Elizabeth Bennet Darcy tried very hard to concentrate on the letter in her hand, but the intrusion of her own thoughts conspired with the fine prospect outside her window to distract her.
When the post arrived, she had withdrawn to her favorite sitting room at Pemberley. Such had become her morning custom in her few months as mistress of the house. The room, she understood, had also been a favorite of her husband’s mother, and Elizabeth suspected the late Mrs. Darcy had shared her opinion that it offered a view of the river and valley superior to any other in the house. Today, though patches of snow stubbornly resisted the caress of the late winter sun, the smell of damp earth nevertheless carried the promise of spring.
Fitzwilliam Darcy’s ancestral house bore the imprint of so many generations that Elizabeth had not yet found her place here. Home was anywhere her husband was, and Darcy had done much to ease her way, but the greatness of his estate required her adjustment. She did not want to depart Pemberley before she truly felt settled. But family duty beckoned, and they were obliged to answer.
She left the window, returned to her desk, and read once more the cross-written, blotted lines. As she contemplated her response, Darcy entered. His tailcoat, leather breeches, and top boots indicated his intent to go riding.
'Good morning, again.' Darcy kissed her cheek. 'I came to invite you for an airing.'
She set aside the letter with a heavy sigh.
A frown creased his forehead. 'Perhaps instead I should enquire what I have done to merit such a reception? I realize riding was never your favorite pastime, but I do not recall your ever greeting the suggestion with despondency before.'
'It is not your invitation that dismays me.' Under her husband’s influence, she’d developed greater interest in riding, though in truth, it was the company more than the activity that appealed to her. She looked up into his face and smiled wistfully. 'I am afraid, sir, that you have committed crimes of a more grievous nature.'
'Indeed?' He set down his hat and leaned against the edge of her desk. 'Name the offenses.'
'Like a nursery-tale knave, you have carried me off to your secluded castle and kept me to yourself for nigh on three months, with no thought of returning me to the companionship of my family.'
'Are you not enjoying our privacy at Pemberley?'
'I did not say I was the one harboring objections.'
After the turbulent events that had marked the first few weeks of their marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy had both relished their retreat to Derbyshire. As Darcy’s seventeen-year-old sister, Georgiana, was the only other resident of Pemberley, they’d enjoyed a quiet transition to married life. Now that March had begun, however, their idyllic sequestered state seemed destined to end as society made its claims upon them. 'Do you think my equestrian skills can bear the intense scrutiny of a trot through Hyde Park?' she asked.
'Where London society rides to be seen?'
He tactfully avoided further response to her query, but his silence formed reply enough. She arched her brows, merrily daring him to put his thoughts into words.
He cleared his throat. 'Perhaps it is best that we have no plans to visit town any time soon.'
She laughed. 'You know that you need not spare my vanity. I harbor no illusions about the quality of my horsemanship — my goal on any outing is simply to sit a mount without embarrassing myself.' She gestured toward the letter. 'Unfortunately, our rides may indeed take place on Rotten Row in the near future. I have received another note from my mother this morning. She reminds me again what a wonderful thing it would be for us to sponsor a London season for Kitty.'
'Have not Jane and Bingley already committed themselves to that noble cause?'
'Mama now fears that, given Jane’s delicate state of health, the excitement of escorting our sister to balls and concerts might overtax her.'
'But the Bingleys do not anticipate their new arrival until September.'
'Surely you cannot seriously expect my mother to defer the pleasure of fretting over Jane’s condition? She has but six months remaining in which to describe her anxiety to all her acquaintance.'
'Ah, yes — I had forgotten about her nerves.'
'My father would envy you, for I am sure he is continually reminded of them.' Elizabeth suspected her father spent a good deal of time in his library of late to minimize the reports of her mother’s daily visits to Jane. Mr. Bennet cared about his eldest daughter, of course, but didn’t require updates as detailed or as frequent as those Mrs. Bennet was inspired to provide. Simply show him a healthy grandchild and safe new mother at the end of it all, and he would be satisfied. 'Perhaps we ought to take pity on him and invite him to London along with Kitty.'
'You have agreed to this scheme regarding Kitty, then? When did you intend to tel! me?'
'I have agreed to nothing yet. You know I would much rather remain here at Pemberley with you than leap into the social whirl of town — '
'But Kitty has been out for three years now, and Hertfordshire holds few prospects for her,' he finished. 'A London season would improve her chances of meeting an acceptable young man.'
'Precisely. And it sounds as ll Jane has her hands full enough dealing with my mother. Besides, you know how disposed Jane and Bingley are to always think the best of everyone. When it comes to assessing potential suitors, you and I would prove more discerning chaperones lor Kitty'
'True.' Darcy’s face clouded.
She knew he thought of Bingley’s sister Caroline, whose own recent courtship could have profited from greater vigilance. She attempted to divert his musings. 'Georgiana would benefit, as well.'
'You wish to marry off my sister along with yours this season?'
'Only if she herself wishes it' Georgiana, unlike Kitty, possessed an inheritance sizable enough to grant her comfortable independence should she choose never to wed. 'I meant that she might enjoy Kitty’s companionship since they are so close in age.'
He leaned over to drop a light kiss on her forehead. 'Write to your sister. Shall we invite Mary, too, while we are about it? Complete our whole family’s husband-hunting at once?'
'I shall ask her, but I doubt she will accept.' Elizabeth’s other unmarried sister, critical of the frivolity of society’s elite ton, had already expressed disdain for the whole enterprise.
'Besides,' she added, dipping her pen, 'if all five of us sisters married within a twelvemonth of each other, my mother’s joy would be too great for anyone to bear.'
His person and air were equal to what her fancy
had ever drawn for the hero of a favorite story.
'Will there be any eligible barons there, do you think?' Kitty, the comb in her hand all but forgotten, gazed expectantly at Elizabeth in the dressing table mirror. 'Or an earl? No — a duke! I would so love to meet a duke tonight! Might one be there?'
'I daresay there might. But mind, you shall not speak to any gentleman to whom you have not been properly introduced.'
'Of course, Lizzy, of course. But Mr. Darcy knows everybody, doesn’t he? Surely he must know a duke or two.'
In truth, Elizabeth was not at all certain who would be present tonight or how many people Darcy might know. They were engaged to attend a party at the home of some new acquaintances, Sir John and Lady Middleton. 'Mr. Darcy does not know everybody. Why, he met Sir John only this week, and they have been members of the same club for years.'
