Chapter 18 #3
“Relax Darcy, I have no question of your constancy, resolution, or that you want to marry my daughter for any nefarious reason. I am sure that you are not interested in her for the fortune she brings to the match. That being said, I have no objection to your private interview with my Lizzy and I will be here if you need to ask me anything at the end of said interview. Do you intend to ask for her hand or a courtship?” The Earl waited, knowing that by the way she held Darcy for support when her life was endangered that his second daughter was not indifferent to the man.
“Like my cousin Richard, when he proposed to Lady Jane, sir, I will offer the choice to Lady Elizabeth.” Darcy nodded at the supposition and received a nod that it was as he had expected.
“Good answer, son. Go to it.” The Earl sent him off to make his second daughter happy.
By the time Darcy returned to the family sitting room, it contained the two Countesses and soon to be sisters Jane and Marie.
After a nod from Darcy, Lizzy informed her mother that her father had granted permission for her to talk to Mr Darcy in private.
Fanny kissed her second daughter on the cheek then withdrew with the three other ladies, leaving the door cracked open for the sake of propriety.
Once they were alone, Darcy sat next to Elizabeth on the settee and took her hands in his as they faced each other.
“Lady Elizabeth, Elizabeth, my wishes and dreams are unchanged from the sentiments I expressed at Hunsford, though spoken in the worst possible words.” Darcy started his second proposal with respect to them both for what had so been a turning point to him because she had shown him the path he must take in order that he could become the man that his parents had believed he would be.
“Do not remind me of what you, or for that matter, I said as it will do neither of us credit,” Lizzy responded softly.
“What did you say that I did not deserve? I was arrogant, prideful, and hypocritical. I will never forget as you said, ‘if you had been more gentleman like.’ My first emotion after the setdown that you delivered was anger. Once I calmed, the more I considered, truly assessed your words, even before my family pointed out my folly and bad behaviour; I had started to reluctantly admit that you were correct in your assessment of me.”
“I noted each of your reproofs, saw the justification in your words, and then went about the business of addressing each and every one. Before I ask the question that I would love to, bar none, I must ask another. Are we at the point where I may ask for your hand, or is it the request for a courtship that you prefer to hear?” He held his breath in anticipation as she thought for a minute or two.
As excruciating as the wait was, he wanted to make sure that she answered as her heart and mind saw fit.
Pushing too fast had greater consequences than proceeding slowly so that he could win her love and she accept his.
When she was ready and knew what she wanted to say in a way that would not hurt the man that she now both respected and esteemed, she nodded to appraise him and met his eyes.
“Rather than keep you in suspense, I will let you know that I am not willing to accept more than a courtship now.” She saw his look of disappointment so she quickly clarified her meaning for him.
“Do not think that I for one second doubt your love, resolution, or constancy. I do not,” she assured him with a hand on his arm.
“Not very long ago, it was hard for me to be in your company, now I relish it. I did not respect you, and I most certainly do now. Lastly, there was neither esteem nor love for you, and now there is esteem. I do not think that I love you…today. I know that I am on my way to being in that state which is why I want to enter into a formal courtship with you. I believe as I get to know you better, I will be in love with you in the not too far distant future.” She blushed lightly as she admitted it aloud to the man who had gained her affections so rapidly since they had both returned to town from Kent.
The more that she spoke, the better he felt, and as she finished her speech he was as close to content as he could be without being able to ask for her hand.
Elizabeth had indicated that she was on her way to being in love with him, and that coupled with the rest of what she had said about her feelings toward him was enough. For now.
“Lady Elizabeth Bennet, you are the love of my life, the only one I could ever see accompanying me on my life’s journey.
Will you do me the honour of accepting a formal courtship with me?
” His thumbs rubbed the tops of her hands as he asked the question that would alter the course of his life forever.
“Yes Mr Darcy,” she answered with a joyful smile, “I happily accept your offer of a courtship.” He squeezed her hands and then rose, informing her that he was going to request her father’s consent and blessing.
As he exited, Lizzy pulled the bell pull and requested that O’Grady find her mother and ask her to join her daughter in the sitting room.
A short while later, her mother, the three Fitzwilliam ladies, one Darcy and her sisters joined her just before her father and Darcy entered.
Once everyone was seated, excepting the two men, Bennet asked Lizzy to join him.
“William has requested a courtship to which Lizzy replied in the affirmative, and I have given my permission and blessing to the endeavour. I congratulate the now officially courting couple.” Bennet smiled at the happiness he could clearly see on all the assembled ladies, Georgiana’s the brightest and he could understand why.
She was the only one that went home alone with her brother.
She and Darcy needed his Lizzy and the happiness and laughter that were as much a part of her personality as was reading.
The couple received effusive congratulations from all.
Georgie hugged Lizzy tightly and told her how much she had prayed that she would accept William and be her sister.
Her brother and Elizabeth both pointed out that they were not betrothed, yet, which was dismissed as a mere technicality and she charged them to fix the issue as soon as was possible which earned her smiles from both.
Both families were pleased with the deepening of bonds between them.
The Countesses sat together and agreed that if the courtship progressed to the desired end, William and Lizzy would be well suited one to the other.
Thatcher, with the help of a footman, brought in champagne, a small pour, given the time of the morning, so that the newly courting couple could be toasted by all.
The Darcys issued an invitation for dinner at Darcy House for two days hence, the day before Lydia would be collected from school to those present and informed them that the Gardiners, Rhys-Davies and De Melvilles would be invited as well.
The younger set did not want to part with their friends, betrothed, or courting counterparts, so they planned to meet and ride in Hyde Park in the afternoon.
The irony that Miss Caroline Bingley was a prisoner in the same house where the object of her obsession requested a courtship from the woman that she hated more than any other was not lost on anyone.