Chapter 60
Chapter Sixty
Perhaps she was right.
He had not put Wickham in the ground, though he had thought of it so often that, when the coroner asked about his culpability, he nearly confessed to being guilty. He was glad someone else had done it. And to think that Wickham’s vices had been the ruin of him!
Soon, they stood at the unmarked mound of dirt, and Georgiana, who had blanched at the suggestion to come before agreeing it might help, held him tight.
He said to her, as well as to Elizabeth, “Let us bury all that has passed and move forward to love and new possibility.”
Elizabeth said, “Here lies Mr Wickham.”
“A truly wicked man,” said Darcy.
Elizabeth’s lips twisted into smile, but Georgiana moved away from him. He thought she might be objecting to his words or wish to leave, but she added, “Here lies youthful foolishness.”
Darcy added, “Here lies hatred and suspicion and fear.”
“Here lies the past,” said Elizabeth.
Darcy paused then asked, “On to the future?”
They both nodded.
Darcy took Elizabeth’s hand. And then his sister’s. And together, they left the graveyard.
His last words to his love before he departed for London were, “In less than one month, my darling, I shall meet you at the church.”
“Do not be late.”