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Darcy admired the way Elizabeth politely described manic.
“Sir David is at sea and is not expected to return until much later in the year. As a maiden I am unable to assist with the birth, meaning that Jane will have to cope with Mama on her own. If I was married however.”
She did not need to say anything else. Darcy could see her plan. If it allowed him to be married to Elizabeth sooner then he was all for it.
“If we were to be married towards the end of January then we could have a short wedding trip but then we could take up residence with Lady Carruthers.”
Darcy looked confused for a moment.
“Is it appropriate for me to be there?”
Elizabeth’s next words calmed and enflamed him all at the same time.
“We are not going to be separated Mr. Darcy.”
It was said with such an arch tone but it made him so happy.
“The reason I raised this point, and rather forced the earlier question, is I would like to understand your responsibilities to your estate. When are we needed at Pemberley?”
“I will answer your question with one of my own. What of your sister and Bingley? Bingley is renowned for his poor handwriting but from careful deciphering of his letters he is looking forward to returning to Hertfordshire. Not for his lessons in estate management but for a certain young lady.”
“Kitty is the same. She has not been too open in her own letters, but she talked of Mr. Bingley at length with Jane who had no qualms about informing me. I know you do not care of my lack of dowry, will he?”
Darcy had not waved away Elizabeth’s confession of her lack of dowry. There had been a long and very enlightening conversation over the purpose of a dowry. It had made no difference in how Darcy thought of Elizabeth, but there was going to be an impact on the estate. He would put money aside for Elizabeth but also to cover the dowries of any daughters. It had been an awkward conversation but Darcy had been clear that the responsibility resided with her father. It was another strike against him.
“As with the discussion between ourselves, I do not think it will change his mind but it will be even more serious for them if they match. He is not as wealthy as I am and it may take longer to save sufficient funds. I do not know for sure, but my sense is that the lack of dowry will not be an impediment.”
Elizabeth was not going to feel sorry for her father having to shame-facedly explain two more times why there was no dowry for any of his daughters, other than their individual share of their mother’s jointure upon her death.
“You have been able to invite people to Netherfield Park because your sister has acted as your hostess. What is Mr. Bingley going to do?”
“I neither know nor care. He will have to work it out. We will only overlap by two or three weeks before we are off to West Sussex. We will return in March once your sister has recovered and we will be here for less than a month. Other than to return for any wedding we will be at Pemberley for the rest of the year. Miss Mary, and Lady Carruthers and the children, will be invited to visit for as long as they want.”
Elizabeth noticed who was not mentioned as much as who was.
“In fact, we will need to discuss with your father and Miss Mary herself, if she wishes to reside with us permanently. I believe that she and Georgiana are good for each other and I would like the friendship to grow.”
Bold and confident, yet considerate, Elizabeth smiled at her husband to be. She was already betrothed even if they had to go through the theatre in the morning. The wedding date, if she had any say in the matter, was going to be the day after Twelfth Night!
It was Mary and Georgiana kneeling before the music chest that sparked the thought in Darcy’s mind. They looked as if they were at prayer rather than rummaging for a different score.
“I have not thought of this before. There was talk in town of you being seen with a parson. And by you I mean the whole family not you in particular. You did tell me that the heir to the estate had visited but the visit had been cut short. Are the two connected?”
Elizabeth barely contained her snort of annoyance.
“Yes, the Rev William Collins is heir to the estate. He invited himself to visit and my father, foolishly, allowed it. He had heard from his own father, now deceased, that there were five of us, and he turned up with the clear intention of marrying one of us. What did he call it, ‘an olive branch’ or some such thing? He was an intensely annoying little man. That is not accurate physically, he was not a man who passed up the chance to eat. And to eat a lot. Mentally he was a petty little man, but physically he was rotund already and heading towards fat.
“When he arrived to find one sister married, another off visiting her and myself already being courted, he had a tantrum worthy of an ill-disciplined child still in leading strings. He was only here two days, and only in Meryton the once, but he was sent off with a flea in his ear. If he wished to marry one of us, his choices were Mary or Lydia. He ignored Lydia, fortunately, but he made the mistake of calling Mary plain. You can imagine how that worked out for him.”
Darcy winced.
“My mother stood in front of the poker for the fireplace, she was worried I was going to use it to beat him about the head. Whilst a temptation I was having too much fun verbally excoriating the pathetic little man. If I never hear the name Lady Catherine de Bourgh again it will be too soon.”
Darcy turned white.
“Lady Catherine de Bourgh?”
Elizabeth looked at Darcy in confusion.
