Elizabeth inclined her head. “Then I shall look forward to it.”
She turned toward the door, pausing only long enough to offer Mrs. Jenkinson a quiet, reassuring smile. As she stepped back into the corridor, she could not help the small sense of satisfaction that warmed her.
It was a beginning.
∞∞∞
The following afternoon, Elizabeth found the house in a quieter state than it had been the day before.
Mr. Bennet had departed early.
She had gone down to see him off. It was difficult, she realized, in not knowing when or if she would see him again.
There had been no final words or further explanations. Only the knowledge that their relationship was different now, and things would never again be quite the way they were. She paused a moment in the corridor, then continued on to the music room, where Lady Catherine and Lady Anne were listening to Georgiana practice a new piece of sheet music.
Lady Catherine looked up. “Well. Your father is gone.”
Elizabeth inclined her head. “Yes.”
A brief silence followed.
Then, before she could overthink it, Elizabeth said, “I wished to speak with you, Lady Catherine—if I may.”
Lady Catherine’s brows lifted slightly. “You may always speak, child. Whether I agree with you afterward is another matter entirely.”
Elizabeth could not help the faintest smile.
“I was thinking of Anne,” she said. “And Colonel Fitzwilliam.”
Lady Catherine’s attention sharpened.
“It must be a great deal for her,” Elizabeth continued. “The marriage. The changes. The expectations that come with it.”
Lady Anne nodded faintly.
“And it occurred to me,” Elizabeth went on, “that she might be more comfortable if she were allowed a little space—at least for a time. To grow accustomed to her new situation without feeling observed.”
Elizabeth drew a small breath and braced herself. “So I wondered,” she said, “if you might consider coming to Pemberley with us. For a visit.”
Lady Catherine was silent. Not long—but long enough that Elizabeth felt the weight of it.
Lady Catherine regarded her steadily. “You wish me to leave Rosings.”
Elizabeth met her gaze. “Only temporarily. I… I thought it might be nice to become more acquainted with one another.”
Another pause.
Then, quite decisively, Lady Catherine said, “Yes.”
Elizabeth blinked at the succinct answer.
“It is a sensible arrangement,” Lady Catherine continued, as though the matter had been hers all along. “Rosings is hers, after all. And she has a husband now.”
“I think it would do her good,” Lady Anne said in a soft voice. “And you, Cathy. You have not left Rosings in nearly twenty years.”
“And Darcy has agreed to this?” Lady Catherine asked, casting a gimlet eye in Elizabeth’s direction.
Elizabeth blushed slightly. “Well, the idea only occurred to me just now, and I did not even consider my husband’s feelings on the matter.”
