“Your guess that we met while near Bowness-on-Windermere is correct. I am not sure if you were aware that I had withdrawn from London society after the attempted entrapment?” Hilldale enquired of his cousin.
“Yes, I did know that. But I believed you had gone to Hilldale,” Darcy replied.
“At first, that was where I…” Hilldale told of his decision to go to the Lake District incognito, the house he leased, and who his neighbours ended up being. Then, with assistance from Jane and Lizzy, he told about how they met, his conference with Gardiner, and how he and Jane had ended up engaged. “Rather than escape with anonymity to peace and quiet, I found the other half of my heart.”
“That is so very romantic,” Gigi stated as she sighed.
“Gigi and I will finally have you and Rich as our brothers!” Darcy exclaimed. “Has Aunt Elaine written to him to tell him that you and Jane are engaged?”
“No. I believe Mother was waiting to see what would occur today,” Jane related. “I agreed with her that there would be far more news to impart after you and Gigi arrived.”
Given how things had ended, Darcy could not be upset that everyone had conspired to surprise him as they had. After all, it was not like he was the only one in the dark; Gigi had not been informed either. Then, he realised something. He stood and walked over to where the Gardiners were seated, speaking to Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie.
When the two sets of parents fell silent and looked at him questioningly, Darcy gave a quick clearing of his throat. “Mrs Gardiner, Gardiner, rather than move from Snowhaven to the Rose and Crown Inn in Lambton, would you accept an invitation to Pemberley? I cannot reside at the dower house because my tenants are still living there. However, there is more than enough room that Elizabeth and I will be in different wings on separate floors, and that way she can become familiar with her future home,” Darcy invited.
Gardiner looked at Maddie who nodded. “Thank you, Darcy, we will take you up on your offer,” Gardiner agreed. “I will be writing to Bennet in a little while, if you would like to include a missive like Lizzy intends to do, you are welcome to do so.”
Darcy agreed he would. With his success, he returned to the younger crowd and informed them of their impending visit to Pemberley.
“Miss Bingley used to waxeloquentlyabout your magnificent library,” Elizabeth said. “I will be interested to see how it compares to the Bodleian Library at Oxford. As much as I enjoyed everythingelse on our holiday, seeing that magnificent tribute to the written word was one of the highlights for me.”
“The Bodleian is larger, but you will find that Pemberley’s library is not deficient with the quality of books,” Darcy responded.
Elizabeth had an idea her affianced’s library would be more than enough.
Chapter 29
Elizabeth still bore a smile when she woke the next morning. What a day it had been. When it had begun, she had been a single lady, and by the time she had rested her head on her pillow, she had been engaged to marry William. It had been no surprise to her that her betrothed had featured so heavily in her dreams.
Like Jane and Andrew, the newly engaged couple had not discussed the wedding date yet. Out of respect for their father, she and Jane would discuss dates once both men had received the in-person blessings from Papa.
Their bedchambers were on either side of a shared sitting room, so as soon as the maid had assisted her in preparing for bed the previous night, Elizabeth had crossed the sitting room and knocked on Jane’s bedchamber door. It seemed that Jane had been waiting for her to come, as she called out to enter before Elizabeth had knocked once. They had spoken late into the night about how each of them would be marrying the best man for her.
Jane had teased Elizabeth about the paeans she had sung about William. After all, given how much she had teased Jane about how besotted she was with Andrew, turnabout was fair play when she had taken her retribution for Elizabeth’s teasing.
Eventually, they had fallen asleep in Jane’s bed. It was where Elizabeth had woken this morning. She slowly sat up in bed. Jane looked as angelic as anyone could when she was asleep. Given that this was the day they would travel to seeLyddie, Elizabeth had no compunction in waking Jane who normally slept longer than herself.
After a few gentle shakes of her shoulder, Jane’s one eye and then, slowly, the other eye cracked open. She shook her head once or twice, and when her eyes opened fully, she focused her vision on her smiling sister seated next to her in the bed.
“I know I teased you before we fell asleep, so is that the reason you would not allow me to continue sleeping?” Jane asked.
“No, silly. I took no insult at your weak attempts to tease me. In your dotage, have you forgotten that we are to go to St Mary’s Convent so we may visit with Lyddie today?” Elizabeth jested. “Search your memories; we decided to leave early this morning.”
“Yes, I do remember; it is why William and Gigi remained for the night at Snowhaven,” Jane recalled as her head cleared.
“At least, Andrew was not alone in the dower house,” Elizabeth stated with a wide smile, thinking about William. “It is very welcome that our affianceds and Gigi will travel with us to see Lyddie. How surprised will our youngest sister be? Not only with your news, but also with me agreeing to marry William. I am sure the last thing she knew was that I had an intense dislike of him.”
“Lyddie had her faults, but she was always a romantic. I am sure she will see the love between you that we all see,” Jane opined. “Do you remember the letter from our parents with the news that our youngest sister does not carry a child? Do you also remember that Mama told us that Lyddie has learnt chess and is rather proficient?”
“Yes, I remember that. What of it?” Elizabeth enquired.
“Will you challenge her to a chess game to see just howgood she is?” Jane wondered.
“If there is time, then, yes, I think I will,” Elizabeth agreed.
“With there being eight of us travelling, it is good there will be two coaches. I am sure you will want to travel with William, Gigi, and Mrs Annesley; that way Andrew will be able to join me with our aunt and uncle,” Jane stated.
As soon as they made the decision to remain with his betrothed for a few days, Darcy had sent his coach back to Pemberley to collect Mrs Annesley, his valet, and Gigi’s maid. The extra coach carried trunks with enough clothing to last until the whole of the party travelled to Pemberley.
