“I could not have parted with you for gentlemen any less worthy.”
Jane sniffled and kissed his cheek, and Elizabeth followed suit.
Mr.Bennet straightened his spine and lifted his chest.“Enough of that now.Let us get you two married.”
After a short ceremony and an interminable wedding breakfast, Darcy was out of patience.The breakfast was held at Netherfield and he and Elizabeth would be staying the night there, along with Jane and Bingley, before leaving for Pemberley four days later.It had seemed a good plan when they first arranged it, but now he wondered at his stupidity.
If they did not need to leave the breakfast, how would they make the guests leave?
He was certain Mr.Bennet knew of his predicament for the old man had looked at him and laughed several times when Darcy was feeling particularly frustrated.Mr.Bennet could have ended it all by thanking all of the guests and wishing the newlyweds well.But he would never turn down an opportunity for sport, and Darcy was making it entirely too easy on the old man.
“Fitzwilliam, be careful or you will chip a tooth.”
He turned to his new wife—his wife!—and attempted to rein in his irritation.It was not her fault, after all.
“Do you know how much longer this will go on?”he asked as politely as he could.
She made a sympathetic face and looked around at the room full of people.They were still eating and drinking and the staff continued to bring out more food.“I’m afraid it will be some time yet.”
He took a deep breath, trying not to groan aloud.He disliked parties at the best of times, but when he was the center of attention, it was exceedingly uncomfortable.Add his desire to be alone with his wife and it was positively torturous.
“I have an idea,” Elizabeth whispered in his ear.He raised a brow in question and she said, “Say goodbye to your family, then meet me by the staircase in fifteen minutes.”
He did not know what she had planned, but he very much liked the sound of fifteen minutes and Elizabeth going upstairs in the same sentence.
He found his great uncle, Sir Daniel, first.The older man wished him well and promised a visit to Pemberley soon.Darcy said goodbye to Lord and Lady Blackburn and his cousin Harry.Fitzwilliam was nowhere to be found, and Darcy thought he had probably escaped to the garden with Miss Covington.She had come with her brother and would leave first thing in the morning, hopefully while Darcy was still sound asleep.In bed.With his bride.
He found his sister and told her to be a good houseguest for his aunt and that he would see her at Pemberley next month when she travelled north with the Bingleys and Mrs.Annesley.Finally, he caught Bingley’s eye across the room and waved.Bingley smiled broadly and nodded, not surprised in the least to see his friend escaping his own wedding breakfast early.
Elizabeth did something similar.She said a quick goodnight to Jane, who she would be seeing soon, said the same to each of her sisters, and had a short chat with Charlotte.Charlotte was smug and proud of her romantic deduction in the best possible sense.She wished Elizabeth a wonderful evening and made her promise to call before she left for Pemberley.Elizabeth kissed the Gardiners on each cheek and thanked them for all their assistance during her courtship.Then she asked them for one last favor: to tell her mother she had left after she had had plenty of time to escape.
Mr.Gardiner laughed—he knew his sister well—and promised he would do as he was bid.Mrs.Gardiner was pleased to help, so long as Elizabeth would promise to take her around the grounds of Pemberley in a light open carriage when they came to visit in August.
“Anything for you, Aunt.”With one last embrace, and Mrs.Gardiner’s parting words of “all will be well,” Elizabeth snuck off to the stairs to meet her husband.
Her father caught her just as she was leaving the drawing room.
“Leaving early, Elizabeth?”
She sighed.“Papa.Do not tease me now.It is unkind.”
He had the grace to look sheepish, then smiled again with the glint in his eye she had long learned to recognize.It gave her an idea.
“Have you met Sir Daniel yet?”
Mr.Bennet rolled his eyes.“There are so many titles in this house I cannot keep them straight.”
“You will like this one.He is a retired high court judge.”
Mr.Bennet’s brows rose.
“He only arrived early this morning.I cannot believe I forgot to introduce you before.”She grabbed her father’s arm and towed him to the other side of the room.
“Sir Daniel, may I present my father, Mr.Thomas Bennet of Longbourn?”
They exchanged courtesies and Elizabeth said, “My father thinks all the prisoners should be conscripted to the army in order to make use of them and save on cell space.”She smiled mischievously between the two of them.“Discuss.”With a cheeky grin and a wink, she skipped off towards the door.
She made it to the staircase ten minutes late to find her new husband pacing across the hall.
