Mary Simonsen - The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy

“As to whether Mr. Darcy will make a second offer of marriage, for a man of his position, it was an extraordinary thing to make the first offer, and given any encouragement, he might very well make a second. So it is a good thing we are to visit Pemberley tomorrow as you will have ample opportunity to observe him in a place where he is most comfortable, and since Mr. Bingley is also there, you may do some good on Jane’s behalf. I assume Mr. Darcy withdrew his objections to the match when you made him aware of your sister’s feelings for Mr. Bingley. This presents an opportunity for you to issue an invitation to Mr. Bingley to visit Longbourn. Such a visit might be enough to reignite the embers of their love.”

“Yes, you are right,” Lizzy answered. “I could do that. Oh, how happy Jane will be if Mr. Bingley does visit. But that will not sit well with Miss Bingley, and I shall see her tomorrow evening.” Then Lizzy smiled. “I wonder if Miss Bingley knows that I have been invited to dine at Pemberley?”

During breakfast, Lizzy was buttering her bread in the great hall at the inn when she looked up to see Mrs. Jenkinson. What on earth was she doing at an inn in Derbyshire? Lizzy immediately went to her, but when she gently touched her arm to get her attention, Anne de Bourgh’s companion nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Mrs. Jenkinson, I am sorry to have startled you. Are you a guest at the inn?”

“Oh, Miss Bennet, you are the very person I was looking for. Miss de Bourgh is in the carriage, but she did not want to come in until she knew you were here. She would like to visit, but it really would be best if you met somewhere where it was not quite so crowded.”

“Of course. We shall visit in our rooms.”

Ordinarily, Lizzy would have been surprised to encounter Anne de Bourgh at an inn in Derbyshire so far from Kent, but in consideration of what had happened the day before at Pemberley, she was not surprised at all.

While Anne and Lizzy waited for the servant to bring the tea, they did little more than exchange pleasantries, but as soon as the door closed, Anne took Lizzy’s hand and said, “Elizabeth, are you angry with me?”

Lizzy shook her head no, and while holding Anne’s hand, she wondered how someone so frail could be so determined as to execute such a complicated plan and at such a distance.

“Of course, I am not angry. However, I was greatly surprised to meet Mr. Darcy at Pemberley and embarrassed as well. When he came upon me, I was spinning around in circles. He must have thought I had lost my mind, but even so, he was brave enough to talk with someone who had lost her wits.”

“And this first meeting? Did it go well?”

“Very well, I think. He was quite gracious, and he invited my aunt and uncle and me to dine at Pemberley this evening.”

Anne clasped her hands together and smiled. “As I had hoped.” Then in a more serious tone, she continued, “I have never done anything like this before.”

“General Wellington could make good use of your natural talents for maneuvering in his campaigns.”

“You must understand that everything I did was on behalf of Will and Georgiana, or I would not have been so brave. I just wanted Will to find a woman who would love him, not for his position or his wealth, but for who he is. When he told me that you had refused his offer of marriage, I was stunned, thinking all the advantage was on your side. How wrong I was! You have touched his heart as no one else has, and I wanted you two to be together again so that he might touch yours.”

Anne rose, explaining she had to leave. “Georgiana has gone ahead to Pemberley. When Will finds out that we have separated, he may be very upset with his sister, or he might order his horse to be saddled and come straight here. But I shall see you this evening, and by that time, all ruffled feathers will have been smoothed and we may begin anew.”

* * *

Darcy had sent one of the footmen to stand outside on the portico so that he might be immediately notified of his cousin’s arrival, and if his cousin was not overly fatigued, he wanted to have a word with her about a certain person he had encountered in the gardens yesterday. But when the carriage arrived, Anne was nowhere to be seen.

“Miss Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, Mr. Hurst, welcome to Pemberley,” Mr. Darcy said, but in a distracted manner that showed his concern for his missing cousin. “Jackson, show our guests to their rooms. After you have settled in, we will visit in the music room,” and turning his attention to Georgiana, he continued, “I need to have a word with my sister—now.”

Darcy led Georgiana by the elbow to the office where the business records of Pemberley were kept.

“Where is Anne?”

“Will, do not be angry. It was not my idea. Anne is fine, but she insisted Mrs. Jenkinson and she depart from our planned route, so that she might visit with a friend at the inn at Lambton.”

Georgiana was waiting for the explosion. When Will had closed the door to the office, his face was all storm and thunder, and she had expected it to start pouring at any moment. But, instead of the deluge, Will started laughing.

“Our cousin has been very busy,” he said, shaking his head in amusement.

“Then you are not angry?” and her brother shook his head “no.” “Will, does this have anything to do with Miss Sonnet?”

“Miss Sonnet? Who in God’s name is Miss Sonnet?”

“The lady who told you that love could be driven away with one bad sonnet.”

“Georgiana, I am very glad your mind is put to use for purposes of doing good, because if it were not, you would be a power to be reckoned with.”

Georgiana waited for his answer.

“Yes,” he said, sighing. “Miss Sonnet is Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn Manor in Hertfordshire.”

“I knew it! Did you know her only in Hertfordshire?”

“No, I was with her during my visit…”

“…to Kent. I was right again. When you came back from Aunt Catherine’s, you looked like a tragic figure from one of Shakespeare’s plays.”

“Georgiana, I really must insist on some moderation in your speech. A coach with all of its passengers going over a cliff is a tragedy. Unrequited love is not.”

