After completing their ablutions, Darcy requested an interview with Lord Longbourn. The two entered the study and after Bennet had seated himself behind his desk, he decided it was high time to have a little sport with his soon to be son.
“Are you here to beg off? Do you regret your choice of bride and are you looking for a way out with your honour intact before the Banns are read?” Bennet could barely hold himself in check at the look of horrified surprise that Darcy reacted with.
“N-NO SIR! N-Nothing could be further from the truth!” the very discomposed Darcy eventually managed to spit out.
Bennet regretted his words as, unlike his other son and soon to be son, this one had the hardest road to travel.
Darcy’s whole body tensed up, ready to go to battle and fight for his beloved should it prove necessary.
‘Perhaps not the best jest to this man at this time after all he has gone through to earn her hand,’ Lord Thomas Bennet admitted to himself. “Peace, Darcy, it was a jest. An ill-considered one, but a jest none the less. A blind man could see the unbreakable bond between yourself and our Lizzy, and only a father that is willing to completely lose his daughter would try to test or harm it. What is it that you wish to discuss, son?”
Darcy took a breath. He had been warned by Richard and Birchington that Bennet had tested their mettle in much the same way, yet he had almost yelled at his soon to be father-in-law. Darcy needed to remember that his new family loved to laugh, that not every sentence was a challenge to his abilities or intents. It would take some getting used to, but it had been months he had observed Bennet tease and be amused by the folly of others. He relaxed and sat down, facing the father of his most beloved betrothed.
“Although consent and blessing were bestowed on your behalf by your brother, I still wanted to ask you directly for the hand of your second daughter, Lady Elizabeth.” Darcy held his breath.
Impressed that Darcy had cut off an avenue of teasing by being specific in identifying the daughter who was his object, Bennet chuckled and settled into his own chair. “You have it, William, without any reservation or doubts that you are the man most suited for my Lizzy. Rather than run for the hills to lick your wounds after my daughter flayed you with her tongue, you remained constant and corrected the defects that you acknowledged, which if I am not mistaken included more than just those she highlighted. The strength of character that you displayed is more than I have ever seen from anyone before. I know that you will always strive to make her happy, and in return you will receive the same effort she knows is necessary to keep a marriage loving, strong, vibrant, and healthy. Heaven help you if you ever hurt her, son!”
“I would never…” Darcy growled, biting back the rest of his words when Bennet lifted a hand to stay them.
“I am not talking about just physical abuse; I do not believe any of my sons that kind of man or I would never have allowed the attachments to grow. No, I am talking about something that can be even worse than that. My Lizzy is joy and happiness, William. You will have to restrain your inclination to keep her all to yourself when others are around. It would slowly destroy her to be forced to keep herself from those she cares about or to have her natural ability to put others at ease and draw them out, as she did to you, stifled or curtailed for unnecessary jealousy. As you proved to her you were willing to become the man she needs as times change, so she proved to you that she was constant and would stand by you at all costs. Do not dampen my daughter’s spirit just because you won the rights to her hand,” Bennet warned. Because of what Lizzy had put Darcy through; she would be willing to do whatever he asked in restitution.
“I…” Darcy frowned, impressing Bennet even more by not just offering a placation but was considering his words seriously. “You have my solemn vow to you, My Lord, that I would rather die than ever do anything to hurt the woman that I love above all others; the only woman that I have loved as a man loves the woman, that he knows completes him and without whom he could not live. Your words challenge me to change in a far greater way than any of hers have so far. Sheisjoy and light and that is exactly why I fell in love with her. To stifle her would be more destructive than physical abuse, which, you are right, all of us abhor.” Darcy took a breath to stem the revulsion even the thought of someone harming his Lizzy in such a way brought on. “I will make it my mission in life to support her in any way she chooses to share herself with the world.”
“I am sorry to have to ask so much of you, son. To my shame I believe you have paid for some of my sins. For years Lizzy begged me to be honest with Fanny about our circumstances, to change the way I behaved toward her and my younger daughters, but in my folly, I did not heed her words. Even though my wife too often made a spectacle of herself because of her fears I knew were unnecessary, I did nothing to alleviate them. Now you know why I see this as the only really possible avenue in which your love could turn against you both, and if you want her to be the woman you fell in love with, you need to allow her to be.” Bennet nodded when Darcy exhaled slowly. “My other two sons will be eaten alive,” he offered honestly. Darcy’s laugh filled the study and while Bennet had meant for it to, it was the truth. Jane and Mary were far different women than was their Lizzy. It was not lost on him that Lizzy had chosen a man who was more like Jane and Mary, and Jane and Mary had chosen men more like Lizzy.
