Darcy imparted a very short version of his folly. At the end of it, his cousin, who very rarely if ever was left speechless, was left so for a good while before he was able to recover his wherewithal.
“Well I never, William!” he managed to get out after thinking for a minute or two. “If after all of that you were able to earn her love and she agreed to marry you, then unless God or His Son decree something to the contrary, I believe that yours will be a love that survives for eternity. I am most pleased that your betrothed took you to task the way that she did. George and Anne would be very proud of the man that you have become,” the Archbishop said with conviction.
Feeling somewhat choked up because he knew that his cousin had been very close to his honoured, late father, Darcy said nothing, instead squeezed his cousin’s shoulder. Once Darcy moved away, Patrick Elliot sat next to the head cleric of the Church of England and had a very enjoyable theological discussion that lasted until the men joined the ladies in the music room.
The guests returned to their respective houses relatively early given the time that the ladies would start their momentous day on the morrow. Both Darcy and the Marquess managed to steal a kiss from their betrotheds before the Bennets departed for their townhouse. They were filled with anticipation as the next time that they kissed their lady, they would be married to them.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That night, both Mary and Elizabeth were asked to meet in the sitting room between Lizzy and Charlotte’s chambers. Expecting just their mother, they were somewhat surprised to be joined by Jane as well. They were even more surprised when Jane started ‘the talk’.
“You two had asked me questions before and I told you then, and it still holds true, that I will never discuss what is private between Richard and me. Listen to Mama, her advice was sound and I will add that you have nothing to fear. You remember what I told you when you asked me?” Both brides nodded. “I will add only this. Learn from each other and from the experiences of your husband, the more you arebothhappy, the better it will be for you as a couple. Honesty, as I said before, is everything in a marriage. In all facets of it.”
“W-w-what if my husband is as i-i-inexperienced as I?” Lizzy asked, embarrassment flushing her cheeks as it was not normally a discussion before women were married.
“Then, sister,” Jane said as she took both of her Lizzy’s hands in hers and looked into her eyes, “you will learn together. Like you, your husband likes to read and educate himself. As I amsurelike you have, he has studied and you will explore and learn together starting with a blank canvass that you will fill with things that are special only to the two of you.”
“Hugh and I have not spoken about if he is experienced. I chose not to have him tell me, though he was willing,” Mary said to reassure her mother and sisters that Hugh would not hide his past from her, “but I chose to adopt Lizzy’s philosophy. He has sworn to honour the vows that we will say on the morrow, in a matter of hours actually, absolutely as I will, so there is no reason to revisit the past.”
“You are both marrying the perfect man for you.” their mother said with some depth of emotion. “One is forlorn when she loses her daughters even to such estimable men that you are marrying in the morning. Now, about the wedding night…” Fanny proceeded to give her second and third daughters a nearly identical speech she had given to Jane.
When she was complete, any apprehension that the two may have felt that night was relieved.
Lizzy blushed as she thought of the dreams that she had about William. If the reality was even close to her dreams then she would be a very happy woman.
The girls went to bed to get as much sleep as they could with the excitement and anticipation that roiled inside both sisters.
‘Jane has the right of it, I have studied about the act and I pray that William has as well,’Elizabeth thought as she drifted into the open arms of Morpheus, hoping that soon her dreams would become reality.
Chapter 35
The two brides were gently woken at the crack of dawn by their lady’s maids with a steaming cup of chocolate. As the service would commence at nine that morning, they would have to be in the vestibule no later than ten minutes before the hour. All guests were instructed to be seated by twenty minutes before nine at the very latest or they would not be allowed to enter once the main doors were then locked to all except the brides and their attendants. There was no worry about guests being late; one wasneverlate for an event attended by the royals. Like she had for Jane and Richard, the Queen gifted both couples with a very rare Ming Dynasty vase.
Both Lizzy and Darcy were somewhat surprised and very curious about the reason that they had been given a royal summons to attend the Queen and the Regent at Buckingham House after the wedding breakfast before they departed for Darcy House. They would be at the docks with the sunrise on the morrow to begin the surprise wedding trip gifted to both couples by Bennet and Gardiner. Lizzy sunk into her bath putting thoughts of the summons out of her mind.
