Elizabeth stepped beside him. “I hope Hannah and Mr. Lucas are not stranded someplace along the road.” Darcy had sent his valet and Elizabeth’s maid ahead.
“As they left a day before us, I am certain they have missed the storm’s worst. I’m sorry that we didn’t.” He spoke softly to her alone.
“It’s five days to Christmas Eve. We shall see Pemberley for the celebration.”
Darcy thought of the surprise he had arranged for his wife for her Christmas pleasure. He prayed it wasn’t for naught. Although she pretended otherwise, Elizabeth had suffered greatly from her untimely births. The losses had wreaked havoc with his wife’s normal playfulness. The first miscarriage had come mere months into their marriage. At the time, Mrs. Reynolds, his housekeeper, had assured Darcy that such lapses were common, and that his wife likely did not even realize her condition until it was over.
The second had occurred nearly a half year later. With that gestation, Pemberley had celebrated Elizabeth’s happiness, but some three and a half months into her term, the bleeding began. Darcy had immediately summoned a physician, but the man could do nothing for the child. Saving Elizabeth became the treatment’s focus, and although she had recovered physically, he often saw the longing displayed in Elizabeth’s eyes. For example, when her sister Jane Bingley mentioned motherhood’s joys, his Elizabeth seemed to die a slow, lingering death.
It explained why Elizabeth had refused to acknowledge her current condition. If she didn’t form an attachment to the child she carried, its possible loss couldn’t bring her pain. So, they — he, his staff, and Georgiana — had participated in a silent dance in which those who attended his wife ordered new dresses, without her approval, for her quickly changing body, and placed footstools close to her favorite chair, and catered to her cravings for chocolate and herring (fortunately not both at the same time). No one mentioned his wife’s condition, but they all tended to it.
“If you could do something to brighten Mrs. Darcy’s spirits, it would better your wife’s chances of carrying to term,” Doctor Palmer had suggested less than a month earlier. “The more Mrs. Darcy dwells on her losses, the more likely a repetition will occur.”
That very day, Darcy had sent a letter to Longbourn asking the Bennets to join him and Elizabeth for Christmas. His wife hadn’t seen her parents since the day she and Darcy had left Hertfordshire for Pemberley. Darcy had refused to allow her to travel following the two prior miscarriages, and then Elizabeth had spent two months with her sister when Jane had had her twins. Her other sister, Kitty Bennet, had visited Pemberley several times, but Elizabeth had bemoaned her father’s absence, and even that of her insensible mother. Therefore, he had dispatched the invitation, and the Bennets had readily accepted. He had carefully planned his Christmas surprise, but Darcy hadn’t considered the weather.
“If Mr. Parnell hadn’t been so obstinate, we might already be at Pemberley,” he observed.
In truth, Parnell had snubbed Darcy’s offer, claiming it was too generous to Darcy’s smaller investors. “You are a fool, Darcy,” he had said, “if you think I might involve myself in such a weak scheme. You would give away the cow before you had one drop of milk.”
Darcy had refused to do business with such a tight-fisted man. He was all for making a profit, but not at the expense of those less fortunate than he. He had sought out Parnell because Darcy had heard that the man was an astute businessman, and that Parnell understood what was required for success. Instead, he had found a bitter, conniving entrepreneur who spoke venomous words to his employees. Darcy had been glad to leave the negotiations behind.
“I should’ve left you at Pemberley, but I would have been sore to spend my nights alone or my days without the pleasure of your laughter,” he had told Elizabeth as they waited for Mr. Washington to arrange their room. “Quite selfish, but I find myself hopelessly addicted to your closeness.”
“I thought you admired me for my impertinence.” Darcy relished the fact that she teased him, a welcomed change from Elizabeth’s recent melancholy. Perhaps his taking her with him on this journey would promote her healing.
“Impertinence was your estimation,” he murmured close to her ear. “I sought the liveliness of your mind.” A raised eyebrow lodged her objection. “But I lied,” he said huskily. “It was for your skin’s creamy satin and that sprinkling of freckles across your nose.”
