The Heart of Marriage Chapter 11

A line of carriages filled the drive up to Pemberley in the most impressive display of hospitality the grand estate had performed in over a decade. The weather blew cold, but not enough for snow, denying the renewal of the Yuletide Ball of any festive support. Horses stomped and snorted, their breath pluming and their muscles sturdy and thick as columns. The beasts were impatient to carry their carriage’s wheels over the gravel and pavement of the drive and then be led away to the stables. The passengers inside peered out the windows to see how much longer until their carriage’s turn.

The Gardiners were the first to arrive, having rested for the night at the inn at Kympton, and rushing to make their way to the couple they had championed the most: Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. Their carriage was not unloaded at the front door, but driven around to the back where teams of footmen and coachmen waited for each vehicle to unload it of its luggage and deliver the trunks to the appointed suites. Pemberley buzzed with more activity than even Mrs. Reynolds could remember.

“The children could not believe we are to stay here, Lizzie! They call it your castle!” Mrs. Gardiner gushed, as she and her family were greeted in the downstairs parlor. A roaring fire in the grate battled winter’s chill as the constant opening of the front door to allow more guests to enter lowered the temperature of the ground floor.

“Is that right? Now do you believe all of those stories I told you?” Elizabeth said, bending low to speak to her cousins directly. They merely smiled and shook their heads, their eyes as wide as saucers to stand in the palatial room with art painted across the ceiling.

Realizing she was holding up the receiving line a bit, Mrs. Gardiner fussed over her husband speaking to Mr. Darcy, and then collected her family to follow Mrs. Reynolds to the stairs to learn their room assignments for their stay. Elizabeth put the Gardiners near Kitty’s studio so they would be the most comfortable and away from her mother. In a perverse decision, it was the same wing she was placing the Duke of Devonshire and the Earl and Countess of Derby. While some might feel she was courting trouble by placing peers next to her relations in trade, for Elizabeth, the decision rested solely on keeping anyone of importance away from the antics of Mother Bennet.

Of course, Mrs. Darcy could not stop her mother from entering the parlor just as both the Duke and the Earl and his wife were arriving.

“Uncle Gardiner is here, Mama,” Elizabeth said, with a smile as the formal announcement was made and she stood dutifully by her husband.

“How nice! London is so far away, I wondered if they would make it safely at all. But they have, and now will be at a ball they would never have a chance to attend in Town, that is for certain,” Mrs. Bennet said, keeping her eyes fixed on the doors.

The Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish, arrived in the finest of silks and a brocade vest, with a coat that was impeccably tailored for him. He grinned as Mr. and Mrs. Darcy immediately bowed, and strolled forward to greet Mr. Darcy.

“Mr. Darcy, it is a pleasure to see you again,” he said heartily, shaking Mr. Darcy’s hand with vigor. “And this must be your lovely wife. I have heard so much about you, Mrs. Darcy.”

Elizabeth smiled and curtsied deeply in response to his compliment as her husband looked on proudly. “Thank you for coming all this way, Your Grace,” she said warmly.

“Oh, it was no trouble at all!” the Duke responded easily. He thanked Darcy about his advice on the planting that spring, bragging about how he had managed it with his steward. For the span of a few minutes, Elizabeth listened with great interest as the Duke recounted the most fascinating details of numerous plants. Unfortunately, as the man spoke, behind him formed another line of guests eager to greet their hosts and refresh themselves in their suites.

Lady Matlock left her conversation with her son and daughter-in-law to greet the Duke.

“Your Grace, I am so glad you have come. It simply would have made your late mother unhappy for you to spend the season alone. Come, may I interest you in a walk to the Conservatory? There is a new species of orchid you simply must give me your opinion on.”

The poor young William Cavendish grinned sheepishly as he allowed Lady Matlock to guide him away.

“You were friends with my mother?” he asked, and then followed up with another question about the orchid.

Elizabeth held back a laugh as Aunt Maggie handled the situation smoothly, until her mother attempted to follow them. Without thinking too far ahead, she reached out and latched onto her mother’s arm and whispered in her ear.

“Please don’t leave me, I need your help with the Earl of Derby,” she pleaded, quietly.

“But the Duke—” Mrs. Bennet protested, and Mr. Darcy expertly introduced his mother-in-law to Thomas Stanley, the Earl of Derby.

Upon hearing her favorite name from the lips of her richest son-in-law, Mother Bennet, she grew flustered and revealed her mind was still very much on the Duke. “Your Grace,” she said, curtseying, to the bewildered smiles of those around her.

“Your Lordship,” Mrs. Darcy quickly followed, trying to salvage the situation.

The Earl of Derby remained frowning. But his wife eagerly pushed her way forward to make Elizabeth’s acquaintance.

“My son was unable to attend, but it was so thoughtful for you to include him,” she said, slightly misty-eyed.

Elizabeth nodded, and asked if the distance had been onerous.

“Of course not, this was once all of my family’s land,” the Earl of Derby said, his lip curling in a slight expression of disgust as he looked around the room.

Ever her father’s daughter, Elizabeth Darcy found his lordship to be utterly comical. So she played into his foibles.

“How fortunate for my family then, sir, that your family was generous enough to sell the land for this home to be built. I am happy to finally meet our neighbors,” she said, her hand instinctively moving to her midsection as her body began to protest the long hours of preparation and now standing to greet each guest.

Lord Derby gazed down at Mrs. Darcy’s midsection and his wife nudged him along. Before they were out of earshot, Elizabeth heard the Countess scold her husband for being so rude to an expecting woman and watched as his shoulders hunched in response.

Suddenly, she felt the press of a hand against her lower back, and Elizabeth looked up to see the very concerned face of her husband.

“Dearest, you’re grimacing. Are you certain you are well?” he asked, quietly, as the Curzons were next to arrive.

“Another half hour, and then I will retire. Your aunt will return by then,” she said, as her mother drifted away to talk to others in the room.