41

The weather on the first of May was just what it ought to be, and what the occasion demanded, for it was warm and clear, the verdure around Cameron Court seeming to be more in bloom than the day before.

The wedding held that day was just as beautiful, though it was a small ceremony reserved for the friends and family residing at the manor. Despite Lydia’s talent for planning events, Mrs. Gardiner and Lady Anne insisted everything be left to them. Naturally Lady Piedmont could not help herself, and even Lady Isabel wished to do what she could to assist with the wedding.

With their help, the three brides had made over old gowns, for time had not allowed anything new to be ordered. They sported elaborate hairstyles and fine jewels, looking so beautiful that the older women wept with pride, and the grooms felt all their own good fortune when the brides made their entrance.

Lydia wore her favourite pink gown, which had some beading added to the bodice, and their Aunt Madeline gifted her a necklace of small golden flowers with tiny, sparkling diamonds set in their centres. Jane wore her husband’s favourite shade of cornflower blue, with a long strand of pearls wound through her elaborately styled golden hair. Elizabeth wore the same shimmering lavender silk ball she had donned for the ball. Lady Anne lent her a necklace of amethysts framed in silver filigree, an old family heirloom which she insisted suited her new daughter better than herself.

The three sisters were radiant with joy as they exchanged vows with the gentlemen they loved, and nearly all their relations wept with joy. The children were all in attendance and miraculously well-behaved, with the older ones tending to the younger. The vicar spoke eloquently on the bonds of marriage and the love of family, managing to be poignant but brief, and earning the particular commendation of Mr. Collins, who had lamented that he could not perform that office himself.

It was a moving and romantic affair, and elegant despite the haste. An abundance of flowers had been arranged throughout the chapel; arrangements from the ball were remade with fresh blossoms, and additional blooms were trimmed from the hot house and the garden to fill every available space in the building, and even along the gravel track that led toward the manor as three open carriages bore the newlyweds back to Cameron Court for the wedding breakfast.

There they received a few extra guests, the same local families who had attended the ball. Champagne, fruits, cheeses, and a variety of pastries were served, as well as a few simple dishes favoured by the brides and grooms.

If any amongst them were fatigued from their exhaustion from the night before – the rowdiest game of Regents and Lunatics any of the Bennet sisters could recall – their exhaustion was concealed by the felicity of the occasion. Laughter and merry chatter echoed through the large parlour, for all of the rugs that usually adorned the marble floor had been thoroughly drenched by spilled wine in the frenzy of their game. Though the servants had devoted hours to cleaning the room, there were a few odd places where chunks of cake thrown in the name of Marie Antoinette might still be found, and when young Henry Russell discovered a pink satin slipper flung at him by Chloe Piedmont – now lodged in a potted fern – he declared he meant to keep it as a souvenir.

This prompted Lady Piedmont to speculate on who the next happy couple to be wed might be, but her comment was designed for the Earl of Matlock. The pair had been as scandalous as any of the young people in the game the night before, and in the light of day remained just as besotted with one another.

The festivities eventually drew to a close and their neighbours departed, though it had been agreed upon by all the guests of Cameron Court that nobody would depart until the following day, and so there was to be one grand final dinner for the friends and relations who were reluctant to part after such a diverting house party.

Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia all dressed for dinner together in the mistress’s chambers, speaking of the events of the day. Inevitably, their conversation turned toward what was yet to come when they had all gone their separate ways.

“I shall not have a wedding trip, of course,” Jane said, rubbing her hands over her growing belly. “I suppose our honeymoon shall simply be what follows next, once Charles and I are alone in our home for the first time ever. I hope – no, I believe – that we shall carry on as happy as we have been these past few weeks. We have grown a friendship we might build upon, such as was never there before when we were merely infatuated with one another. I daresay it shall be easier with Mamma in the dower house. And then at the end of summer, we shall welcome another child.”

“My goodness,” Lydia laughed. “I have scarcely had time to think of what will follow next!”

