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Later, alone in her rooms, she wished to examine every corner and touch each beautiful object, from the precious vases filled with autumn flowers to the delicate alabaster figures and the fine linen covering the bed. Through the windows, she could see the park and the lake where Darcy had proposed to her some weeks earlier. Her limbs were tired, yet the excitement of her new life made it difficult to rest.

At last, her father would be spared his constant worries, for her mother and unmarried sisters would always have a home. When she finally fell asleep, her dreams were less wonderful than reality.

Some time later, Mrs Reynolds came to wake her, speaking softly.

“The master asks whether you would like dinner brought to your room, madam, if you are too tired to come downstairs.”

“No!” Elizabeth exclaimed like a child, making Mrs Reynolds smile.

“Then I shall send the maids to help you dress.”

She need no longer worry about her hair, her clothes or the shoes so often muddied on her walks through the woods. At Longbourn, the servants had duties everywhere, in the kitchen, the bedchambers and outside. In the mornings, the bedrooms could resemble a battlefield as all five sisters competed for a maid’s help with dressing.

Elizabeth entered the dining room smiling, looking every inch a queen to Darcy. He approached, kissed her hand and led her to the mistress’s place at the table. For a moment, Elizabeth was surprised by her seat, perhaps even a little displeased, for she enjoyed Darcy’s whispered indecencies and the touches of his hand upon her elbow, seemingly accidental. Then she was glad. This was her place at Pemberley, and the long table would always separate them at dinner, only to make their return to each other more delightful.

The greatest surprise was the colonel, who arrived in the middle of dinner, bringing commotion and much merriment. Darcy rose to embrace him. His cousin was as dear to him as a brother, and he hoped the colonel would stay for the wedding.

Among his Fitzwilliam relations, the colonel was the only one who had openly approved of Darcy’s decision without reserve. He bowed over Elizabeth’s hand and kissed it, already regarding her as his cousin.

“You have made this house happy again, my dear cousin!”

Elizabeth thanked him with a smile, then looked about the table, where family and friends were gathered together for the first time.

Mary and Kitty talked quietly, with Georgiana between them, evidently impressed by her manners and eager to imitate her in the smallest details. At last, they were under an excellent influence, and their future would be as happy as Elizabeth’s and Jane’s. Mrs Gardiner was speaking so cheerfully to Mrs Robertson that she often made the vicar’s wife smile. Amid the hum of conversation, only Mrs Bennet was unusually quiet and withdrawn. Still a little overwhelmed by the grandeur of the house, she looked about her and wondered how Elizabeth would manage so large a household.

“You will scarcely believe it,” the colonel announced, his voice filling the room, “but Aunt Catherine has a new scheme. She wants me to marry Anne!”

His laughter brought merriment from everyone else, turning the cause of so much recent distress into a jest at their dinner table.

Their whole family was gathered about that table, and what had seemed impossible in Kent had come about so naturally that Elizabeth could almost believe Darcy had always wished for it. That evening, the gentlemen sat apart from the ladies, all gathered near Darcy, but only because the ladies had so much to discuss about the wedding arrangements. She would never let them sit that way again, for everyone at her table would share in the same conversations. She blushed a little when she realised she already thought of the house and the table, as well as their master, as her own.

Mr Bennet smiled at her, and she discreetly blew him a little kiss, as she always did when she went out, leaving him to watch her from the library window at Longbourn. Her eyes filled with tears at the thought that her beloved father would never again suffer such dreadful anxieties about their future. Darcy and Charles would care for them now, and surely Kitty’s and Mary’s future husbands would do the same, looking after the family and Longbourn for as long as it remained theirs. Beyond that, she did not wish to think.

She was glad to see how well Mr Gardiner and Darcy understood each other, and grateful to her uncle, through whom Darcy had learnt to trust them all.

She regretted the absence of Darcy’s other relations, but hoped they would accept her before too long and join them at her table. Darcy had assured her they would, for he knew Lady Matlock was on his side, and when his aunt wanted something, she usually found a way to make it happen. Mr and Mrs Phillips, Charles’s sisters and Mr Hurst were also absent, but they were expected in the coming days.

When the butler came to ask a question, Darcy answered firmly, “I do not know, Scott. Ask the lady of the house!”

He wanted everyone to know that his beloved Pemberley had a new mistress.

Chapter 21

They decided to retire early and rest. Darcy dismissed the maid and invited Elizabeth to follow him.

“Come, my lady. I shall take you to your room.”

She was convinced it was a ruse, yet she smiled. When he took her hand, she quickly withdrew it, fearing that someone might see.

“Elizabeth, no one can see us. This part of the house is reserved for the family, and Georgiana has chosen a room near the Gardiners’ children.”

“I noticed you had arranged for me to sleep in the family wing, in the mistress’s bedchamber.”

Darcy stopped and smiled into her eyes. “Where else did you expect to sleep?”

“I did not expect to be here until we were married! What if my mother or sisters come looking for me?”

“Then they will be shown here, where you shall always belong.”