Page 68 of The Crown’s Gift

There was no immediate absolution, no attempt to convert her apology into renewed hope. Elizabeth valued him for letting discomfort remain honest.

Mrs Gardiner returned. Darcy escorted them to the inn and bowed at the door.

That evening, Elizabeth opened Darcy's letter from Hunsford again.

The paper was softened at the folds.

She read the final lines, then took up her pen to answer Jane.

I have seen Pemberley, she wrote. It is beautiful, but not because it is grand. Everything appears cared for without being forced. I begin to understand its master in the same manner.

She stared at the sentence, then left it on the page.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Pemberley's Master

Georgiana met Elizabeth in Pemberley's hall with a cry of pleasure and none of her former hesitation.

"You came. William said you might, but he would not allow me to send to the inn twice in one morning."

Darcy stood behind her. "Once seemed sufficient."

"The first note only confirmed dinner. The second would have expressed welcome."

"I expressed welcome in the first."

"In six words."

Elizabeth looked between them. "I felt welcomed with remarkable efficiency."

Georgiana laughed and took her arm.

The dinner party was small: the Gardiners, a neighboring couple named Mr and Mrs Harcourt, Georgiana, Mrs Annesley, Darcy, and Elizabeth. No relation of rank had been assembled to make the invitation respectable. No apology was made for Mr Gardiner's profession.

Darcy placed him near Mr Harcourt, who shared his interest in fishing and knew enough of warehouses to ask intelligent questions. Mrs Gardiner sat beside Georgiana. Elizabeth was seated at Darcy's right.

"Did you arrange the table?" she asked when the first course was served.

"Mrs Reynolds did."

"Then I shall credit her with diplomacy."

"And me with nothing?"

"You approved it, I suppose. That is almost exertion."

His smile appeared fully now. "I was warned your opinion might improve at Pemberley. I did not expect my labor to increase with it."

"A favorable opinion must be maintained."

"Then I shall apply to your father for agricultural instruction."

Their ease startled Elizabeth. At Netherfield they had sparred to test one another. At Pemberley the same wit carried trust beneath it. Darcy no longer defended every jest. Elizabeth no longer shaped each observation into a challenge.

After dinner Georgiana and Elizabeth walked through the portrait gallery. Georgiana paused before the likeness of her father.

"William resembles him when he is troubled," she said. "Papa became very quiet. I used to think quiet meant disappointment."