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“And you? Is it very different?”
“Being married?”
“Being mistress of Pemberley.”
“Somebody asks me where I wish things to stand, and I discover that I have never considered half the questions.”
“Mrs. Reynolds will help you.”
“She does. Though she has ceased pretending that every suggestion she makes has just occurred to me.”
Jane smiled. “That sounds a great convenience.”
“It is. I should hate to begin married life taking credit for the arrangement of linen I could not find a month ago.”
They spoke of their mother’s journey home after the wedding, of Mary’s promised letter, and of the visit Elizabeth and Darcy intended to make to Longbourn when the spring roads improved. Jane hoped to join them for part of it, but would see how her little Charles bore a shorter outing before promising so long a journey.
There was no hurry to decide. The two households lay near enough that the sisters could consult one another again without waiting for a letter to cross half the country.
When the gentlemen returned, Jane led the way to the drawing room and allowed Charles to ask once whether she found it warm enough.
Elizabeth was sorry to leave. She was also pleased to go home with her husband. The two feelings sat together quite comfortably as the carriage turned out of Alderbrook’s drive.
“You approve?” Darcy asked.
“Of the house, or of my sister’s happiness?”
“Both, I hope.”
“The nursery is precisely where she wishes it.”
“I saw.”
“And Charles has only the door left to worry about.”
“There is a loose tile over the stable.”
“Oh dear. You have given him another occupation.”
“He showed it to me.”
“Then he had prepared himself.”
Darcy smiled and took her hand beneath the rug. She leaned against him while the carriage carried them along the familiar road.
At Pemberley, Martha and Thomas were in the nursery. Anna had pulled herself upright against Thomas’s knees and was considering whether his waistcoat offered a means of going higher. Martha sat beside them with a small stocking she had just mended.
Elizabeth stopped upon the threshold to enjoy the child’s determination before Anna noticed their arrival.
“She means to reach your chin,” Darcy told Thomas.
“She may have it, sir, if she leaves my nose alone.”
Anna turned at Darcy’s voice. She let go with one hand, discovered that she still required support, and caught at Thomas again. He steadied her and lifted her onto his knee.
“Shall you go to him?” he asked.
Darcy came nearer and held out his hands. Anna stretched toward him at once.
