Chapter 31 Happy Was The Day

Happy, for all her maternal feelings, was the day on which Mrs. Bennet saw her two most deserving daughters wed. Unfortunately, the morning of preparation for the nuptials tried the patience of every adult in residence at the Gardiner townhome. Elizabeth’s new maid, Antoinette, arrived promptly after dawn to assist her new mistress in her toilette, and this triggered pangs of jealousy in Mrs. Bennet’s heart.

Rather than leave for her wedding with a mind flooded by anger, Elizabeth graciously shared the skills of Antoinette so that at the appointed time, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet and their two eldest daughters left for Mr. Darcy’s home in Mayfair in his carriage. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner arrived in their own, and Mary Bennet rode with the maids and a footman in the Bennet carriage. The long procession full of anxious passengers disturbed not a shopkeeper or tradesman along the route through London. 

A small woman standing in a clean, dark plum frock with a modest neckline, waited on the walk in front of Darcy House. Elizabeth recognized the woman as the housekeeper, Mrs. Hathersage, but she looked worn out, like a piece of clothing that had been washed too many times. After the footmen assisted the ladies down from the carriage, she greeted the party.

“Mr. Bennet, if you would follow Mr. Edgars with your brother-in-law, he will take you to the gentlemen waiting in the study. Ladies, we have prepared a separate room for your use,” she said, bowing her head in Elizabeth’s direction. Elizabeth was nervous to enter the black double doors of Darcy House, half expecting Mr. Darcy to be standing on the other side. To her relief, the man followed tradition and the ladies were able to hurry to the small reception room off the main ballroom without a gentleman to delay them.

The room was filled with every refreshment and amenity any of the ladies might have requested. Two maids quickly greeted the brides and began to fluff out their gowns, and looked to repair any mishaps to the hems. A long mirror had been brought to the room, and both Jane and Elizabeth took advantage of the glass to admire their last moments as maidens.

Jane wore the pale blue frock she selected from Elizabeth’s London trousseau and a string of pearls from their mother. Small curls framed Jane’s face, with the rest of hair braided and then pulled up to fashion a knot, held in place by two mother of pearl combs, a wedding gift from the Gardiners. 

Elizabeth’s gown was another of Miss Oliver’s creations, besting even the first gown she wore for the opera. A shimmering gold and olive green cotton muslin skirt, embellished along the hem with a leaf and flower motif around the bottom third. The gold thread sparkled in the excess of candlelight flooding their room of readiness. The bodice of Elizabeth’s dress boasted a rich cream color, continuing a golden dot pattern, with a neckline that made her mother insist on a chemisette. But Elizabeth refused, and instead wore the diamond necklace that Mr. Darcy gifted to her, and relied on Miss Oliver’s expert tailoring and knowledge of her measurements to carry her through the day. Mrs. Gardiner had approved of her niece’s choices. Her gift from the Gardiners was an ornate chain with a jeweled locket and watch. 

At the appointed time, Mrs. Bennet and Mrs. Gardiner left the girls and their father entered. He kissed each of his daughters upon the cheek, and Elizabeth could tell his breath smelled strongly of brandy.

“I can’t say which one of your beaus is more nervous, but I’ll grant it that Mr. Darcy gives the best effort to not show it,” Mr. Bennet said, to reassure the girls both grooms were in attendance and awaiting the start of the ceremony.

“Papa!” Elizabeth scolded, spying Jane fighting a frown. “You cannot tease a bride on her wedding day!”

“Is that the law?” he asked, preening a moment before the looking glass to make both of his daughters laugh. With a wink to them, he anxiously looked around the room to search out any spirits available, but there was nothing strong enough for his palate in the ladies’ room of respite.

“Mistress, pardon me, Miss Elizabeth? I believe it is time,” Mrs. Hathersage stage-whispered as she had been watching down the hall for the signal. Elizabeth and Jane squealed with delight and extreme nervousness.

The Darcy House parlor glowed with all of the romance of candles and roses on every surface that would hold them. The bishop stood in front of the fireplace, with Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Mr. Darcy stood with the stoic confidence of a man who trusted in his future wife; Mr. Bingley shifted his weight from foot-to-foot, as though he could not wait for the entire ordeal to be over.  Mary stood next to the sofa where Mrs. Bennet and the Gardiners sat, to perform as bridesmaid for both couples. Elizabeth grinned to see Colonel Fitzwilliam standing as groomsman. The man in uniform bowed his head to both brides as they walked past.

After Mr. Bennet escorted his daughters up to the small grouping before the fireplace, a back door opened and the most senior of the Darcy staff filed in to stand in the back of the room. 

The bishop began reading from the Book of Common Prayer and to Elizabeth’s annoyance, the man seemed to emphasize certain parts of the form to signal he did not wholly approve of the Archbishop’s granting of the special licenses. She thought she might be mistaken in his first part of the welcoming, but heard it again moments after he spoke about children.

