Elizabeth did not know what to say. The value of the jewels in the pouch was likely more than that of her father’s entire estate!
Mr. Darcy saw her confusion and said, gently, “Go and show them to Anna; she will know what pieces will work with which costumes.”
Elizabeth went to her husband, perched on his lap, and kissed him deeply. Then she pulled away, just a little, to whisper, “It will take me some time to become accustomed to this life.”
He laughed. “Wait until you see Pemberley!”
“That is what Georgiana keeps saying as well.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “I am already frightened enough, you know.”
“You have nothing whatever to fear,” he assured her. “I will be with you, every step of the way. More importantly,” he added, in a teasing voice, “Mrs. Reynolds will be with you!”
Anna was delighted with the contents of the velvet pouch. She arranged everything on the bed so that she could examine every piece. There were diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls and so many of each! A few of the pieces were deemed too old-fashioned by Anna, and she advised Elizabeth to have them reset, but the rest were pronounced ‘very nice,’ which Elizabeth had already learnt was Anna’s highest praise.
***
The announcement the Countess had placed in the newspaper had intrigued theton, but until the knocker was up, it was understood that the family was not ‘at home’ to visitors. Once there were suitable gowns in Elizabeth’s wardrobe, Mr. Darcy had the knocker put up on the door.
Now that the knocker was up, visitors began to arrive. Elizabeth was required to be in the drawing room nearly every day; Anna made certain that Elizabeth looked ‘very nice’ for her guests. Elizabeth managed to not be intimidated by the titles of the ladies who came to visit, and instead focused on appearing as calm and collected as if she had been very much in the habit of serving tea to Ladies and Viscountesses every day of her life.
She was quizzed, daily, as to her family, her upbringing, her education, her accomplishments, and – most importantly – how she had come to the attention of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. She answered the questions, impertinent as some of them were, calmly and without rancour, though she was becoming increasingly weary of the daily ordeal.
And to each and every visitor, she made a point of saying, “And I am so very fortunate in my new sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy! What a sweet young lady she is! Very shy, of course, but I am hoping to draw her out a bit.” No one had dared to bring up the unfortunate article inThe Morning Postlast September.
Elizabeth encouraged Mary to sit with her in the drawing room, hoping that this would give Mary the courage she would need to participate in the events of the Season.
The Colonel was one of the earliest visitors. He had wanted to go to Darcy House as soon as Mary had arrived, but his mother had advised him to exercise patience. “You have already given thegirl gifts,” she had said, severely. “I thought you did not wish to raise expectations, son!”
“I do not, of course,” he had replied, automatically.
“Very well, then; calm yourself.”
And he did, with considerable reluctance. But once the knocker was up, he could wait no longer.
When he arrived at Darcy House, there were two other guests in the drawing room. He was introduced to Lady Alice and her daughter, Miss Evangeline. The Colonel was everything polite, but he engaged Mary in conversation almost immediately, asking her about her journey to London and how she had spent her time since arriving.
“I went to Bond Street with your mother and nearly died of exhaustion in the process!” Mary replied. “Oh, not that I am ungrateful, for I had no idea of what I needed and she certainly did,” she hastened to add.
The Colonel chuckled. “My mother is a formidable woman in every way. For her, shopping is one of the most important tasks of the Season, so she approaches it with her customary expertise and determination..”
“I suspect she is right about its importance,” Mary said. Then she dropped her voice to a whisper. “I have seen every one of our visitors inspecting our clothes every day; one of them even raised a lorgnette to her eyes to take a closer look at the lace on one of Lizzy’s dresses!”
“I am not at all surprised,” Richard said. “But, if I may judge on what you and your sister are wearing today, my mother did an excellent job.” He thought she looked very pretty in her blue dress, and it did not escape his attention that she was holding the fan that he had bought for her!
Mary blushed and looked down.
“I am sorry,” Richard said at once. “I did not intend to embarrass you.”
“I embarrass rather easily, I am afraid,” Mary replied, looking up again. “It is my fault, not yours.”
Their eyes locked and they remained frozen in place for a long moment, until Elizabeth interrupted with, “Colonel? Might I offer you more tea?”
***
“The Colonel definitely has a tendré for you, Mary.”
“Lizzy, do not tease me.”
“Tease you! I am certainly not teasing you,” Elizabeth protested. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “It was his idea that you come here.”
