Page 4 of Mr. Darcy's Christmas Letters
He had loved her, and she had never seen it. “How clever do you think yourself now, Elizabeth Bennet?” she whispered.
Chapter Three
“ElizabethBennet,”Mammacriedout from the hall. “Youare not the one being wed tomorrow! Come down at once and help your sister with her bouquet!”
“Coming, Mamma,” she called back in an almost steady voice.
She opened her door to see Mamma standing outside. “I knew Jane would save us all, and so she has, no thanks to you.”
“No thanks to me,” Elizabeth murmured, then took a deep breath. She could be cheerful for Jane. Nothing must mar her wedding day. “I will help Jane.”
“Good.” Her mother turned in the direction of her chambers.
Elizabeth tripped lightly down the stairs and squared her shoulders as she entered the family parlour where Jane sat alone, working on a bouquet to carry in the morning. As talented as Jane was in the stillroom, this was more Elizabeth’s skill than her own, and she smiled when Elizabeth approached with a single lifted brow.
“Where are Kitty and Mary?” Elizabeth asked.
“Oh, everyone has gone up to bed,” Jane replied, frowning at the dried foliage spread out before her on the table.
“What have you done to those poor flowers?” Elizabeth inquired teasingly. “Here, you had better allow me.”
“Thank you, Lizzy,” Jane said gratefully.
Elizabeth tried to ignore her sister’s assessing gaze as she deftly arranged the dried herbs and flowers into a beautiful array. She then drew a yellow ribbon from her own hair and tied the whole up with it.
“Oh, Lizzy,” Jane said quietly. “No, that is your favourite one.”
“Do you think I would give you my least favourite to carry at your wedding?” Elizabeth gazed fondly at her sister. Jane’s eyes began to mist, and Elizabeth said quickly, “I am of a mind not to give you up to Mr. Bingley after all.”
“Lizzy,” Jane said with a half-laugh. “I love him.”
“A great pity, for now I must allow the wedding to go forward.” Elizabeth arched one eyebrow. “At least you will not have to change the initials on your handkerchiefs.”
Jane dabbed at her eyes with one such cloth. “You will make me cry.”
“Oh, you had better not,” Elizabeth warned teasingly, “or in the morning your nose will be red and your eyes puffy. You want your groom to be enraptured when he sees you walk into the church, not concerned that you do not wish to marry him after all.”
Her sister’s eyes grew wide, and her tears stopped. “I had not thought of that.”
“I am in jest,” Elizabeth assured her sister with a soft laugh, taking Jane’s hand and planting a kiss on the back of it. “As if a little water could do anything but enhance your loveliness. You are marrying the man you love tomorrow, and healmostdeserves you. I am very, very happy for you both.”
“And you will not be made uneasy by Mr. Darcy’s presence?” Jane inquired for the second time, all kindness and compassion.
“Mr. Darcy’s presence will not affect me one jot.” Elizabeth was emphatic. “Not a bit.”
“Good,” Jane said. “For I would not like it if you were not entirely happy on a day that promises so much joy.”
“Do not worry for me, Jane,” Elizabeth assured her sister. “Worry about Mamma weeping during the ceremony, for if she does, no one will be able to hear your vows!”
Jane closed her eyes and shook her head. “Elizabeth.”
Darcy sat up to look at himself in the glass once Scripps, Bingley’s valet, had finished his shave. He would accompany Bingley in his friend’s carriage, walk from the church to Longbourn with the others, participate for a time in the wedding breakfast, and then he would be done. Anders had instructions to load the Darcy carriage and meet him at the Bennets’ estate. By noon they would be on their way to Pemberley.
“Are you ready, Darcy?” Bingley cried cheerfully as he burst into the room.
“The question is whether you are ready, Bingley,” Darcy said drily, “but I can see that you are.”
“I have been awake for hours. I cannot believe it is happening at last.”
