“Do not say that!” she ordered yet smiled; she understood his feelings because they were alike, and she was ready to make his life easier, accepting the risks just for him to feel closer to the idea that they were together, man and wife.
Elizabeth was unstoppable. In vain did he try to keep her by his side—after circling the room twice, she vanished without a word, leaving the door wide open. Yet, within moments, she reappeared, accompanied by her uncle, who still held a napkin in his hand, evidently having been dragged away from the table by Elizabeth.
A few seconds later, Georgiana arrived, looking alarmed, followed closely by the colonel. Both halted at the threshold, bewildered, for Darcy was clearly unharmed.
All eyes turned to Elizabeth. She was speaking animatedly to her uncle, gesturing towards the toy horse. “Wheels, we need wheels.”
As strange as it seemed, Mr Gardiner understood at once and nodded. “You are right. Give me a few days, and I shall take care of it.”
“Would someone care to explain what is happening?” Richard asked in a cheerful tone, glancing at Georgiana, who appeared to have recovered from her fright.
“It is quite simple,” Elizabeth replied. “We shall move Darcy’s bedroom to the ground floor, and my uncle will devise a way to craft or find a chair with wheels that will allow him to reach any room without sudden movements.”
“Splendid!” Richard exclaimed. This sort of commotion was most welcome. A day before the wedding, Richard had discovered his cousin ill, despondent, and engulfed in worry. Now, amid the chaos Elizabeth had unleashed, he had come alive. Darcy’s eyes gleamed, and he watched her bustling about with a smile of quiet indulgence.
The night before, Richard had lain awake, tormented by the thought that Darcy was making a terrible mistake in marrying—imagining the torment of a man unable to love his wife on their wedding night. He had feared that sorrow would only deepen in him. Yet, before this storm of Elizabeth’s making,with her wild yet ingenious schemes, Darcy seemed not only amused but restored. A touch of colour had returned to his cheeks.
Whatever she had planned, one thing was clear—Elizabeth was the very remedy he needed.
Darcy’s chamber was moved to the ground floor the day after the wedding, and life improved significantly for him. However, it was only a tiny change in a continuously dramatic and dangerous situation.
Although his life had grown more varied, he missed the upstairs bedroom, for it had placed only a single door between him and Elizabeth.
“Do not be foolish,” she said when he confided his slight sorrow. “I shall stay with you every night until you fall asleep, and in the morning, I shall be the one to wake you up.”
“Perhaps you should also move your bedroom here too,” he suggested.
“And turn my entire household upside down?” she asked in a playfully irritable tone.
“Oh, I am not allowed to do anything any longer,” he lamented, and they both laughed.
Chapter 24
“Life will soon return to usual,” Georgiana said one week after the wedding, glancing around the breakfast table, where Darcy, Mr Bennet, Elizabeth, Richard, and Mr Gardiner were seated.
Earlier that morning, Mr Gardiner had entered triumphantly, followed by two men carrying the wheeled chair he had finally found after days of relentless searching.
“The Gouty Chair,” he announced with a pride that suggested he had fashioned it himself. It was made of mahogany, with brass fittings and black upholstery, built in the style of a Windsor chair. “It is a comfortable winged chair and…” he paused for effect, as though awaiting the roll of a drum, “it is self-propelled by hand cranks.”
The room erupted in cheerful exclamations, though to Darcy’s disappointment, Elizabeth was quick to remind him that he was not permitted to move on his own and thus would not beable to manoeuvre the chair unaided. Yet, that hardly mattered—there was always someone beside him.
All the carpets had been removed from the ground floor, the boards beneath polished to a fine sheen, and Elizabeth insisted on testing the chair herself. They were obliged to push her through every door and along every passage to ensure there were no obstacles in its path. Then John, who was taller and more stoutly built than Darcy, was made to sit in it as well, just to confirm its sturdiness. Mr Gardiner was declared the hero of the day, for it was clear that Darcy’s life would be vastly improved.
“The Gouty Chair!” Darcy laughed, amused by the irony, for such chairs were initially designed for those afflicted with gout. “It is certain that if I remain motionless in it long enough, I shall develop gout myself.” Yet, in truth, he was satisfied. Before Elizabeth’s arrival, he had resigned himself to the belief that he would die swiftly; then, when life persisted, he had imagined he would remain bedridden until his final days. But she had altered everything—with her ideas, her resolve, and her boundless hope.
From Longbourn came increasingly desperate letters from Mrs Bennet, who suffered not so much from the absence of her husband as from the agony of being excluded from the Darcy household. But Elizabeth decided, for now, that the visitors they already had were sufficient. Especially since, immediately after moving to the ground floor, Darcy began talking about Bingley and Lord Stafford, his closest friends—a sign that he considered the idea of them visiting him.
Hearing Mr Bingley’s name, Elizabeth had looked at him with some surprise, perhaps even a hint of suspicion.
“Bingley is my good friend, and I have received countless messages of encouragement from him. Now that I feel more human and no longer appear an invalid, I can receive my closest friends. I told Richard as much, and he was only waiting for asign from me.” He looked at her, a serious expression on his face. “Elizabeth, I could tell you that I regret what happened in Hertfordshire or what I said in Kent, but it would be a lie. I feel nothing, for today, I am a different man. You asked me to change my opinion of Miss Bennet, but your plea did not make me do so—it happened the first time I spoke to her. The man I am today wishes to correct the mistakes of the man I was yesterday. I am certain that eventually Bingley and Miss Bennet will meet, even under our roof, but—”
“But?” she asked, curious, moved, and happy.
“But I would not have you place too much hope upon it. I cannot control Bingley’s feelings. I gave him advice that he was free to disregard—after all, advice is nothing more than words.”
“I know. I shall say nothing to Jane. They will meet by chance one day, and things will unfold as they wish without our interference. In the end, we are not quite so terrible as you once believed,” she teased, tapping his hand lightly.
“Your father is a balm to my soul,” Darcy whispered, and she held back her tears, so powerful was the emotion he conveyed to her. This new sentiment he bore for her father was the most precious gift he could have given her.
