She must have slept for some time, because when she woke up, there seemed to be some commotion right in front of the closed door of her room, and she could hear Lady Catherine's voice, loud and commanding. Lady Catherine had travelled from Kent, it was now almost noon, she must have left Kent at dawn with the fastest carriages.
"I came all the way from Kent to be here for my dear Georgiana's wedding and she cannot even be gracious enough to receive me? " Lady Catherine bellowed, "I shall not be treated with such disrespect, move away, I want to see her. "
"The mistress is resting and she cannot and will not be disturbed madam, am sorry, perhaps you should go back downstairs and talk to Miss Darcy, " came the firm voice of Mrs Tompkins, at least, the servants knew who was mistress at Pemberly, thought Elizabeth with satisfaction.
"Miss Darcy is not the mistress of Pemberly, this is my sister's home, I should be received with the respect I deserve. "
"Yes, but Mrs Darcy did not say to wake her if you arrived and Mr Darcy left a clear message that she should not be disturbed under any circumstances."
"She is lazy and likes to slacken, napping at this hour! My Anne is sick, but she never sleeps during the day, wake her up right now or I will tell my nephew about it."
"She is napping with your nephew's approval. With all due respect Lady Catherine,your Anne is not mistress of Pemberly, maybe that is why she doesn't nap at noon, " Mrs Tompkins said. Elizabeth had to smile, she had selected Mrs Tompkins herself, from the dozens of servants who had wanted to serve at Pemberly, she had liked Tompkins because they were very similar in character.
"What did you say to me? Is that how she teaches you to talk to me? Wait until my nephew comes back and you shall be sorry, very sorry indeed... "
Elizabeth decided it was time to intervene, "Mrs Tompkins? Please tell lady Catherine I will be down to pay my attentions in a few minutes and come in yourself, "Elizabeth called out.
A few whispers later, Mrs Tompkins entered the room, "I am sorry Mrs Darcy, Mr Darcy said you should not be disturbed but we could not hold her off... "
"That is fine, "Elizabeth said, "Come help me into my gown I shall go to her immediately. She said she will be bringing a party with her. How many are there? "
The servant looked away and concentrated on fastening the straps in front of Elizabeth gown before she took the comb, made her sit down in front of the mirror and slowly started combing through it, holding it up with numerous pins, Elizabeth observed Mrs Tompkins expression in the mirror, she did not like it at all.
"How many?"Elizabeth asked again.
"Don't worry yourself Mrs Darcy, we have enough room at Pemberly to accommodate them all, and we do not lack in our food supplies. "
"I know, but tell me exactly how many people she brought with her. "
"They are no more than five and twenty. She loves the children of her sister very much, she is only trying to support them. "
Elizabeth let out an agonized breath. Five and twenty! And the wedding was a whole week away! Five and twenty people! Had she hired the whole of Rosings? Well, Pemberly could accommodate a thousand guests for a year without putting a dent in its economy, feeding and housing five and twenty within a week was not the problem, the problem was that she had brought them on purpose,to try and disorient Elizabeth's budget for the wedding, and she had succeeded.
Twenty five mouths to feed for a whole week meant Elizabeth will have to economize on the wedding feast and muslin, so that everything would fit the approved budget, which meant Lady Catherine will find plenty to criticize.
"Have you already planned where everyone will be sleeping? According to their rank and gender? " Elizabeth asked, determined to be well composed when she went to meet Lady Catherine.
"Yes, everyone except Miss de Bourgh, she is such a fragile little thing, I had no idea which room will have a fire big enough to keep her warm. "
"How about Georgiana's room? "
"No, Miss Darcy is the bride, she needs her room. Where would she sleep and keep those gowns that costs you and Mr Darcy so much money? "
"She could move them in here and spend the week with me, heaven knows I need her now more than ever. "
Mrs Tompkins gave her a patronizing look, " What about Mr Darcy? Where would he sleep?"
"He has his own room, this one is mine. "
"A room he hasn't slept in in five years. Do you think he will accept such an arrangement?"
