“I doubt it not, for you did before. I recall it well, sir. As well-attuned a couple as ever I saw.”
Elizabeth enjoyed that compliment, Darcy could tell, for her smile widened, her eyes glittered, and she rewarded the innkeeper with a little flattery of her own. “Mr Timmins, I cannot express how lovely this place is when it is not buried under three feet of snow. All these daffodils, that little stream that I never even knew was there…it is like a fairy tale.”
Timmins beamed. “I think you will like the inside better than on your last visit as well, Mrs Darcy. We have prepared the best room for you this time.”
Darcy had made certain of that. In an exchange of several letters during his convalescence, he had first thanked and repaid Timmins for his assistance, then enlightened him as to the identity and consequence of his erstwhile guest, then arranged lodgings for this particular day, then forwarded a mutually agreed sum for the renovation of the inn in readiness for the arrival, in all their state, of Mr and Mrs Darcy of Pemberley. It was money with which he had been more than happy to part, for the Dancing Bear was not only the place where he and Elizabeth had been finally united; it was also the place his life had been saved. Had the accident happened any farther away, had Timmins not opened his doors to them, Darcy would almost certainly have died several miles back on the side of the road.
“Oh, you have moved Mr Collins.”
“At your suggestion, Mrs Darcy, at your suggestion,” Timmins replied. “You were right. No use naming an inn after him then hiding him at the bottom of the stairs.”
Darcy looked around. They had come inside the inn, and the only difference that he could perceive in this room wasthat the great stuffed bear had been brought to stand by the front door. He gestured to it. “Mr Collins?”
Elizabeth grinned. “I named him when we were here last. There is a likeness, do you not agree? My cousin is such a tall, heavy-looking man. And strangely hirsute.”
Darcy rolled his eyes and tried not to be as amused as he was.
“Lizzy! Mr Darcy! How absolutely wonderful to see you!”
Darcy watched Elizabeth for her response as a lady rose from one of the tables and came towards them. Her smile as she recognised Mrs Stratton, then, glancing around the room, Mr Stratton, Mr and Mrs Ormerod, and Lieutenant Carver, satisfied him that the surprise had been well judged.
“And you! All of you,” Elizabeth replied happily. Turning to Darcy, she began to say something, then stopped and peered at him more closely. “You do not seem surprised. Did you arrange this?”
He shrugged. “There is no private dining room here. I thought, if we must dine with company, we might as well guarantee it is superior company.”
“Well said, sir,” Timmins said jovially. “It will be with superior food as well, for your cook has been working since before dawn, preparing a feast fit for kings.”
Elizabeth looked at Darcy.
“I sent for him from Pemberley,” he explained.
“You have excelled yourself, sir,” Elizabeth said, with a look so exceedingly warm it made Darcy wish he had not arranged any of it, for he would much rather take her directly above stairs than remain here and eat, no matter how agreeable the company or the food. Still, at only four o’clock in the afternoon, he could scarcely justify such behaviour, and thus downstairs they remained.
By the end of the evening, Darcy was prodigiously pleasedthey had, for he would be hard pressed to recall a more enjoyable gathering. Edouard had outdone himself in the kitchen. The wine, a gift from Mr Gardiner’s warehouse, was better than many Darcy had tasted on the continent. Their party, increased by one as they were joined by Timmins’s sister, Mrs Dreyford, was on excellent form. Elizabeth was in her element: gracious, teasing, and, to his own unqualified pleasure, obviously delighted.
Dinner ended with a toast. He and Elizabeth had already expressed their thanks to every person present with letters of gratitude, as well as an ornate new inkwell for Mrs Ormerod, an exquisite new gown for Mrs Stratton, a far superior bottle of brandy for Timmins than the one he had allowed Elizabeth to pour over and down Darcy’s neck, and finely tailored shirts to replace those donated by Mr Ormerod and Lieutenant Carver. Nonetheless, they raised their glasses and expressed their deepest thanks once again.
“Thankyou, dearest Fitzwilliam,” Elizabeth whispered to Darcy. “I could not have conceived of a better way to celebrate getting married.”
“Getting married?” said Mrs Dreyford from Elizabeth’s other side. “I beg your pardon, Mrs Darcy. I understood from my brother that you were already married. I would have congratulated you sooner had I realised.”
Elizabeth opened and closed her mouth several times without articulating an actual response. Her discomfiture was justified;everybodyhere was under the impression they had been married for some time and that today’s celebrations were a means of thanking them all for their part in saving Darcy’s life. It would be unfortunate were the truth of the matter to be revealed at this late stage.
“Mrs Darcy’s sister was married in Meryton this morning, madam,” Darcy said, glad that truth would add weight to thetale and even gladder when Elizabeth squeezed his knee under the table by way of thanks.
“Oh, I see,” Mrs Dreyford replied. “You have had quite a day of celebrations then!”
“Indeed we have,” Elizabeth agreed. “We always planned to stay here on our way home from the wedding, for it was to be first time we returned to the area since the accident. I did not know any of you would be here, though. Mr Darcy kept that as a surprise.”
“Well, I hope your sister has had as pleasant an evening as we all have.”
“Ihope she and her new husband do not have too far to travel to their new home,” Timmins interrupted. “Pardon me, Evie, I could not help but overhear,” he added when his sister looked at him sharply.
“What relevance is the distance they must travel?” Stratton enquired as the conversation diffused throughout the rest of the party.
“I bet I can answer that,” Carver offered, looking to Timmins for corroboration. “I bet you are thinking that it would be best for the new couple to avoid the same misfortune as Mr and Mrs Darcy have suffered on their travels.”
“Fortunately, they do not have very far to go at all,” Elizabeth replied. “Though I am sure they will do very well with whatever obstacles life throws in their path. They are both very good, very sensible, very sanguine people.”
