Elizabeth looked up at her husband with arched brows. He winked at her. Everything would be well. He placed her arm in the crook of his own and led her to the drawing room.
He gestured toward an empty couch. “Shall I take you there?”
But Charlotte stood and motioned to Elizabeth. “Come sit with me, Eliza.”
Elizabeth looked up at her husband. “Do not leave me for too long.”
“I will keep an eye on him for you,” Darcy whispered.
Elizabeth nodded and went to her friend.
“Lizzy, look at you. I hardly knew you. I believe you have put on a little weight. Your curves are more seductive, and your face is not so lean. You are more beautiful than ever.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Perhaps it is because I eat breakfast every day now, Charlotte.”
“You mean, now that you do not need to flee your mother?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Yes. It is such a pleasure to take my time savoring each bite. I have discovered that I love breakfast foods.”
Charlotte gestured to the necklace. “That is a lovely piece. Did he purchase it for you?”
Elizabeth tilted her head. “I do not believe so. I believe it is part of the Darcy collection.”
“Tell me all. How do you spend your days?”
They were soon deep in conversation, and Elizabeth forgot all about her mother and Mr. Collins.
Darcy, however, had not. He searched the room until he found Mr. Collins standing in a corner, watching Elizabeth. He requested a drink from the footman and, with glass in hand, approached Mr. Collins and bowed.
“You are conducting the quarterly review? How is the crop doing?”
Collins studied the man’s face, then relaxed. “Bennet was telling me it has been unusually cool this year, but the crops were not affected. He hopes that whatever has caused this cool weather will not extend into next year.”
Darcy nodded. “The effect is more pronounced in the north. I have kept a careful record. The temperatures in 1810 were colder than in 1809, and they have been colder still this year. Should this trend continue, I fear next year will be colder yet, and those temperatures may affect the crop yield.”
Elizabeth glanced about the room until she located her husband. He and Mr. Collins were deep in discussion. She relaxed and turned back to her friend.
“We are bound for London and shall remain there until just before Easter. Fitzwilliam has agreed to have you visit next summer. There is a bachelor rector in our parish and a widower with four children. I am certain to find more eligible men by the time you come. What think you, Charlotte? Will you visit?”
“I will, and I am very happy to do so. I have grown tired of Meryton now that all the Bennet sisters are gone, and Mary King as well. Let us plan it, Lizzy.”
“Very well, my dear. Ask your father to set aside your pin money, for you shall visit my modiste. Ellis, my maid, is a magician when it comes to dressing a woman to her advantage. Only look at what she has done for Mary.”
Both women turned to regard Mary’s hair and gown.
“And she dresses hair,” Elizabeth continued. “She cut Mary’s fringe. Who would have thought it would frame her eyes so prettily that a man, once caught in those brown depths, would be unable to look away from her?”
Charlotte’s eyes brightened. “Lizzy, may I come tomorrow and have her cut my hair? It falls past my waist and hangs like strands of dead grass. Perhaps she can do something for me before you leave.”
Elizabeth patted her friend’s hand. “Yes, come in the morning. Jane is to meet with Mamma at that time about the wedding breakfast, but I shall remain at Netherfield, and Ellis can work on your hair.”
Chapter 48: Charlotte
The following morning, Elizabeth and Georgiana were on the lawn playing with their puppies while they waited for Charlotte to arrive for her haircut. They had been outside for about an hour when Georgiana left to bring water for the dogs. Elizabeth remained where she was, with one puppy on her lap and the other attempting to chew on her hand. She was kneeling on the grass when both dogs suddenly grew alert and turned their heads toward something behind her. Cinder began to bark, and Chocolate followed. Both puppies ran behind Elizabeth and barked with such force that she turned to see what had alarmed them.
Mr. Collins stood just inside the hedge, looking down at the two dogs. Though the puppies were only three months old, they already stood a good twenty inches tall, and their bark was loud. Elizabeth scrambled to her feet, and that was how Fitzwilliam found her, rooted to the spot while the puppies did everything in their power to protect her. He called the dogs to heel, then approached Collins to greet him.
“Excuse me. I ought to have told Elizabeth that you were expected. Come this way. I have prepared the information you requested.”
