When the gentlemen joined them in the drawing room, Georgiana had already finished discussing her dreams and was sitting at the pianoforte playing a new overture she had mastered. She turned to Elizabeth. “Lizzy, will you sing The Fair Flower of Northumberland? I have been learning the accompaniment so that we could perform it together.”
Elizabeth consented, and the two women performed. Then, Mrs. Hurst agreed to play one of Mr. Bingley’s favorite songs. Afterwards, they all broke into smaller groups. Darcy was being grilled with questions from Bingley, Hurst, and Georgiana, who were curious to hear more details of the raid. Jane, Louisa, and Elizabeth seated themselves together in another corner.
Jane turned to Mrs. Hurst. “How is our sister? Did Charles find an eligible suitor?”
Louisa smiled, and Elizabeth could see that the woman was genuinely happy. “My sister and James Bingley, our cousin, were sweethearts. My cousin is now a wealthy merchant, and because he still loves Caroline, he has agreed to marry her regardless of her condition. He will also stop actively working in trade and will remain only a silent partner, more like an investor. When we left him, James had already begun searching for an estate in Yorkshire. He plans to settle there as a landed gentleman, and their children will never work in trade. Caroline will see her offspring counted among the gentry. I believe you would like her now. She has been humbled in ways none of us thought possible. She was kind to Charles and me. Very different from her usual high-handed manners.”
Jane’s brows knit. “And the child?”
Louisa’s voice softened. “James has said that if it is a girl, he will claim her as his own. If it is a boy, he will not. They mean to put it about that the father was a soldier fallen in the Peninsula. James will not have another man’s son inherit or carry his name. If it is a boy, they will give him the name Peter Harcourt, after Lord Dunwich. I pray, for everyone’s sake, that it is a girl.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Caroline must feel this deeply.”
Louisa nodded, her expression grave. “She does. She knows she brought the disaster upon herself, though both Hurst and I warned her. Yet she will be happy. She loved James with all her heart when she was a girl. It was not until she gained her high and mighty notions at the ladies’ seminary that she turned her back on him, and upon us all, and became insufferable.”
Elizabeth listened in thoughtful silence. The proud, arrogant Caroline Bingley had been brought low, yet because her childhood lover was prevailed upon to marry her, she was now to live a happy, respectable life as a wealthy woman. Elizabeth marveled at how quickly one’s fortune could change and how completely pride could be humbled. A thousand sermons could not have chastened Caroline, but one mistake had effectively changed the woman and her plans forever.
Elizabeth lifted her eyes to where Fitzwilliam sat, his dark head bent in earnest conversation with those who loved him. She could have lost him when she refused his offer. She shuddered. She, too, had been mistaken, but he had not turned his back on her, and now she looked forward to a future with the man she had come to love almost more than life itself.
Chapter 56: I Thee Wed
Darcy and Elizabeth were married on January 26, 1812, in the little church at Meryton, attended by family and friends. As Elizabeth walked up the nave on her father’s arm, her heart beat so rapidly she felt almost giddy. Today, she would be Fitzwilliam’s wife.
She knew she was looking her best. Stevens, her new maid, had dressed her hair in an elegant chignon, and her gown, cut in the latest fashion, flattered her figure to perfection. Happy tears welled in her eyes when she heard Fitzwilliam recite his vows, his rich baritone filling the church.
Looking down into her eyes, he spoke solemnly:
“I, Fitzwilliam, take thee, Elizabeth, to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.”
It was now her turn to recite the vows, and Elizabeth too plighted her troth to the only man who held her heart.
Darcy placed his ring on her finger, and then Elizabeth heard his resonant baritone speak the words she had longed to hear.
“With this ring I thee wed; with my body I thee worship; and with all my worldly goods I thee endow.”
She looked up into his eyes and smiled. He was hers, and she was his. They were now bound forever.
At last, the rector joined their hands and declared: “Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.” Fitzwilliam bent and kissed her lips. He smiled into her eyes, his dark lashes framing his dark brown eyes, and his forelock hung over his left brow. This beautiful man was now her husband. He took her hand and they stepped forward to sign the registry.
Elizabeth signed her name for the last time, and then she watched as he signed his name next to hers. He grinned at her. He looked so happy. They walked back down the nave, hand in hand. Darcy did not linger in the courtyard but led Elizabeth to his carriage, handed her in, and followed close behind. He laughed as he reached over and closed the curtain on her side, then he bent and kissed her very passionately.
A few minutes later, they reached Longbourn, and then they spent the next four hours mingling with Elizabeth’s family and friends. Finally, Darcy leaned in and asked, “Elizabeth, I believe I have forborne long enough. Are you ready to travel on to London?”
She squeezed his hand. “Yes. I am ready.”
“Then say your farewells, darling. I will excuse myself from my family, and then I will change into my travel clothes. Perhaps Jane can help you change your dress. I have sent the other carriage ahead with Reeves and Stevens.”
Darcy turned first to his cousin. “Richard, keep safe in Kent. Do not get shot by smugglers.”
Richard clasped his arm. “We have captured most of them, Darcy. I do not fear for my safety or that of our relations. I hope to visit Pemberley in the summer with Anne, if I can persuade her to marry me. Otherwise, I shall toss her into a carriage andcarry her back to Scotland. We may be wed over the anvil at Gretna, as the saying goes.”
Darcy laughed. “So, Cousin Anne is proving contrary against a man whose address is legendary.” Richard joined in the laughter.
“She is,” Richard admitted with a grin. “She claims a woman cannot be happy in marriage. I know not where she acquired such a notion, but I mean to rid her of it. If next you hear of my marriage, do not be surprised if you were not invited. I carry a special license in my pocket in case I catch her in a compliant mood.”
He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
Darcy opened it, laughed again, and returned it. “You were not jesting. I wish you all the best, Richard.” He clapped his cousin heartily on the back. “And I thank you for standing with me today. By the way, when do you travel to Scotland?”
