The Trials of the Honorable F. Darcy (39 page)

***

Loathe as they were to get out of bed the next day, they supposed that the announcement must be made. Darcy felt better telling Georgie in person, so they met her and Fletcher for brunch. Both Georgie and Fletcher were genuinely pleased for them; Georgie actually wiped away a tear as she laughed. She hugged Elizabeth and said “I know he’ll make you happy,” in her ear. “He already has,” Elizabeth replied softly. They pressed foreheads for a moment and then laughed pretty, girlie giggles.

Next came Elizabeth’s parents. This was bound to be more difficult and Elizabeth was torn between leaving an anonymous note on their car and Darcy’s suggestion that they meet her parents for dinner. Darcy prevailed and Elizabeth called them to announce they were coming over for Sunday dinner.

“But Lizzy, there isn’t a good bit of fish to be had!” Mrs.
Bennet
exclaimed when Elizabeth called.

“Mom, it’s not a big deal, we just want to stop by and visit. Throw a frozen lasagna in the oven and that will be fine.”

But Mrs.
Bennet
would have none of it and as she was really an excellent cook, it was for the better.

“We shouldn’t even have to tell them. Honestly, we’ve been engaged almost 24 hours, you’d think she’d notice a disturbance in the Earth’s rotation,” Elizabeth grumbled as they drove to Longbourn. Darcy laughed.

“Lizzy, I have never met anyone so determined to deprive her mother of the pleasure of a good engagement,” he teased.

They arrived and were greeted warmly by Elizabeth’s parents. Both Lydia and Mary were gone for the weekend visiting Kitty in L.A. but Elizabeth had called Jane at the last minute to beg her to come to dinner. As she and Bingley had no plans, they agreed; they had suspicions as to the significance of the dinner and would not dare miss it.

Dinner was a warm intimate affair. Fanny
Bennet
’s meal was delicious and Darcy complimented the particularly fine wine she had selected. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Mrs.
Bennet
engaged Darcy in a very intelligent conversation about the selection of her wine and California vineyards.

“I learned a good deal of my cooking in Paris but of course I have many other influences, especially Italian,” she said.

“You spent time in Paris?” Darcy asked her with interest. She nodded.

“Yes, before Tom and I were married, we spent a year in Paris as sort of bohemians. I worked in a shop and dabbled in art and lived in a flat with Tom and three other people. It was a wonderful time,” she said, smiling. “Although I’ve forgotten most of my French,” she sighed.

“Do you speak French?” he asked, turning to Mr.
Bennet
.

“
Mais naturellement
!
But of course!” Mr.
Bennet
replied, smiling.

“
Votre
épouse est un vrai cordon bleu,
Y
our wife is an excellent cook,”
Darcy said.

“
Merçi
,
Thank you,”
Mr.
Bennet
answered.

“
Je souhaite épouser votre fille
,
I wish to marry your daughter,” Darcy smiled at him. Mr.
Bennet
looked at him in surprise and then said, laughing,

“
Vous pouvez avoir n'importe laquelle des quatre restantes
!
You can have any of the four that
are left!”

“
J'ai choisi votre préférée
,
I have chosen your favorite,”
Darcy said. Mr.
Bennet
nodded.

“
A-t-elle été d'accord
?
Has she agreed?” Mr.
Bennet
asked.

“
Oui
.
Yes.”

“Well, very well then,” Mr.
Bennet
said softly as he looked at Elizabeth.

“I am hard pressed to improve upon such a fine evening,” Darcy began, “but I hope you will all be pleased to know that Elizabeth and I are engaged.” He held Elizabeth’s hand under the table as he said this. She squeezed his hand hard, waiting for her mother’s fallout.

“Of course you are, dear,” Mrs.
Bennet
said grinning. “It was only a matter of time.” Elizabeth sat, stunned. No fainting? No smelling salts? Then she smiled. Suddenly, she loved her mother very much. She pulled her ring from her pocket and slipped it onto her finger.

