Bingley proudly led Jane, who was resting her hand on his forearm, into his leased house. Mrs. Hurst, Elizabeth, and Mary followed them. Once the butler and a footman had taken their outerwear, the five made their way to the drawing room where Hurst, Richard, Darcy, Tiffany, and Giana were awaiting them.
Greetings were exchanged. “Miss Elizabeth, I was so very pleased to hear William’s news,” Georgiana gushed.
“And I as well,” Lady Tiffany added.
“Elizabeth or Lizzy please, and that is Mary,” she inclined her head to her next younger sister who nodded her approval.
“In that case, please call me Georgiana or Giana as almost everyone in the family does,” was the invitation in reply.
“And I am Tiffany,” she allowed.
Hurst and the Colonel both expressed their wishes for the happiness of the newly courting couple.
Darcy approached the lady he loved and bowed over her hand. He so wanted to bestow kisses on it, but in company like this he tamped down his desires. One thing he regretted was that, unlike his sister, he had no permission to use Elizabeth’s familiar name yet. As soon as he had the opportunity to speak to her out of the hearing of others, he intended to ask they use Elizabeth and William between them when no one else was about.
Having handed her gloves to the butler, Elizabeth felt a great thrill when Mr. Darcy took her hand and held onto it for somewhat longer than strictly proper but she had no complaint regarding that fact.
As soon as Mrs. Nichols joined them Louisa and Bingley escorted Jane on her tour of the house. While that was occurring, Elizabeth and Mary joined Tiffany and Giana in the music room. It was the first time either Bennet heard Giana play and they were beyond impressed. She had not only technical proficiency but played with great feeling as well. Tiffany played very well also, but her younger cousin was a little better.
When she was roundly complimented—which Giana knew was sincere and not an attempt to reach her brother through her—by Lizzy and Mary, she blushed at the praise. Neither Bennet sister, with Tiffany agreeing with them, would allow her to demure.
A little more than an hour later Jane was returned to the drawing room by Bingley and his older sister. She shared she had no intention of making any major changes. Unlike the absent Miss Bingley, Jane would not make changes for change’s sake, and especially not in a leased home. The only change she would make was to return the bedchamber Miss Bingley had used while in residence to the way it was before it had been made over in a most gaudy and tasteless fashion.
The rest of the Bennets arrived an hour before dinner, and it was a very happy party that shared a pleasant evening together.
When it was time for the Bennets to depart, Bingley had his coach waiting behind the Bennet carriage so his guests would have no need to squeeze into one conveyance.
Chapter 33
An enormous carriage trundled down Longbourn’s drive the day before the wedding of Mary to William Bennet.
“That is Lady Catherine’s barouche,” William Bennet stated as he looked out of the window.
“What is she doing here?” Mary demanded. “Did she not tell you she would not be able to attend our wedding? If she is here for our wedding, she has come a day early.”
“I think I may have erred,” William Bennet stated contritely. “In my last letter I mentioned how well-matched Cousin Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are. I was not thinking and forgot about her incorrect assertions regarding an engagement between him and her daughter. I beg all of your pardons for any trouble I may have caused.”
“William, you did nothing with malicious intent,” Mary pardoned her fiancé as the rest of the family nodded their agreement.
“Hill,” Bennet called. The butler entered without delay. “Send a groom to Netherfield Park and have Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam informed their aunt has arrived unwanted and uninvited.”
There was a rapping on the front door. “Send the groom on his way and then answer the door,” Bennet instructed.
After a few minutes Hill opened the front door. “How dare you keep me waiting,” Lady Catherine screeched, “do you know who I am?”
“Unless you give me a card, I know not who you are, Madam,” Hill responded respectfully.
“I will not give you a card. I demand you allow me entry to this house without any more delay!” Lady Catherine demanded.
“Hill, is there a fishmonger at the door? Do they not know they should seek entry through the servants’ entrance?” Bennet asked as he arrived at the door. “I have witnessed much better breeding in the peasants who work the fields. Who is thispersondisturbing our peace?”
“I know not master, she has refused to hand me a card or identify herself. She seems to believe I would know who she was without such information,” Hill responded with a deadpan expression.
For the moment, Lady Catherine was frozen without a sound emanating from her mouth. The two men were speaking about her as if she was not present with no respect for her exalted position in the least.
“Please inform us who you are, state your business, or be on your way,” Bennet drawled. He was fighting to keep a straight face as the termagant’s face was pinched in the extreme and changing colour before him. He hoped she would not expire from an apoplexy on his doorstep.
“I am Lady Catherine de Bourgh, daughter of an earl, wife of the late Sir Lewis de Bourgh, and you will stand aside for a peer of the realm and allow me entrance immediately,” Lady Cathrine blustered.