“Secondly, it was ordained for a remedy against sin, and to avoid fornication; that such persons as have not the gift of continency might marry, . . .”

Elizabeth’s eyes bulged with disbelief as the bishop glanced up to give both grooms a scolding look as he continued. When he then came to the part about admitting impediments, he waited much longer than any wedding Elizabeth had attended.

In a twist of precedence, Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were asked their vows first before Jane and Mr. Bingley.

Elizabeth’s eyes blurred with happy tears as she heard Mr. Darcy’s deep baritone voice answer the bishop when asked if he would have her as his wedded wife.

“I will.”

The bishop then asked the same question of Mr. Bingley and he answered similarly.

“Wilt you have this man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honor, and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, ſor long as ye both shall live?

This uncommon change in precedence made Elizabeth stumble for a moment over her vows, until her father gently nudged her elbow to remind her that the bishop was speaking to her first, not her elder sister.

“Yes, I will,” she managed, as Mary giggled behind her. 

Jane responded  the same and then it was for Mr. Bennet to answer that he gives both women to be married to each man. He kissed each daughter’s hand before placing them in the right hand of their grooms, seeming to linger slightly longer on his second daughter. Then he backed away and took a seat next to the weeping Mrs. Bennet.

The rest of the marriage ceremony continued at a speed much too slow for Elizabeth, who found the reciting of each section twice for the double wedding more tiresome than comforting. When she grew uneasy, she turned to look at Mr. Darcy, and did not mind that meant she lost her focus on the proceedings another two times. Each time it was her turn to speak, when she missed the cue, Mr. Darcy squeezed her hand to signal her, making them both smile. 

The presentation of rings once more revealed the difference between Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley. Jane’s simple gold band was presented on her finger, and might not have disappointed her if Elizabeth’s presentation had not been first. The traditional wedding ring for the Darcy family, handed down through the generations, was an unbroken gold band with small diamonds around the full circle. As Mr. Darcy slipped the ring onto Elizabeth’s finger, it fit perfectly, as though it had been made in her size. 

All bowed their heads to pray with the bishop that their marriages not be put asunder. Elizabeth said a silent prayer to the Almighty that He fortify and strengthen her to be the wife that Mr. Darcy needed and to accept with grace the challenges yet to face her. When she opened her eyes, happy tears fell down her cheeks and she fixed her gaze on the large portrait over the mantle of King Charles I in a hunt with a servant and his horse. The style of the painting caught her attention for the idyllic countryside surrounding the King and his roguish half-smile.

When the blessed bread and wine were passed around, Elizabeth delighted in taking Holy Communion with her husband for the first time. Her cheeks burned red as the intimacy of the cup passed from him to her clouded her thoughts. She hoped God would forgive her for the unholy thoughts that plagued her mind over Fitzwilliam, and then gulped too much wine in her sip as she realized they may not be unholy any longer now that they were married. 

“The peace of the Lord be always with you,” the bishop spoke a blessing over each couple with a sign of the cross.

“And also with you,” they all said in unison.

The room grew eerily quiet as the newly married couples turned to one another, each pausing to gaze into each other’s eyes.

“Oh go on, kiss her!” Colonel Fitzwilliam called out, breaking the spell of solemnity and sending everyone into a fit of giggles.

Mr. Darcy winked at Mrs. Darcy, then leaned down and kissed her chastely, as the room erupted into cheers of well-wishes and glad tidings. The bishop and his assistants excused themselves politely, stopping to speak to Mr. Edgars discretely before their exit. 

“If you continue into the dining room, the wedding breakfast and your guests are waiting, sir and ma’am,” Mrs. Hathersage said to her employer and his wife, curtsying to them both. 

“Guests?” Elizabeth’s eyes danced with the excitement of the surprise.

Mr. Darcy raised his hand and Mr. Edgars coughed, then retrieved the newspaper from a footman before approaching his master.

“Sir,” he said, opening the Times to the appropriate page: the gossip columns.

At Darcy House in London, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, of Derbyshire is to marry Miss Elizabeth Bennet, of Hertfordshire in a double ceremony with Mr. Charles Bingley, of Sheffield and her sister, Miss Jane Bennet, of Hertfordshire at 8 o’clock in the morning after the disastrous meddling of uncivilized relations. The bride and groom will serve breakfast and receive visitors and well-wishers until noon at the same.

Colonel Fitzwilliam leaned over Elizabeth’s shoulder and pointed to the lines she read in disbelief. “Uncivilized relations, that was my idea,” he said, proudly.

Mary gave the man a look of uncertainty as she needled her thin frame between him and her sister. “May I be the first to congratulate you, Mrs. Darcy?” she asked, and Elizabeth hugged her sister, crushing the paper behind her sister’s back in her hands. Mrs. Bennet used the opportunity to take the paper from her daughter’s hands.

