He shook his head again, as if mystified by the behavior of the younger generation.
Darcy approached them at this point, and Elizabeth linked her arm through his. “Mr. Darcy,” she said mischievously, “it seems that I am a great disappointment to Lord Derby.”
“I am sorry to hear that, Mrs. Darcy, since I have just agreed that we would join him for a brief wedding breakfast at Derby House,” he said in like manner, clearly unsurprised to find her already teasing his uncle.
“Not at all, Mrs. Darcy,” said Lord Derby urbanely. “I find you uniformly charming. My nephew is another matter entirely; he is indeed a disappointment.”
“For failing to inform you of my wedding? I knew that if you were invited, you would take the opportunity to tell my bride terrible things about me.”
“Did I do anything of the sort?” he demanded of Elizabeth, but without giving her a chance to respond, he continued, “William, this lovely lady tells me that you met her
Darcy gave Elizabeth an ironic look. “I see nothing wrong in keeping her in suspense about my intentions,” he said. “Mrs. Darcy, have I thought to mention to you that some members of my family run to an excess of character? Of course, you have met Lady Catherine, and as you know, a more gentle and circumspect soul never walked the earth, but some of our relations are rather more difficult than she.”
“You introduced her to Catherine, and not to us? Now I
“I must confess, Lord Derby, that I managed to find Lady Catherine completely on my own, with no assistance from Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth intervened, but stopped short of mentioning her cousin. She was still uncertain of how much Darcy intended to tell his family about her connections. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner could easily be mistaken for people of fashion, after all, and she did not know if he intended to disillusion his illustrious relations.
“Mrs. Darcy’s cousin is the recipient of a living from Lady Catherine,” Darcy explained. “She had the opportunity to dine at Rosings on several occasions during a visit to him.”
“And lived to tell the tale? Mrs. Darcy, I am indeed impressed.”
Shortly thereafter they departed from the cathedral en route to Derby House, which proved to be an imposing edifice of the same white limestone as the cathedral lying a short way outside of town near the river. Lady Derby had arranged a sumptuous wedding breakfast—Elizabeth could not help but wonder what would have happened had Darcy not agreed to attend it—that outstripped her expectations by far; it was clear that Lady Derby was a gifted and experienced hostess. The bishop was announced shortly after Darcy and Elizabeth arrived; Elizabeth followed suit behind Lady Derby in curtseying and kissing his ring. Darcy stayed close by her side as the bishop spoke to her, asking her questions about her impressions of Derbyshire and Pemberley. It seemed a somewhat stilted conversation to Elizabeth, and she was relieved when he moved his attention to Georgiana, giving Elizabeth the opportunity to offer her thanks to Lady Derby for her attentions.
Lady Derby was a very genteel lady of understated but direct opinions who was quite curious as to the mettle of the young woman who had captured her nephew’s heart. It was clear to her from observing them both that it was a love match; she would not have expected Darcy to settle for anything less, but she had in the past few years felt some concern as to whether he would ever meet someone to suit his needs, surrounded as he was by fortune hunters and flatterers.
Elizabeth brought up her acquaintance with Colonel Fitzwilliam, and the two conversed on that subject briefly before Lady Derby turned her attention to the subject of her nephew, mentioning that Elizabeth seemed rather different than many of the young ladies of Darcy’s acquaintance.
“Yes, I remain convinced that the reason he first noticed me was that I showed no interest in him whatsoever,” said Elizabeth with a laugh. “It is my impression that he was quite tired of the constant attention he received.”
“Yet somehow he seems to have gained your interest,” Lady Derby suggested.
With an amused smile, Elizabeth said, “He can be very persuasive—and persistent—when he sets his mind to it.”
“Yes, he is very like his father in that way, though he does not have his father’s easygoing disposition. He is more complex; he will not be the easiest of men to understand, I expect.”
“I would be hard put to disagree with you, Lady Derby,” responded Elizabeth, “though I prefer to think of it as his having great depth.”
Lady Derby smiled gently. “That is one way to put it, I suppose. He has been through trying circumstances over the years, and although he generally does not admit to their extent, they have left their mark on him.”
Elizabeth wondered what message she was being given. “I imagine that I shall learn more about that over time; as you say, he tends to be private about the past.”
“I certainly hope that we shall see more of you in the future; you should not let my nephew hide you away at Pemberley.”
Wondering at the shift of subject, Elizabeth was about to respond when a voice came from over her shoulder, “You will allow me, I hope, a bit of time alone with my bride before you begin to carry her off on social obligations,” Darcy said smoothly. “And while I am on the subject, it is past time for us to depart; we are expected at Pemberley.”
“I hope you will allow us to keep Georgiana for a few days, William. We hardly get to see her these days,” said Lady Derby.
“If she would like to be kept, I see no objection,” he allowed. Lady Derby approached Georgiana, who initially seemed reluctant, but on further persuasion from her aunt, appeared to change her mind.
“She has agreed to stay, but only tonight; she wishes to return to Pemberley with the Gardiners tomorrow, if that suits.”
With an amused smile, Elizabeth thanked Lady Derby for the wedding breakfast, and implicitly for her tact in separating out Georgiana to allow them privacy on their wedding night. She and Darcy bid their adieus and were soon en route to Pemberley.
They had barely left before Darcy moved from his proper position sitting opposite Elizabeth to the decidedly improper one of sitting by her side, and augmented his impropriety yet further by pulling her close to him. “At last I have you to myself, Mrs. Darcy,” he said.
The pleasure of having his arms around her after a day of deprivation brought an immediate smile to her face. “Just you and I, Mr. Darcy, and, of course, the driver and the footman. It was very thoughtful of your aunt to keep Georgiana.”
He laughed and kissed her lingeringly. “It was, indeed, which is why I may forgive them for ambushing us at our own wedding.”
“I know that you had not invited them—was it so disturbing that they were there?” she asked. Lord and Lady Derby had seemed quite pleasant to her, and she had been wondering why he had so steadfastly avoided informing them of the wedding.
“No, not disturbing. I did not wish to add to the stress of the occasion for you by bringing them in, and thought it wiser to allow you to meet on a less momentous occasion. They can be, in their own ways, somewhat challenging to deal with, but today seemed to bring out the best in them, so I cannot complain.”
“Challenging? How so?” Elizabeth succumbed to temptation and slipped her hand inside his coat.
He gave her an amused look. “It is a long way yet to Pemberley, madam!” he said. “Well, my uncle can tease mercilessly. Lady Derby, well, she is invariably pleasant, charming company, and she never makes any demands, but for some reason after speaking with her, one ends up doing whatever it is that she wishes, regardless of how one might feel about the matter. I suspect my uncle was quite taken by surprise when he found himself proposing to her. It is an astonishing talent; were she a man, I am convinced that she would be running the country, not just Derby House and all her relations, but it is all with the best of intentions.”
“Fortunately for you, I have a great deal of experience at being teased. As for your aunt, we shall have to see. Today she seemed primarily concerned that I care for you adequately, and I can hardly fault her for that, and since I have every intention of caring for you very well indeed, she could not change my mind on the matter,” said Elizabeth.
He kissed her hair, taking pleasure in simply knowing she was his wife, and that nothing could part them now. “So long as you are with me, my love, I shall have no complaints,” he said. “I will be forever grateful that you saw fit to give me a second chance, despite your reservations.”