“Look at my beautiful ring!” she said excitedly, thrusting her hand at her mother. At that moment, Darcy felt Elizabeth and her mother were more alike than Elizabeth would ever dare admit and he found it charming. Jane went to Elizabeth to look more closely at the ring and to give her congratulations. Bingley gave Darcy a hearty slap on the back and boisterous congratulations.

“Good lord!” her mother exclaimed when she saw the ring. She looked up at Darcy. “I thought you were a poor state employee,” she said, glancing back down at the ring.

“I am,” Darcy replied, clearing his throat.
And now the money
.

“Mom, I make more than Will does,” Elizabeth said, trying to quell any questions into his fortune, not realizing that this would somewhat offend Darcy’s pride.

“I beg your pardon, Lizzy, but I sneeze more money every day than you make in a year,” he said, sitting back in his chair. She looked back at him, amused.

“Really? Do you want to disclose your finances to my family? Want to ensure my father that you can support me?” she teased him.

“No, but I won’t have them believing I’m marrying you for your money,” he replied. She laughed.

“Mom, Dad, Darcy is obscenely wealthy,” she said. He gave a satisfied nod, pride being restored.

“Really?” her mother said with reserved interest. “How so? Technology? Internet?” She was suspicious of a fortune that was all on paper and subject to a speedy decline with the stock market.

“A little of each and some others,” he said cryptically.

“Darcy comes from
old
money, Mom, not like me,” Bingley put in.

“Old money?” she repeated. Jane, Elizabeth, and Bingley all nodded. Darcy said nothing. Mrs.
Bennet
shrugged.

“Oh well, Lizzy knows how to live without, this will be her chance to live with,” she said and resumed her attentions to Elizabeth’s ring. Darcy smiled and put his hand on Elizabeth’s leg.

“Let there be no doubt, my dear, Will is the one who has struck gold,” Mr.
Bennet
said warmly, looking at Darcy. Darcy nodded in sincere agreement.

“The wedding coordinator is calling for another check,” Georgiana said to Darcy as they walked toward the coffee shop.

“What is this one for?” he asked.

“I have no idea, I’ve lost track,” she replied with a sigh. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside.

“I’d like to invite Elizabeth’s family,” he said cautiously.

“Why not? What’s another 20 people on top of the 300 who have already expressed their intent to come before the invitations have even gone out,” she groused. He smiled and put his hand on her shoulder.

“You are a good, dutiful girl, Georgie. I’m extremely happy that you are doing the blow-out wedding; now mine can fly under the radar.” They both knew that their many relatives would howl if she had anything less than a sumptuous wedding.

“You are going to owe me big for this. Do you know that Fletcher wants to cut his hair for the wedding? I love his hair! I don’t want him to have short hair! I’m trying to talk him out of it.”

Darcy sighed and shook his head. They were anticipating a 500 guest wedding, the society event of the year in London. Darcy had hired a coordinator without hesitation; neither he nor Georgie were capable of planning a long-distance wedding of such scale.

They sat at a table together and Darcy glanced at his newspaper while Georgie sipped her coffee.

“I was wondering
...”
she said hesitantly. He looked up from his newspaper and gave her his full attention. “I know we have to have this huge wedding but it’s going to be a three-ring circus. Do you think that we could have a small ceremony, just very close family and friends, before the wedding? So that I could feel like I was having a wedding of my own?”

He considered it for a moment. Two weddings? The first one was already costing over a million pounds but then what’s a few thousand more? He felt that she at least deserved to enjoy her own wedding.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” he smiled. “Who would you like to invite?”

“Well, Elizabeth, Fletcher’s family, the
Bingley’s
, and Richard and Henry. Maybe a couple of other close friends. That’s about it.”

“What did you have in mind?” he asked. She smiled and put her chin on her fist.

“We had talked about getting married in Marin, looking over the Golden Gate Bridge, or maybe on the beach, by a lighthouse. Something outdoors and intimate.”

