Chapter 48

T he first full day at his new estate, a very well-guarded Bedford and his sons rode the estate with the steward so they could see everything for themselves. The estate was divided roughly into quarters and each under-steward was responsible for one of the four sections. Each under-steward they met with, introduced His Grace and the two Lords to the principal tenants under their supervision. His sons-in-law and their fathers, who were familiar, on different levels, with Woburn Abbey had joined him.

Andrew was to ride out with them, but being back in her childhood home with so many family members missing had hit Marie rather hard so he had remained to offer her succour.

Darcy had been excused from the group of men who rode out for two reasons. He had been to the estate only once before, and only for a day, so he would not be able to add much to the discussions. The second reason, which for him was much more important, he was to accompany his Elizabeth and the other ladies who chose to join them, on a ride towards some low hills on the western side of the estate. The Bennets' horses had been moved to Woburn Abbey from Longbourn some days before the family arrived from London. Darcy's Zeus was in the stables at Pemberley, but there was a vast stable with many fine horses, so Darcy would have his choice of mounts for the ride today.

Cilla was closeted with both sets of housekeepers, Rose, Elaine, and Sarah—once the Dowager was convinced Marie would be well with Andrew caring for her—to begin to answer any questions the new mistress had as well as explain how the house had been run. It would be up to Cilla if she wanted to make changes, however, she was determined to watch for three to four weeks before she considered any changes, if in fact changes were needed.

After her mother had assured her playing the pianoforte did not break any rules of mourning, Charity agreed to join Anna in the music room to practice the duets they had been working on before the horrendous news was delivered.

Knowing Mrs. Jones was not comfortable atop a horse, Jane and Mary decided to join Lizzy and William for the ride. Of course, Biggs, Johns, three other guards, and two grooms would escort them. Darcy, after first canvassing Elizabeth's opinion—something she greatly appreciated—had already spoken to Bedford about the two men who always guarded his Elizabeth. The Duke had agreed if Biggs, Johns, and their families desired it, they could be employed by Darcy. The two men and their families had replied in the affirmative without delay.

The four riders and their escorts were led by one of the grooms who knew the area very well as he had been born on the estate. With Biggs riding next to him, they headed west. Elizabeth and Darcy rode side by side behind the groom and Biggs, while Jane and Mary rode behind them. They allowed a gap so the two would be able to speak privately while always in their line of sight. Johns and another guard rode either side of the riders, allowing a few yards distance between them, and the remaining two guards and a groom rode a few horse lengths behind the rest.

"You are truly not disappointed there is no ball before our wedding?" William enquired. Lady Rose and her daughters had said they would not object to a pre-wedding ball, which they would not attend. Mother—as Darcy had been told to address Cilla—and Bedford had decided that there would be no ball. Although the family connection to the Rhys-Davies who had been lost at sea was very distant, they would show their respect by not holding the dance. Lizzy and William had heartily endorsed the decision.

"Of course not, William, as long as I marry you I can easily forgo an added celebration prior to the wedding. I know you do not repine missing a ball. They are not your favourite activities," Elizabeth said saucily.

"I would have been happy to dance with you, but I agree with you about this."

"William there is a question I have been meaning to ask you," Elizabeth stated.

"Go ahead, you may ask me anything your heart desires, and I will do my best to deliver what you want. I warn you now, I may take longer to bring you the moon and the stars." Darcy gave his beloved a wide grin.

"We may have to rethink this whole marriage thing if you cannot easily bring me something as easy as the moon and the stars," Elizabeth teased.

"You have a question?" Darcy reminded her.

"I do." Elizabeth paused for a moment. "I was sure you disdained me in Hertfordshire, that you looked at me to catalogue my faults. How is it you began to fall in love with me at that time?"

"It happened despite myself. You fascinated me. From the instant I looked at you for the first time, after my untrue words, the attraction grew. When we were in public you never blindly deferred to me, you never fawned, and the few times we discussed anything, your intelligence shone through while you defended your point with logic and facts. No matter what I did, I could not stop my eyes finding you whenever we were in the same room.

"I fought the feelings. I told myself you and your family were unsuitable. When my attraction grew each time I saw you, I was sure my retreat from the area the day after the ball would allow me to forget you. I believed that out of sight would lead to out of mind. The opposite happened, the longer I did not see you the more my mind conjured you. It started with my sleeping dreams, but not long after arriving back at Darcy House, any time I was not engaged in something which required a lot of concentration, you were there in my waking hours as well.

"I finally allowed my head to admit that which my heart had known for some time, I was in love with you."

"Which led to Hunsford," Elizabeth mused.

