“I am certain we willveryrarely see Lady Catherine. I apologise, once again, for having so many unpleasant relations.”
Just then, Mrs Bennet swept by, shrieking for her salts. Elizabeth laughed. “I have a few flawed relations, as well. Also, we are both lucky enough to have some lovely relations.”
“Everyone has flaws, Elizabeth. I am speaking of people who are deliberately rude and snobbish because they feel that the distinction of rank should be preserved. That is, I believe, a choice made even more than it is an attitude taught.”
“Or perhaps your unfortunate relations have some sort of internal malformation that causes their noses to tilt decidedly up into the air, half of the time, but then the other half, their noses tilt down so severely that they must look down at us whilst keeping their eyes securely on their noses, lest they lose them altogether. It must be dizzying to constantly be shifting the tilt so often. We should, likely, sympathise with their lot in life.”
He chuckled, as she knew he would, and then he strode off to find and greet the Gardiners.
In additionto packing and spending time with family members, Elizabeth was happy to spend an hour saying goodbye to her friend Charlotte Lucas. She had a special assignment to discuss with her, courtesy of a note Fitzwilliam had sent early that morning, by way of Georgiana.
“I know that I have said before that I would delight in hosting you at Pemberley, but you may have thought it would never happen,” Elizabeth said to her friend. “I know such a long journey could be difficult for you to undertake by yourself, and costly, and I suppose you might think that Fitzwilliam would be less welcoming than I am. My wonderful husband-to-be is, however, even more wonderful than you have supposed. He sent a letter this morning, and he explained that his sister Georgiana would be spending a bit more than a month in London with relatives, after the wedding, but she would be returning to Pemberley after Twelfth Night, in the company of her companion and several footmen, and he suggests that they pick you up on their way northward.”
“Mr Darcyhas invited me, and for a specific day? And…I may travel in the carriage with his sister?”
“Yes, it sounds like a perfect plan, does it not?”
“This is notyourdoing?"
“Honestly it was Fitzwilliam’s idea—and here I confess my own ignorance, for I had not thought through how long a journey it would be, and the impossibility of your family carriage being used for a week of travel there and back.”
“That is…wonderful.” Charlotte’s face lit up, and her eyes were hopeful. She went on to say, “I do not know what I will do with myself, rattling around an enormous mansion with a newlywed couple who will be otherwise engaged and a much younger girl I have barely met…. But, yes, that would be such a pleasure to which I can look forward.”
Elizabeth grinned and said, “I do not know if you have already heard this, but my Fitzwilliam is a wonderful chess player, in part because he keeps in mind a strategy that involves future possibilities. He tends to play a long game…firmly focused on his eventual goal.”
“I do not play chess, Lizzy.”
“I know that, but the reason I say this is because, when he told me of his invitation to have Georgiana pick you up, he mentioned that he knows two men, one in his late twenties and the other in his early thirties, who are in want of a wife. One is the vicar of a nearby parish, and the other is a tenant farmer—quite a wealthy tenant. He is ambitious and hard working, leasing at this point hundreds and hundreds of acres of land, owning dozens of horses, his own farm machinery, and scores of sheep and goats and chickens. He has servants, and he pays the wages of an entire army of farmhands, and he has a profit of five hundred a year. He married a woman, but they had trouble conceiving, and a year ago she died of illness.”
“Mr Darcy…is a matchmaker?”
“My Mr Darcy is many things. He knows many, many people, and he works with people who can make things happen.He intends to invite a few people to dinner several nights a week, giving you a chance to get to know these two men and others in the neighbourhood. Who knows what will happen? But…it would be delightful for you to visit us, at any rate, would it not?”
Charlotte looked happily astonished but agreed. At that point, Elizabeth brought Georgiana over to explain the plan to her, as well, and all three spent some time chatting, laughing, and planning outings and wintertime activities.
“I am certain I do not have enough warm clothing for all these sleigh rides and ice skating!” Charlotte said.
“Oh!” Elizabeth said. “Again, I am revealed to myself and to the world as a lady who has read far too much of Socrates and yet who is a simpleton when it comes to ensuring she has a proper wardrobe for her future life.”
“Do not worry in the least about that, either of you,” Georgiana said. She assured Elizabeth that she had plenty of warm clothes to lend them both, and she added, “Do you not suppose that Fitzwilliam has plans to buy you more warm clothing and boots? The seamstresses and cobbler of Lambton are extremely capable.”
Elizabeth considered her new sister’s words and realised that, yes, indeed, it was entirely likely that her Fitzwilliam had already planned how to get enough warm clothing for her first winter in Derbyshire. Or…maybe he had assigned the problem to his man of business, and put himself in charge of removing her clothes?—-
What inheavenscould have prompted her to thinkthat, especially here in the company of her young almost-sister? Elizabeth knew her hot cheeks must be red, and she looked up and around, desperate to see Fitzwilliam’s face, to steady her as he always seemed able to do.
When she spotted him, he had just looked away from the colonel and the Gardiners, and he immediately looked concerned. She saw him murmur something to her uncle and then move swiftly to her side. “Are you well?” he asked.
“Yes, well enough. I just feel so incapable of long-term planning, because I had not thought through how many warm clothes I will be needing for life up north.”
Elizabeth knew that this truth would not explain her reddened cheeks, but she was not going to allude to the thought that had so embarrassed her.
“Do you know,” he murmured in her ear, “who is very capable of long-term planning?”
“Yes, I do,” she said. She felt as if she spoke too fiercely, and she smiled to curb the negativity. “And the comparison between us is ever so mortifying, I assure you.”
“And which of us is acutely aware of winter weather in Derbyshire?” he teased.
Elizabeth felt as if she was surely still blushing, now more because of his nearness, his low, rumbly voice in her ear, the smell of shaving cream and sandalwood…and he was likely enjoying her blush.
