Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (126 page)

“Oh.  I suppose . . . She had not mentioned that, or maybe she did.  There have been so many details to be arranged and I am afraid that I might have been a little preoccupied in the last week or so.”  She sighed.   “I probably disappointed her.” 

“I doubt that most sincerely.  She has a houseful of experienced women to help her, not to mention my mother, who has enjoyed preparing for the ball greatly.”

“I saw your parents walking in the garden.  It was nice to see them enjoying each other, but I guess that they do not dance?”

“No.”  He shrugged.  “They say that they are too old for these new dances we have.  When they were courting the minuet was the style.  But they have enjoyed the spectacle and speaking to people they have not seen in years.  Mother introduced me to a few couples who actually met in the ballroom and began their romances here, some twenty years ago.” 

“Really?”  Georgiana smiled.  “What a nice thing to know.  I wonder if any new romances began tonight?  Did you see anything with potential?  Did
you
meet a girl?”  She laughed and poked his arm. 

Samuel laughed and sat back with a sigh.  “No.  She was not in that room.”

“She?”  Georgiana tilted her head.  “Who is she?”

“The love of my life.”  He met her eyes for a moment and then looked down at his hands.  “I did my duty; I have danced with . . . seven ladies.  Including Miss Bingley.”

“Oh, poor you.  How was it?”

He looked up at the ceiling.  “Indescribable.” 

“She is awful.”  Georgiana whispered.  “Did she . . . she did not latch onto you did she?”  Her voice rose in alarm.

He laughed and looked back down to her wide eyes.  “No.”  Chuckling, he gave her arm a squeeze. “No, I look too much like your brother and own far less than
her
brother.  I am safe from her.  William danced with her, too.  His lips were set tighter than a . . . sealed letter.”  Georgiana giggled.  “His gaze was everywhere but on her face.  If he could, I think that he would have had a footman take the duty in his place.  But, he is the host and she is his guest.  I think that Elizabeth requested the music, it was the shortest dance of the night!”

“Do you think that she will ever be invited here again?”

“Perhaps, if she marries a friend.  But Bingley will live only twenty miles from here, if she comes to this part of the country, it will probably be to his home.”  Standing, he went to lean on the window frame.  Georgiana smiled to see the resemblance to her brother but did not say anything.  “I actually felt a little sorry for her.”

“Why?” 

“Here she was, living her dream of dancing with the Master of Pemberley at a ball on his estate, in front of his peers, tenants and neighbours, and yet she was not his wife.  What a blow that must have been for her.”

“I wonder if you are speaking of yourself.”  Georgiana said softly.  Surprised, he turned to her.  “Forgive me.”

Samuel smiled and approaching her, held out his hands.  “Shall we dance?  I believe that the next set is about to begin.” 

“That was so rude of me, please forgive me.”

“That is quite all right.  I do admire your sister, but she is not my love, she is William’s.”  He led her to an empty space in the room and then stood opposite her.  Down below they could hear applause and the conversation increasing, people milling around and taking their places again.  “I wonder what it will be?  A jig?  A reel?”

“Oh!  I cannot imagine Fitzwilliam dancing a reel in Pemberley!  I think Elizabeth planned to dance a cotillion before supper, since they surely will not have the desire for such energy again after they feast on Mrs. John’s creations.”  Her smile faded and she looked down at her hands and then to the door.  “Mrs. Annesley should return fairly soon.”

“I wondered where she had gone.” 

“She was fetching us some refreshments before everything was eaten up.  All of the servants are too busy to bring anything.”  Georgiana looked back up at him.  “I . . . I told Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam about . . .”

“I know, they told me.”  Samuel decided to speak his mind, “You know; it is up to you to tell him to clear off.  He seems to respect your brother’s demands to stay away from the property, but he will likely turn up when you least expect it forever.  I fear that while he might be benign now, there may come a time when he is desperate again, and he will use your history to his advantage.  William feels the same way.”

“But he loves his daughter.”

“Does he?”  Samuel asked gently.  “Or is this just a means to remain connected to you, and play on your heartstrings?  No matter what he does, I will not see good in him.  It is the goodness of your brother that allows him to live on today.”  Seeing her eyes welling up, he stepped across the divide and held her.  “If I had fallen in love with you, Georgiana, for yourself and no other reason, and could bear what had happened and kept your secret safe, then I would not be able to bear seeing the man who came before me paying you a call.  Ever.”  Letting go, he smiled and shrugged.  “I thought you might appreciate that gentleman’s perspective.  Hopefully you will not need to employ your thoughts on this for a very long time.” 

