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“William, are you sure you want to do this?” Elizabeth whispered, hoping not to wake her sister-in-law who was asleep opposite them.
“We spent Christmas at Pemberley with the promise that we’d would come to Longbourn for Christmas. We’re only twenty minutes away, there’s no backing out now.” He gave his wife’s hand a gentle squeeze where it was resting on the carriage seat. “Plus, Jane and Bingley are going to be there and I’m sure you won’t want to miss them.”
Sighing, Elizabeth relaxed back into her seat. Fitzwilliam had a point, she was longing to see Jane. When the Bingleys had decided to open Netherfield over winter, they’d also made the decision to spend Christmas with the Bennet’s.
“At least we’ll be staying with them instead of my family,” Elizabeth muttered to herself as she gazed out of the carriage window.
Darcy shook his head with a small smile. “Have heart, Elizabeth. It’ll only be two days and then we’ll be in London for the New Year.”
“Mr Darcy! Miss Darcy! It’s such an honour to host you at Longbourn and much overdue, don’t you think?” The Bennet clan had been waiting outside of the house when the Darcy carriage had come to a stop. “I’ve written to Lizzie on multiple occasions telling her that the three of you simply must come and visit.”
Elizabeth could feel her cheeks start to redden as she knew her mother was about to admonish her in front of her husband and sister-in-law.
“Yes, Elizabeth had told me. I hope she passed on my apologises, my duties at Pemberley have rather taken over a lot of my time. We haven’t had a chance to make it here before now.”
The tension in her shoulders began to ease as Fitzwilliam stepped in and saved her from any further embarrassment. Thankfully Jane had already arrived with Charles and Elizabeth soon turned her attention to the married couple, pulling Georgiana along with her and away from anymore of her mother’s questions.
“Such a shame that Lydia and Mr Wickham weren’t able to come.”
After ten minutes of greetings outside, Mrs Bennet had finally relented and allowed to family to go indoors and take shelter from the greying clouds. They were sat around the living area, Mary sat at her piano whilst Kitty tried to convince her that there was no need to play anything right now and they should really be opening presents.
Georgiana had taken a seat next to Elizabeth. She was still rather shy around everyone else and other than her sister-in-law and brother, the only other people she felt somewhat comfortable with was Jane and Charles.
Elizabeth felt Georgiana stiffen beside her as Wickham was mentioned. The only reason that the Darcy’s had agreed to coming to Longbourn was because they knew that Lydia and Wickham weren’t able to come. Not wanting Georgiana to feel any more uncomfortable, Elizabeth tried to change the subject.
“Shall we open some gifts? Mr Darcy and I got something from London for you Mamma.”
That immediately perked up Mrs Bennet who soon forgot about her youngest daughter not joining them for Christmas. The next half on hour was filled with screams of laughter from the younger two Bennets, Mr Bennet grumbling and complaining in his armchair and Mrs Bennet having to do a running commentary on the gifts her two eldest daughters had bought her and how lucky they were to be married so well.
The five guests had taken a more subdued approach. In their letters, both Jane and Elizabeth had agreed that it would be best for them all to open their gifts at Netherfield when they left that evening. They would have more time to chat and enjoy their gifts without their mother or sisters trying to find out what the present was before it was even unwrapped.
Dinner was yet another loud affair. Bennet dinners were something that Elizabeth knew how to manage well. The noise, laughter and yelling across the table did not make her bat an eyelid and knowing looks shared with Jane helped her to get through it. She felt for her husband though and worried about his discomfort. On Fitzwilliam’s part, he acted as though none of it bothered him. He entertained her mother- and sister-in-laws with all the charm he could muster but Elizabeth could tell that the noise and company was starting to get to him. Early on in their marriage she had learnt that Fitzwilliam could only deal with large group of people and a lot of noise for only a small amount of time before he began to find it too much and longed to retreat to the peace of Pemberley.
After dinner proved to be no respite either. Mary was determined to practice the new music that The Darcy’s had gifted her. As Elizabeth tried to surpress a wince at the attempt she knew that it was partly her own fault for giving the gift but at least she knew that Mary was happy with it if nothing else. Eventually, Mary stepped away and asked Georgiana to grace them with a song. Not one to enjoy the limelight, Georgiana asked Mary to join her in playing a duet which the entire household had found much more palatable. Kitty had pulled Jane and Charles to dance with her as the music played. With Mr Bennet falling asleep in his armchair and Mrs Bennet clapping along to the song, Elizabeth took the opportunity to stand next to her husband.
“Would you like to leave soon?” she asked, grazing her fingers against his.
Fitzwilliam looked down at her, a gentle smile on his face. She couldn’t help but note how exhausted her looked. They’d been up since the wee hours of the morning in order to get to Longbourn in good time and having to be social for such an extended period of time was bound to tire him. And yet, Fitzwilliam still shook his head.
“You haven’t seen your family in a long time, enjoy this time with them. I’ll be fine.”
Elizabeth didn’t have much time to argue and Kitty tugged on her arm, pulling her in to enjoy the festivities.
It was eleven o’clock before the Darcys and Bingleys had left Longbourn and past two in the morning until they had all gone to bed after exchanging presents and sharing stories. There was no question that Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam were going to share a bed, they hadn’t slept separately since the day they had gotten married. Finally curled up under the blanket, with her head resting against her husband’s chest, the couple felt like they could finally, fully relax.
“Maybe next year we stay at Pemberley?” Fitzwilliam suggested, running his hand through Elizabeth’s hair.
She hummed in response, closing her eyes. “Easter at Longbourn is a much less rambunctious gathering.”
“Are you sure you won’t mind?”
“Not at all. I think it’s time we start our own traditions.”