At least it was enough to make their world turn in the right direction.
Finally, simply and honestly, enough.
Chapter 85
"Let us go for a walk." Elizabeth said abruptly, with a glance out of the window. "The rain has stopped."
"For now, perhaps." Darcy replied dubiously, “I have known you to run outside at the smallest gap in the clouds, only to return soaked to the skin an hour later."
"But it is always an hour well spent." she replied peacefully. “Put your coat on, my love, and walk with me. We are leaving tomorrow, and this may be the last chance we get."
"How invitingly final. We are coming back here in a few months to celebrate Easter with the most amiable couple in England. The walks will be much more inviting then."
"Because of the weather, or because you dislike their company?"
"The weather is all I shall admit to, madam, while we are under the same roof as your sister and her deliriously happy husband. They smile so constantly that it makes my jaw ache!"
"Perhaps by Easter they will be more tolerable - oryoushall be." Elizabeth teased him but there was a wicked glint in her eye. "Now you have given me ammunition, sir. Walk with me, or I shall tell them what you have said."
"How? They barely leave their room. I would be more patient if we could do the same, but as guests we must besociable." Darcy spat the last word as if it offended him.
"Ah, now I understand your ill temper! You miss Mr. Bingley's company."
"I miss my own house, and I miss being able to lock the bedroom door. I have many pleasant memories of that, and plan to make a good many more. I like to be the master of my own domain, not beholden to other people’s demands." he said very bluntly, looking directly into Lizzie's eyes. "A walk will not distract me."
"But you need a distraction." she pointed out quietly, not falling into the trap of thinking too deeply about the heat in his voice. Unfortunately, her topic was far more serious. "I have seen your hands shaking, my love, and how hard you have had to fight. All of the dinners and luncheons and visits to the local families - all of the ways they tried to test your resolve - oh yes, I have seen it.”
The memory made hot anger boil in her blood, even now. She had convinced Darcy to try to befriend the locals, thinking that the goodly people whom she had grown up around would be just as welcoming to her husband. She had been disgusted to see their true natures.
Every house seemed to have a person with a wicked look in their eyes, who was sure thattheywould be the one to unmask Darcy’s ‘lies’. They offered him wine or spirits as soon as he sat down, as if they were perfectly accustomed to drinking at ten in the morning. Full glasses were conspicuously left before him, and the conversation always seemed to return to discussions of revelries and delicious meals.
For the most part, the other people in the room were polite, but not sincere. Elizabeth saw none of the honest friendliness that she knew they were capable of, only contempt.
Some of them had not even sent invitations. The ones that had were planning their ambushes.
The morning they spent in Lucas Lodge was the only time that Elizabeth was able to relax. There, she laughed with Charlotte and introduced her husband to the people who were almost as dear to her as her own sisters. She thought that they all had a wonderful time, until they were about to leave. As Elizabeth wrapped her stole around her shoulders she looked up and saw pity in Charlotte’s eyes.
Pity! How deeply it wounded her!
How much worse was Darcy feeling?
He was stoic in the face of all of it, and quiet afterwards, but never protested. He was impeccably polite, showing these strangers that he was nothing like they imagined. Perhaps some of them were convinced, for the ones who invited them back were much warmer on their second visit. But it was a difficult, uphill struggle. Now Elizabeth realised why Darcy had been so unwilling to come to Meryton. It was a battle he would be fighting for the rest of his life.
“You triumphed over the gossips and over the man they expected to see.” Lizzie said quietly, “I know how angry they made you. That is why I want to go for a walk."
Darcy surrendered, standing up with a weary groan. "Fresh air and exercise?"
"Naturally! I may even manage to distract you."
It started raining again barely ten minutes after they left Netherfield Park. When the drizzle turned into a downpour, Darcy turned up his collar but made no comment.
“I can feel you gloating." Lizzie said, laughing. "It is not my fault. Had we not argued for so long, we might have been back in front of a warm fire by now."
"We can turn around."
"We shall not! It is only a little further."
Darcy hid a smile and followed without protest. The path they took was narrow and overgrown with winter brambles and dead scrub-wood. Lizzie pushed it out the way with the easy motions of an experienced walker.
