted to see you again. Your uncle and I are overjoyed that you and Mr. Darcy were able to marry after so many years apart. I will say more in my next letter, but you should know he visited us often, paying many calls at Gracechurch Street. The children quite adore him. By the way, we have four now—one more since we last saw you.
Love,
Aunt Gardiner
“You visited my aunt and uncle in Gracechurch Street?” Elizabeth asked, looking up from her letter.
“I did,” he replied, clearing his throat.
She beamed at him. “Thank you. My aunt wrote that she is thrilled with our marriage and will send a longer letter in a day or two. Will Uncle Gardiner write to you, do you think?”
Darcy grinned. “I have several letters from him on my desk, though I am uncertain any of them concern our wedding. After my first visit to Longbourn, I went directly to your aunt in Gracechurch Street, seeking answers. She knew only that your father intended to deny the match, but had no further details. I believe she was as shocked by your supposed engagement as I had been. Your uncle arrived shortly after I did, and once I realised who he was, we spoke for quite some time. Since he runs a thriving import business, we went into business together afterthat meeting. In fact, much of your settlement comes from the profits I have earned from that investment.”
“What?” Elizabeth asked in surprise.
“I never gave up on you, my love,” Darcy said, his voice soft yet full of conviction. “I prayed that one day fate would bring us together again. If you had been married when we met, I do not know what I would have done. But the truth is, my visit to Bingley was mostly an excuse to see you.”
He stepped out from behind his desk and moved to stand before her. Gently, he knelt at her feet, cupping her cheeks in his hands. His gaze never wavered from hers. “While I might have considered the idea of marrying another, deep down, I knew there could be no one else. I gave myself until my thirtieth birthday—I would have needed an heir at some point. I even thought about naming Georgiana's future son as my heir, but after the incident with Wickham, I was hesitant. Something had to be done, and I prayed constantly, not only that I might find you in your county, but that you would be unwed—or even widowed.”
His voice dropped lower, filled with raw honesty. “I would never wish harm upon another man, but had I found you married, I fear I might have prayed for it.”
Elizabeth's fingers gently traced the features of the face that had grown so familiar over the past week. “Marriage to another was something I vowed never to consider. I had resigned myself to becoming the best aunt I could be to my sisters’ children. My plan had always been to make my way to my aunt and uncle’s house in London once I reached my majority. For years, I carefully saved a portion of my pin money. In my valise, there ismore than one hundred pounds that I had saved over the past four years.”
The letters lay forgotten once more as Darcy and Elizabeth exchanged lingering kisses, losing themselves in each other. Minutes passed, and it was only the sound of a knock on the study door that pulled them back to reality.
“Damn it,” Darcy muttered, his voice thick with irritation. “I have never in my life wished another person dead, but at this moment, I would be quite content to make whoever that is disappear.”
Elizabeth, her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling with amusement, stifled a giggle at his obvious frustration. “You sound as though you truly mean it,” she teased, smoothing her dress and trying to regain her composure. As Darcy called out sharply, demanding to know who dared disturb them, Elizabeth reached up and ran her fingers through his tousled hair, attempting to restore some semblance of order to it.
