Darcy realised he was grinning. Then a more recent memory assailed him: the same woman who had let him look after a kitten in her sitting room when he was nine, scheming, twenty years later, to separate him forever from Elizabeth. It was a betrayal that was in no way compatible with happy reminiscences, and he wished everyone would stop talking about her. He turned to Georgiana and asked her if she would play for them. She did, as did Elizabeth and Lady Matlock, more than successfully salvaging his contentment.
It was raining heavily by the time they retired. While Elizabeth clambered into bed, stubbornly refusing to relinquish the blanket in which she had once again wrapped herself, he walked to the window. “Shall I open it so we can listen to the rain?”
“Do not dare! It is cold enough in here already.”
He shrugged and removed his banyan. “It is not that cold.”
“Well, I am!”
“I cannot stoke the fire much more without risking burning the house down.” An alarming thought occurred to him as he climbed into bed, and he leant over Elizabeth, trying to make out her complexion in the gloom. “You are not ill, are you?”
“No, I am not ill. Your uncle’s house is just freezing. What a relief we are going home tomorrow!”
That caught him by surprise. “Even with the state Pemberley is in? With all that noise?”
“I have quite missed the sound of people shovelling rubble. It is so quiet here. Your aunt and uncle have been exceptionally welcoming, but Branxcombe is…pardon me if I sound ungrateful, but it is a little staid. I have had a lovely time, but I miss Pemberley dreadfully.”
“I was worried you had decided you hated it.”
“How could anyone hate Pemberley?”
“At present? I could think of a few who might. It is not the house it once was.”
“Fitzwilliam, I do not love it because it is a fine house. I love it because it is inviting, and comfortable—andwarm. I love it because of what it means to you, and what you have made of it. I love it because it is yours.”
Darcy ought to be used to the strength of his feelings for Elizabeth by now, but there were occasions when the power of his sentiments still took him by surprise. It was a moment before he was able to respond, and even then, he managed to say only, “Ours.”
She understood. No more words were said, but they neither of them left the other in any doubt of their affection.
The journey home, which Darcy had worried would be fraught with the disinclination to return to chaos, was instead a happy blur of anticipation. Elizabeth and Georgiana chatted merrily about all they had done these past few weeks, and all that they planned to do together now they were reunited. Darcy listened contentedly and even dozed for a short while.
They might all have felt a greater measure of trepidation had they known what they were travelling towards. Matthis opened the door to them, and with a look that robbed Darcy of all his good cheer.
“What is it?”
“Lady Catherine is here, sir. She is waiting for you in the saloon.”
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
UNWELCOME HOUSEGUESTS
Elizabeth was sorely tempted to laugh but thought better of it. Darcy looked about as amused as a man just arrived at the gallows. This served her right for complaining that Branxcombe Court had been too quiet!
“Georgiana, perhaps you ought to let your brother and me deal with this. Why do not you run upstairs and change?”
Georgiana required no convincing and all but ran across the hall.
Darcy waited only until she reached the stairs before he began to rage. “Of all the insolent, presumptuous—Who in their right minds turns up uninvited to the house of a newly married couple in the midst of a major building restoration without sending word?”
“Lady Catherine did not invent the notion of unwelcome houseguests. She may claim the honour of being our first, but I doubt she will be our last. You may rest assured that the only reason my father has not yet shown his face is because he knows your library is packed away into crates.”
Darcy was unmoved. “I shall tell her to leave.”
“Let us at least find out why she has come. She did help me secure Mrs Lovell after all. She may be more tractable than she was in Hertfordshire.”
Shedidlaugh at the look Darcy gave her in response to that. He really was proficient at exuding disdain. “Come. We shall get nowhere standing about trying to guess at her purpose. Let us ask her why she is here.”
Lady Catherine did not mince her words. “To judge for myself exactly how terrible a mistake my nephew has made.”
