In the Way of Other Rich Men by Lori Light

Author:Lori Light [Light, Lori]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-14T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

For Sunday morning service, the little country church was packed to capacity with the Netherfield party in attendance. They came in several carriages and Darcy’s was the first to arrive. Bingley was with him but waited outside the church for Jane while Darcy and Georgiana entered and found seats. The Bennet family entered just as the service was about to begin. Darcy heard, rather than saw them, as they took their seats in the row behind him. Darcy knew that Bingley would be sitting beside Jane, and he wondered if Wortham, who had come in a different carriage than Darcy, would sit with Elizabeth. He dared not look back to see. The thought was too domestic, too intimate for him. Darcy felt the sadness, with which he had struggled since April, take hold so severely that he felt his chest tighten.

Worship began with a song that touched Darcy’s heart with its appropriateness for his darkened mood:

Holy Ghost, with light divine,

Shine upon this heart of mine;

Chase the shades of night way,

Turn the darkness into day.

Holy Ghost, with joy divine

Cheer this saddened heart of mine;

Yield a sacred, settled peace,

Let it grow and still increase.[1]

Darcy willed himself to attend to the lyrics. I will not sink into despair, he said to himself. His deep baritone voice became a bit louder with each verse as he willed himself to experience the promised peace. Soon he was aware of a voice from behind him. It was Elizabeth’s sweet soprano, and it blended beautifully with his. To Darcy, all other voices seemed to fade. He heard only his own and Elizabeth’s. How he wished he could hear their blended voices each Sunday morning!

When the song ended, the congregation was seated, and the sermon began. Darcy was a man of faith. He always looked forward to Sunday services, especially if the vicar was a true man of God and not a hopeless sycophant as they sometimes were. He eagerly opened his Bible, which had been a gift to him from his father and was very dear to him. The message on that day was titled “Grace means Service” and the text was from 1 Peter, chapter 5. Darcy had read this passage before, but today it seemed as if he were hearing it for the first time. “Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.” Darcy slumped slightly over his Bible as he read the words again and contemplated their meaning.

Elizabeth’s attention was repeatedly drawn away from the sermon and to the man in the pew in front of her. When Darcy opened his Bible, she noticed that the leather cover was worn, and the pages were tattered. How unlike Mr. Darcy, she thought, to own something less than pristine! When the text was announced, Darcy turned to the place quickly. He indeed knows his Bible, Elizabeth thought. Darcy seemed to be engrossed in the words of the vicar. He looked intently at the minister and then down at his Bible with equal concentration.

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