Christmas at Pemberley

Part 7

"They're here!"

Lizzy had been perched in the window of her favourite room in the house: the sunny little library that Darcy had presented to her the day they arrived at Pemberley, pronouncing it to be her own domain to do with precisely as she chose.

That afternoon, she had been listlessly reading in the pale winter light while Georgiana sewed: both ladies preferring to be together in the cosy library than in the elegant and airy parlour.

"They are?" Georgiana set down her sewing and flew to join Lizzy at the window, peering out into the drive as the Gardiners' carriage made its final approach to the house.

Lizzy felt a strange flicker of excitement. She was very fond of the Gardiners and would be pleased to see them again. More than that, she missed her family and would be glad to have the care of her aunt and uncle as she navigated this very first Christmas as mistress of Pemberley.

Subconsciously, Lizzy's hands flew to her hair and she tucked in a stray curl or two, the movement catching Georgiana's eye.

"You are not nervous, are you?" she teased, her eyes dancing. "I have met your aunt and uncle before and thought them quite charming."

"Oh, they are!" Lizzy said, dropping her hands to her side and laughing at her preoccupation. "And Aunt Gardiner is far more sensible than Mama. I suppose I am merely eager to appear to my best in their eyes. After all, I know that they will be duty-bound to report all to Longbourn before long and I do not want to draw Mama's wrath even from so many miles away." She winked and returned to her work, before pausing and turning to face Georgiana directly.

"You must tell me the truth, Georgie. Am I presentable?"

"Absolutely!" Georgiana laughed, liking her arm thought Lizzy's and dragging her towards the door. "Now, we must go and wait in the parlour to greet them." She shivered. "They will be cold and tired, so we must ensure the fire is blazing and refreshments are prepared."

The two young ladies hurried to their tasks, Lizzy pausing as they passed Darcy's study to knock on the door and slip inside at the sound of his quiet, "yes?"

"My aunt and uncle are here," she said, pausing in the doorway.

"They are?" Darcy's face broke into a smile and he pushed his chair back, coming around the desk. "Then why on earth are you talking to me? You will wish to greet them, surely?"

Any anxiety Lizzy had felt about her family coming to Pemberley, about their reunion with her now-husband, vanished as she observed the smile of delight that lifted Darcy's dark features. He was fond of the Gardiners, almost as fond of them as Lizzy was, and their coming to Pemberley had been his idea. Lizzy had presumed, when he made the suggestion, that it was the best alternative he could think of to Mr and Mrs Bennet coming all the way from Hertfordshire, and for that, she did not blame him. Yet one look at his merry countenance today suggested that he was in fact pleased to invite the Gardiners for their own selves and that thought made her smile.

"Georgiana is just stoking the fire in the parlour. We have already requested some refreshments. All that remains is for us to be there waiting for their arrival."

"Then we must not delay!" Darcy said, with mock gallantry. He offered Lizzy his arm and the two broke into something close to a run down the short stretch of corridor that led to the parlour, bursting into the room in a gale of laughter that made Georgiana jump.

"What is so funny?" She demanded, with a withering glance at her brother, who immediately straightened and became the regal, dour Mr Darcy once more. "Anyone would think you were not a gentleman at all!"

He held his peace for half a moment before his eyes met Elizabeth's and they both dissolved into laughter again, too enthusiastically to regain their composure as the door opened and Mr and Mrs Gardiner stepped into the room, their children around them.

"Well! This is a happy sight!" Mr Gardiner boomed, setting his young daughter down on her own two feet and turning to shake Darcy's hand.

"Elizabeth! How well you look!" Mrs Gardiner said, leaning in to embrace her niece. When their heads were bent close together she whispered, "I expect to be let in on the joke!"

Releasing Elizabeth, Mrs Gardiner turned to greet Georgiana with the same warm embrace. Lizzy was touched to see the affection on the older woman's face, and the way Georgiana leaned into her arms and held on for just a moment longer than was polite. Lizzy had come to understand how the loss of his parents had shaped Darcy into the aloof figure he could still often be, but she often forgot the toll such a loss had taken on the younger Georgiana. Moments like this, when the motherly Mrs Gardiner offered her the affection she so sorely missed, recalled Lizzy to this truth and she made a mental note to focus still more of her energies in securing Georgiana's happiness, both now and in the future.

"And how are you, Mr George?" Lizzy asked, bending to shake young Master Gardiner's hand. Her cousin had grown a foot since she had seen him last and seemed quite the young man, which made Lizzy's heat ache. How quickly time was passing! Soon these children she romped and played with would be young gentlemen and ladies themselves.

"Oh dear! Has our arrival spoiled all the fun?" Mr Gardiner said, turning from his polite discussion of their travel arrangements with Darcy to Elizabeth and noticing the serious expression on her face.

"Not at all, Uncle!" Lizzy said, beaming at him. She slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow and steered him to a chair. "You must be tired after your journey! I have the very best seat picked out for you, here, by the fire."

"Well, I shan't say no to such hospitality!" Mr Gardiner said, allowing his niece to direct him and sinking heavily into the chair she pointed out.

"I hope you shall maintain that perspective this evening!" Darcy remarked, with a wry grin, as he slyly engaged in a game with George and Mary that would be considered quite undignified in many parlours up and down the country, but here merely demonstrated the change that had come over the reticent Fitzwilliam Darcy in the past few months. "We shall be hosting a dinner to welcome you to Derbyshire and have invited a few guests."

"You did not need to go to such trouble!" Mrs Gardiner began, turning to frown at Georgiana as if the idea had been hers.

"It is no trouble, Aunt!" Lizzy put in. Her eyes rested on her husband, as he laughed and romped with the children, before scooping them both up, one under each arm, and carrying them over to a rug by the fire where they might be a little warmer and able to play quietly under the watchful eyes of their parents.

"No trouble at all," Darcy agreed, a little breathless from roughhousing. "In fact, it has afforded me an opportunity to invite the new curate and introduce him to some of the other families in the area." He collapsed into his own chair and glanced over at Georgiana and Mrs Gardiner who came to join the rest of their party. "Poor fellow looked rather overwhelmed to be inheriting his first curacy at such a time as this!"

"Christmas is a busy time for the church," Mr Gardiner agreed.

"And to move to a new place must be daunting," Georgiana observed, perching daintily on a sofa beside Mrs Gardiner. "We must do all we can to make him feel welcome!"