Elizabeth flushed. “Mr. Darcy!” she protested with a gasp.
“Yes, my Elizabeth,” he whispered seductively into her hair. “I am here to please you, my love.” His smile became positively smug. “You should also know that I admired your easy playfulness, the uncommonly intelligent expression of your beautiful eyes, and your light and pleasing figure.”
Although she blushed again, and her voice was tremulous, Elizabeth beamed with joy. She laughed, genuinely and fully, and Darcy’s heart opened further to her. Her laugh was the most delightful sound he had ever heard. “Fitzwilliam Darcy,” she began, “I cannot fathom how I ever thought you a prig.You are an absolute cad!”
He recognized how Elizabeth had chosen her words to evoke a reaction from him, so Darcy tempered his response. “True, my dear, but I’m your cad,” he taunted.
“Welcome to Pemberley,” Georgiana greeted Elizabeth’s family. A time had existed when the prospect of acting as her brother’s hostess would have brought her to tears, but under Elizabeth’s tutelage as well as that of her companion, Mrs. Annesley, Georgiana had developed more confidence.
Kitty Bennet boisterously caught Georgiana in a quick embrace. “I’m so happy to return to Pemberley. Hertfordshire is positively humdrum.”
Georgiana smiled warmly. She and Elizabeth’s sister had fashioned a companionable relationship over the past two years. Although Kitty didn’t share Georgiana’s interest in music and art, they both had questions about marriage and love and men, and for Georgiana, sharing their uncertainties had a calming effect. It said that she was not an aberration. Since the weakness she had displayed at age fifteen, she had often questioned her own curiosity. Finding Kitty Bennet equally at a loss for what to do to find love had served as a revelation to the awkwardly demure Georgiana. “It is always a pleasure to see you, Kitty. You’ve been sorely missed.”
Georgiana turned her attention to the Bennets. “Mr. Bennet. Mrs. Bennet.We’re pleased you joined us in Derbyshire.”
She followed the man’s gaze as he said, “The house is all Lizzy said it was.” The man sighed deeply. “Where is Lizzy? I expected her to greet us with open arms. It’s not like Elizabeth to avoid the cold. Has life at Pemberley made my daughter soft, a real lady of leisure?”
Georgiana blinked away the comment. If she had not heard Elizabeth use a similar teasing tone, she might’ve believed Mr. Bennet’s words held true censure. At first, she had often listened with an astonishment bordering on alarm at Elizabeth’s lively, sportive manner of talking to Fitzwilliam, but now Georgiana accepted Elizabeth’s sharp wit as the woman’s charm. In fact, Georgiana missed Elizabeth’s barbed humor. Since Elizabeth’s last disappointment, her brother’s wife had lost her sparkle. “Fitzwilliam is away on business. He and Elizabeth shan’t return until tomorrow. My brother had wanted your presence at Pemberley to be Mrs. Darcy’s surprise.You shall have time to settle in before my sister arrives.”
Mrs. Bennet caught at her daughter’s hand. “Show me Pemberley’s grandeur, Kitty. That’s all of which you’ve spoken for months. Although neither Lizzy nor Mr. Darcy saw fit to greet us, we shall persevere. I imagine an estate as grand as Pemberley will have a fair cup of tea to warm my bones and to settle my nerves.”
Kitty shrugged good-naturedly as she assisted her suddenly frail mother along the entranceway.
“Miss Darcy,” Mr. Bennet interrupted Georgiana’s thoughts. “You remember my daughter Mary.”
Georgiana curtsied. “Of course, I do. Welcome to Pemberley, Miss Bennet.”
“Thank you, Miss Darcy, for your hospitality.”
Mr. Bennet cleared his throat. “And this young man is Mary’s intended, Mr. Robert Grange. Mr. Grange is a clerk in my brother Philips’s law firm.”
Georgiana’s eyes widened. Mr. Grange was not on Darcy’s guest list. “I extend our Pemberley welcome, Mr. Grange.”
“Thank you for receiving me, Miss Darcy.” The spindly young man with a boyish face bowed stiffly to Georgiana before placing Mary on his arm.
