Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
F inally, they arrived at an idyllic river. The current was slow and calm. The bank was lined by oak trees with branches that elongated over the water, and the water reflected the colours of the skies above. Wildflowers and untamed shrubbery lined the embankment, adding colour and tranquillity to the scene. Elizabeth walked directly over to the water, took off her gloves, and dipped her fingers in it. The coolness was immediately refreshing. She looked to where Mr Darcy stood, gazing warmly at her.
“It is lovely,” she said.
She walked back over towards him, and he assisted her to a weathered bench facing the scene. He gestured towards the largest tree in the area, which shouldered the bank. A frayed, broken rope hung from a high branch. “Colonel Fitzwilliam and I used to swing on this rope when we spent summers here. We carved notches into the tree that you can still see. We would climb up to the top and jump off. It was a way for us to relax after spending days in Lady Catherine’s home. ”
She laughed at this, amused by the idea of him having childhood adventures. “Oh how delightful! It is hard to imagine you as a reckless little boy.”
He gave her a mockingly disapproving look. “I shall have you know I was quite the climber as a child, and when I was not working on my lessons, an adventurous explorer.”
She laughed. “I only mean that, as I know you, you are usually the perfect gentleman. It is hard to imagine you with the energies of a boy.”
He looked more serious. “It was a special time to come here and be liberated. It provided a nice reprieve from the responsibilities that were expected of me from a young age. It was probably one of the only places in my childhood where I felt true freedom.”
She saw weariness in his eyes, and understood that his childhood had been as strict as she suspected, and its solemnity likely exacerbated by the premature death of his mother. She was tempted to reach out and touch his hand, but remembered herself and refrained.
“Of course, in the evenings I had to come back to Rosings and Lady Catherine,” he added, lightening the mood.
Elizabeth laughed. “What types of activities did you do out here?”
“Some I can tell you, others I cannot. You must understand, we had a strict rule: ‘no girls allowed’.”
She laughed again and they continued talking. He spoke of summers past, and she watched his mouth as he spoke. She inexplicably wondered what it would be like to kiss him. She had never kissed anyone before. Would she know what to do? Would she be bad at it? She shook her head to banish these thoughts and reminded herself to attend to what he was saying. So engaged were they in the conversation, they did not notice storm clouds rolling in until the first drops landed on them.
Mr Darcy gazed up towards the sky. “I suppose we should get back before it gets much worse.”
They stood and began walking towards the path, but faster than they could get out of the grove, thunder, lightning, and thick rain commenced. Alarm coursed through Elizabeth from the sudden change in weather, and she glanced towards Mr Darcy, hoping he might have some plan for them.
He had to raise his voice for her to hear him. “I fear we must wait it out. Let us take shelter under that tree.” He grabbed her hand, and they ran to sit between the roots of the tree that shouldered the stream. It provided some shelter, but they were still quickly becoming drenched by the rain. Her bonnet was soaked and half off her head as the rain began falling harder and the sky lit up from lightning striking somewhere in the vicinity. Mr Darcy took off his coat and with one arm, held it over his and Elizabeth’s heads. He lightly wrapped his other arm around her shoulders to bring her closer to him and better shield her from the storm.
They huddled together with her back and head against his chest as he pulled her in tightly. The storm’s ferocity kept them silent but she was thrilled—and anxious—to be so close to him. She felt his nose in her hair and his breath on her head. Her own breathing became more rapid the longer she sat next to him.
The storm subsided almost as suddenly as it had come on. He gently removed his coat from above them, but his other arm remained around her waist. She turned and lifted her head up to speak to him. “That was unexpected, was it not? I thank you for shielding me, sir. ”
She strove to speak lightly, and yet somehow, they became locked in one another’s gazes. As she stared into his eyes, she could see hues of amber that she had never before noticed. He looked back into hers as if he had never seen anything like her before and suddenly the notion of falling in love with one another seemed all too real.
They stayed like that for a few moments. He lifted his free hand up to her cheek tenderly, and she closed her eyes at his touch. Leaning towards her, he kissed her gently. After a moment he pulled back, and they opened their eyes.
“Please forgive me, I—” Their eyes locked another moment, and this time Elizabeth closed the gap between them quickly, kissing him with a passion he quickly matched.
