A Midsummer Christmas

Part 3

"Well, my dear, I have news!"

Elizabeth's present favourite room in Pemberley was the one in which she now sat - a small library that had been gifted to her upon her arrival, and which offered a sanctuary of perfect peace and quiet in which to read. At least, it did when she was not interrupted. With a patient smile, she laid down her book, forgoing the outcome of the black knight's duel for the moment, and welcomed her husband in.

"I judge from your expression that it is good news. Is it news that will interest me?"

"It ought to. My cousin is to visit us!"

"Which cousin?" Elizabeth's eyes narrowed. She had met Darcy's Kentish cousin Anne de Bourgh only once and had not been greatly enamoured by her. Of course, she had been influenced by the profound and vocal dislike taken of Elizabeth by Anne's mother. Lizzy bit her lip. Lady Catherine de Bourgh still had not forgiven her nephew for marrying Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn, and the notion that she would now permit her daughter to travel to Pemberley to visit them was a peculiar one. "You cannot mean Miss de Bourgh."

"Miss de Bourgh?" Darcy blinked. "Indeed, I cannot." He chuckled, ruefully. "I fear we shall not see dear Anne or my aunt for some months yet. No, I write of Colonel Fitzwilliam!" He held his letter aloft, and Elizabeth leapt from her chair to reach for it. This only made her husband hold it higher in the air and, being taller, he succeeded in keeping it out of his wife's grasp. "I shall tell you what Richard says," Darcy said, shooting his wife a rueful look. "My cousin is rather too free with his words when he writes only for men's eyes. I shall spare you the indignity." He smirked as he cleared his throat and began to read, selecting only the most pertinent section.

"I have decided to visit you, Darcy, if your invitation was truly meant. It has been an enjoyable spring staying with my brother but my little niece and nephew quite exhaust me! As does Edward, if I may be honest..." Darcy paused, his eyes flickering to his wife. "He does not mean that unkindly, he is joking."

"I know sarcasm when I hear it," Elizabeth countered, with a wry smile. "Better than you." She smoothed her skirts and folded her hands patiently in her lap. "Continue."

"I am honour-bound to find an estate of my own and settle down like a dullard, but until I succumb to that fate have taken it into my mind to visit a few friends around the country, of whom you are chief amongst them." Darcy looked up from the letter. "Well? Is that not a pleasant piece of news?"

"Very pleasant!" Elizabeth patted the seat of the sofa, urging her husband to sit beside her, instead of pacing to and fro before her. "When will he arrive?"

"He does not say." Darcy scrutinised his letter a second time and now, being closer, Lizzy was able to surreptitiously glance at it, her eyes landing on more than one scribbled damned which made her avert her gaze again. She fought a smile, thinking that Colonel Fitzwilliam's hastily scribbled note was not unlike himself: brash and cheerful and amusing, but a little careless of propriety and manners. He was not uncouth, merely unrefined, or at least he saw fit to let society manners drop when he was amongst friends. Lizzy was privileged to be considered amongst this group, for she admired the colonel very well and had long nursed a secret desire to find him a wife from amongst her own coterie of acquaintances. Her smile dropped into a frown. Alas, with every month that passed so did her available pool of young ladies to choose from. Jane was married, as was Charlotte - although, Lizzy reasoned, it was thanks to Charlotte's becoming Mrs Collins that Elizabeth had first met Colonel Fitzwilliam to begin with. I never then imagined him becoming family!

"What are you thinking about?"

Lizzy flinched, realising that her husband had been watching her carefully all this time. With care, she rearranged her features, fearing they had already betrayed her.

"A great many things."

"Ah, it is business as usual then." Darcy leaned across her to examine the title of her book and snorted. He did not greatly approve of the flights of fancy Lizzy indulged in when she read, and yet he always strove to ensure her library was well-stocked with the newest and most popular books available. Sliding her arm through his, she leaned her head against his shoulder, grateful that this man she had once hated so passionately had become her true love, her very best friend, her husband.

"I wish to do something pleasant for Colonel Fitzwilliam when he is here."

"He will be happy with warm weather to go riding in and a comfortable chair to doze in of an evening." Darcy's lips quirked. "And the pick of my liquor cabinet." He dropped a kiss on Lizzy's head. "You need not fret over my cousin, he is content by nature and easy to cater for."

"It is a shame he does not have a home of his own."

"He does." Darcy glanced down at his letter once more before folding it away.

"That is his brother's home."

"And Richard's for as long as he cares to remain there." Darcy smiled. "And it sounds as if he does not care to remain there much longer. He speaks of acquiring an estate of his own, and it is long past time he should think of such a thing. I wonder if I might suggest Goodwich to him. It is not a long ride out to see it, and I think he would be happy there."

"He would be happier if he had a wife to live there with him," Lizzy muttered, under her breath.

"Aha!" Darcy let out a hoot of laughter. "This must be one of the many things you were thinking about. Matchmaking?" He shook his head. "My dear Lizzy, have you not had enough weddings in the past year to last a lifetime?"

"No," Elizabeth said, stubbornly. "And I do not see how you can be happy - truly happy - when someone you care for is all alone." Lizzy paused, thinking of Georgiana. "Two people."

"I declared myself perfectly happy the day you consented to be my wife. What more could I care about than that?"

Lizzy looked at him, certain he was teasing her but the smile he wore was genuine, the kind he only ever wore for her. She returned it and a moment of complete peace passed between them before Darcy frowned.

"Wait, two people? Who is the second?"

"Georgiana." Elizabeth returned to her book, ready to use it as a shield if needed. She knew her husband did not entirely share her opinion of Georgiana's present unhappiness. She could see his smile swiftly be replaced by the habitual frown by which she had first come to know him and held her breath, counting to three before the inevitable comment she knew would come next.

"Georgiana is quite content here."

"Of course she is," Lizzy answered, reaching for Darcy's hand and squeezing it, lest he take any form of criticism from her words. "She is content. I merely suggest she is not...well...she is not quite happy."

Darcy grumbled something under his breath that Elizabeth chose not to hear.

"Forget I mentioned it. Georgiana is young, yet. We have months and years ahead of us to find her a suitable husband - one we both approve of."

Darcy grumbled again, something that sounded like as if there is such a man. Elizbeth swallowed a laugh, pressing her lips to her husband's cheek in a contrite kiss.

"But do let us think of poor Colonel Fitzwilliam. The prospect of having his own estate can hardly be a pleasant one if he must undertake it alone. How much happier would the task of settling down be if he had a happy little bride beside him?" She paused, allowing this idea to unseat the unpleasant memory of Georgiana and George Wickham, which forever came to Darcy's mind whenever she made mention of Georgiana's romantic happiness or lack thereof. "I merely suggest we might throw a ball or have some of the neighbours dine with us or...do something!" Now it was Lizzy's turn to frown. "There must be some way to make this a summer we all might remember, and who knows but that it might not present Colonel Fitzwilliam with a new lease on life, and a chance at love?"