“Come into the house,” Darcy said to the group at large. “Bingley, you have the same room as always. Mr. and Mrs. Hurst, Miss Bingley, allow my housekeeper to escort you to your rooms. Miss Bennet, your aunt and uncle are in the parlour. Iwill escort you to them. Everyone, we will have refreshments served in an hour on the terrace.”
As everyone moved toward the house, Darcy lingered behind with Elizabeth, offering his arm to escort her inside.
“Mr. Darcy,” Miss Bingley said as she shoved Elizabeth out of the way to take the arm he was holding out. “I am so pleased to be back at Pemberley. I always feel so at home here.”
“Miss Bingley,” Darcy said, grimacing at Elizabeth over the other lady’s head. “I must escort Miss Elizabeth to the parlour where her aunt and uncle are waiting. If you would please follow Mrs. Reynolds to your room so you can refresh yourself from your trip.”
“Oh, Miss Eliza, I did not see you there,” Miss Bingley said snidely. “Whatever areyoudoing at Pemberley?”
“I was invited, Miss Bingley,” Elizabeth said, amused. “My aunt grew up in Lambton, and they invited me to tour Derbyshire with them. When we came across Mr. Darcy yesterday afternoon, he invited us to join your house party.”
“Which aunt and uncle is this?” Miss Bingley asked. “The ones in trade or the solicitor from Meryton?” Her voice left little doubt of what she thought of Miss Elizabeth’s connections or her being there at Pemberley.
“Miss Bingley!” Mr. Darcy interjected. “You will not criticise myinvitedguests. Suffice it to say thatIinvited Miss Bennet and the Gardiners to join us becauseIenjoy their company andIwanted to get to know them better. They are here at my explicit invitation and not because they have included themselves in someone else’s invitation.”
Miss Bingley expressed shock at his statement. “Whatever do you mean by that, Mr. Darcy?”
“I mean, Miss Bingley, that for years, I have issued invitations to Mr. Bingley, yet time and time again, you have interpreted these invitations to include yourself. I have tolerated your presence in my homes because of my friendship with your brother. If you continue to abuse those whom Ihaveinvited into my home, you will soon find yourself not only unwelcome, but your admittance to my homes refused, and you sent away from Pemberley.”
“Well, I never,” Miss Bingley said as she stomped away.
Darcy fairly growled. “This is a disastrous start to her visit,” he remarked to Elizabeth. “She will be ever more determined to make everyone miserable. After I escort you to your relatives, I need to find Charles and explain.” He hesitated as she took his arm. “I asked Mrs. Reynolds to place you and your aunt and uncle in the family wing—I hope you do not mind. If you do, or if your aunt and uncle object to the arrangements because we are engaged, I can move you into the guest wing. With Miss Bingley here, my footmen will remain on duty in the halls of the family wing each night, so nothing, um, untoward, can happen.”
She laughed. “You do have a lot to talk about with Charles.”
He grimaced. “I will send a footman to ask him to join me in my study shortly. Might we go for a walk in the gardens later?”
She smiled up at him lovingly. “I would enjoy that, but we may not be able to get away this afternoon. We can plan to rendezvous in the mornings for our walks. If I recall, the Bingleys and Hursts tend to keep town hours. Is that true even at Pemberley?”
“Yes, it is,” he grinned. “And you, like myself, were always an early riser. We may have to use that to our advantage while they are here, my love. It may be the only time we have to be alone.”
“We will use our early morning walks to actually speak to one another this time, William,” she said, smiling up at him. “We have many things to discuss.”
He pointed out the terrace where they would gather later and then escorted her up the main staircase to the family wing. As they walked down the hall, he pointed out the master’s and mistress’s suites and told her he planned to have Mrs. Reynolds show her the rooms and discuss any changes she would like to make. The mistress’s suite had not been updated since Anne Darcy had taken it over, and Elizabeth was welcome to order any changes to the rooms to make them more comfortable for her. He also showed her Georgiana’s room and her aunt and uncle’s rooms before pointing her to her door.
“You are next to Georgiana, my dear,” he said. “I will try to create opportunities for the two of you to get to know each other away from Miss Bingley while you are here, but the two of you will also share a sitting room during this stay so that you might speak in there as well.”
“Thank you, William,” she said. “Now, go track down Mr. Bingley and have what I am sure will be the first of several uncomfortable conversations for the two of you. I will find my way to the terrace shortly.”
He looked up and down the hall and, seeing no one, bent and kissed her lightly on the lips before heading to find Bingley. When he walked away, he turned back to look at her and saw her standing there with her hands touching her lips. She blushed and then hurried into her bedchamber.
It did not take him long. He found Charles headed toward his study. “Darcy! Caroline says you insulted her, and she is livid about it. I think she would not be half as angry if Miss Elizabeth had not been there to witness it.”
“Are you angry, Bingley?” Darcy asked hesitantly, leading him the rest of the way to the study and entering it.
He laughed. “No, not really. I have told her time and time again to set her sights on someone else, but she refuses to listen. However, for you to imply that Miss Elizabeth was invited while she was not has made her more determined to do something. She is refusing to come down for dinner, she says and insists on having a tray delivered to her room. What makes it amusing is that she thinks she is punishing us by staying in her room.
“Darcy, I need to find someone to marry her, or I need to set her up in her own establishment. She refuses to stay within her allowance, constantly overspends, and expects me to cover it. We fought again before we left about her uncontrolled spending.”
“Charles, she has rejected the suitors who would have had her for years, and now, I am not certain who is left that would accept her. Even with her dowry, she has a reputation amongst thetonthat will make it difficult to find anyone who is not completely unsuitable.” Darcy told him.
“I know. When we return to town, I will have to speak to my solicitor about turning her dowry over to her and setting her up in her own establishment,” Charles sighed dejectedly. “She will be twenty-five soon and is quickly approaching spinster status.”
“Charles, I must admit something to you,” Darcy began slowly. “It seems that I owe you a substantial apology. Last fall, I did youa tremendous disservice when I told you Miss Bennet did not care for you. Miss Elizabeth has told me I was wrong.”
“She cared for me?” he asked.
“She did. She still does, Miss Elizabeth believes,” Darcy said. “We, um, we both visited Kent at Easter, Miss Elizabeth and I. I, uh, I offered for her then, and she rejected me, citing my involvement in keeping you apart from Miss Bennet as one of the reasons. When I returned, you were out of town, and I did not want to tell you this in a letter. I planned to speak to you while we were here in Pemberley to see how you felt before encouraging you to return to Netherfield after we left here.”
