Chapter 21
Darcy
If he had thought dinner the night before was lively, it was nothing compared to the dinner held at Netherfield the night before the wedding.
There were eight gentlemen and eleven ladies, and many of the diners were talkative.
There was frequent teasing of the bride and groom, and although he would have thought he would have despised being the centre of attention, and teased to boot—well, it turned out that being the centre of attention with Elizabeth was enjoyable, and being teased for loving Elizabeth was something to be celebrated.
They sat side-by-side, holding hands under the table and not particularly minding if anyone knew of it. They laughed often, murmured comments for each other’s ears only, and occasionally teased their guests back.
“Goodness,” Reggie said at one point. “For a moment there, I thought Miss Elizabeth was a particularly bright addition to the candelabra, her face is so glowing. But then I caught a glimpse of Darcy—and he is glowing every bit as much!”
Darcy felt himself blush and looked sidelong at Elizabeth, who was squeezing his hand, he imagined in support.
Seeing the blush spreading upwards from her décolleté to her cheeks brought him so much pleasure, he was pleased with the tease.
He smiled down at Elizabeth, and she laughed her musical laugh—another source of great pleasure for him.
Having afforded him so much enjoyment, Darcy briefly turned his eyes away from Elizabeth, towards Reggie, and he simply said, “Thank you” and smiled.
He heard a chorus of “oh”s and assumed that Reggie had made a silly face or something, but he could not be bothered to figure it out, because his eyes had already returned to Elizabeth.
Another time Lady Grace said, “Elizabeth, I hope you and your Mr Darcy are suitably contrite for making the rest of us feel quite desperate because we shall never find such a perfect partner.”
Unexpectedly, Richard interjected: “Speak for yourself, Lady Grace; I have discovered my perfect partner! As a matter of fact, I believe I may have found her because of Darcy and Elizabeth—they showed me what is possible, and only then was I able to recognise it.”
Elizabeth and Darcy both beamed at Richard, and this time when ladies said appreciative “ohhh,”s Darcy looked to see what was happening, but he just saw ladies gazing at him and Elizabeth.
He supposed that maybe some of them were, as Richard put it, seeing what was possible?
At any rate, he thought no more about the puzzle when Elizabeth leant towards him and said, “Just twelve more hours, my love.”
Darcy knew better than to kiss his intended on the lips in front of people—it just was not done—but as she leant to whisper to him, her temple was close to his lips, and he could not resist kissing her there. He whispered back, “Twelve more hours, and you are mine, and I am yours.”
“As we have been for months, now,” Elizabeth said.
“As we have been for months, but we will finally be considered so by the law, by the Church of England, by even strangers.”
“Yes, we will.”
They looked at one another in pure delight.
Darcy was positive that he would be hard pressed to sleep much during those twelve hours, but that did not signify.
He had been very happy since meeting Elizabeth, in May, and he only hoped to create for her as much joy as he felt in her company.
He could imagine holing up in the master bedroom at Darcy House and allowing that “one little room an every where,” as John Donne wrote.
Because, when he was with Elizabeth, there were times when it felt as if the rest of the world really did vanish.
Twelve more hours!