“Oh, how clever, Mr. Darcy! To announce your nuptials in the Times. Mr. Bennet, Mr. Bennet! See, it shall all be fixed now, Mr. Darcy has seen to it!” she crowed, carrying the paper away with her, so that even the Bingleys sought to read the lines.

Elizabeth grimaced. “And anyone who read yesterday will assume the lines about a sister of mine are a mixup over Jane,” Elizabeth deduced. She felt a calming hand placed gently at the small of her back. 

“If people so wholly unrelated to us live with a mistaken understanding of our family, who are we to correct them?” Mr. Darcy reasoned, and Elizabeth snorted at her husband’s logic, turning to face him and place her back to the rest of the room. Despite her spin, Mr. Darcy kept his hand determinedly in place, appearing to others nothing more than a proficient dance step.

“Uncivilized relations?” she asked, wrinkling her nose.

Mr. Darcy cleared his throat. “Yes, my first draft was deemed unsuitable by my cousin.”

Elizabeth gasped as Mr. Darcy leaned forward and whispered it into her ear, making his wife laugh and nearly forget herself to be in a room full of others.

Colonel Fitzwilliam tapped on Elizabeth’s shoulder, distracting the couple. “I beg your pardon, Mrs. Darcy . . .”

“Richard,” Mr. Darcy growled, warning his cousin that he did not appreciate his interruption.

“You have forgotten the other part of our plan, Cousin. If all of London is to fall in love with Mrs. Darcy, I suggest you not keep your guests waiting.” He pointed to where an exhausted Mrs. Hathersage and Mr. Edgars stood near the doorway, wondering what to do. An incessant knocking could be heard, echoing through the foyer.

All eyes in the room turned to Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, waiting for their hosts to make the first move. 

Scowling, Mr. Darcy offered his arm to his wife. But before she took his arm, she stepped up on her tip toes and kissed the side of his cheek, melting away the man’s mask of disdain for social duties.

Arm-in-arm, the Master and Mistress began their first promenade to set the example and tone for their guests to follow. Mr. Edgars waited by the front door until everyone could assemble into a receiving line. There was a moment of confusion as to the sequence, but it was Mr. Darcy’s insistence that Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet hold the honor of the front of the line. After guests greeted them, the Darcys and then the Bingleys stood to welcome each person, with Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mary Bennet rounding out the end of the line.

Mr. Darcy gave the nod, and the doors of Darcy House opened, with the first guests granted entrance, earning a small smirk from the owner of the house. 

A man in fine dress, who could pass as Colonel Fitzwilliam’s twin brother except that he boasted red hair in contrast to the colonel’s darker features, stood with a tall woman with the markings of a classic beauty. Mr. Edgars announced them as the Viscount and Viscountess Farley.

Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Bennet bowed and curtsied to their social superiors and forgetting his manners, the Viscount walked past them with barely a nod. His wife, on the other hand, made sure to graciously greet them.

“You two left me out of your trouble!” the viscount charged Mr. Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam.

“May I introduce you, my dear, to Colonel Fitzwilliam’s eldest brother, Benedict Fitzwilliam, Viscount Farley,” Mr. Darcy said, ignoring his cousin’s pique.

“I sent an express, didn’t I?” Richard said as new guests began to arrive.

“Yes, and we managed to make it, didn’t we? Mother was in a state about our swift departure, but it could not be helped. Are you Elizabeth Bennet?” the woman who arrived with the angered viscount said, addressing Elizabeth directly. As Elizabeth started to nod, the woman laughed at her own mistake. “My apologies, Mrs. Darcy?” she asked, with a wink. “I have heard the most exciting stories about you, that I just know we will be fast friends. Margaret Fitzwilliam, but the family calls me Peg.”

Elizabeth gaped at how fast the woman spoke and found herself nodding in agreement with the woman she barely knew. 

“Now, Darcy, you and your wife kindly slide down. Benedict, get over here,” she scolded, as her husband and his brother had taken to physically jabbing one another with pokes to match the insults they lobbed at each other. Obediently, her husband took one last cheap shot at his brother, and then walked with dignity to stand next to his wife. “There, as though we were here all along. Edgars?” Lady Farley took complete command of the situation and the butler of Darcy House obeyed when his employer gave a barely perceptible nod in favor of his cousin’s officiousness.

Lady Farley leaned over to Elizabeth and warned her as the rest of the guests were allowed in properly. “I recognized most of the carriages taking turns about the block. Practically all of London cannot wait to make your acquaintance, but for most of them, this will be the only time you meet.”

“The only time?” Elizabeth asked, bemused by the sudden lack of control over her social circle.

“Allies of mother and Aunt Catherine. Coming to see if you have warts, or worse. I shall touch my brooch as they pass down the line so you will know,” Lady Farley demonstrated, with an air of confidence. 

Feeling intimidated, Elizabeth stood straighter and gulped. Mr. Darcy’s hand found its steadying place on the small of her back, and she relaxed her shoulders and breathed. She could do this.