“I understand.  I see how Fitzwilliam loves Elizabeth, and I know that it would destroy him to imagine her being touched by another.”

Samuel laughed softly, “That is true, I saw him display his feelings not an hour ago.”

She listened to the quartet beginning to play the last song before supper.  “I do not believe that he will ever ask for more.  I believe that he has changed, and continues to.  I believe that he will only watch after me until I am settled and safe.  But I believe that he will look in on Hope for all of his life.  She is his blood.” She looked up to Samuel’s kind eyes, “A man will go to the ends of the earth to protect his own, will he not?”

He smiled and nodded, “A man who loves will.”    

“WHERE IS SAMUEL?”  Harding scanned up and down the table while everyone took their seats, and then turned to see the other tables set around the room.  “I cannot imagine him missing supper, especially after dancing so much, he must be famished.  Should I go and look for him?  Something was bothering him before, but he seemed to improve as time wore on.”

Elizabeth smiled her thanks to Darcy as he pushed in her chair, “I think that he went up to visit Georgiana, Uncle.  We met him in the foyer as he was going upstairs before the last dance.”

His brow creased.  “I was planning to visit her after we ate as well.  Just to see how she was getting on.” 

“How nice that you were thinking the same.  It was very kind of Samuel to go; she must be feeling terribly left out tonight.”  Susan smiled and saw Lady Matlock opening her mouth, “I still agree, she does not belong at the ball.” 

“No, she does not.”  She looked with satisfaction further down the table to where Manning sat with Cathy.  “Although, Fitzwilliam, if she has an appropriate dress, she might come down to dance the Boulanger after supper.”

“Why the change of heart, Mother?”  Richard asked and catching Gladney’s eye, looked far down the table to where their sister sat talking quietly to Manning.  “The danger is passed?”

“I have no idea what you are speaking of, Richard.”

“Of course you do!  My dear wife related to me the ladies’ conversation.”

Sophie’s eyes widened, “Thank you, Richard!  Now I will be banned from them all for fear that secrets will be revealed!”  She looked at her mother-in-law.  “Truly, I did not say that much, he just takes the slightest idea and starts speculating.” 

“My dear, he is my son.  I know him well.”  Lady Matlock looked to Richard.  “After so many years with him absent from our lives, I can bear his occasional bad manners.”

“Mother’s desires are hardly a secret,” he shrugged and as he began pouring out some Madeira asked casually with a glance at his host, “Speaking of secrets, where did you two run off?”

“Run off?”  Darcy asked without interest and looking to Elizabeth, saw her quickly signal Evans to begin serving the white soup.  He returned his gaze to his cousin. “Did we run off”

“I saw you take your wife by the hand and fly from the ballroom, not to be seen again for nearly an hour.  It reminded me of another ball.”

“An hour.”  Darcy stepped on Elizabeth’s slipper.  “That long?”

“I doubt if it was half that much, the colonel is given to exaggeration, as he has just proven once again.”  She addressed Richard while pinching Darcy’s thigh, “Perhaps we were seeing to our guests in other parts of the house.  We may have been in the card room?”

Richard shook his head and watched between them, “Does one run to play cards?  Did you have a pending wager on a hand?  Was Pemberley at risk for being lost in a raucous round of Whist?  Did you see them there, Father?”

Lord Matlock laughed at his son’s needling.  “No, I did not.  I was ensconced in my chair for the entirety of the evening, and I saw not a sign of them.  Of course, I was putting away a good deal of exceptional port, so anything is possible.  What do you say, Albert?” 

“No, not hide nor hair of them.  Aunt?  You were manning the ballroom on Miss Bingley’s behalf; can you confirm Richard’s observations?”

Lady Catherine glared at the men. “Enough.  The Darcys are hosting this ball with aplomb, their guests are obviously entertained and have not been neglected, why must they account for every second of their time to any of you?”

With his wife’s gasp in his ear, Darcy squeezed her hand and nodded to his aunt.  “Thank you, Aunt Catherine, but for the sake of appeasing a relentless child, I will answer his one question.  We went for a breath of air, Richard.  Does that satisfy you?  I thought that we had agreed no inquisitions were necessary tonight.”  Elizabeth saw the smile in his eyes as he inclined his head.

