Page 12 of Mr. Darcy's Christmas Letters
“Jane asks that I come today,” she told him as she read it.
“I suppose you shall be needing the carriage?” Papa asked with a twitch of his lips. He set down his paper and picked up his coffee cup.
“I could walk,” Elizabeth replied lightly, “but I would likely lose my boots in the mud and create a scandal appearing at Netherfield in my stocking feet.”
He laughed softly. “That would not do. You are the sister of the wealthy Mrs. Bingley now.”
“Given the state of the paths, Papa, Iwouldprefer the carriage.” She did not want to shame Jane before her own servants.
Her father reached over to pat her hand. “I will call for it, my dear. Why do you not have something to eat while you wait?” He stood to ring the bell and give instructions.
Elizabeth nodded, filling a plate and returning to sit at the table just as her father did.
“With any luck, they will return just in time to take your mother visiting.” He stood and dropped a kiss on the top of Elizabeth’s head. “Has Sarah packed your trunk? I suspect that once you are with her, Jane will be loath to send you back again.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Elizabeth inquired with a shake of her head.
“Because it is true.” Papa smiled. “I will miss you, but I suspect you will be happier in the larger society that the Bingleys will frequent, and so, if it comes to that, you are to accept the invitation, Lizzy.”
It was as close to prescriptive as her father had been with her since before she came out. “Do you mean to send me away?” Elizabeth teased him.
He shifted in his chair and sighed. “Yes. For your own good.”
Elizabeth frowned. “Papa . . .”
He shook his head. “Elizabeth, you were never meant to remain at Longbourn. You could not be happy here forever.”
Mr. Darcy had said something similar when they were both in Kent. “I love Longbourn, Papa.”
“I know you do. It is why I am going to push you out of the nest.” He frowned at his food and held her note out.
Elizabeth took it. “Jane has not offered me an invitation for anything beyond a visit. Mr. Bingley may wish to have his wife in town by himself this first year.”
“The affable Mr. Charles Bingley will do whatever his wife asks of him and will be delighted to do it,” Papa said, almost grumbling. “Janewillask, and her husbandwillassure you that it was always his intention to have you with them. Besides, someone needs to save your sister from his.”
There was no question as to which Bingley sister her father referred. Elizabeth stood and placed a kiss on her father’s head. “If this is your wish, Papa, then I will say yes.”
“I would that I could keep you home with me forever, Lizzy,” he admitted, “but it would not be fair to you. Go, enjoy the company of younger, more fashionable people.”
“Fashion is not my forte,” Elizabeth told him between bites of her breakfast. “But I will go, to please you and protect Jane.”
Chapter Six
Darcytuggedonaglove and glanced outside. The days were so short now that he felt he was always in the dark.
He had overslept. He never overslept, but he had been thinking of Elizabeth and unable to find rest until the early hours of the morning. Darcy had instructed Anders to wait for his call before preparing the carriage, but he had fully intended to rise before dawn, something his coachman knew. However, as no one had come to wake him, Anders had clearly taken him at his word. Darcy tapped his foot, wondering what could possibly be taking so long.
At last he heard the crunching of the gravel that foretold the approach of his conveyance. He peered out of the sidelight, expecting to see his gleaming black coach with the Darcy crest upon it.
Instead, it was a glossy white-and-gold chaise with no crest, but a great deal of decorative painting along the sides.
Darcy knew that coach.
He pulled harder on his glove, turned on his heel, and walked directly to the back of the house.
“Anders!” he called as he approached the stables. “Good God, man, are you not ready yet?”
The coachman popped his head up from a stall and winced.