"Which led to Hunsford," Darcy repeated. "I know we have moved past what occurred there, but I wish there was a way to go back in time and change all of my errors, to before I ever allowed those vile, false words to cross my lips. Yes I know, look to the now and the future. I am doing that, but had I not been able to, eventually, learn from the past, I would not have made the changes I needed to in order to win you as my fiancée."

"Neither Mama nor I ever said the philosophy meant not learning from the past, the opposite in fact."

"What of you. How did you come to love me after the way we began?" Darcy queried.

"My feelings about you began to soften when I read your letter and recognised it as heartfelt. You were not trying to patronise me but rather making a sincere apology. The fact you were able to look at yourself critically, showed me that you were not vain, arrogant, and prideful like I had suspected. Hence, by the time you came to Hertfordshire before the double wedding, I no longer thought you the worst of men, in fact, I knew you were good and honourable.

"When I saw the way you were willing to humble yourself before all of my family, my feelings started to change even more, and became tender." Elizabeth paused and smiled. "I will admit I hoped you would ask me for a second set at the ball, I would have given you one."

"But I looked at your dance card, it was full."

"You had no way of knowing, but I always would write a false name in for the final set as I would not dance it with anyone but one I loved. Had you asked, I would have danced that set with you. Any dance in the future, your name will always be written in for the first, supper, and final sets."

"You minx, I saw you sitting out the final set and thought your partner had failed to honour his commitment to you." Darcy looked into the emerald-green eyes he loved so well. He recognised the look she was sending him as a loving one. "When I requested the courtship you said you were not in love with me yet."

"From the ball onward and with our journey northward, I knew my feelings for you were deepening significantly. It was only when we began to court I recognised the fact that I was already in love with you. I cannot fix a time or place; I was in the middle before I knew I had begun. It was why before the letter from Papa I already knew if you asked me again, I would accept your hand."

"Had I known, we could have been engaged weeks sooner," Darcy figured.

"Everything happened as it was supposed to. I pray the last days before our wedding pass with speed as I cannot wait to be your wife."

"Then we are in accord, as I am greatly anticipating being your husband. I love you ardently, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth."

"Not more than I love you, William." Elizabeth kicked Penny into a canter before William could argue the point.

All he could do was shake his head as he heard the tinkling laugh he loved to hear from her. It would be his greatest pleasure to be the cause of her laughter from now on. He urged the gelding he was riding forward until he was next to his woodland sprite once again.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Lady Catherine and Anne arrived at Woburn Abbey a sennight before the wedding. Thankfully Anne's health was currently good, so travelling had not been a hardship.

Aunt Catherine brought a note of apology from Charlotte Collins; she and her husband would miss the wedding as she was with child and was having a bad bout of morning sickness. In an abundance of caution her husband decided they would not travel until she was past this stage of her increasing. Anne de Bourgh shared Charlotte had confided in her that her husband was intimidated at the thought of being in company with his relatives who were so very far above him in society.

It seemed he no longer revered those of rank, but was cowed by it now. Elizabeth and William planned to stop at Rosings Park after their wedding trip to Seaview Cottage near Brighton. Elizabeth would inform Charlotte in her next letter they would be in the area around the end of July.

Elizabeth and William had been summoned to Aunt Catherine's private sitting room. "Sit," she ordered Darcy as she indicated a chair opposite the settee. Lady Catherine patted the settee next to her. "You sit next to me, Lizzy dear."

"It is a pleasure to see Anne looking so well," Elizabeth stated after she sat.

"Yes, it is most gratifying," Lady Catherine agreed. Then she turned her gimlet eye on her nephew. "After the way you behaved in the past you are lucky you won the love of a lady like Lizzy. Do not ever allow me to hear you have stepped out of line because as big as you are, I will bend you over my knee and give you a hiding."

"I give you the same vow I gave to Elizabeth's parents. She will never repine accepting me, I worship the ground on which she walks," Darcy responded evenly. He still did not enjoy discussing his private affairs, but this was his mother's only sister.

Seeing the truth in her nephew's countenance, the great lady softened. "You have become the man my dearly departed sister believed you would be, the one your father always told me you would become. They would be very proud of you and I am sure they would adore Lizzy." Lady Catherine wiped away an errant tear. "I am assured, you may leave us William. I desire to spend some time with my niece."

Darcy stood and came over to where his aunt sat. He bent and bussed her cheek with his lips. "Get along with you now." Aunt Catherine swatted at him playfully while she blushed.

Darcy left his aunt and fiancée chattering happily. He had a wide grin on his face.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

It was hard to believe this was the morning she would be united with the man she loved beyond all reason. As much as she would have liked to take a ramble or a gallop on Penny, Elizabeth knew this was not the morning to do that.

