Love Then Begins (13 page)

It was very grand, Holly thought, as her husband helped her out and into the hall. Even grander than she had ever imagined. The chequered floor echoed with their footsteps and a quick succession of approaching steps came towards them in the dimly lit hall. Her eyes followed a grand staircase upwards and above her head she could see an elaborate balustrade circling the room. Elizabeth?

But it was not. A tall man, obviously still struggling to fit into the coat he thought he had safely abandoned for the night, hurried towards them.

“Lord Baugham!” he said.

“Absolutely!” her husband answered with alacrity. “Mr Reynolds, don’t tell me you are surprised!”

“Pleasantly in this case, I am sure,” the man, obviously the butler, answered evenly before he bowed.

“Good,” his lordship said. “I should not want to abandon all my privileges just because I have chosen to involve another person in my shamefully inconsiderate way of life. Anyone at home?”

Another footman hurried in and quickly divested their lordships of their outer clothing before Lord Baugham had the chance to just drop his.

“Mr and Mrs Darcy are in the drawing room. Shall I announce you?”

Baugham looked thoughtful. “Well, yes maybe this time. All things considered.”

“And whom shall I announce?”

It was all said in the levellest of tones, but it caused Lord Baugham to break out into a grin. “Lord and Lady Baugham, if you please.”

“In that case,” Mr Reynolds said smoothly before he bowed again and took his leave, “allow me to congratulate you most heartily, sir.”

Holly shot her husband an inquiring glance, but he took her hand in his and dragged her along after the receding servant.

“Come on!” he whispered. “Can’t give them too much time to prepare themselves, can we?”

They were led up the staircase and it was all Holly could do to keep up with her husband. He did seem to know exactly where they were heading and more to the point, he was obviously not to be delayed or overly impressed by the magnificence surrounding them. It was quite simply the grandest place Holly ever had visited and she was very conscious she was treading with her travel-weary clothes and dirty boots all over very fine floors and carpets. But all that wonder came to an abrupt end when Mr Reynolds stopped in front of two tall doors and opened them with a careful motion.

“Yes?” came a voice immediately which Holly so very well knew belonged to the master of all this magnificence. And the mistress? She craned her neck to catch a glimpse.

“Lord and Lady Baugham, sir.”

Then she heard a loud ‘oh!’ and she knew the Mistress of Pemberley was just a few feet away.

That was all she needed. She had the fleeting sensation of having seen Mr Darcy sitting on a deep red sofa in front of the fire very close to someone dressed in white and blue, but when she entered the room herself and spotted Elizabeth on her feet with a shawl falling down to her feet, she just threw herself with her arms outstretched.

Lord Baugham caught up with his friend, who had been abandoned by the embracing and laughing and crying women. Mr Darcy viewed him with a pursed mouth, but with an undeniable glimmer of amusement in his eye.

“I don’t know why I didn’t expect as much,” he said to his friend.

“It is very politic to retain at least a few of one’s favourite vices after marriage, you know. The privilege of barging in on you without announcement would be very hard to give up and might even make me develop unreasonable resentment towards innocent persons.”

“And now you have an accomplice.”

Baugham smiled. “If I told you I did it for her, would you believe me?”

Mr Darcy gave a crooked smile. “I would think you have been very, very clever again, my friend.”

“Well, I like to think so! Now, I am going to kiss your wife and you can kiss mine!” He winked his eye as he moved towards the women. “Who would have ever thought, eh?”

If Mr Darcy had any objections he certainly did not show it. Instead, after Baugham had successfully managed to separate the wives and taken to kissing Mrs Darcy first on the hand and then on the cheek with great ceremony, Mrs Darcy showed her appreciation by taking his arm and gently scolding him for “taking so long to disturb us”!

When Lady Baugham looked in danger of protesting at her cousin’s assessment, Mr Darcy moved up to her and claimed his share of the wife kissing, too.

