The Means of Uniting Them

Chapter 15

Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. Upon first learning of the engagement, Mrs. Bennet's responses were as effusive as one would imagine - "Good gracious! Lord bless me! only think! dear me! Mr. Darcy! Who would have thought it! And is it really true? Oh! my sweetest Lizzy! how rich and how great you will be! What pin-money, what jewels, what carriages you will have! Jane's is nothing to it—nothing at all. I am so pleased—so happy. Such a charming man!—so handsome! so tall!—Oh, my dear Lizzy! pray apologize for my having disliked him so much before. I hope he will overlook it. Dear, dear Lizzy. A house in town! Everything that is charming! Two daughters married! Ten thousand a year! Oh, Lord! What will become of me? I shall go distracted" – but only upon Mr. Darcy's solemn promise that his illustrious family would still be able to attend the event and he would in no way be disappointed, would Mrs. Bennet agree to a double wedding.

Mr. Bennet took longer to become reconciled to the match. Indeed, when first approached by Mr. Darcy for his daughter's hand, he put up a slight resistance to the scheme:

In the second evening after their return to the country, soon after Mr. Bennet withdrew to the library, Elizabeth saw Mr. Darcy rise also and follow him, and her agitation on seeing it was extreme. She did not fear her father's opposition, but he was going to be made unhappy and that it should be through her means—that she, his favorite child, should be distressing him by her choice, should be filling him with fears and regrets in disposing of her—was a wretched reflection, and she sat in misery till Mr. Darcy appeared again. Upon catching his eye, she was a little relieved by his smile. In a few minutes, he approached the table where she was sitting with Kitty; and, while pretending to admire her work said in a whisper, "Go to your father, he wants you in the library." She was gone directly. Her father was walking about the room, looking grave and anxious.

"Lizzy," said he, "what are you doing? Are you out of your senses, to be accepting this man? Have not you always hated him?"

How earnestly did she then wish that she had been more open with her own struggles and growing admiration! It would have spared her from explanations and professions which were exceedingly awkward to give, but they were now necessary, and she assured him of her attachment to Mr. Darcy.

"Or, in other words, you are determined to have him. He is rich, to be sure, and you may have more fine clothes and fine carriages than Jane. But will they make you happy?"

"Have you any other objection," said Elizabeth, "than your belief of my indifference?"

"None at all. We all know him to be a proud, unpleasant sort of man; but this would be nothing if you really liked him."

"I do, I do like him," she replied, "I love him. Indeed he has no improper pride. He is all that is good and kind."

"Lizzy," said her father, "I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse anything, which he condescended to ask. I now give it to you, if you are resolved on having him. But let me advise you to think better of it. I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. You know not what you are about."

Elizabeth, still more affected, was earnest and solemn in her reply; and at length, by repeated assurances that Mr. Darcy was really the object of her choice, by explaining the gradual change which her estimation of him had undergone, relating her absolute certainty that his affection was not the work of a day, and enumerating with energy all his good qualities, she did conquer her father's incredulity, and reconcile him to the match.

"Well, my dear," said he, when she ceased speaking, "I have no more to say. If this be the case, he deserves you. I could not have parted with you, my Lizzy, to anyone less worthy."

As to the relatives on Mr. Darcy's side, the gentleman had held a private conference with his aunt just before he left Rosings. The great lady suppressed her anger until his removal, knowing it would do no good to anger her nephew again, and then promptly made her way to the Hunsford Parsonage. There she began immediately to berate Elizabeth and tried, most forcefully, to convince her to give him up, which the young woman in question was uninclined to do. Feeling all the impertinence and dishonor of the situation, Lady Catherine left in a huff and proceeded to write to the rest of the family, giving her very decided opinion on the subject, which the recipients of said letters proceeded to ignore, as they usually did with Lady Catherine's correspondence. Mr. Darcy's uncle and aunt, the Earl and Countess of -, were more inclined to look positively on the match, if not entirely happily, based on the strength of their nephew's regard and the recommendation of their son, Colonel Fitzwilliam.

Miss Bingley was deeply mortified by Darcy's marriage, but as she thought it advisable to retain the right of visiting at Pemberley, she dropt all her resentment, was fonder than ever of Georgiana, almost as attentive to Darcy as before, and paid every civility to Jane and Elizabeth, though nobody was fooled.

Mr. Wickham's debts and general debauchery finally caught up with him and, after a thorough investigation by Colonel Foster, he was thrown into debtor's prison. All his friends now saw the benefit of distancing themselves from the former lieutenant and, with no family to speak of, no one came to his aid. He died within 6 months of his imprisonment, still planning a grand, theatrical confrontation with Darcy.