After she had retired for the night, once Elizabeth was already dressed in her night rail and dressing gown, Mama had come to see her. She had thought of the night gowns Aunt Maddie had gifted her, including a special one to wear on her wedding night. It was diaphanous and it caused her to blush to even think about William seeing her in the silk garment which would leave very little to the imagination.

Before saying anything, Mama stood behind Elizabeth at her dresser after dismissing the maid. Like she had countless times since Elizabeth was a young girl, Mama had pulled the brush through her daughter's wavy, raven tresses. As it always caused, Elizabeth felt warm all over when Mama indulged her in this way. She would miss Mama and Papa, but she would see them often. It was the lot of ladies. They found a man, married, and left the home they had lived in all their lives. No sense of impending loss counteracted the absolute joy she felt at being bound to William and never having to be separated from him after the wedding was formalised. She already felt one with him and the ceremony in the morning would make that official.

The information Mama had imparted had increased her anticipation of the marriage bed, and banished what little apprehension she had felt. After Mama, she was joined by Aunt Maddie, Jane, and Mary. Without expanding on anything which was said, they just told Elizabeth to follow Mama's advice and make sure she communicated with her husband regarding both of their likes and dislikes.

Now here Elizabeth sat in the window seat of an east facing window as she sipped a steaming cup of hot chocolate and watched the sun begin its climb into the sky. Her heart was two floors above her and in a completely separate wing of the massive house. She would see William standing at the altar in a few short hours.

Andrew and Richard were standing up with William while she would have Jane and Mary as her attendants. At least Aunt Rose, Marie, and Charity would attend the service at the church, but then they and Andrew would retire before the celebratory meal.

She ate her muffin followed by a lemon pastry and washed them down with the remaining liquid in her cup. Elizabeth used her finger so that the last few drops of the decadent beverage would not be wasted. She began to lick the traces of the chocolate which had been recovered from the cup. At that moment her maid entered the bedchamber to tell her mistress the bath was ready for her. The maid made as though she had not seen her ladyship licking her fingers, but Elizabeth blushed nevertheless.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Darcy looked out over the congregation in the church. It was full except for some places kept open for the Bennets still to arrive. He saw friends, his aunts, uncle, cousins, and soon to be family all seated waiting for the service to commence.

He smiled at Anna who was seated next to Charity and then inclined his head to the Hursts, Miss Bingley, and Ashby who were seated two rows behind his sister. They, like many of the guests, had arrived the previous day and were being hosted at the Abbey. He had always thought Pemberley had much capacity to host guests, but with all who had been invited to Woburn Abbey, less than half of the available chambers in the house were filled.

Just before he was about to ask Richard why there was a delay, Darcy saw Mother enter the church escorted by her sons and the inner vestibule door closed behind her. They took their places in the pew reserved for them.

The door opened and first Lady Mary Fitzwilliam began her walk up the aisle. When she reached the halfway point, Lady Jane De Melville entered the nave of the church. As soon as Jane stood opposite Andrew and Mary across from her respective husband, the vicar gave the signal for the congregation to stand.

As both doors opened, Darcy released a breath he had been holding involuntarily. On the Duke's arm was his Aphrodite, his Helen of Troy, the most gorgeous vision he had ever beheld. His Elizabeth! Her hair was piled up high on her head, held in place by pearl tipped pins. She wore a tiara studded with diamonds and emeralds which held the translucent gossamer veil in place.

The wedding dress seemed to shine and glimmer as the rays of sun shone through the stained glass windows in the church. It was made of a shiny silk which almost looked like it was silver. Darcy had to fight to stop his mouth from dropping open .

She glided up the aisle towards him, her hand lightly resting on her father's forearm. Both Andrew and Richard prodded him when it was time to make his way to the point he would meet Elizabeth and her father. Not soon enough, Bedford lifted the veil, kissed both of Elizabeth's cheeks, replaced the veil, and then gifted his daughter's hand to the groom.

They stood before the rector who signalled everyone to be seated. Then he opened his Book of Common Prayer and began to recite the Church of England's liturgy for the wedding ceremony. "Dearly beloved…"

If their lives depended on it, the bride and groom would not have been able to recall the ceremony. They had said their vows as required and a ring was given and received. They followed Richard and Mary, and then Andrew and Jane in signing the register. Without too much ribbing, their attendants exited the room pulling the door closed behind them.

"Mrs. Darcy," Darcy caressed the name as he said it.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth responded with arched eyebrow. "Unless there is to be another epic surprise right now, I suggest you kiss your wife."

Being an obedient man, Darcy kissed his wife soundly.