The Resolute Suitor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Read online

  Mr. Bennet laughed. “You do not understand, Miss DeBourgh. Entertaining people for a meal is my wife’s favorite occupation. She is known far and wide for the table she sets and takes every opportunity to show her expertise. I assure you, it will make her day, not trouble her.”

  “I know that to be a fact, Anne, therefore if you do not mind, I will hurry back to Netherfield and, after I have changed clothes, within the hour I will bring Bingley, Georgiana, Kitty, and Aunt Ida here for a midday meal.

  As promised, Darcy and the others at Netherfield arrived at Longbourn and as Mr. Bennet had predicted, Mrs. Bennet had prepared a fine meal. Elizabeth was pleased to learn that the Anne she had met at Rosings, who she had classified as sickly and unsocial, was, in fact, very pleasant and personable. Nor was she quite as sickly as she appeared. As her mother became more and more domineering, she, with the knowledge of Darcy and Col. Fitzwilliam, put on an act that she was sicker than she really was, thus giving her an excuse to leave her mother’s company whenever she wished and lessening her mother’s expectation for what she could do. She and Darcy feared that if Lady Catherine knew Anne’s true state of health and strength of character, she would have been even more insistent about their marriage. It was true Anne’s system had been weakened by the disease of her youth and she would never survive childbirth, but she was not as close to death’s door as she portrayed. She was looking forward to living many more years and particularly to the day she was mistress of Rosings and could inform her mother of the way she and her cousins had deceived her for the past several years.

  After the excellent meal, a pleasurable discussion, and performances by Georgiana and Elizabeth, the Netherfield party departed so that Anne could be established in her room and rest. The next morning, Darcy, Elizabeth, and Georgiana, in Darcy’s carriage, took Anne to Matlock House, where she was happily received. Lord and Lady Matlock were happy to discover she had finally escaped her mother’s dominance and again promised she would be installed as mistress of Rosings on her 25th birthday. After having lunch with the Matlocks and Anne, Elizabeth, Darcy, and Georgiana returned to Hertfordshire to prepare for their trip to Pemberley the next day.

  Chapter 21: Pemberley

  As the carriage drove along the tree lined drive from the main road to Pemberley, Elizabeth was increasingly incredulous at the apparent size of the estate. They had been riding for almost twenty minutes, when at the top of a treed hill, Darcy had the carriage stop. “Elizabeth, we need to walk from here to one of the best views of Pemberley. You will get another view from the road at the top of the next rise, but the one from the promontory here is the most beautiful.”

  He then helped Elizabeth and Georgiana out of the carriage and led them along a short tree lined path to an opening in the trees. When Elizabeth emerged from the trees, she gasped, for in front of her in the distance was the most beautiful vista of a house and park that she had ever seen. The sun was glinting off the windows of what was clearly the back of the mansion and she could see a lake and stream also glistening in the sun, which anyone sitting on the back veranda would be able to see some distance away below them. The park was a mixture of formal gardens and natural vegetation which was masterfully designed to fit together.

  “Oh, Will, this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Are you sure you want me to be mistress of all of this? It is larger and more beautiful than I even imagined. It looks more fit for a queen than for a little country girl from Hertfordshire.”

  “Well, my little country girl, get used to it, because it is yours now. Each Darcy couple has put their stamp on this remarkable piece of property and you and I will have to decide what legacy we will leave with it. I am glad you like it.”

  “Like it? That hardly describes what I feel right now. It is a dream I fear will not be true when I awaken. At the moment, I cannot imagine ever wanting to leave this place. I can just imagine the walking trails will keep my interest for the rest of my life.”

  “And it will be even better, when you learn to ride Lizzie,” said Georgiana. “You see the high ridge there. On that ridge and on the peaks behind it are some unbelievably beautiful places only be accessible by horse.” She giggled. “Hopefully your desire to see all of the wonders of Pemberley will give you all the incentive you need to learn to ride.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “I do believe you are right Georgiana. If there are other vistas the equal of this and I can only get to them on a horse, then learning to ride must be one of the first things I do when we are here.”

