answer, "Absolutely not. The whole idea was of Miss Bingley's engineering and I loathed every minute of it. I absolutely forbid fancy costume balls to be held at Pemberley ever again!"
Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley soon repaired to the library and Elizabeth and Jane were at last left to themselves. Lizzy took her sister's arm with much affection and led her upstairs to her small private sitting room, which on her marriage had been one of the many surprises her husband had presented. She had always preferred the style of the past to what was currently in fashion, and everything within the cosy room had been chosen with that in mind. A richly coloured tapestry, glowing with hues of yellow and rose, green and sand, hung on one of the oak-lined walls. Crewel-worked drapes framed the Venetian window, whose glass panes reflected cheerful flames from the fire in the chimneypiece, to glimmer on blue delftware bowls of dried lavender scenting the air with a fragrant potpourri. Much of the furniture consisted of pieces that had been in the Darcy family from Tudor times. A gilt-wood settee upholstered in ivory Genoa velvet and embossed with green pineapples was placed on one side of the fire opposite a Queen Anne love seat beautifully worked in needlepoint. Elizabeth's writing desk sat before the window next to her books from Longbourn, housed in a handsome bookcase in the corner, the one exception to antiquity. With the addition of a scattering of useful tables and several exquisitely painted Dutch floral pictures in gilt frames, the whole scene suggested comfortable and easy elegance, a refuge from the demands of a busy life as mistress of Pemberley.
"Oh, Elizabeth, what a perfect room," declared Jane as soon as they entered. "I've tried to imagine you sitting at your desk so many times, but I really did not do justice to this heavenly place in my mind. And now, when I am home once more, I can picture you sitting there before the window filling a page with your news."
"Oh, do not talk of going home yet, Jane, when you have been here but five minutes; I cannot bear it. Come, sit down, I wish to hear everything you could not put in a letter."
Jane laughed. "I do not know where to begin."
"Oh, my dear sister, that does sound promising."
"On which particular subject are you most curious, Lizzy?"
"There are so many. First, are you happy, Jane? No, do not answer such a stupid question. Happiness is radiating like sunshine on a summer's day from every part of you. But tell me, is Charles everything you hoped he'd be?"
"I could not ask for a kinder husband."
"And are you in love with him still?"
"I love him more than ever."
"And as a lover, is he all that you ever dreamed?"
"Lizzy, you are truly shocking! Whatever would Mr Darcy say if he knew quite how brazen the woman he married can be?"
"'Tis too late, I fear, Jane, he knows already. And I will confess to you, dearest sister, that I am quite delighted with my husband in every respect. And please forgive me, but my knowing such joy has only made me wish to discover if you too have found such happiness with Charles."
Jane nodded and blushed, turning her head towards her sister with a smile. "Sometimes I feel so consumed by his affection that it almost frightens me. I do not know what I ever did to deserve such happiness, but I am so relieved to know you feel it too. But enough of such talk, you are making me blush. One thing I must ask you. In your last letter you said you had persuaded Fitzwilliam to write to Lady Catherine. Has there been any response?"
"Oh, yes! Lady Catherine has replied in her inimitable way; she is still refusing to visit, but I am sure she will come in time. Curiosity will get the better of her resentment, you'll see."
"Oh, Lizzy, you are of a stronger constitution than I am; I do not think I could handle a woman like that."
"But you do and on a daily basis. Tell me, how does Caroline Bingley behave? Your letters paint such a generous description of that
Mr Darcy and Mr Bingley soon repaired to the library and Elizabeth and Jane were at last left to themselves. Lizzy took her sister's arm with much affection and led her upstairs to her small private sitting room, which on her marriage had been one of the many surprises her husband had presented. She had always preferred the style of the past to what was currently in fashion, and everything within the cosy room had been chosen with that in mind. A richly coloured tapestry, glowing with hues of yellow and rose, green and sand, hung on one of the oak-lined walls. Crewel-worked drapes framed the Venetian window, whose glass panes reflected cheerful flames from the fire in the chimneypiece, to glimmer on blue delftware bowls of dried lavender scenting the air with a fragrant potpourri. Much of the furniture consisted of pieces that had been in the Darcy family from Tudor times. A gilt-wood settee upholstered in ivory Genoa velvet and embossed with green pineapples was placed on one side of the fire opposite a Queen Anne love seat beautifully worked in needlepoint. Elizabeth's writing desk sat before the window next to her books from Longbourn, housed in a handsome bookcase in the corner, the one exception to antiquity. With the addition of a scattering of useful tables and several exquisitely painted Dutch floral pictures in gilt frames, the whole scene suggested comfortable and easy elegance, a refuge from the demands of a busy life as mistress of Pemberley.
"Oh, Elizabeth, what a perfect room," declared Jane as soon as they entered. "I've tried to imagine you sitting at your desk so many times, but I really did not do justice to this heavenly place in my mind. And now, when I am home once more, I can picture you sitting there before the window filling a page with your news."
"Oh, do not talk of going home yet, Jane, when you have been here but five minutes; I cannot bear it. Come, sit down, I wish to hear everything you could not put in a letter."
Jane laughed. "I do not know where to begin."
"Oh, my dear sister, that does sound promising."
"On which particular subject are you most curious, Lizzy?"
"There are so many. First, are you happy, Jane? No, do not answer such a stupid question. Happiness is radiating like sunshine on a summer's day from every part of you. But tell me, is Charles everything you hoped he'd be?"
"I could not ask for a kinder husband."
"And are you in love with him still?"
"I love him more than ever."
"And as a lover, is he all that you ever dreamed?"
"Lizzy, you are truly shocking! Whatever would Mr Darcy say if he knew quite how brazen the woman he married can be?"
"'Tis too late, I fear, Jane, he knows already. And I will confess to you, dearest sister, that I am quite delighted with my husband in every respect. And please forgive me, but my knowing such joy has only made me wish to discover if you too have found such happiness with Charles."
Jane nodded and blushed, turning her head towards her sister with a smile. "Sometimes I feel so consumed by his affection that it almost frightens me. I do not know what I ever did to deserve such happiness, but I am so relieved to know you feel it too. But enough of such talk, you are making me blush. One thing I must ask you. In your last letter you said you had persuaded Fitzwilliam to write to Lady Catherine. Has there been any response?"
"Oh, yes! Lady Catherine has replied in her inimitable way; she is still refusing to visit, but I am sure she will come in time. Curiosity will get the better of her resentment, you'll see."
"Oh, Lizzy, you are of a stronger constitution than I am; I do not think I could handle a woman like that."
"But you do and on a daily basis. Tell me, how does Caroline Bingley behave? Your letters paint such a generous description of that
Similar Books