“Then with your permission,” Darcy chuckled again to himself as he thought of Richard being upbraided by Jane and his begging her forgiveness amusing. “I will contact my solicitor, and ask him to draft a settlement for your perusal.”
“I could not have parted with her to anyone less worthy, William. Look after my girl and welcome to the family as a son rather than a cousin. No more Lord and Lady, I am Bennet or Father, and I am sure Fanny would have you call her by her name or Mother Bennet.” He stood and extended his hand to the man standing across the desk.
The men joined the others in the drawing room. Lizzy quirked her brow in question and William gave her a look to reassure her all was well. The first news shared was that the renovation of Longbourn would be completed ahead of schedule, explaining why the Park’s housekeeper and butler were back at the estate. The Hills were supervising a deep cleaning, and two days hence the family could move back into their much-enlarged home.
The Duchess shared that the Duchess of Kent, the Queen’s primary lady in waiting, had responded that the Queen had granted her permission for the double wedding and both couples would be honoured at the ball to be held at St James. With the wedding venue settled, the Rhys-Davies and Gardiners both volunteered to host the wedding breakfast but Fanny demurred, saying that it would be held at Bennet House. The following Monday was set as the day that they would all move to Town to start the extensive wedding planning that would have to be coordinated with the Duchess of Kent representing Queen Charlotte.
Given the scope of the undertaking, Rose Rhys-Davies suggested to Fanny that she invite Elaine Fitzwilliam and Sarah De Melville to join them in town to add their vast skills to the endeavour. Agreeing that the suggestion was a sound one, the mistress of the house hied to her study to pen the missives to her two friends.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Charlotte Collins had elected to stay in Derbyshire when her friend and the rest headed south. Suspecting her motivation for staying, Lizzy had asked Miss Anita Jones, Kitty’s companion, to remain with Charlotte as her chaperone. The plan now was that Charlotte would arrive in Surrey two days before the wedding as she had promised Anne that she would attend. She would witness the ceremony in the church but her full mourning would dictate that she not attend the celebration after. She would be accompanied by Miss Jones and the maid that was assigned to her at Dovedale to doubly ensure that propriety was maintained. While the rules were less stringent for a widow, she was Lizzy’s friend and Darcy would make sure she had every protection and courtesy, and had arranged for all the stops and worked with his Elizabeth to set up Charlotte’s preferred repasts along the way.
It was obvious to all at Pemberley that the feelings that both she and Mr Elliot felt for one another had grown steadily. It did not hurt that Charlotte already loved his daughter Gracie, who loved her in return and one would often see them walking the grounds or playing together while Mr Elliot attended his parishioners. Who could not love such a sweet child who had lost her mother before she reached the age of three? Grace Elliot was sad that her best friend, May Gardiner, had departed but had been promised that she would see her soon when the family returned to their estate. Charlotte often visited the parsonage, which she had discovered was larger and more comfortable than both of her former homes.
She sat on a settee in the sitting room she had once shared with Eliza and remembered with supreme pleasure the conversation that she had with Mr Elliot after the rest of her party had left.
“How are you today Mrs Collins?” Elliot asked as he came upon her while she had been on a stroll being trailed my Miss Jones and a footman. Charlotte was honest enough with herself to admit that she had been hoping to see him.
“I am very well, thank you sir. There is a request that I want to make.” She had looked down shyly, wondering now if she was brave enough to be so forward.
“Anything madam.” Elliot held his breath.
“Can we dispense with the appellation ‘Mrs Collins?’ That name only conjures up memories that I would sooner forget,” she asked boldly, her eyes on his as she determined that she need not be angry or disappointed with herself just because of a choice she had made to help her family.
“I would never desire to cause you pain. What name would you have me use?” He knew exactly what name he wished to exchange the hated surname of Collins with.
“When we are in private, could I just be Charlotte? It is forward, I know, and my hope is that I have not offended you, Sir, and I assure you I have never given such leave to any man not related to me, not even him, but I find I would like to be Charlotte to you.” She waited, appreciating that with age and experience, wisdom and lack of fear of the same consequences most younger adults suffer, seem less important when one has already lived one lifetime and is praying for a second one that would bring such happiness as never imagined for herself.
“I do not find you forward…Charlotte. I will honour your request if you too will call me Patrick in private.” He watched her expression and was relieved the idea made her as happy as it excited him. Hearing her say his name in conversation was pleasing to him, as she had been Charlotte to him for a while now. She had nodded her acquiescence and then after a minute he had asked her his own most forward question. “Charlotte, do you intend to mourn the man that brought you aught but bad memories for a full year?”
“Is it not what society dictates? I wish it were not so,” she had admitted. Her truth, however, which some would call weak or harmful, in her case was justified on many levels.