“Nor I,” Elizabeth agreed. “But I believe I can anticipate something like what you describe, Jane. I ought to know, as I have done it once before. Olly and I were the dearest of friends already, though the wedding night was an awkward new development. Feeling that camaraderie does make the rest of it easy, though. We fell into our domestic rhythm very easily, and I do hope it will be the same with Will. I understand Pemberley is a great deal larger than Netherfield, but Lady Anne has promised to assist me with household matters while my husband and I… settle into our new life.”

“You both have the advantage over me,” Lydia said. “I have never been mistress of my own home before, nor have I ever been a wife. I hope I shall please Richard in both respects. He has given me every assurance that he does not care if we remain in our chambers for a month while the rest of Rosings Park falls into a shambles, but I wish to excel at every aspect of being his partner.”

Lydia gave them a mischievous wink and Elizabeth smiled. “Dearest, would you like Jane and I to explain what you ought to expect for your wedding night?”

“Aunt Madeline already offered,” Lydia said with a grin. “But she was too late, for the day after the ball I asked Madame Piedmont to clarify a few things I read of in one of my books. She said I was very clever to consult her on the matter, for she knows the French style of doing things, which is evidently superior.”

Jane raised her eyebrows. “I am not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds indecent.”

Elizabeth shook her head and swiftly changed the subject. “Thank you, Jane, for agreeing to keep the twins while we tour the lakes for a fortnight.”

“I am delighted you would allow me to care for them,” Jane replied, her eyes twinkling with the joy of their sisterly bond now fully restored.

“Are you certain you do not wish to travel to London with Richard and I? It is sure to be ever so much fun,” Lydia cried. “Kitty made me a list of all the things she and Mr. Collins did on their honeymoon, and of course we shall also be in company with our relations there. Madame Piedmont has promised to take me shopping, and then Russells shall ask us to dinner one evening, and the Gardiners, too.”

Lydia’s excitement gave way to visible anxiety as she sighed. “And then we shall travel to Rosings Park, and I shall be so very far away from everyone. You both shall reside near enough one another, and Mary and Kitty have grown closer being neighbours in Hertfordshire. I shall have to make some friends in Kent, but I am sure I will be writing to you both every day! I have grown so accustomed to us all being together, I do not know how I shall bear the separation!”

Tears welled in Lydia’s eyes, but her sisters both drew nearer and offered her consolation. “We will all visit one another very often, dearest.”

“Will and I shall need to visit Netherfield a couple times every year, and we might all stay there for a few weeks every summer. And we may all be together in London early next year, when Madame Piedmont brings Chloe out in society,” Elizabeth added. “My friend might be a countess by then, I suspect, so it is sure to be quite a grand affair.”

“Or perhaps we might all be with child by then,” Jane mused. She exchanged a significant glance with Elizabeth, for this time Jane spoke of such an eventuality as the blessing it would be, rather than a hindrance to socialising.

“Perhaps someday, when little Lou comes of age and inherits Rosings, Richard and I might purchase a home of our own near the two of you,” Lydia mused.

“I should like nothing better,” Elizabeth said. “Indeed, it may even be possible without waiting fifteen years, for I understand Richard has a generous share of the income of Rosings. In these daily letters we shall somehow find the time to exchange, Jane and I will send word of any suitable estates we hear of.”

Lydia laughed. “I wonder if our husbands – oh my! I have never said that before! – if our husbands are having a similar sentimental conversation at present.”

“More likely Charles and Richard are teasing my poor Will mercilessly, for the colonel let it slip last night amidst our revels that my husband is the least experienced of them, in certain matters.”

It took a moment for comprehension to twinkle in Lydia’s eyes. “Is that what gentlemen talk of together? I always suspected as much!”

Jane suggested they ought to go downstairs before their discussion turned so salacious they would not be able to keep their countenance throughout dinner, though each of the brides was privately eager to see their husbands again because of exactly such notions.

Dinner felt rather longer than it ought to have for the three couples, but there seemed a silent agreement between the rest of their companions to retire early, which was a blessing indeed. And thus the auspicious day of celebration concluded with tremendous felicity for all the couples in residence at Cameron Court.