Page 25 of Third Time is the Charm
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine – we’re fine. Thank you,” she replied with a smile. “Just hungry.”
“Well that makes… three of us,” Beth agreed, just as the waiters entered the room with the salad course. She didn’t realize how hungry she was or remember the fact that she’d forgotten to eat lunch until the first bite of lettuce hit her mouth. She listened to the conversation going on around her, mostly between Phil, Kat, and Lydia, about school, about the baby; she was too hungry to participate.
“So, how are you?” Beth asked Lydia cautiously when it seemed like the rest of the table had strayed onto the topic of school and college for Kat and Mary. She didn’t want to be too specific; she knew what it was like to not want to talk about something.
A wistful smile passed over Lydia’s face, as she set her fork down. “I’m ok – mostly thanks to this little lady.” Her face lit at the mention of her baby. “And thanks to the man that you can’t take your eyes off of.”
Beth felt a blush creep over her face at the reference to Darcy, her eyes unable to stop themselves from glancing back in his direction, to where he still sat comfortably chatting with the other guests at his table.
Wait, why thanks to Darcy? He’d forced George to marry her in the first place…
Beth swiveled her head back to her sister, her mouth opening and the words starting to escape it when the loud clanging of a knife on a wine glass forced her into silence.
Time for toasts.
“If I could just have everyone’s attention for a moment,” Charles’ happily warm voice rolled through the room. “I won’t take long, especially as I see that dinner is about to happen.” The waiters returned, starting to serve the main course as Charles continued to speak. “I just want to thank you all for coming this weekend to help celebrate with Jane and I. All I can say is that I knew from the day that she fell for me in her office—” He paused as a laugh rippled through the crowd, remembering the story about how Jane had tripped over Beth’s briefcase and sprained her ankle. “I knew from that day that she would be my wife. So, thank you again, everyone, we love you. Cheers!” He raised his glass, signaling everyone else to do the same.
Just as the clapping began, Beth watched as her mother stood, her wine glass chiming for attention. “Thank you, Charles. We are so lucky that you are joining our family and that you take such good care of our dear Jane,” Irene began, and Beth prayed that this would be over shortly. “Mr. Bennet and I, and Mr. and Mrs. Bingley, also would like to thank everyone for coming, your presence will make their day even more wonderful. I would like to give a special thank you as well, to Mr. Darcy, without whom this celebration would not have been possible.” And there was the awkward statement.
Beth watched in confusion – Jane’s face flushed, Charles gave Darcy a sheepish shrug of his shoulders, and Darcy himself, looked surprisingly more embarrassed than angry. Whatever he had contributed to their day, he would have preferred it to remain a secret – something he should have known was a foolish impossibility with Irene Bennet.
But what had he contributed?Beth wondered desperately.
“To Charles and Jane,” Darcy exclaimed gruffly, raising his glass to end the uncomfortable silence that her mother had propagated.
Beth looked at Lydia, hoping that their mother had said something to her. “I don’t know…” Lydia answered the silent question with a regretful shrug. Beth bit her lip in consternation, picking up her knife and fork to dig into the delicious-looking chicken Milanese that had been served.
She needed to talk to Jane; Jane would know.
Chapter 8
Beth knocked impatiently on Jane’s door. She’d finished dinner, immersing herself in the conversation between the Gardiners and her younger sisters, all the while preoccupied with every question that she needed an answer to. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had any further opportunity to talk to Lydia during dinner. Afterward Lydia had left before dessert was served because her feet and back were really hurting her, so she’d wanted to go upstairs to bed. That meant Beth had had to bide her time until Jane headed up for bed; yes, she could have just gone upstairs and waited there, but she didn’t want to take the chance of running into Darcy on her way out of her room. No, she needed to wait for Jane to leave and then say her goodnights, discreetly following her sister to her room.
For the most part, that is what had happened. Phil and his wife had left early, and Beth had feared that her sisters would follow suit, leaving her alone at the table. However, they’d stayed, talking amongst themselves long enough to where Jane had stood to say her goodnights first.
Even though he’d kept his eyes off of her for most of the night (she knew because shehadn’tbeen able to do the same), after dessert she felt his hot gaze warming through her, drawing her to him. She had this feeling like he wanted to approach her, to talk to her, but not when she was surrounded or talking to other people –all the more reason she felt edgy as more and more people began to leave.
She didn’t want to talk to him; she was still attracted to him, and more than that, she was completely thrown off by his behavior, not just the cordiality towards other people, but how he had approached her with a respectful reserve – no demands, no questions, no accosting her, preying on her desire for him. Aside from the steamy stares, she would have thought he was completely over her.
She just needed to talk to Jane.
“Oh, hey,” Jane said breathlessly, answering the door. “Sorry, I thought you might be Charles so I was trying to find my robe; I told him he couldn’t see me anymore until the ceremony tomorrow, but I thought he was trying to be sneaky and get one more goodnight kiss.” She finished with a smile, her love and excitement for tomorrow painted all over her face.
“Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you so late. I just wanted to chat for a few minutes, if that’s ok…” Beth asked, knowing that with her pleading tone, Jane wouldn’t refuse. She just needed answers… and she needed to stay away from her room until there was no possible way that she would run into Darcy on her way back.
“Of course,” Jane assured her, opening the door up wider as Beth walked in. “Does this have to do with what mom said?”
Well, there was that.
“I mean, we can start there,” Beth murmured. “What did she mean that your wedding wouldn’t be possible without Darcy? I mean, he didn’t introduce you, I don’t understand.”
Jane sighed. “Sometimes, I do understand how you can get so frustrated with mom. She shouldn’t have said anything; I should have told her specifically not to say anything, but, of course, I thought she would know better.”
“She never knows better,” Beth informed her sister, wryly.
“Darcy owns Blue Hill,” Jane began, taking a seat on the bed, pausing to watch Beth’s reaction.
Of course, he does.
