“Fitzwilliam George Darcy!” admonished his mother. “Do cease being such a niggling, nagging, nettling nuisance and simply allow the servants to do their duties without making each and every little triviality into a monumental issue. They are beginning to wonder if royalty is actually expected, and I imagine Elizabeth would be horrified if she knew how you have been absolutely agonizing over her arrival.” 

Georgiana agreed with her mother. “Really, brother, Elizabeth is quite easily pleased, does not have unreasonably high expectations, and cannot possibly be so very fussy. After all, she has agreed to marry you.” 

“My, my, you are rather whimsical in your civility today, Georgie; and my pitiable friend, Fleming, obviously has extremely low standards to be willing to wed such a termagant.” 

“Children, behave! Fitzwilliam, why do you not go for an invigorating walk or a ride to expend some of your jitters? Take Romulus and Remus with you. Your foxhounds have been underfoot almost as much as you and would surely benefit from the exercise. I believe Mr. Bingley, Ellis, James, and Richard are playing cricket on the back lawn. Please join your friends and cousins. Please.” 

“But what if the Bennets should arrive while I am not here?” 

Georgiana was more than happy to provide the answer. “Elizabeth would certainly never forgive such a blatant transgression. You would subsequently be forsaken by her, left at the altar, ridiculed by society, and forced to live out the rest of your miserable existence as a lonely recluse.” 

“Leave your poor brother alone, Georgiana. He is beside himself. My dear son, you shall not be jilted; and I do believe your father, your youngest sister, this dear, sweet, sarcastic young lady here, and I can all manage the Herculean task of welcoming the royal family to Pemberley without your invaluable assistance. Go. Physical activity will provide a respite from nervous tension.” 

Darcy obediently called for his hounds and made his way outside but not before he heard Lady Anne mutter, “Your being outdoors will provide a much needed respite for the rest of us, and we shall endeavour to somehow muddle through without your precious guidance.” 

“I heard that, Mother!” 

Darcy and his canine companions took a stroll along the meandering stream, but the young man remained attuned for the sound of carriage wheels descending the hill or sight of the Bennet equipage crossing the bridge. With no sign of Elizabeth’s imminent arrival, he decided to spare a few minutes to check on the backyard cricket players. Regrettably, Darcy and his dogs were about as welcome at the game as they had been inside the house, for Romulus took great delight in fetching the leather-seamed ball, thus ending the closely scored match.

When his beloved bride-to-be finally appeared through Pemberley’s front door, roughly forty-seven and a half minutes late, Fitzwilliam Darcy became overwhelmed by her very presence at his ancestral home; and he then drove himself to distraction with unbridled thoughts of connubial bliss. Unhappily for him, Elizabeth was almost instantly whisked away from his side; and he began to wonder why he had not considered whisking her away to Gretna Green. 

Our journey to Northumberland would have been much shorter from Scotland than from Derbyshire, and I would have been spared hearing any further descriptions of lace and finery from all the females gathered above stairs. 

Darcy was subsequently besieged by rampant visions of Elizabeth in satin and lace and deluged with pleasurable fantasies of further wedding-night conjugal delight. 

Upon arrival, Elizabeth had been immediately caught up in a whirlwind of welcome, introduction to servants, and an inordinate amount of fussing from Georgiana, Anna, Lady Anne, and Anne de Bourgh. She was swept away to her sumptuous chambers and presented with her newly appointed abigail, Ann Cillary. 

Yet another Anne? Surely the number of Annes associated with Fitzwilliam’s family is an ann-omaly.  

Although her opulent rooms were spacious, the bedchamber, sitting room, and dressing areas were inundated with a flurry of activity as her trunks were unpacked and refreshments served. Mrs. Reynolds and a bevy of maids saw to her every comfort; and Lizzy suspected her perfectionist fiancé was behind all the fluster, fuss, and foofaraw.

The Bennet children thought Pemberley was almost as fine a place as Longbourn, and Lydia and Robert enthusiastically met the numerous Darcy pets with squeals of glee that sent the poor creatures running for cover. When he was denied access to his fiancée, Fitzwilliam Darcy invited the two youngest Bennets to the barn to show them the tabby kittens that had been born in the summer, several weeks before their sisters’ first fateful visit to the estate. Darcy cherished time spent with the siblings of his beloved Elizabeth especially Robert, who was adorable, and Lydia, who was a younger version of Lizzy. 

The youngsters already loved their sister’s tall, handsome fiancé like a brother; and as they walked, Darcy held their tiny hands and envisioned having his own family. 

The dark-haired little girl looked up and said, “Mr. Darcy, your family certainly has quite a maginary of animals.” 

“Miss Lydia, I believe you mean we have a menagerie; because I assure you Pemberley’s pets, birds, reptiles, amphibians, barn cats, horses, sheep, and cattle are quite real rather than imaginary. In fact, can you imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie?” 

“Good grief, sir. Sometimes I cannot easily make sense of all your wordy words. I may not be able to say maginary min … whatever you said, yet I can spell it.” 

“Really? Very well, spell it for me.” 

“I - T.” 

Tare an’ hounds! I am such an easily caught gudgeon. “You are perfectly right, Miss Lydia; and no one admitted to the privilege of hearing your impertinent wit, so like your sister’s, can think anything wanting.” Darcy then turned to the little boy on his other side. “And you, my fine young man, are much too quiet this afternoon. Is everything well with you, Robert?” 

“Yeth, Mither Darthy.” The wee tot walked along in silence for a few moments, with his thumb in his mouth, and then said, “Do you hafta kith Libazeth on your marrying day?” 

Good God, what now? “Well, Master Robert, that is certainly not a subject a gentleman normally speaks of with another. To kiss and tell is just not proper, you see. That said, I love your sister very much; so, yes, I do hope to … ah, kiss Elizabeth tomorrow after she becomes my wife.”