“It is obvious to me from your radiant countenance and my long-time acquaintance with your husband that you are in good health and spirits and that no calamity has driven you east when you should be going west. That being the case, I confess I am very happy to see you.”

Holly smiled. It was good to see her friends—her dear friends and . . . yes! family!—again.

“It was very bad of us,” she confessed, “I know it was but . . . ”

“Oh, please don’t, your ladyship!”

At his gentle rebuke and unfamiliar use of her new name they both balked a little and then broke out in mutual smiles.

“We are family now,” Mr Darcy said and Holly nodded.

“Yes. All thanks to Elizabeth.”

They both took a look at Mrs Darcy, still holding on to Lord Baugham’s arm and laughing at some little witticism of his.

“And so, my dear,” Mr Darcy continued, loud enough now for his wife to pay attention to his words, “now you know why I won’t allow the guestroom in the West Wing to be neglected.”

“And a very nice room it is!” Baugham quipped. “Indeed, I have been neglecting it shamefully lately which makes me eager to offer my thanks and admiration for your excellent housekeeping.”

“Now there is a thing that can do with admiring!” his hostess said. “Though not through any efforts of mine, I am sure. I do believe you may be forced to show it off to me instead of the other way around.”

“I am glad to be of use,” his lordship bowed.

“Oh, I’m sure we both would,” Holly added, relieved to be able to offer some return on their unexpected arrival. “I shall be very happy to offer all the assistance I can! I would be so glad if I could help in the slightest! Indeed, that is half why—”

But before she had time to assure Mr Darcy of her further good intentions, she felt her cousin’s hand on her arm and she was turned away.

“Oh, dear Holly!” Elizabeth said just a trifle to gaily. “Of course you will! Why don’t I show you the dress patterns right away? And I’m sure you are exhausted and want to get out of your clothes . . . ”

She was pulled along the room after Mrs Darcy had offered her excuses to the gentlemen for being such a ghastly hostess and with a promise to see to wine and meat for the men in Mr Darcy’s study while she fed her dear cousin something in the privacy and comfort of her rooms.

“Rooms, Eliza?” Holly said as she followed her through a succession of doors before they reached the main hall again.

“Of course! As if I would put you, my dearest friend, into that no doubt shameful little box Mr Darcy keeps at the ready for his friend. There’s a fine cat-and-mouse game they engage in, I’m sure, but I won’t punish you for it. You shall have the Duchess’ rooms, upon my word!”

Walking slowly up the stairs, Holly looked at her cousin shrewdly.

“What?”

Mrs Darcy returned the question without blinking an eye.

“Oh, don’t you play games with me, Miss Elizabeth Be— Well, Elizabeth! We left that room in a dreadful hurry considering how fondly you were holding on to both my and my husband’s arms just now.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said slowly, “I was being very inconsiderate of your welfare in my joy to see you, wasn’t I?”

The corridor was mute and their steps hardly touched the floor for the thick carpet under their feet. Just when Holly was going to question her again, Mrs Darcy opened two doors and pulled her through. She reached into her pocket while Holly looked around in the dark, her only thought was that it must be a very large room because the draught was obvious from the window and she felt the open space above her. Then her cousin pulled out a tinderbox and in a flash of lightening Holly’s suspicions were confirmed.

“The Duchess’ rooms!” Elizabeth said.

“Which Duchess?” Holy asked breathlessly. The room was not as large as she had thought but the heavy red drapes mirrored in the red cloth panels all around the room gave it a majestic air that perfectly fitted the heavy oak four poster bed standing firmly almost in the middle of the floor.

“Shrewsbury,” Elizabeth said absentmindedly. “Lord but this room needs a fire!”

She hurried over to the enormous fireplace and crouched down. “Well, if you so desperately want to help,” she grinned, “now is a good time to do it! It will take some time before Anne gets here. Or Annie,” she added thoughtfully. “Anna . . . ”

Holly crouched down with her cousin and together they began to work the tinder.