  When they pulled into the circular drive in front of the house, she was surprised to see many of the house’s staff standing on either side of the entry stairway. “How did they know we were going to be here at this moment?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Remember the man in the gatehouse at the entrance to the estate?”

  When she said she did, Darcy said, “There is a flag pole there on which he raised a flag, which was seen by a man on the ridge behind the house. He also raised a flag, which the staff could see from the back veranda. When we know someone is coming. We man the flag locations so the staff can be ready when they arrive.”

  When the carriage stopped under the portico over the front entrance, a footman rushed up to the carriage to put down a footstool and open the door. Darcy ascended and helped first Georgiana and then Elizabeth out of the carriage. Darcy then offered Elizabeth his arm and led her to two older men and an older lady who were standing at the foot of the stairway.

  Each of the three people greeted Mr. Darcy and then Darcy said, “Dr. Stewart, Mr. Carson, Mrs. Reynolds, may I introduce Miss Elizabeth Bennet? Elizabeth, this is our doctor and friend, Dr. Thomas Stewart, the butler, Mr. Carson and our housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds.”

  Dr. Stewart spoke first. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Elizabeth. We have wondered if Darcy would ever find a woman he thought suitable to be mistress of this place.”

  “Thank you, Doctor. May I ask, do you live here? Will has not told me about you.”

  “I do, but it is a long story we can discuss over supper.”

  “We are also very pleased to meet you, Miss Elizabeth” said Mrs. Reynolds, apparently speaking for both herself and Mr. Carson. “We have all been anxiously looking forward to welcoming the future mistress of Pemberley. We were beginning to think Mr. Darcy would never find that perfect woman for whom he has been looking. We are overjoyed he has.”

  “I am pleased to meet both of you and thank you, Mrs. Reynolds,” said Elizabeth as she pulled Darcy close to her and looked at him before looking back at Mrs. Reynolds and Mr. Carson, “but I fear you will find I am only perfect in Mr. Darcy’s somewhat prejudiced eyes. I am greatly looking forward to being the mistress of this amazing place, but I can assure you I will require much help from you and Mr. Carson.”

  “And you shall have it—all you need,” said Mrs. Reynolds. “Now, we will not try to introduce you to all the staff yet, but do let me introduce Marcel, who is our chef, and Mr. Horner, who is our head gardener.”

  Nodding her head, she said, “Marcel, Mr. Horner, it is a pleasure to meet you.” Then looking at the rest of the staff, she said, “And I look forward to getting to know all of you.” She again spoke to Mrs. Reynolds. “Mr. Darcy did not even tell me he had told you I was to be here. All of this was quite a surprise to me.”

  “Do not blame me, Elizabeth. I did not tell them, although I thought they would probably know. I am sure Mrs. McGregor told Mrs. Reynolds about you. Am I right Mrs. Reynolds?”

  “Of course you are. Miss Elizabeth, the staffs of the two houses work closely together to ensure the Darcys are properly served, which includes anticipating their needs. We try to look out for Mr. and Miss Darcy’s interests as best we can, and now it will be our pleasure to look out for yours.”

  Shaking her head, Elizabeth gave a smile Mrs. Reynolds and Mr. Carson both thought would be a wonderful reward for those working for her. “I am a bit overwhelmed, but I look forward to it. However, first we h
ave make preparations for us to marry.”

  “May I assume the wedding, breakfast, and ball will be here?”

  Why yes they are, but how….…. I do not need to ask, do I? You are anticipating our needs and you know of the Darcy tradition for the eldest son to be married here. It did not take much to convince me our wedding should be held here, Mrs. Reynolds, and now that I have seen Pemberley, I am very glad we are to be married here. As I told Mr. Darcy, I may not ever want to leave. But now, may I see the inside of the house?”