Elizabeth blushed. Apparently servants noticed such things. Why had she thought they didn't? At least Pemberly servants were discreet, she had made sure of it. "Okay then, let Miss De Bourgh have Kitty's room, it is very warm and has a fire."
The servants eyes widened in surprise, "Kitty's? But that belongs to your family! They will be here soon, wouldn't they? And Lidya might bring that litter of hers."
"Lidya won't be here until the wedding day, Kitty and Mary will stay at Jane's if they come earlier. "
Mrs Tompkins nodded, "That is so noble of you Mrs Darcy."
Elizabeth smiled sweetly, "What can I say? I was born noble."
She looked at herself in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction. She looked better than she had ever looked all her life. Her skin was glowing and healthy, her eyes bright and shining, her smile perfect, and her gown brought out her slender yet lithe and strong figure. The jewels gleaming around her neck completed the look she needed to present to lady Catherine. She stood up and took slow measured steps out of the room.
Lady Catherine was in the dining parlour, together with all her five and twenty guests, tea had been provided and Georgiana was patiently waiting on the guests while pretending to pay attention to Lady Catherine's criticism of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth touched her shoulder gently and bent down to whisper, "Thank you, you can go up and rest now. "
She nodded appreciatively, made an excuse to Lady Catherine and hurried away. Elizabeth knew most of the guests, she had met them at some point during her visits to Rosings. She greeted them graciously. Among them, Elizabeth was glad to see Charlotte, one of her best girlhood friends who was married to Elizabeth cousin, Mr Collins. Mr Collins was there too, he was a clergyman at Rosings and a big bore. He liked long speeches that said a lot of words and very little sense and was one of the stupidest men of Elizabeth's acquaintance. He greeted her grudgingly, they were not on good terms with each other, he had at one point proposed to her and had been refused. He had been so sure that Elizabeth would remain an old maid until she died, the fact that she had got married to a man above Mr Collins in rank, fortune and sense irked him.
Finally Elizabeth faced Lady Catherine, the woman gave her a sharp look as her eyes looked for something to criticize in her appearance, finding nothing, she said, " You look tired and restless, do you not sleep at all? I saw your elder sister hereabout, I hear she spends a lot of time at Pemberly."
"As I do at Norton, we are sisters who live in close proximity of each other with all the necessary means of enjoyment, what more can we do but visit each other as many times as we can?"
"A lot of your people benefit from Pemberly, your aunt and uncle in town have so much improved because of my nephew's company. Were it not for Pemberly your other two sisters would not have married as well as they did. "
Elizabeth pretended to think for a minute, tilting her head, "Mmmh, I don't know if you are right Lady Catherine, Kitty was a reputed beauty I think she could have grabbed the attention of Colonel Filtzwilliam without help from Pemberly, as for Mary, I agree she was quite plain and a little bit silly but then, she never stayed long at Pemberly so... "
"Don't anger me more than you already have by not being here to receive me when I arrived Miss Be... "
"Mrs Darcy, "Elizabeth said waving the hand with her marriage ring in front of her, "Sorry you have such a short term memory, I married your nephew. "
"You are no fit to be the mistress of Pemberly."
"Your nephew thinks differently, I am afraid. And here is precious infallible Lady Anne, how do you do Miss De Bourgh?" Elizabeth asked the fragile girl that was lady Catherine's daughter. The girl only nodded and looked away. Elizabeth did not care much, she had stopped caring long before she married Mr Darcy.
"I made a point of ordering the wedding dress for Georgiana from my dress maker in London, she goes to be fit tomorrow," Lady Catherine said decisively.
Elizabeth nodded absently, "How very negligent of your nephew not to tell you! He already took care of everything, no need to worry. "
"My nephew wouldn't, you are trying to turn them against me, I know you enough. "
"I am?" Elizabeth asked in genuine surprise. Were it not for her, Lady Catherine would never have set foot in Pemberly again after she had abused her. She had been the one to convince Darcy to make peace with his aunt. But she had such an easy disposition that she did not think much of Lady Catherine words, instead, she turned to Charlotte and began chatting animatedly, tuning of Lady Catherine's voice such that it sounded like some background noise.