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Authors: Shannon Winslow
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a full three weeks.
For Darcy and Elizabeth, the presence of the lively Gardiner
children increased the satisfaction of this visit, serving as a
pleasant preview of what the place would be like some years hence
when, if all hopes and expectations were fulfilled, they would have
a house full of children of their own.
Chapter 8
Preparations
With Christmas over and her company gone,
Elizabeth turned her attention to the upcoming ball, which would be
the grandest social function to be held at Pemberley since her
marriage. Preparations were well underway – the invitations sent,
the menu planned, the food and wine ordered, and the musicians and
extra servants hired – yet much remained to be done.
“I confess, I am a bit unnerved by the
daunting prospect of this ball,” she admitted to her husband as
they walked out together one morning. They had passed through the
gate and started down the lane, snow crunching underfoot. The coat
of white, sparkling in the sun, lay four inches deep on the ground
and threatened to overtop Elizabeth’s half boots with each step.
Undeterred, she pressed forward, glad for the airing made possible
by a break in the weather, and equally glad for Darcy’s steadying
arm whenever her foot slipped. “It is a larger undertaking than I
had supposed, and I do so want everything to go well for
Georgiana’s sake.”
“You have nothing to fear, my dear,” he
assured her. “The arrangements are well in hand, and surely the
ball itself can hold no terrors for you. You have attended events
of this sort many times before, and you know how to conduct
yourself.”
“As a guest, yes, but now I shall be the
hostess. The limited training I received at Longbourn simply does
not apply here; the scale of the affair renders any comparison
ridiculous. These are uncharted waters. And it occurs to me that
any serious faux pas on my part shall be viewed by some as
proof that I am unsuited to my new station. I could laugh at my own
embarrassment easily enough, but I should hate to bring any
disgrace upon Pemberley or the Darcy name.”
“I will not have you worrying about such
things, Elizabeth. Nothing you would ever do could disgrace the
family. You should also remember that those invited are not the
sort who will be anxious to judge you or eager to see you
fail.”
Elizabeth’s mouth curled at one corner. “True
enough. After all, Lady Catherine will not be admitted, will
she?”
“No, she most certainly will not!”
“Hopefully she sends no spies to ferret out
my errors either. I should hate to provide her with more ammunition
to use against me, for she finds me too easy a target for her
derision as it is. She is my severest critic.”
“Only because you had the audacity to defy
her.”
“Alas, we have both fallen out of your aunt’s
favor. I suppose we shall have to bear her absence as best we
can.”
The ball was to be, first and foremost, a
celebration of Georgiana’s eighteenth birthday. However, it would
secondarily serve as another opportunity for Miss Darcy to mix with
her peers and meet potential suitors. Her brother always preferred
this sort of social intercourse to occur under his watchful eye,
within his sphere of control. In this case, he held sway over the
most important factor of all: the guest list. To ensure that a man
was not coveting Georgiana’s money, it stood to reason that he
should already possess plenty of his own. This guiding principle
tended to limit the list of eligible candidates to those in the
first circles of society.
Prospective beaus were not the only people
invited to the ball, however. The guest list included friends,
family, and neighbors as well. Yet, due to the unpleasantness of
traveling in winter and the competition from other options in town,
only a few of the Darcys’ closest friends from the south would be
attending. On these grounds, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were spared the
inconvenience of another invitation to Pemberley so soon,
For Darcy and Elizabeth, the presence of the lively Gardiner
children increased the satisfaction of this visit, serving as a
pleasant preview of what the place would be like some years hence
when, if all hopes and expectations were fulfilled, they would have
a house full of children of their own.
Chapter 8
Preparations
With Christmas over and her company gone,
Elizabeth turned her attention to the upcoming ball, which would be
the grandest social function to be held at Pemberley since her
marriage. Preparations were well underway – the invitations sent,
the menu planned, the food and wine ordered, and the musicians and
extra servants hired – yet much remained to be done.
“I confess, I am a bit unnerved by the
daunting prospect of this ball,” she admitted to her husband as
they walked out together one morning. They had passed through the
gate and started down the lane, snow crunching underfoot. The coat
of white, sparkling in the sun, lay four inches deep on the ground
and threatened to overtop Elizabeth’s half boots with each step.
Undeterred, she pressed forward, glad for the airing made possible
by a break in the weather, and equally glad for Darcy’s steadying
arm whenever her foot slipped. “It is a larger undertaking than I
had supposed, and I do so want everything to go well for
Georgiana’s sake.”
“You have nothing to fear, my dear,” he
assured her. “The arrangements are well in hand, and surely the
ball itself can hold no terrors for you. You have attended events
of this sort many times before, and you know how to conduct
yourself.”
“As a guest, yes, but now I shall be the
hostess. The limited training I received at Longbourn simply does
not apply here; the scale of the affair renders any comparison
ridiculous. These are uncharted waters. And it occurs to me that
any serious faux pas on my part shall be viewed by some as
proof that I am unsuited to my new station. I could laugh at my own
embarrassment easily enough, but I should hate to bring any
disgrace upon Pemberley or the Darcy name.”
“I will not have you worrying about such
things, Elizabeth. Nothing you would ever do could disgrace the
family. You should also remember that those invited are not the
sort who will be anxious to judge you or eager to see you
fail.”
Elizabeth’s mouth curled at one corner. “True
enough. After all, Lady Catherine will not be admitted, will
she?”
“No, she most certainly will not!”
“Hopefully she sends no spies to ferret out
my errors either. I should hate to provide her with more ammunition
to use against me, for she finds me too easy a target for her
derision as it is. She is my severest critic.”
“Only because you had the audacity to defy
her.”
“Alas, we have both fallen out of your aunt’s
favor. I suppose we shall have to bear her absence as best we
can.”
The ball was to be, first and foremost, a
celebration of Georgiana’s eighteenth birthday. However, it would
secondarily serve as another opportunity for Miss Darcy to mix with
her peers and meet potential suitors. Her brother always preferred
this sort of social intercourse to occur under his watchful eye,
within his sphere of control. In this case, he held sway over the
most important factor of all: the guest list. To ensure that a man
was not coveting Georgiana’s money, it stood to reason that he
should already possess plenty of his own. This guiding principle
tended to limit the list of eligible candidates to those in the
first circles of society.
Prospective beaus were not the only people
invited to the ball, however. The guest list included friends,
family, and neighbors as well. Yet, due to the unpleasantness of
traveling in winter and the competition from other options in town,
only a few of the Darcys’ closest friends from the south would be
attending. On these grounds, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were spared the
inconvenience of another invitation to Pemberley so soon,
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