Gladney smiled. “My wife and I enjoyed quite a pleasant turn in the moonlight, did we not?” 

Anne’s pale features pinked under his affectionate look.  “It was very nice.” 

“Elizabeth’s eyes were brightened upon returning.”  Bingley noted, “As were Darcy’s.  Everyone remarked upon their performance during the supper dance.  The fresh air did you both some good.”

“Perhaps they were dancing in the garden, you know, limbering up for their exhibition?”  Hurst offered.

Richard nodded, “Were you Cousin?  Was the ballroom too warm and the dance floor too crowded, and you sought the peace of the garden for relief?  Or was this merely preparation for a compelling demonstration of your dancing prowess for your dear wife?”

Bingley grinned, “How peaceful could the garden be with all of those people wandering the paths, especially the ones seeking out the benches and arbours to admire?  A place of privacy for dancing lessons would be difficult to find.” 

“I see that the questioning has moved to me now.”  His patience thoroughly tested, Darcy looked from the faces of his expectant relatives to those of his fascinated friends and spoke flatly, “We remained beneath the welcoming embrace of a tree and admired the beauty of our home, bathed in the glow which the pleasure of this night provides.”  Finding Elizabeth’s hand still in his lap, he rubbed his thumb over her ring.  His eyes began to twinkle, “However we did notice quite a number of couples enjoying nature.  How fortunate that we had fine weather and such experiences were not limited to the indoors and places such as the conservatory, for example.” 

Jane gasped and held her hand to her heart, “Oh!”

“Yes.”  Bingley’s face coloured.  “Yes, indeed.” 

“Oh ho!”  Richard beamed at Bingley.  “And here I was considering the library for privacy!”

“Richard!”  Sophie cried.

He pointed his finger at his cousin.  “Well it worked for Darcy in the past!”

“Not that well. You were with me.” He said dryly.

“But I left.”

“If you had not, I am afraid that one of you would be murdered and the other hung.”  Elizabeth looked between them.  “Could you two please behave?” 

“Yes, dear.”  Darcy murmured.

“Of course, Elizabeth.” 

Fox looked to Caroline with a wide smile, “Are they always like this?”

“Do you like this behaviour?”  She stared. 

“I delight in it!”  Catching Manning’s eye, he made a face and tilted his head towards Darcy. 

Nodding, Manning laughed and bent to Cathy.  “Do you like your cousin’s behaviour?  It reminds me a little of him in his youth, before he became so serious.”

“It reminds me of my brothers when they were young.” She smiled and nodded to them.  “Although I think that both of them might be finding their youth again.” She blushed under Manning’s attention.  “There is a place for frivolity as well as pride, I suppose.” 

“Hmm.”  He nodded and looked back to Darcy.  “And the opportunity to change.”

Knives knocking on crystal tinkled like bells throughout the dining room and closing his eyes, Darcy resignedly listened to the chorus of men’s voices crying, “Speech!” 

“Who makes speeches at a ball?”  He sighed and looked at Elizabeth.  “This is their doing.  My host of friends.  I told you we should have sent them home and gone to the lake.  I would love to see that dress wet.” 

She took his hand and whispered, “Just a few words, they will not hear you anyway, the punch is clearly taking affect on everyone.”  Keeping her hand clasped within his, he slowly stood.  Laughter followed.

“Go on, Darcy!”  Someone cried. 

He glanced in the general direction of Winslow’s familiar voice and cleared his throat. “Before I ask the good reverend to lead us in saying Grace, I would like to thank all of you for your attendance tonight; Pemberley is richer for your company and friendship.”  Elizabeth squeezed his hand when he hesitated. Smiling, he looked down to her eyes.  “You have all at least seen my dear wife, and for those of you who have had the pleasure of speaking to her, you certainly know now why I had no choice but to bring her home.” 

“Oh, you had plenty of choices, Mr. Darcy.”  Elizabeth laughed and the guests joined in. 

“Hear hear!” was heard from several corners. 

“That is true enough.”  Bending, he kissed her hand, and then picking up his glass, looked directly into her eyes.  “Pemberley has been an estate without a heart for much too long.  You have made it live again.  It is my honour and privilege to be your husband.”  He saw Elizabeth whisper,
Oh, Will
.  Nodding and raising his glass, he looked around at the room and spoke reverently.  “Elizabeth Darcy.”