The remaining family and friends, of whom Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy would wish for a more positive response to their engagement, did not disappoint. Indeed, Jane and Mr. Bingley expressed their own mutual desire that such a happy event would take place and went so far as to convince her sister and his friend to a double ceremony, for, as Jane so aptly put it, "How could we not share such a joyous day with the two people we love most in the world besides each other?" The Gardiners were equally as joyous and remained great favorites with both couples, often journeying to Derbyshire to visit.

After the wedding, Mr. Bingley and Jane remained at Netherfield only a twelvemonth. So near a vicinity to her mother and Meryton relations was not desirable even to his easy temper, or her affectionate heart. The darling wish of his sisters was then gratified; he bought an estate in a neighboring county to Derbyshire, and Jane and Elizabeth, in addition to every other source of happiness, were within thirty miles of each other.

Kitty, to her very material advantage, spent the chief of her time with her two elder sisters. In society so superior to what she had generally known, her improvement was great. She was not of so ungovernable a temper as Lydia and, removed from the influence of Lydia's example, she became, by proper attention and management, less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipid. Lydia, though offered the same advantages as Kitty, preferred to remain at Longbourne and very much enjoyed being the only Bennet daughter in the neighborhood.

Pemberley was now Georgiana's home; and the attachment of the sisters was exactly what Darcy had hoped to see. They were able to love each other even as well as they intended. Georgiana had the highest opinion in the world of Elizabeth; though at first she often listened with an astonishment bordering on alarm at her lively, sportive, manner of talking to her brother. He, who had always inspired in herself a respect which almost overcame her affection, she now saw the object of open pleasantry. Her mind received knowledge which had never before fallen in her way. By Elizabeth's instructions, she began to comprehend that a woman may take liberties with her husband which a brother will not always allow in a sister more than ten years younger than himself.

Elizabeth thrived at Pemberley and seeing her personal enjoyment of the house and grounds, as well as the ease with which she took to her responsibilities, never ceased to bring Darcy joy. He also encouraged her love of the library and many happy evenings were spent in the matching wingback chairs in front of the large fireplace. On one such evening, only a few months after their marriage, Elizabeth and Darcy were reading together after Georgiana had gone to her rooms.

Darcy watched, fascinated, as Elizabeth's brow furrowed over the words she was reading and then, as she turned the page and read on, smoothed. He was quite positive he would never tire of watching her read, or discover something new, or take enjoyment in anything at all. His eyes wandered to her lips as she pursed them, presumably over her book. Ah! Watching her was never boring.

"Fitzwilliam," she called gently, not taking her eyes off of the page.

"Yes, dearest."

"You are staring again."

A slight chuckle escaped, as he laid his book down on his lap and threaded his hands across his chest.

"Indeed, I am."

"You know I find it disconcerting."

"I cannot help myself. I have an enchanting wife."

Elizabeth struggled not to smile and pulled her book up in front of her face.

"Oh how you wound me madam! Why would you hide your face from me?" Darcy said with affected grief.

The book moved higher in front of his wife's face. He stood and took the two steps to her chair, softly quoting: "I never saw a fairer, I never loved a dearer, And next' my heart I'll wear her, for fear my jewel tine."

"Are you trying to charm me with Burns again, Mr. Darcy?"

"Only because it always works, Mrs. Darcy."

The use of her formal name made her smile and she shivered from his intimate tone.

"One day it might stop working, then what will you do?"

Darcy had, by now, placed one hand on the arm of her chair and was leaning over her.

"I suppose I will have to think of new ways to charm you, but since I have at least a few years' worth of poetry at my disposal, I will take my chances with Burns."

"Dear Mr. Burns," Elizabeth whispered, as Darcy's other hand came up to cup her cheek.

"I do not appreciate you extending that endearment to anyone but myself, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth smiled as his lips brushed against hers. "Most dear Fitzwilliam."

"Much better."

Elizabeth met his next kiss with the confidence that a few months of marriage had given her. A smile spread across each of their faces as they withdrew and rested their foreheads against each other. The cold, harsh winter of Derbyshire had provided ample opportunities for discussions, on all sorts of topics, and reading and discussing poetry – and more importantly, reciting poetry to each other – had become one of their favorite activities. Though other poets had been canvased and some even held dear, Burns continued to be a mutual favorite. They were both ever sensible of the warmest gratitude towards the poet who, by shaping their unconventional courtship with his words, had been the means of uniting them.

THE END

References: My Wife's a Winsome Wee Thing (Robert Burns, 1792)