Epilogue
Elizabeth was not certain she had made the right decision. It was her birthday. Her first at Pemberley as Mrs. Darcy and she had not thought it would start this way.
Last year, six months after her wedding and having spent the full winter getting to know Pemberley as its mistress, Darcy had suggested they spend the summer at Ramsgate.
Eager to experience a seaside village, Elizabeth readily agreed even before he offered to extend the invitation to their families.
Georgiana, who had stayed with the Bennets to Longbourn after the wedding but returned to Pemberley in the early spring, was excited not only at the prospect of a holiday but that all her new sisters would join them.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had agreed to the scheme, the former with more alacrity than was his wont.
It might be supposed he felt keenly the absence of his two oldest daughters.
Jane also joined the family outing, coming from her new home in Yorkshire, just twenty miles from Pemberley.
Her reunion with Colonel Fitzwilliam and her wedding to that gentleman had occurred within a fortnight of one another.
Though it was uncharacteristic of Jane to act with such haste, Elizabeth understood.
Before Stephen returned in March, his father had received word that his unit had engaged the French at Cadiz.
The initial communication indicated Stephen was missing in action.
Though this proved to be an erroneous report, and almost as soon as it was amended by another, Stephen himself was on his way home, having been injured in battle.
However, that short time believing she may have lost him settled Jane on her desires more than anything else might have.
She was with his parents when they welcomed him off the ship at Portsmouth, and after a week spent recovering from his wounds, he was able to escort his bride to a local church, where they were married by special license attended only by the Earl and Countess.
No one, save Mrs Bennet perhaps, begrudged the couple their expedient wedding.
They quickly decamped to Herriton House, a small estate gifted to him by his father.
And so last summer Jane and Stephen had hosted the large party of friends and family in Ramsgate to celebrate Miss and Mrs. Darcy’s birthday at the house they had let right beside Elizabeth and Darcy’s.
It was a delightful time, as were the entire two months they spent there.
However, Elizabeth was pleased this year to be at home.
She and Georgiana had planned their traditional birthday picnic with all their favourite games and food.
Stephen and Jane, along with their infant son Colin, had arrived several days ago along with Mary, who had been staying with them.
The Gardiners, with all three of their children, would arrive later in the morning and several neighbours would also be in attendance.
But right now, Elizabeth was most concerned with where her husband was taking her.
Just after dawn, he had woken her up with kisses and an insistence that she dress and be ready to leave the house within the half hour.
Charmed by his boyish enthusiasm for whatever surprise he had planned, she agreed without asking any questions.
Now, as he led her down a path, she thought through the back garden, though she could not be sure as he had blindfolded her as soon as they reached the first floor, Elizabeth was rethinking her choices.
“Fitzwilliam, where are we going?” she laughed. As much as her curiosity was demanding satisfaction and her patience was being stretched, Lizzy could not help but delight in his antics.
“We are almost there,” he told her. She could feel the sunshine on her cheeks, so she knew they had emerged from the small copse of trees by the garden’s edge.
Elizabeth could not think of what he meant to show her on this side of the house.
It was a stretch of lawn she rarely visited as it had none of the charms of other parts of the grounds, which held gardens, ponds and fruit trees among other things.
When she turned at the sound of a birdcall, Elizabeth caught a faint scent of something.
Curiosity aroused, she stepped forward and inhaled again.
“I see you are about to solve the mystery.” Darcy had let go of her hand, and his voice was coming from behind her now. She felt his hands at the back of her head and then the blindfold fell to the ground. “Happy birthday, my love,” he whispered against her ear.
Blinking to adjust to the bright sunlight, Elizabeth looked around.
Lilacs. It was a large grove of lilacs. The scent was now clear and vibrant as Darcy moved her into its centre.
There were at least two dozen bushes, all heavy with blossoms, arranged in a small horseshoe.
In the middle, with a small lilac bush on each end, was a stone bench that looked vaguely familiar.
There were also several flowering trees with white and pink blossoms adding to the vibrant, colourful and fragrant display.
Elizabeth launched herself into her husband’s arms, laughing her thank you’s and kissing whatever part of him was closest as he caught her and held her close.
“Fitzwilliam, this is the loveliest surprise. It is so beautiful.”
They stood for a few moments in one another’s arms, before Darcy kissed her gently and led her to the bench, when she moved to sit beside him, he pulled her onto his lap.
“I thought you would like to have something like the grove by the lake closer to the house, where you might enjoy it more often. Happy birthday, my dearest Elizabeth.”
“You are too good to me,” she told him as she laid her head on his shoulder.
“That is not possible,” he answered with gentle certainty.
“Why does this bench seem familiar? Is it from the gardens?” She asked, pulling back from him and standing to circle the object in question.
“It is not from any gardens. It is in fact from a courtyard.”
“But not a courtyard here at Pemberley?” she asked as she worked to place the bench in her memory.
“No. It’s previous home was not here, but closer to Longbourn.”
“Longbourn? This is not …” then she realized where she had seen it before. “Netherfield.”
His almost smug smile confirmed she was correct even before he answered. “It is the bench we sat on the night we came to an understanding and where I gave you your first set of Darcy jewels.”
Elizabeth smiled at the memory as she touched the necklace that, despite its fineness, she wore almost every day.
“It was in a lilac grove where I first realized how delightfully tempting you were and on this bench where we reached our understanding.”
“I do not want to sully your incredibly sweet and romantic gifts Fitzwilliam but it was at best near this bench that an understanding was reached. If you recall, neither of us could sit still during that exchange.”
“That may be true, but it was a witness to our initial declarations of love,” he conceded with a serious smile.
“It was also a witness to our first kiss,” she teased.
“That is true,” he agreed, pulling her into his arms and kissing her as he had that night, with gentleness and passion.
She responded in kind. One flaw in the setting Fitzwilliam had created was soon revealed when they heard a knocking sound.
They turned to find its source and saw Georgiana, Stephen, Jane and Mary waving from Pemberley’s drawing room, whose window offered an unobstructed view of the new lilac grove.
Though they both laughed at this and returned arm in arm to the house, it was only one month later that Darcy had his gardeners plant several mature trees in a very specific place, which in just two years’ time gave the grove the desired seclusion.