~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At the same time Elizabeth was speaking to Anne, Darcy was sitting in the wingback chair in his chambers about to speak to his parents.
‘I know you both met Elizabeth when she was a young girl, so I do not need to tell you how strong, brave, and beautiful my soon-to-be wife is.
‘Father, you told me to marry for love, but never did I expect to find a love for the ages like you and Mother have. She is everything, and so much more than I ever hoped to find in a wife even after I decided to follow the advice in father’s letter. A more loyal friend one could never hope to find.
‘I am sure there is no need to tell you to what extent she was, and still is, Anne’s best friend. When one is bestowed the gift of her love, it is for all eternity. I am sure not even death could break thebonds of the power of her love.
‘Now that I have Elizabeth’s love, I understand what you two have between you. Like Father would for you, Mother, I would willingly lay my life down to protect Elizabeth. The two of us together will be able to face all the vagaries and triumphs of life.
‘She has made me want to be the best version of myself I can possibly be because my Elizabeth deserves no less than that. How I look forward to the children we will have. I know you two are watching Giana and me from heaven. If only God’s plan had allowed you to meet your grandchildren here in the mortal world.
‘As much as I miss both of you, I pray it will be many decades before I see you again. I love you both.’
Darcy rose from his chair, removed the dressing robe, and climbed into bed. With visions of Elizabeth sharing his bed in a little more than seven weeks, he fell into a deep, restful sleep.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
11 January 1811
It was hard for Elizabeth to believe it was the morning of Mary’s and her weddings, but it was.
As much as Elizabeth wanted to don her riding habit and gallop with abandon on Penny across the fields of Longbourn, she could not. She smiled as she thought of riding.
Twice since their return from London, William had challenged her and Penny to a race. The first time, she had held her mare back and only allowed her to go to full speed with two hundred yards to go. She had won by a full length. The second time with her fiancé crowing about how he almost won the previous race, Elizabeth allowed her horse to run free from the very start.
By the end of the half mile race, she was almost ten horse lengths ahead of William and Zeus. As soon as he had seen Penny’s unrestrained abilities, William had ceased askingfor another race.
He had not surpassed her abilities at chess yet either, but he would soon. The last three games were played to a draw and Elizabeth was confident William would soon begin to best her every now and again. Her father was the only player who, at this point, was able to beat her at chess almost as often as she beat him.
As her mind returned to the present, there was a knock on the door and Jane entered followed by Sarah who was carrying a tray. The latter was one of the lady’s maids and would be assisting Elizabeth that morning. As excited as she was to marry William, an unladylike rumble from her tummy reminded her how hungry she was so Elizabeth followed Jane to the table under the window where they both sat to share in the cups of hot chocolate, muffins, rolls, and pastries on the plate.
“Kitty is delivering a similar tray to Mary,” Jane related. Kitty was Mary’s maid of honour while Giana and Lydia were attendants for Elizabeth and Mary respectively so none of the sisters would be left out. Andrew was standing up with Richard and Bingley would do the honours for Darcy. May Gardiner would be the flower girl again, but now as she was past the age of six, her mother was confident she would acquit herself with aplomb and not cry off as she had at Jane’s wedding.
“Lizzy, I have a secret to impart to you. Andrew is the only other person who knows,” Jane confided.
“You are with child again,” Elizabeth guessed.
“I am. I just missed my third set of courses. But how do you know?” Jane enquired.
“You have the same glow about you which you had when you were increasing with Tommy. I also noticed your aversion to eggs the last two days when we broke our fasts,” Elizabeth revealed. “I noticed the way Mama and Aunts Elaineand Maddie all looked at you with knowing looks.”
“It seems my secret is not so secret after all. I will tell Mama, Mother, and our aunts after your wedding breakfast. They will say nothing to me until I share the news with them.”
Elizabeth savoured first a muffin, then a warm roll slathered with soft butter. She left the lemon pastry, her favourite, for last. Once it too was consumed, she drank the hot chocolate slowly. She used her index finger to recover the last few drops of the decadent drink. They had stubbornly refused to oblige her by not running down the side of the cup to land on her tongue.
Her wedding gown was hanging from the door of her wardrobe. She could not wait for William to see her in it. As it was winter, the fabric was satin, in off-white. The gown had sleeves which ended just below her elbows. It shimmered in the lights thanks to the silver lamé overlay Madam Chambourg had fashioned to complete the dress. The shorter train was satin, but silver lamé extended double the length of the satin to make a long flowing train. Never one who liked bonnets, she would wear a sheer gossamer veil edged with delicate Belgium lace. The jewellery—except for the ring on the fourth finger of her left hand—she was to wear was from the de Bourgh collection she had inherited.
Her fiancé had presented her with a becoming engagement ring with a gold band and a large emerald stone. When they were in London, Elizabeth had visited the bank where her jewels were stored and selected the gold pendant with a teardrop emerald and matching earrings.
“Tommy will be very excited he will be a big brother,” Elizabeth noted and Jane nodded.
Once the food and drink had been consumed, Jane kissed her younger sister on her forehead and followed the maid who came to collect the tray out of Elizabeth’s chamber. It was time for her sister to bathe and then make herself ready.As Jane closed the door to the chamber, she met Kitty exiting Mary’s room.
Mrs. Jenkinson slipped into Elizabeth’s bedchamber just before she rose from the chair. “You will be the most beautiful of brides Miss Lizzy and I know Miss Anne is with you today,” Mrs. Jenkinson told Elizabeth.
A few tears ran down Elizabeth’s cheeks as she simply nodded and hugged Jenki. The latter padded out of the door while the former headed for her hot bath.