After some time had passed in that manner, Elizabeth began to realise how long they had been gone. She reluctantly pulled away from him. “I suppose I should be getting back now,” she said softly, then stood. Mr Darcy immediately stood up as well, though he appeared to be suppressing a grin.
“What? What is it?”
“I think we must first re-arrange your hair.”
She touched her hair and her eyes widened as she realised how completely disordered it had become. He turned her around and they laughed as he did all he could to help her put the pins back in and retrieve her sodden bonnet. She could not believe this moment was real—the formidable, aloof, and grand Mr Darcy laughing as he redid her hair so she could go back into her cousin’s house without drawing undue notice or scurrilous accusations.
As they walked back to the parsonage in comfortable silence, Elizabeth reflected on what had just transpired and what this meant for them. Was there a ‘them’? As they approached the parsonage path, Mr Darcy asked, “When may I see you again?”
“I believe tomorrow we are supposed to dine at Rosings. If you remember, my mother and youngest sister will be here to retrieve me,” she said. Then added solemnly, “Before I return to Hertfordshire next week.”
“I shall wait with bated breath.”
As she began to turn and walk away, Mr Darcy stopped her.
“Miss Elizabeth?”
“Yes?”
“When you return to Hertfordshire, may I follow in a few days so—” He paused, an interminable pause while Elizabeth’s heart pounded. “So that we might further our acquaintance?”
Her spirits soared and she had to fight to keep from bursting into happy song or something equally silly. “I should like that very well.”
She moved to leave but he stopped her. Reaching towards her, he removed a hair pin that was barely hanging onto a fallen lock by her face. As he looked down at the unique piece in his hands, he rubbed over where the initials ‘EB’ made out of metal were placed near the top. He then lifted the hair to pin it again, and she touched his hand to stop him.
She placed the pin into the palm of his hand, “Um…you may, you may keep it,” she said, feeling a little embarrassed. “As you know…”
His hands closed tightly around the pin. “I would love that.”
He drew closer to her and gently tucked the uncooperative hair behind her ear. Looking into her eyes, he squeezed her hand one last time as she gazed warmly at him. Reluctantly, she turned around, swinging her wet bonnet as she walked back towards the parsonage.
“Elizabeth?”
She stopped walking and turned back towards him, attempting to hide her surprise that he called her by her Christian name. “Yes?”
“I am very excited to see what the future holds for us.”
If she had not been worried about Charlotte or Mr Collins possibly seeing, she would have run back into his arms and kissed him again. All she could muster was a heartfelt, “And I, as well.”
Once inside, she was relieved to find the front rooms empty. She ran up the stairs to her bedchamber, closed her door, and fell backwards onto her bed. Sprawled there, she clutched at her heart. My first kiss . Her head was spinning as she replayed the scene over and over in her head. Moment by moment. It had been perfect in every way.
She tried to push away the slight guilt she felt in letting him kiss her, and that she had allowed herself to respond in equal measure. I am nearly a grown woman , Elizabeth told herself, and all signs suggested that she and Mr Darcy were on the road to engagement.
She could hardly believe it. She was about to become an engaged woman. Shaking her head in wonder, Elizabeth was amazed her life could turn so quickly to a new chapter. She had never imagined such a smooth and joyous path to matrimony, but here she was, on the verge of a proposal and marriage. How strange it would be! She had always imagined Jane would be the first to marry, to leave Longbourn before her. Yet, it now seemed that Elizabeth would be the one to depart first, leaving to make her home a hundred miles away to Mr Darcy’s grand estate of Pemberley, where one day she would be mistress! She resolved not to dwell on the distant future, as it made her somewhat anxious, but to think only of the things which made her smile. Which she did. Over, and over again.
She was recovered by the time she heard the Collinses returning home. Determined to conceal her giddiness, Elizabeth rose from her bed and stepped to the mirror, where she promptly burst into laughter at the sight of her dishevelled appearance. Recalling Mr Darcy’s attempts to re-pin her hair made her blush, but she strove to fix her appearance and adopt a calm expression before joining her friend downstairs to help prepare for the arrival of her mother and sister the following day.