  As they walked into the grand foyer, Elizabeth was once again impressed with the decorative style the Darcys seemed to prefer. It was elegant, but not showy, emphasizing medium colored woods, bronze, silver, and stone, not crystal, gold, and marble. It was a country estate and had country flavor, but a very elegant country flavor. The more she saw of it, the more impressed she was with the decorating skills of Darcy’s mother.

  “Elizabeth,” asked Darcy, “would you like to move into the mistress’ room now? It, of course, adjoins the master sitting area, the door to which can be locked until we are married?”

  Elizabeth shook her head and said emphatically. “I most certainly will not. Will, I may be an unconventional young woman in many ways, but I will not allow there to be any more impropriety in our engagement than there already is. That I am here without a companion, even though the doctor is here and the house is full of servants, many would consider improper, and the fact you are marrying so far below you will certainly be believed by many to be improper. I do not want to give society another breach of propriety about which to gossip, so I shall be content with a guest room until the wedding.”

  Mrs. Reynolds, who was standing with them during this discussion, nodded her head in approval, wondering what Darcy could be thinking, asking her to move into the mistress’ suite at this point. She had liked this young lady upon first seeing her and talking with her outside, and this made her respect her even more. She knew the staff would be ecstatic to have a lady like Elizabeth as their mistress, because many of them had met Miss Bingley and had feared Darcy might succumb to someone like her. Mrs. Reynolds had a feeling the Darcy household would become a much happier place with the addition of this young country miss from Hertfordshire.

  Elizabeth did agree to be placed in one of the rooms in the family wing of the house—in fact, the one close to Georgiana’s room, which shared a sitting room. Normally the entrance to the sitting room from the guest room was locked and covered with an armoire, but it was moved so that Elizabeth could have access to the room and she and Georgiana could share time in there, particularly just before they went to bed.

  The tour of the house was postponed until morning, it being late in the afternoon when they arrived. Leila prepared a bath for Elizabeth and then helped her dress for dinner in one of her best gowns and, as usual, coiffed her hair beautifully. She and Georgiana went to the dining room together, and when they entered, they found Darcy and Dr. Stewart already there.

  “Miss Elizabeth, may I say that Darcy has exceeded all of my expectations in his choice of a wife, although he tells me it was really not a choice, because you were fated to be together. Nevertheless, seeing such beauty around this old house on a daily basis will definitely make my senior years more pleasant.”

  “Thank you, doctor. I see that in your senior years you have not lost your touch for making a lady feel good. I look forward to hearing your story.”

  The discussion over supper started with the doctor telling the story of why he was at Pemberley. He had been a successful doctor in London, when his beloved wife had unexpectedly died. With her death, he could no longer stand to be in London, a fact he had mentioned to his old and very dear friend, Darcy’s father, saying he did not want to go to live with either of his married daughters, but he needed to get out of London. The elder Mr. Darcy had offered the doctor partial retirement at Pemberley, saying the doctor could be the staff physician for all of the estate’s staff and tenants and be a companion to him. Dr. Stewart had accepted and was there when Mr. Darcy had died five years earlier. He had become as part of the family and Darcy had insisted he stay on, for he had, through his work with the staff, significantly improved their general health.

  The talk then turned to their plans for the morrow. After breakfast, if the weather permitted, Darcy and Georgiana were going to begin Elizabeth’s riding lessons. If the weather did not permit, then Darcy thought he would give Elizabeth an extensive tour of the house, at which time Elizabeth said, “Will, I do not think you should give me the tour. You may show me the library and your study, but I think Mrs. Reynolds should give me the tour of the house. She will know all the nooks and crannies, as well as those parts of the house particularly difficult to keep up and those used by particular guests, and other things I must know as mistress which you will probably not know or will forget to tell me about. And I think Georgiana should go with us, because it is the kind of information she will need when she becomes mistress of her own house someday.”

  Darcy looked at Elizabeth in wonder. “That is a brilliant idea. Can I tag along with you?”

