Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
Darcy was thrilled to be betrothed. The thought of it ran through his head continuously, and he silently repeated, I am an engaged man. Elizabeth and I shall marry.
As they returned to the house after their walk in the gardens, he said, “I shall speak to the earl immediately. I ought to write to Mr Sterling and Mr Bennet, as well. Later today, perhaps, if there is time, or tomorrow morning.”
Her beautiful eyes, which had been the first of her fine features to capture his attention, expressed confusion. “I suppose you must request my uncle Bennet’s permission to marry me, since I am not yet one-and-twenty, but all three of them?”
“I feel I must. Mr Bennet might be your legal guardian, but I believe Lord Romsley and Mr Sterling deeply regret that they had no opportunity to play some sort of role in your upbringing.”
Sighing, she nodded. “I know they do, and it makes me love them all the more. Well, my good sir, I am sorry to cause you so much work. Are you sure I am not more bother than I am worth? No one knows of our betrothal but the two of us. It is not too late to withdraw.”
He knew she was teasing him, but he could not bear the thought of losing her. Immediately, he ceased walking and stepped in front of her. Taking her face between his hands, he fixed his eyes on her and insisted, “Do not even joke about it, I beg of you. You are mine, and I shall not let you go.”
She smiled and caressed one side of his face. “And you are mine.”
“I am,” he confirmed. “Always.”
They kissed, but before they became too heated—and mindful that they might be seen, since they were close to the house—they resumed walking.
The earl was soon informed of their understanding; he and Darcy spoke in the library.
“As far as it is my right to grant my permission, you have it,” Lord Romsley said. “Certainly, you have my blessing. You will write to Mr Bennet? Have you considered where you will wish to wed?”
“I shall write to him today, yes, and to Mr Sterling. As for the wedding, that is a subject we might as well discuss with the countess. Elizabeth intended to inform her of our news immediately.”
The earl stood. “Let us go find the ladies.”
Rising from the chair when his uncle did, Darcy began to walk towards the door.
A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Facing Darcy, the earl gave him an approving look and said, “I am glad it is you, Nephew. I know you will be an excellent husband, treat her as she—as all ladies—ought to be treated, and there is a comfort in knowing she will not be leaving the family upon her marriage. Your aunt especially will appreciate it. You know how fond she has grown of Elizabeth.”
“Thank you, sir.” Darcy inclined his head respectfully.
“I shall do everything in my power to ensure she is happy.” He assumed a great deal of visiting would ensue between the families, not only those from Romsley Hall and Pemberley but also with her relations from Hillsdale and Longbourn.
From what he had been told, the time they had spent with the Bennets and Sterlings had gone well.
To be sure, the Bennets were not the sort of people Lord and Lady Romsley were used to treating as friends, and Fitzwilliam had told him that Mrs Bennet’s uncouth behaviour had occasionally been a trial to his aunt.
However, Elizabeth united them all, and Lady Romsley and Mr Sterling felt they had a debt of gratitude to the Bennets for raising their brother’s daughter.
Darcy had met the Sterlings, but he would not say he was on intimate terms with any of them; he anticipated knowing the sons—who would be his cousins-in-law—better, especially since Bramwell and Fitzwilliam liked them.
Having additional friends was never a bad thing.
They found the ladies in a sunny parlour. The room was especially cosy at the moment, thanks to the fire and the tray of hot tea and tarts that had just been delivered.
“There is wine, too, but Elizabeth claimed a desire for a warm beverage after being outside,” the countess said.
“I have asked that Fitzwilliam be told to join us.” When she stood and held out her hands to Darcy, he went to her and took them.
Smiling, her eyes bright with delight, she said, “I am so very pleased. I knew how it would be, but that does not lessen the joy of this moment. I ought to be upset that you are taking her away from me so soon after I have found her, but how can I be? If you were any other man—”
“I would have sent him packing weeks ago,” the earl interjected. He was presently beside Elizabeth; Darcy assumed he had offered her his congratulations while the countess was speaking.
Elizabeth’s laughter, light and rich at the same time, filled the room.
“How wise of me not to choose another gentleman, then! But I could not have done so. I shall not extol Mr Darcy’s character—you are familiar with it already.
But I will say that part of my motivation in accepting him, a large part, was that I know he will never object to my seeing you, inviting you to Pemberley, or coming here to stay. ”
“That is the true reason you accepted him, is it not?” Lady Romsley asked, smiling at her niece’s teasing words.
“Naturally!” Elizabeth said.
All of them laughed, and since Fitzwilliam entered at that moment, they had to explain the entire situation to him.
Over the next while, they celebrated and discussed the coming weeks.
No one was opposed to the wedding taking place in Hertfordshire—it had been Elizabeth’s home for most of her life, after all—or to it being in April in a double ceremony with Miss Bennet and Bingley.
“Whatever you want is perfectly acceptable,” Lady Romsley assured Elizabeth. “We might wish to leave Derbyshire a little earlier than we originally envisioned so that we can stay in Hertfordshire for a while. It will give us a chance to consult Mrs Bennet on wedding preparations.”
Left unsaid was the possibility that Elizabeth would wish to remain at Longbourn until the wedding, rather than travel to London with the countess.
Since several weeks would likely pass between their arrival and the wedding, and he would prefer to be in town, he supposed the separation would not be too long, especially if he spent part of the time at Netherfield.
“She will be glad to take on the task,” Elizabeth said. “Jane will be there to help her, as will the younger Bennet daughters.”
Darcy rather doubted Mary, Catherine, or Lydia Bennet would be of much use, but he kept that opinion to himself.
Likewise, he would never admit that he was not anticipating returning to Meryton.
He wondered if part of it was embarrassment; after all, he knew he had behaved poorly in the autumn, especially towards Elizabeth.