“Unrequited love?”

“Yes. At the moment, it is unrequited, but it is my hope to change that.”

“She does not love you? Then she must be a fool. I do not think I like her.”

“Well, you will be able to make up your own mind this evening as Miss Elizabeth will be joining us, and I shall tell you that Anne likes her very much. It was she who arranged for Miss Sonnet to be at Pemberley at exactly the same time as I was.”

“Oh, how very clever of her,” Georgiana said, returning to her former good humor.

“But, my dear sister, please remember we have other guests, and I am relying on you to perform your duties as hostess.”

“Of course. I shall be on my very best behavior, but I cannot guarantee the same for Miss Bingley.”

As soon as Anne crossed the threshold of Pemberley, she was met by her cousin, who had been pacing in the foyer. Although she had insisted she was too tired to talk, Will would not make way until he had Anne’s assurance he could visit with her before joining the others in the dining room. After the agreed-upon fifteen minutes had passed, Will was occupying a chair across from Anne and Mrs. Jenkinson in his mother’s sitting room. Only those guests who knew Lady Anne well were allowed to use her apartment, which, of course, included Anne, a favorite niece, who had been devoted to her aunt.

“Will, you cannot always have your own way,” Anne said as soon as Mrs. Jenkinson left the room. “You demand an audience, and I must oblige you or you will be cross with me.”

“Have my own way? I cannot remember the last time I had my own way. I have been repeatedly outflanked by my female relations. And since it was you who had arranged for Miss Elizabeth Bennet and me to be at Pemberley at exactly the same time, I look to you in order to know how to proceed.”

“What do you want to know?” Anne was not really annoyed. In fact, she was relieved that her cousin was not angry considering how he had been manipulated.

“What do I want to know? I want to know everything!”

“Then you will be disappointed as I have little to say. I was not with Elizabeth for more than ten minutes for fear your anger would fall upon Georgiana.”

“I am not angry with either of you. I am, however, a little disconcerted that you embarked on such an elaborate scheme after I had told you I already had a plan in place.”

“Your plan was terrible. I have saved you weeks of anxiety about Elizabeth. You must own to it, Will. My plan was better than yours.”

Darcy had to admit his cousin’s efforts had shortened the timeline considerably. “Let us not quarrel, my dear cousin. Will you kindly share with me what Elizabeth did say?”

“Apparently, when you came upon her in the garden she was spinning in circles, and she was concerned you might think she had lost her mind.”

Will laughed. “Not at all. I am well aware of the lady’s great love of Nature. I knew exactly what she was doing.”

“The only other thing she had to say was that she found you to be very gracious and was looking forward to dining at Pemberley this evening.”

“But was there nothing to be discerned in her demeanor?”

“Of course, there was a noticeable difference to me. The last time I saw her was immediately after she had rejected your proposal, and so, naturally, she was ill at ease when discussing you. However, I detected no such uneasiness in our short time together. I do not think you have anything to worry about, and you will be able to decide for yourself in a matter of hours.”

* * *

Things were not going as Caroline had planned. First, Miss Darcy asked if she could ride in their carriage, which limited what she could say to Louisa, and Caroline did not trust her. When asked why Miss de Bourgh had set off on her own, all she would say was that her cousin had business in Lambton. A twenty-five-year-old spinster, a virtual recluse, who lived in Kent, had business in Lambton? It was all very suspicious.

But as soon as the carriage had pulled up in front of Pemberley, Mr. Darcy was out the door welcoming them to his home. His enthusiasm over her arrival was palpable, and she thought this might be the visit when their courtship would begin; that is, until Mr. Darcy realized that Anne was not in the carriage. After that, he had all but pushed his guests up the stairs to their rooms, so that he might speak to his sister. What had Anne and Georgiana got up to that had caused such a reaction? She did not like any of this.

However, her mood again shifted when the Hursts and she came downstairs. Waiting for them in the foyer was Miss Darcy and Mr. Darcy, and he had escorted her into the dining room where Charles was already seated. Both of their hosts seemed to be in excellent spirits, so it would seem that whatever had prompted the scene in the foyer was of no lasting consequence.

After they were seated, Miss Bingley immediately praised Pemberley. “It is even more beautiful than I remembered. I have often told my brother that when he builds his manor house it should be in the style of Pemberley.”

“But closer to London, if I recall correctly, Miss Bingley.”

“I think I have changed my mind about that, Mr. Darcy. As long as one has a house in town, then the country house should be far removed, so that one may forget all the tumult of the city. And who would not want to spend as much of the summer as possible at such a beautiful estate? Your taste is exquisite.”

Georgiana stifled a groan. If this was an example of what would be discussed during Miss Bingley’s visit, the days would drag on and on and on. She anticipated spending a good deal of time on horseback.

“Caroline, I don’t think Darcy had anything to do with the design of Pemberley,” Charles said. And turning to his friend, he added, “Darcy, didn’t you tell me that your grandfather designed the manor house, and your father worked with Repton on the gardens?”

“Yes, that is correct. There is nothing new on my watch. The only thing I have done is to see to the repair of the roof. The servants had grown tired of moving buckets around during a heavy rain.”

“My brother was being quite ungenerous with his comment, Mr. Darcy,” Caroline said, glaring at Charles. “Seeing to the proper maintenance of an estate is no small matter. One only has to look at Hulston Hall.” She shuddered at the memory.