“Precisely. You have every expectation of domestic felicity, and your unconnected bride is actually a help to you and not a hindrance. You have not disgraced your family. Rejoice, and go back to her and be happy, Lovestruck.”
Darcy glared at Fitzwilliam, but he had such a passion and affection for Elizabeth that perhaps the indelicate newspaper article had the right of him after all.
“How fortunatewe have a person of renown in our company,” Mrs Ballston teased Elizabeth on Friday afternoon as they walked the broad footpath from Hyde Park Corner to Kensington Gardens, along with her eldest daughters.
Elizabeth lifted her eyes at the jest. “Pay no mind to what you read in the newspaper.”
A gentleman who touched his hat or a lady who asked how did she do often greeted them as they walked. “Perhaps your popularity will help my daughters find husbands. You might as well be of use to me, since you prevented any of my girls from having Mr Darcy.”
She laughed, knowing neither Mrs Ballston nor her daughters bore her any ill will. “Your position, fine manner, and marriageable daughters will do more than my company. The novelty of a new bride will not last much longer.”
It was rather crowded, even for this time of year, and difficult to proceed. Late afternoon was the time for fashionable people to promenade in the parks and gardens to see and be seen. It was still an oddsensation for her to be one of those people. And she felt a deep relief that she had done credit to Darcy. The burden, the anxiety of being perceived the right way by the right people, was now beginning to ease. Their hasty marriage was no longer a subject of salacious gossip that would ruin his good name.
Elizabeth smiled to herself. His name was now hers, and who would have imagined how happy that would make her?
“My dear Mrs Darcy, we still expect cards for your first party, whenever it is.”
She hardly thought that Mrs Ballston and her single daughters would expect any advantage by being invited to an evening party in Charles Street. But at the least, it proved that Darcy’s elopement with a woman of no standing had done his family’s reputation no lasting harm. If the talk was more about her rather than Georgiana’s censure and the decline in consequence of the Darcy name, then it was all the better for Darcy’s peace of mind.
“You have been a kind friend to me, as has Lady Summerlin, and of course you and your daughters must come. But I do not think it will be the pinnacle affair you expect.”
“Nonsense. Everyone expects the new bride to open her house. The house in Charles Street is not large enough for a ball, at least for all the people who expect to be at your first party, but a grand party it will be.”
“I must hold it after my aunt and uncle meet my husband, and of course after Mr Darcy returns from Pemberley,” she added a little breathlessly. She was exceedingly eager to see him, talk to him, touch him. “He returns on the eighth, and then I can plan an event with his input and approval.”
“The eighth, you say? And do you have it marked on your calendar? Do you have a time to expect him? I hope you are home to greet him properly.”
Mrs Ballston gave her a shrewd look; she must have heard Elizabeth’s eager tone. She felt her cheeks heat, but said nothing. A few more days until Darcy returned, and then she might understand for herself all that Mrs Ballston’s face and tone expressed.
When they arrived at the gate, they found it locked, and they stoodabout in confusion until Miss Ballston recalled Kensington Gardens was closed in the autumn. Mrs Ballston’s carriage had been awaiting them nearby for when they finished touring the garden. As they discussed what to do, Elizabeth’s footman, who had been standing with the carriage, approached her.
“Ma’am, a man said he wished to speak with you when you returned.”
“Did he give his name?”
“No, but it is the same man who caused a commotion at the house on Tuesday. He must have recognised my livery. He is just there.” He pointed.
Elizabeth turned toward the ha-ha, and by the fence was Mr Wickham. Despite the shock of seeing him, she kept her composure before the others while her wounded heart swelled again with injury. She could never forgive that man for what he had done to Georgiana, for what he tried to do to Lydia, and for all the heartache Darcy suffered because of him.
“Do you know him, ma’am?”
She exhaled a long breath. “Yes, I know him. He must have business with Mr Darcy, and I am going to send him away.”
“Shall I come with you?”
“No, thank you. I will deal with him myself.”
She did not want anyone to listen to what Wickham might say. He could say nothing she would want a respectable person to overhear. She told her footman to wait by the public road and parted from Mrs Ballston.
“I do not mind walking back, I promise,” she assured her friend. “I enjoy walking. I will see you at Sir Thomas and Lady Charlton’s card party.”
It was quiet near to where Wickham stood, but there were still people promenading and walking toward their carriages. Hopefully, with her parasol and him not being of Darcy’s intimate circle, no one would recognise them.
Elizabeth tried to affect Darcy’s haughty composure as she cut across the grass to meet with Wickham. He touched his hat as she neared, and she scarcely inclined her head.
“What do you want, Mr Wickham?”
“Is that how I am to be greeted?” he asked, sounding wounded. “I was such a favourite with your family in Ramsgate.”
