Winter 1807 - 1808
Ever since the Bennets received word that Amelia Gardiner had been safely delivered into the world, time seemed to proceed at a snail’s pace for Elizabeth. She could think of little else but meeting her new cousin! It was, in fact, only slightly more than a month between the letter announcing this auspicious event and the morning she set off with the Gouldings, who were to take her to Coventry. Their plans to visit with family there over the holiday saved Mr. Bennet the long journey and allowed Mr. Gardiner to fetch his niece from a closer locale, thus shortening his time away from his brand-new daughter.
The two-day journey to Coventry was surprisingly pleasurable for Elizabeth. Despite her eagerness to meet Amelia and see her aunt and uncle when the time came, she was somewhat melancholy about being away from her family and home for the holidays for the first time. In addition, though she had met with them many times over the ten years they had lived in the neighbourhood, Elizabeth did not know the Gouldings well at all. But the couple travelling to their only daughter’s home for the first time were lively and kind. Their pup, who travelled in the box with them, was a source of great laughter and fun—though he also slowed their journey considerably.
“We are so sorry, Miss Lizzy,” Mrs. Goulding said for the second time. “If I had known how much special treatment she required, I might have considered leaving Queen Charlotte home.”
They watched the little dog run around a small enclosed space in the back of the inn where they had stopped for the third time that day. She nipped at bushes, wagged her tail furiously and ran across the space as if in a great rush, only to plop down and rest for a moment before repeating the process again and again.
“You certainly would not have, my love,” her husband declared with a booming laugh.
His wife huffed in response but looked from Queen Charlotte to her husband with fondness even as she shook her head in an attempted rebuke, to which of them Elizabeth did not know.
“I am grateful to have her,” Elizabeth told them sincerely.
Though the excitable and demanding little thing had slowed their progress, her company more than made up for it. As a seeming reward for this support, Queen Charlotte chose Elizabeth as her companion for the next leg of the journey, snuggling into her side, head on her lap, as soon as they set out.
The second day’s travel went slightly more according to schedule, with only two extra stops before they reached the inn in Coventry, where they were to meet Mr. Gardiner. But an hour later, it was not Elizabeth’s uncle who walked into the parlour, where she and the Gouldings were taking tea.
“Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth declared, equal parts surprise and pleasure.
She jumped to her feet and moved to greet her friend. He took her hands in his, bowing over them as she curtsied.
“I am delighted to see you, but please tell me—is there something amiss with my family?”
“No, nothing of the sort, I assure you,” he told her, squeezing her hands. “They are all well. It is only that when the time came to leave your aunt and cousin, Mr. Gardiner, though eager to retrieve you, was reluctant to be separated from them for the two days the journey would require. As we had business in the area, I hope you do not mind that Fitzwilliam and I eagerly volunteered for the job.”
Possibly it was the surprise of seeing Mr. Darcy instead of her uncle or the exhaustion from the journey or the distant barking which Elizabeth noted and identified as Queen Charlotte, but she did not register the mention of her Mr. Darcy. That is why when he appeared a moment later behind his father, shaking the rain off his coat and raking a hand through his wet and dishevelled hair, she very nearly swooned. Mrs. Goulding joined them at that moment and perhaps noted her companion’s state because she placed an arm around Elizabeth’s waist as she faced the newcomers.
“Miss Elizabeth, you told us much of your time in Derbyshire, and I distinctly recall mention of the Darcy family, but you did not tell us how handsome the Darcy gentlemen were. Will you introduce us to your friends?” This slightly silly speech, accompanied as it was by a gentle squeeze where Mrs.Goulding’s hand rested on Elizabeth’s hip, recalled her enough to perform the office.
“Of course, Mrs. Goulding, may I present Mr. Darcy and his son, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Gentlemen, this is Mrs. Goulding, a friend and neighbour. Her husband, Mr. Goulding, is outside with their dog, Queen Charlotte.”
While the gentlemen bowed and Mrs. Goulding curtsied, Elizabeth had two primary tasks. First, to get her breathing under control so she did not faint. She no longer had the support of Mrs. Goulding’s arm. Second, to drink in the sight of Fitzwilliam Darcy while he and the others were distracted. She had already noted his damp, tousled hair, but now she saw it was longer than it had been in the summer; the rebellious curl she loved so much hung almost over his eyebrows, and the sides were threatening his ears. His face was, as always, neatly shaven, and his smooth skin and high cheekbones contributed to the overall ethereal quality of him.
“I believe I have already become acquainted with the queen,” Darcy told them. “If she is a pint-sized ball of brown fur and righteous fury, she introduced herself to me outside.” He sounded put out, but Elizabeth knew at least some of it was teasing.
“Oh no, what has she done?” Mrs. Goulding chuckled.
“Nothing too serious,” Darcy assured her, but before he could elaborate, the Queen herself was heard behind him. Darcy stepped further into the room, and Mr. Goulding, Charlotte in his arms, came in.
“I must apologise again, sir,” Mr. Goulding said to Darcy.
“It is of no matter, I assure you,” Darcy responded.
“I thank you for your understanding, sir,” he responded. Then, taking a moment to review the room, he asked, “It seems you are acquainted with our Lizzy?”
“I do have that honour.”
“Mr. Goulding, allow me to present Mr. Darcy and his son, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Gentlemen, this is Mr. Goulding.”
The gentlemen bowed their acknowledgements to one another before Mrs. Goulding invited everyone to sit while she rang for more tea.
Several minutes of congenial conversation followed. There was travel, weather and the roads to canvass. Somehow, in this company, these trite topics did not seem so mundane. And they allowed Elizabeth to continue to, surreptitiously, watch Darcy and try to get herself under control. If she had known she was to see him, she would have—well, she would have worn a different dress and paid more mind to her hair, but also, she would have been able to steel herself. Maybe.
While the Gouldings and Mr. Darcy discussed an acquaintance they just found to have in common, Darcy, who was seated to her left, leaned in and spoke to Elizabeth, his voice not quite a whisper but soft and firm, and so close.
“Georgiana would have loved to accompany us,” he told her. “But the plan came together at the last minute, and she had not yet returned from Matlock. She will be at Pemberley when we arrive tomorrow. Though, of course, we have explained that you will likely want time to be with the Gardiners and little Amelia in particular before you visit us.”