  “No, I do not think you should. I do not want Mrs. Reynolds or any of the staff with whom I talk to be intimidated by you. You are a rather intimidating man, Will, and I hope I can gain their confidence and become someone they feel comfortable telling of circumstances they may not be willing to tell you, or me, if you are with me. I think the staff rightly should respect you, which I think they do, but besides respecting me, they need to believe I am someone they can believe understands their problems and is willing to listen to and deal fairly with those problems. I know Mrs. Reynolds and Mr. Carson can handle most problems by themselves, but when issues must be resolved by me, I want the staff to be confident I am a fair and discerning mistress.”

  Darcy looked at her, realizing this was a part of her he had never seen before. “That is a speech I find it hard to believe any other woman of the ton would have made and makes me wonder why you would have ever been worried you were not qualified to be mistress of Pemberley or any estate of any size. Even I had was worried at one time, and now I wonder how I could possibly have thought it. Stewart, Georgie, before you sits a woman that astonishes me more every day and whom I love beyond all measure.”

  “Ah, you blush, Miss Elizabeth, but I believe I can see his point. I greatly look forward to living here as part of this family in the coming years. I think it may become a very lively household. And please, Miss Elizabeth, I believe myself to be a part of this family, so would you call me Stewart, as Georgie and Darcy do?”

  “Thank you, Stewart, it would be my pleasure. And you should call me Lizzie. I know it is less formal than Elizabeth, but without the Miss, only Will calls me that and I like that he is the only one.”

  “Lizzie, I look forward to our tour of the house. I had not thought there might be many things about the house and staff Mrs. Reynolds could tell me I do not know. You are so clever. I think I was right when I said you are going to be the best mistress that Pemberley has ever had.”

  “I appreciate your enthusiastic confidence in me, Georgie, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding. I think you need to save that accolade until I have actually been mistress of Pemberley for a while.”

  “I hope you are not worried about your ability,” said Darcy.

  “I am not exactly worried. I am just concerned. I have observed at home and helped my father, but Longbourn is nothing like that for which I will be responsible as mistress of Pemberley and Darcy House, as well as your other estates. You have grown up with them and have grown into your responsibilities, while I am suddenly being thrust into an environment quite daunting to me. You know how much I want to do things well and so it will be a concern to me until I feel comfortable in my own mind I am doing well. I am confident enough in my own abilities that I can someday be a good mistress, but I am concerned about the mistakes and misjudgments I may make along the road to goodness.”

  “Lizzie,” sai
d Dr. Stewart, “I suspect there are very few good mistresses relative to whatever standard you have for goodness. You seem the type of person who is your own worst critic. I anticipate a time in the not too distant future when all of us, including the staff, will think you are a wonderful mistress, but you will be disappointed because you have not yet met your standard. My advice to you is to listen to your husband and your staff, particularly your housekeepers, and if they are pleased with you, accept that you are a good mistress, even if you do not think so.”

  Elizabeth had to smile at his comment about her high standards. “You are certainly right about me being my own worst critic, but I suspect the same can be said of Will.” Turning to Darcy, she said, “You and I will make an interesting pair, Will, each trying to assure the other he or she is entirely adequate.”

  Darcy gave her a big smile and looking her in the eyes and then lowering his eyes to her breasts, he said, “And after we are married, I am sure we will know just how to do that.”

  A blushing Elizabeth exclaimed, “Will, behave yourself,” while Dr. Steward laughed and Georgiana looked somewhat puzzled. “How will you do it?” she asked.

  Elizabeth was somewhat surprised that the innuendos of her brother were lost on Georgiana. “We need to have a private talk, Georgie, and I will tell you.”

  After supper they retired to the sitting room for some more discussion and then Darcy asked if Georgiana and Elizabeth might not perform something for them. They were both happy to oblige, so the party moved to the music room. On the way Darcy had a word with Mr. Carson.

  Elizabeth and Georgiana were sitting at the piano, looking over their music, trying to decide what to perform when there was a knock on the door, and Mr. Carson, Mrs. Reynolds, and several others of the staff entered the room. “I hope you do not mind Elizabeth, but I thought the staff might like to hear you. I know it is unusual, but I thought it would give them a chance to know you even better.”