Darcy smiled. His sister was the picture of refined elegance, he had a hard time picturing her getting married barefoot on a beach. But he would certainly indulge her if that was what she wanted.

“I think it’s a brilliant idea,” he said. She smiled at him.

“Do you think Elizabeth would like to be my maid of honor?” she asked.

“She may be tired of being the bridesmaid and never the bride by now,” he laughed.

“Have you set a date yet?” she asked him. He shook his head. “We’ve only just got engaged, Georgie. It’s too soon to think of all that.”

“What kind of wedding do you want?” she asked him. He shrugged.

“I haven’t given it much thought,” he began. Then he admitted, “I’ve always pictured myself getting married at the chapel next to Pemberley and having the reception at Pemberley.” He blushed a little at the confession. He hated to have Georgie think that he had been daydreaming about his wedding day like a schoolgirl.

Instead of laughing, she nodded.

“It suits you. You’re such a country gentleman at heart, Will. You really are living in the wrong century.” He grinned ruefully and nodded his agreement.

“You could piggy back it on mine, have a little secret wedding while everyone who is important is there,” she suggested. He shook his head.

“No, I want Elizabeth to have the wedding she wants, with all of her family there,” he replied. She nodded in understanding. They sat in comfortable silence for a moment, then she said,

“Is the pre-nup ready?” Darcy nodded. He had approved it with his lawyer just last week; Georgie’s assets were adequately protected.

“Will you have one?” she asked him. He looked at her with a pained expression.

“I don’t know, it’s so distasteful. At least in your case, it’s at my insistence; nobody will accuse you or Fletcher of greed. But in my case
...”
he trailed off. He didn’t want to think about a contractual obligation about money before he was even married. Logically, he knew it was the right thing to do but emotionally it felt tacky.

“Elizabeth has asked me about it,” she ventured. He looked up in surprise. Elizabeth wanted a pre-nup?

“What did she say?” he asked.

“She said she wanted you to have one to protect yourself,” Georgie replied. He raised his eyebrows and went silent. They finished their coffee, he wrote a check for the coordinator and gave it to Georgie and they left and went their separate ways.

Elizabeth was at her computer when Darcy entered. Madonna was blasting from the speakers and she did not hear him approach at first. She jumped when he put his hands on her shoulders. She looked up at him and smiled, then turned off her music.

“You’re back early,” she said. She figured he and Georgie would have a nice long chat about wedding stress.

“Georgie tells me you want a pre-nup,” he said softly. He didn’t want to beat around the bush. If she wanted it, they needed to talk about it.

“Well, yes, but not for myself. I think you should have one,” she said, standing up from her computer. He followed her into the living room.

“What did you have in mind?” he asked her.

“Just that if anything should happen and one of us wants a divorce, I’ll leave only with what I came with. I don’t want your money,” she said simply. She turned to face him.

“That’s nonsense. What if we’re married for thirty years before you dump me for some boy-toy? You’ll have been married to me longer than not; would you want nothing but what you came with then?” he said lightly.

“Well, but when you leave me for some young hot trophy wife, I’ll be sorely tempted to take you for everything. We don’t want that, do we?” she replied with a smile.

“I’m not going to leave you,” he laughed.

“Nor am I but it’s best to be prepared for the unexpected. You know that. Don’t let the romance of our relationship make you stupid.”

“I can’t believe we’re even talking about this, I don’t want to even consider it,” he sighed heavily. He sat on the couch and she crawled onto his lap and put her arms around his neck.

“You know that I’m only thinking of your best interests, don’t you? I want your family to feel comfortable. I want any temptation to be locked away from me. I want a written contract to keep me from draining your fortune out of spite because you didn’t love me anymore.”

“I simply can’t imagine any situation where that would happen,” he said against her neck. But he knew she was right and he was thankful that she brought it up. They met later that week with their attorneys and came to an agreement that satisfied each that the other was adequately protected.