I shall endeavour to do better. No, I will do better, and trust that the Bennets and their friends will overlook the past.
The next morning, he was awake early, as was his habit.
He sat in the downstairs parlour, drinking tea the housekeeper had provided before he even asked for it, smiling warmly and knowingly at him.
He supposed she knew that he hoped someone else might also rise with the sun and seek him out.
He tried to read, but his book could not hold his attention; it was much more pleasant to day-dream about Elizabeth and count the weeks until they would be wed.
It seemed impossible that he would soon be a husband, but so it was.
Elizabeth would be his wife. They would live together and share Pemberley and the town house in Berkeley Square.
By this time next year, they might be parents.
And we shall be happy. Whatever I must do to ensure it, I shall.
Fortune continued to favour him. Not more than twenty minutes after he had sat down, the door opened, and she slipped into the room.
He leapt to his feet and quickly closed the distance between them.
It was all he could do not to throw himself at her, gather her into a crushing embrace, and kiss her senseless.
But they were hardly in a place where that was acceptable, and he settled for grasping her hands and pressing a light kiss to her lips.
Her eyes danced with happiness. “Good morning, my dearest Mr Darcy. Or ought I to call you something else, now that we are engaged? How much deference will you expect of me?”
“Teasing me already, even before breakfast? I fear I shall need practice to accustom myself to it.” His own words were light, and he trusted she understood he was jesting.
Still holding one of her hands, he led her to a chair.
While he would have preferred to sit next to her on the sofa, such proximity might prove too tempting.
He fixed her a cup of tea and said, “You should call me Darcy, as most of my family and intimate friends do. No one calls me Fitzwilliam, not even Georgiana.” She usually referred to him as ‘brother’.
Since his Christian name was also his relations’ surname, it introduced too much confusion if people used it.
“Very well,” she said. “How are you this morning? Not regretting proposing, I trust?”
He chuckled, feeling the good humour—the joy behind it—deep within him. “I shall not bother responding to such a ridiculous statement. And you, my love? How are you? Do you regret—”
“Oh, do not finish that! I routinely say such nonsensical things, thus it is easy to dismiss them. But you, my most excellent friend and soon-to-be husband, do not, which makes it difficult to hear them in your wonderful voice. How could I possibly regret taking a step that will ensure my well-being and happiness for the rest of my life?”
His eyes closed, briefly blocking his view of her, and he concentrated on cooling his blood, which had been stirred by her words.
As though sensing he would do well with a change of topic, she said, “I am afraid the weather will confine us to the house today. There is an abundance of ways to occupy ourselves, at least. For one, I have many letters I should write.” She laughed.
“I find myself with more relations than I had dreamt I would ever have four months ago. New aunts and uncles and cousins, to say nothing of people such as Rebecca and her parents, who are near-relations. And, of course, the Bennets. As much as I am just as closely related to Lord and Lady Romsley or Mr and Mrs Sterling, Mr and Mrs Bennet will always be the people I see as filling the roles of my father and mother.”
Darcy observed her as she spoke. Her slightly more serious demeanour informed him there was a message in her words, and he was confident he knew what it was.
“That is natural. You grew up as part of their home, as one of their daughters. When I learnt they had adopted you and it was impossible to discern any hint of it from their or their daughters’ manner towards you, it made me think well of them. Better than you likely believe I do.”
“Thank you for understanding,” she said, her tone softening.
“When we went to Meryton on our way to Hillsdale, I could see that the earl and countess were a little uncomfortable at Longbourn. I am not foolish enough to be offended by it. There is a great difference between the Bennets and Fitzwilliams, Darcys, and Sterlings of the world.”
“But our aunt and uncle have no objection to you maintaining a connexion to the Bennets,” he said, his brow furrowed. He had heard Lord and Lady Romsley speak well of the family, even though they must have seen what he had—that Mrs Bennet and her younger daughters lacked decorum.
“Oh, no, they do not. Yet, I suspect another family under similar circumstances would wish me to distance myself from them. My uncle and aunt Sterling also indicated a desire to meet them once they are able to travel again.” Mrs Sterling had suffered an injury to her back and had been avoiding spending long periods in a carriage until it healed.
“At our wedding.” He held out a hand to her, carefully avoiding the teapot that rested on the table between them.
When she took his hand, he continued. “I would be inclined to keep our wedding small, with as few guests as possible, but you have too many relations who will wish to be there, unless I am very much mistaken.”
She nodded. “I think so too. I believe the only close family I have not met are Rebecca’s brothers and sisters and Lady Catherine and her daughter.
And—as your aunt insists herself—I am no relation of hers.
I had heard of her long ago, of course, from Mr Collins.
Do she and her daughter never go to London? ”
“Rarely. Lady Catherine likes to think herself superior to everyone about her. It is easy to do at Rosings but much more difficult in town, where there are so many people who outrank her, including her brother and sister-in-law.” He hesitated but then said, “Did Mr Collins ever mention my aunt’s desire that I marry my cousin? ”
With a shrug, she said, “I believe he did, and Lady Romsley mentioned it when we were at Hillsdale. Mrs Sterling had wondered what Lady Catherine would think of our union. After she had made a comment about my beaux, the countess hinted that she believed we had formed an attachment.”
“I see,” he said, his humour presently too good for him to be vexed at having been the subject of gossip between the ladies.
“Lady Catherine will likely be…stern in her displeasure when she learns of our engagement. We ought to let the earl deal with her. He is the only person she might—and I do mean might—listen to.”
Elizabeth laughed. “She sounds delightful! If we ever meet, I shall be prepared to find a dragon of a woman and shield myself properly against her slights and slurs.”
They chatted about how they would pass the day and were soon joined by the rest of the family.