‘Next time that I am in a bath,’ she melted into her thoughts, ‘it could be in one of those enormous bathing tubs that William has.I wantit to be with him in that tub,’ she blushed at her wanton desires. The more she thought about him and what he would feel like as she touched him, as they were bathing together, the more that she became supremely aroused, which seemed to be as frequently as seeing him of late. Each time she dreamed about seeing him, it always ended with his gorgeous body, naked before her. ‘Soon enough I will not have to dream and imagine William before me,’ she told herself. ‘It will be the reality, and if being with William is anything close to my imaginings then I dare say it will be very enjoyable.’ She stood and summoned her maid to help dry and dress her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As expected at a wedding attended by royalty with invitation only guests, all were seated well before twenty minutes prior to the time on the invitation.
The group from Meryton all had reasonably good seats, which from their point of view was unexpected given the many peers of the realm in attendance but from Fanny’s point of view their true friends would surround her daughters as they married the men who had been searching for them. The Phillips’ sat with the family right behind Fanny’s appointed Mother-of-the-Bride seat.
A somewhat nervous Lord Birchington and Mr Darcy were pacing in an antechamber to the one side of the altar. The Archbishop summoned them for the arrival of the Royals led by the Queen and the Regent. The congregation stood for their entrance and once all the royals were seated, the ladies curtsied and the men bowed. The same royals that had attended the ball were in the royal pews to the right of the altar. The grooms returned to the antechamber to wait for what seemed like an interminable time, but in truth was less than ten minutes after the arrival of the royal family. Those seated inside the abbey waited in hushed silence and even the Queen was seen to smile when those in the church heard the crowd outside swell in cheer signalling the arrival of the brides in their open carriages.
The cheers quickly changed to oohs and ahhs as the two Bennet sisters stepped down. The effect caused when the sun reflected off the jewels on their dresses, veils, and in their hair created myriad of reflected colours as if two crystal chandeliers were alighting from the carriage. The brides were escorted through the doors of the church which were promptly closed by the royal guard.
The grooms had been summoned when the crowd was heard and stood in position on either side of the Archbishop. Richard stood behind William while Hugh’s best friend, Comté Henri Bonhomme, stood behind him. Given the grandeur of the wedding, the brides were attended by their six sisters that included Georgie and Tiffany.
The music started, which signalled the attendants to begin their walk. Excepting the royals, the congregation came to their feet as the vestibule doors opened. As had been instructed, when each pair entered the church they curtsied to the Queen and her family before walking sedately down the aisle. Lydia and Helen were first, followed by Georgie and Tiffany, and lastly Jane and Kitty. Once they were standing in a line of three to either side of the steps that led to the altar, the music ceased and there was a pause.
The musicians started playing a wedding march and the doors opened again. The sun streaming through the stain glassed windows above the altar shone on the brides as they made their curtsy to the royals and Bennet bowed between them. The sun beam on both brides gave them an ethereal glow and played off the jewels on their gowns as they started the walk toward their grooms, each on an arm of a father who was bursting with pride. He was sad to lose two more of his beloved daughters so soon after his Jane. They stopped two feet in front of the steps up to the altar and their grooms descended toward them. Lord Longbourn placed a daughter’s hand on her groom’s arm and lifted the veil each to kiss her cheek and whisper that they were beautiful. He watched Mary take her first step up before he went to his Fanny’s side and took her hand in his.
The Archbishop gave the congregation the signal to be seated and began: “Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses with your leave.” The Regent gave a nod of permission and the familiar wedding service started with ‘Dearly beloved…’
The words flashed past in a blur for both couples. Before they realised it, the brides were wearing wedding bands and the admonition that ‘what God had joined that no man may tear asunder’ was intoned followed by a final blessing. The congregants all cheered and then stood as the royals exited after the expected bows and curtsies.
Led to an alcove, both brides signed the name Bennet a final time in the register, which was witnessed by the Archbishop, his assistants, and by the men and women who had stood up with the couples. At last, they were Lady Mary Rhys-Davies, Marchioness of Birchington and Lady Elizabeth Darcy.
