Mr. Darcy reached out and touched her arm again, this time letting his hand linger a moment longer. “Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth’s heart pounded and she slowly looked up into his face. “Yes?”
He took in a deep breath as his eyes met hers. He studied her face for a moment and then said, “I would not wish for your stay at Pemberley to be awkward. I want to assure you that you are welcome here. When I invited the Willstones and Miss Matthews to Pemberley, I was well aware that you would be included in their party, and I want you to know that I harbour no ill feelings regarding what transpired between us. It is, I hope, all forgotten.”
Elizabeth moistened her lips as she heard his words. They were comforting, and yet at the same time, not. “Thank you, Mr. Darcy. I understand. If you will excuse me…” She gave a slight curtsey as Mr. Darcy bowed, and turned to return down the path.
She did not look back to see if he followed. Her feelings swirled with confusion. She was grateful for his attempt to alleviate her discomfiture, yet wondered if his words were another indication of his fondness for Rosalyn. Certainly he did not want her to inform Rosalyn about his offer of marriage. “It is, I hope, all forgotten.”
Elizabeth kept her eyes on the path on the way down, rarely turning her gaze to Pemberley. She kicked a rock that lay in her path as she tried to drive away the intruding thought that now, when she was finally beginning to see the good man that he was, she was no longer his equal, and he had now turned his affections toward Rosalyn.
When she returned to the house, she went to her room to freshen up, and then helped Emily get ready for breakfast, all the while pondering the Master of this home.
When Elizabeth brought Emily downstairs, they were met by Rosalyn, who greeted the pair enthusiastically. “Elizabeth, I am about to burst with my thoughts and feelings. We must get ourselves away sometime today so we can talk. I must tell you all that happened last evening.”
Elizabeth forced a smile. “We shall have the whole morning before the picnic. Perhaps we can meet after breakfast?”
“Yes! That would be wonderful. Shall we meet in the sitting room Mrs. Reynolds showed us yesterday? We should be out of the way of others in there.”
Elizabeth could only nod in agreement to this scheme, for Mr. Darcy approached. “Good morning, ladies.”
The three ladies curtsied and wished him a good morning as Rosalyn suddenly grasped Elizabeth’s arm for support. Elizabeth was grateful that he did not make any reference to seeing her out while walking this morning. Extending his arm toward the dining room, he invited the ladies to join him.
“Miss Willstone,” he said as he looked down at Emily. “Would you do me the honour of taking my arm?”
Squealing with happiness, the young child rushed to take his arm. Rosalyn did not miss the opportunity and exclaimed, “And may I be so fortunate to take the other?” Without waiting for his response, she wrapped her hand gently around his arm, glancing back at Elizabeth in evident contentment. Elizabeth offered her another forced smile and followed behind.
This is where I now belong, she told herself. I cannot expect to be placed as an equal with the others. Particularly with Mr. Darcy.
The prospect of the picnic again dominated the conversation around the table that morning. While they were eating and engaged in this joyous conversation, a servant entered. Walking up to the head of the table, he said, “Two letters for you, Mr. Darcy, and one for you, Mr. Hamilton.” He then approached Elizabeth. “And a letter for you, Miss Bennet.”
Elizabeth looked down and recognized Jane’s handwriting immediately. A smile spread across her face as she broke the seal.
Hamilton looked at her. “Did you receive a letter from your family, Miss Bennet?” he asked.
“Yes! It is from…” Elizabeth stopped herself, knowing that to mention Jane might cause Miss Darcy distress. “It is from a sister.” Slipping it into her pocket, she said, “I shall read it later.”
After breakfast, Elizabeth took advantage of a few spare moments before meeting Rosalyn to read Jane’s letter. Emily had joined the other two girls in the playroom with Miss Bartley, and Elizabeth made arrangements with her that if she watched the girls in the morning, Elizabeth would return the favour and watch them for her in the afternoon.
Elizabeth sat down in a large wooden rocking chair in her room and reached into her pocket for the letter. She leaned back on an embroidered pillow, which gave her much comfort as she sat and rocked. She opened the letter and began reading.
My dearest sister,
You must know how much I miss you! It has been two weeks and I already long for our Sunday meetings. But I must also confess that I am truly happy. I will delay no longer and I shall tell you! Mr. Bingley has made me an offer of marriage!
Elizabeth’s heart began pounding as she read those words. Her heart burst with happiness for Jane. She was also well pleased that Mr. Bingley stood strong in defiance of Mr. Darcy, who had been so instrumental in separating the two of them initially. She continued reading:
Lizzy, I cannot even believe it has happened; I pinch myself often to make certain I am not dreaming. He spoke first to our uncle to get his permission. We went for a walk one afternoon, and he asked me as we sat on a bench in the park down the road. We shall marry in September. I do hope you can make arrangements to be in Town and will stand up with me.
You might be surprised, Lizzy, by our guest the day after you departed for the country. Mr. Bingley arrived with Mr. Darcy! He spent the whole afternoon and then remained to dine with us, and was exceptionally cordial to us all. He left soon after, but I must admit that he seemed to enjoy talking with our aunt about Lambton, while she enjoyed talking with him about Pemberley. We both commented to each other later that evening that he was quite amiable. It was certainly a surprise to us that he did not have that way about him that he did in Hertfordshire, although I never truly believed him to be as proud as so many others did. I hope that you have found him to be just as amiable as we did and are enjoying your stay at his Pemberley!
Elizabeth’s hands dropped into her lap. Could it be that he no longer felt his friend’s actions were foolish and he now supported his decision? Did he even know that Mr. Bingley was going to ask for her hand? She closed her eyes as she rocked in the chair, her smile never leaving her face. She rejoiced in her sister’s happiness until suddenly, her smile departed as she thought of Miss Darcy. What would this mean when she heard the news?
Tapping the letter in her hand, she decided that she would not allow concern for Miss Darcy to rob her of her delight. Miss Darcy need not know. In fact, no one needed to know until they left Pemberley. She would not even tell Rosalyn or the Willstones.
She finished reading the letter; Jane informed her she had no news from their family in Hertfordshire, and their aunt made a special request that she visit a close friend of hers, a Mrs. Ketterling, in Lambton. Elizabeth thought she might be able to do that on Sunday, which was two days away, and quickly penned a note to send to her, asking if she would be available for Elizabeth to pay her a call in the afternoon.
Elizabeth read Jane’s letter one more time, and she then proceeded down the hall to the sitting room, where she knew Rosalyn would be waiting. Just before she stepped through the door, she fisted her hands tightly for a second and drew in a breath, letting it out slowly. She could only imagine the things Rosalyn wished to talk about with her. And those things would all centre around one man—Mr. Darcy.