Page 5 of Mr. Darcy's Christmas Letters
Darcy studied his friend. “I am very glad it has worked out so well, Bingley. I feel I must apologise once more . . .”
“None of that, Darcy,” Bingley said, waving a hand dismissively. “I forgave you completely the moment my angel said yes.”
“You are a generous friend, Bingley.”
“As are you. Jane will be quite pleased with all the fabrics you brought her as a wedding gift, as will Mrs. Bennet.” He smiled enthusiastically.
“It was nothing, Bingley. I asked my sister and Mrs. Annesley to select them, and they enjoyed themselves immensely. Please do not mention it.” He truly hoped Bingley would not speak of it. He would not wish Elizabeth to think he was attempting to purchase her sister’s good-will.
He brushed his hands down his jacket and nodded. “To the church, then?”
“At once,” Bingley said laughingly, turning on his heel and marching out to the waiting coach.
Elizabeth entered Jane’s room as the last strand of her sister’s golden hair was being woven into an intricate style perhaps more suited for a ball than a solemn ceremony. Still, Mamma would have her way, and Jane would not mind.
Elizabeth placed her hands lightly on Jane’s shoulders as her sister sat at the glass. “Are you ready, Janie?” she asked, addressing her eldest sister as she had not since they were small.
“Oh, Lizzy,” Jane said softly, “I was up hours ago. I am ready, dearest.” She turned in her chair and grasped her sister’s hands. “You must come to visit me in a few days. Charles still has much to do around the estate, having been gone for so many months and then spending so much time at Longbourn. I will be happier if you are there to help me sort through my own duties. Do say you will come.”
The Bingleys had postponed their wedding trip until the late spring, when they would travel north to meet his family.
“Are you sure, Jane?” Elizabeth asked. “Will you not have company?”
“If you mean Mr. Darcy, no, he means to leave today. Will you come?”
Elizabeth smiled, though her heart broke anew. Mr. Darcy could not even bear to be in her presence for an entire day. He had done all he could to spare her reputation, but even if he did wish to wed her, surely he would not connect himself to a family that included Mr. Wickham. “I would be pleased to come, if you wish it,” she said.
It was not fair, to judge Mr. Darcy so harshly when she had been the one to drive him away. Lydia, too, but Elizabeth had been first.
“Thank you, dearest,” Jane said fervently, squeezing Elizabeth’s hands and allowing herself to be helped to her feet. “Shall we go?”
“Indeed,” Elizabeth said affectionately. “Let us not keep your groom waiting any longer.”
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Papa smiled a little tearfully. “My eldest birdie is leaving the nest,” he told Jane softly. “I am pleased to give you to a man so well suited to you.”
“Of course he is suited!” Mamma exclaimed. “He has five thousand a year! Oh, Jane, he is the handsomest man I have ever seen!”
“Thank you, my dear,” Papa said drily, but Mamma did not hear him.
Jane touched the corner of her eye with her handkerchief but lowered it when Elizabeth smirked and tapped her own nose.
“Do not cry, Jane!” Mamma exclaimed. “My goodness, Mr. Bennet, what can you be thinking? Her eyes must not be red at the wedding or people will talk!” She dabbed none too gently at Jane’s tears. “She will be mistress of Netherfield. We shall all meet very often!”
Mamma was soon distracted by a question from Kitty, and Papa leaned down to murmur in Jane’s ear. “Not too often, my dear, at least for the first month or so. That shall be my gift to you.”
Jane’s smile was all that was proper, but Elizabeth could see that she was relieved.
“You go ahead with the other girls, Mrs. Bennet,” her father said in a voice loud enough for everyone else to hear. “I will walk with Jane to make sure every eye is upon the bride when the doors open.”
“Yes, yes,” Mamma agreed happily, fluttering around the younger girls. “Off we go, then.”
Papa offered one arm to Jane and the other to Elizabeth. It was a difficult five minutes as they walked to the chapel in Longbourn village. Elizabeth did not know whether the deep chill that settled in her bones was from the winter weather, the imminent loss of Jane to her betrothed, or the thought of being once again in Mr. Darcy’s company and knowing that she could no longer mean anything to him.
Chapter Four
Bingleywasrecitinghisvows, and Darcy closed his eyes as he tried not to stare at Elizabeth. She was right there, not more than ten feet away. It was torture. What he would not give to go back to that first assembly and allow Bingley to introduce them, so he could ask her for a dance.
“And thereto I plight thee my troth,” Bingley recited.