“You haven’t told him, have you?” Holly asked. “He does not know of your struggles with . . . everything.”

“No,” her cousin said still concentrating on the fire.

“Why?”

Giving up for the moment and sitting down on the floor, Mrs Darcy gave her cousin a look.

“Because I don’t want him to know.”

“But I don’t understand. Why not?”

“Can’t you tell? You know the whole story and you know me. You saw us at Rosefarm and you attended our wedding. Holly, he didn’t marry me for me to be dependent on him. If I go crying to him for help, he will help and most likely will be glad and proud to do it, but I don’t want him to always have to help me. He has done so much for me already and he has had worries and vexations enough when it comes to me. Now I will help him.”

Holly could tell that her cousin was serious about sparing Mr Darcy the truth about her unfamiliarity with the running of a great household, even though it was perfectly clear that he could never have been blind enough to her qualities to expect her to be anywhere near proficient in that capacity. Her cousin was shielding him as much as herself, it seemed.

Elizabeth lowered her voice and continued almost in a whisper.

“Oh, Holly, you must know—I can tell you know—there is a sweetness in surrender that I didn’t know about before I married. A most surprising and rewarding satisfaction in submitting and yielding, but that is very different from what else there is. In other things he loves me for my strong opinions and self-reliance. He has told me so. He loves me for all my worst traits as well as my good ones and that is what he wants from me—a friend and a mate, a supporter and a comfort. Not a dependent wife to be guided and a servant of his house and estate.”

“Of course he doesn’t!”

“He sacrificed so much for me, you know.”

“Elizabeth!”

“Oh, well,” Mrs Darcy said and shrugged, “principles mostly, I dare say, but he was much attached to them all the same.”

She paused to listen to the footsteps hurrying down the hall by boots much rougher than her own.

“And that is why I will somehow manage this,” she said firmly. “On my own.”

Holly heard the approaching servant just as clearly and she grabbed hold of her cousin’s hands. “No, not on your own. I will help you as best as I can. I promise. I will help you Eliza, we’ll do this together and Mr Darcy will be proud of his Mistress of Pemberley in every way.”

Annie—as it turned out—performed miracles in the rooms by sweeping aside drapes and kindling a roaring fire before summoning more fire wood, the delivery of her ladyship’s effects and marching servants through the rooms to turn down the bed, fetch hot water, unpack, and bring food and sustenance. Holly and Elizabeth watched this milling activity for a while, still standing by the sheltering fire place.

“Holly,” Elizabeth said and took her hand again, “if I spare you an all night girlish talk in the shelter of your warm bed on
everything
tonight, will you join me for a walk before breakfast?”

Holly smiled. “We haven’t given up girlish talks altogether, have we?”

Elizabeth returned her smile. “Absolutely not! There are plenty of hiding places at Pemberley where secrets can be indulged in. I’ll show you some tomorrow.”

“I would love to. But . . . we have all day, don’t we?”

Elizabeth’s brow darkened in what Holly had to confess looked like a pout. “I am not certain we do, cousin. You have no idea about how many people have claims on my time. It’s quite shocking! The more leisurely a lady becomes, the less time she has for herself, it seems. People calling at all hours of the day, expecting to be entertained . . . ”

At this she had to burst out laughing because her cousin suddenly looked horrified.

“Oh, Holly, don’t you ever think I could include you in ‘people’! I am so very, very, very happy to see you!”

“Well,” Holly muttered sheepishly, “I’m glad because now I’m beginning to think I have been very selfish . . . ”

“Not at all! And if your arrival was a trifle . . . unexpected, I will put you to good use all the same. I give you Annie to be at your every beck and call, and endless fields of sports for your husband, and then I shall be able to keep you by me all day!”

That, thought Holly, was a small price to pay for the pleasure of Elizabeth’s company. When the attendants finally left, she could inspect the room again and confess herself pleased as well as impressed.