***
“I am so very, very happy, Mary!” Elizabeth exclaimed, when her sister came to tell her the news. “When will you wed?”
“We thought to stay at Pemberley through the Christmas festivities and then journey to Meryton. We will marry at the end of January.”
“I am glad you will spend Christmas with us. But I am surprised that William did not tell me that Richard planned to propose!”
Mary frowned mightily. “And why would your husband know that, Lizzy? I am certain you do not hold any outmoded ideas about needing permission from a male relative to accept a marriage proposal!”
“Oh, no, not at all,” Elizabeth said, hastily. “But – well, you will at least write to Papa, will you not?”
“Of course, and I shall do so at once.”
“My desk is supplied with paper and fresh ink; you are welcome to use it now.”
Dearest Papa,
You will be happy, and Mama will doubtless be surprised, to learn that I have just accepted a proposal of marriage. My future husband is Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, and he is Mr. Darcy’s cousin. Yes, he is the second son of the Earl and Countess of Matlock; I tell you this so that Mama need not cudgel her mind trying to work out that relationship.
He is well able to support a wife, as he has an inheritance from an aunt, and Mr. Darcy has settled five thousand pounds on me.
I wish to be married from home. I will want Kitty to attend me; it will do Lydia’s character good to be passed over for once.
I will let you know when you might expect us.
Your loving daughter,
Mary Bennet
While Mary was penning her letter, Elizabeth went in search of her husband. She found him in his study, talking with the Colonel.
“You should have come to me first, Richard!” she heard.
She began to laugh as she entered the room. “I assume we are talking about Richard and Mary?”
The Colonel turned to her, spreading his arms helplessly. “Elizabeth, you see the quandary I am in! If I ask Darcy here for permission to speak with your sister, then I am in trouble with her for conforming to outdated ideas. If I do not, then your sister is in charity with me, but my cousin is not. What was I to do?”
“Speak to my husband but not tell Mary,” Elizabeth advised.
“And start my marriage off by lying! I think not!” He was outraged.
“I see your point, Richard. And surely you do as well, William, do you not?”
Mr. Darcy sighed deeply. “I suppose I do. But – well, hang it, Richard, what am I to tell her father?”
“That you gave your permission most willingly,” Elizabeth said. “He will not ask for details as to what came first, the permission or the proposal. And once my mother learns that Mary is to be married to the son of an earl, there will be no other topic of discussion. Mary is writing to our father even now.”
***
Elizabeth and Lady Anne spent many hours together over the next weeks planning for the Harvest Dance and the Christmas Ball, leaving Mary free to become better acquainted with Georgiana. They were on a first-name basis by the end of their first duet, and spent two hours a day working on their music together. It was an open secret that the servants found reasons to be outside the music room during those hours.
Mary was included in Georgiana’s lessons; she turned up her nose at the etiquette lessons until she was reminded that she was soon to be the daughter-by-marriage of an earl and a countess. Did she wish to embarrass them, Elizabeth wanted to know.
***
Elizabeth recalled the ivory fan she had purchased for Lady Anne, and presented it to her at Christmas. It was painted with a scene of a mother and two grown daughters, and Lady Anne said it could not have been a more perfect gift.
Chapter Seventy-Nine
