Chapter 19 #2
“I certainly shall not. Meryton already has more than enough reasons to gossip,” she replied with mock severity.
“I do not wish to lose you again. I do not wish you to disappear.”
He whispered the words close to her ear, making her shiver.
A strange new feeling stole over her. Like a flower opening beneath the summer sun, her love seemed to bloom into something richer still. Every day brought emotions she had never imagined, whilst her heart appeared to understand what her mind had yet to learn.
“You disappeared, my love, not I,” she answered at last, her voice trembling. “I was the one who came after you and saved you.”
She was right.
“Indeed, my adored lady. Ours is a remarkable story. It was the lady who fought for the knight. But I promise you, once I have recovered, the knight intends to win his lady in return.”
“I am already conquered,” she whispered.
Then, eager to turn their thoughts elsewhere, she added quickly, “Now let me tell you everything that happened during this dreadful week.”
He shook his head.
“I am not proud of what happened.”
“It was not your fault,” she answered without hesitation.
“No. Yet I was made part of deeds I despise. I shall explain everything to the world in due course, but nothing remains to be explained between us. I am yours, and my only wish is to marry you as soon as possible.”
He bent and kissed her neck, sending a shiver through her.
“In only a few days we shall be married,” she murmured. It was the sweetest promise she could make.
“But once you are my wife, I shall enjoy certain privileges,” he said mischievously, knowing how easily the subject made her blush.
Instead of answering, Elizabeth rested her head against his chest.
“I am ready to become your wife.”
“I shall never leave your side again, my dearest Elizabeth. I know what you did for me. You saved my life.”
“You are my life,” she whispered. “So, in saving you, I saved myself.”
She turned towards him. His arms closed around her, whilst her fingers slipped gently into his hair. Every movement made them both tremble, their breaths mingling.
Slowly she lifted her face until their lips met. At first the kiss was gentle, tender, almost timid. Then it deepened naturally as they forgot everything beyond one another. His caresses made her catch her breath in delighted surprise, whilst her dark hair fell around them like a curtain.
Neither knew how much time had passed before they finally drew apart.
They smiled at one another, both flushed, each hearing the other’s heartbeat.
Still wrapped in each other’s arms, they remained motionless for a long while, gazing into one another’s eyes.
He desired her, and for the first time Elizabeth truly understood what that meant.
“I cannot understand it. Only ten hours ago you were almost lifeless, and now…” she said, blushing at her own discovery.
“My love,” he whispered, “that is simply how men are. Do not be shy, my sweet lady. In only a few days you will be my wife. Let us not delay our happiness any longer.”
“Yes,” she answered. “That dreadful week is over, and…”
“And, Elizabeth?”
“And I no longer wish merely to imagine what love might be,” she confessed bravely, revealing thoughts she had never before spoken aloud.
He wished he could celebrate his return by making love to her that very night. Yet he knew his beloved deserved a wedding night untouched by haste or shadows. His Elizabeth would leave her shyness behind in its own time and discover love as freely as she gave it.
“I have behaved very badly,” she whispered. “I allowed you to kiss me like that.”
“On the contrary, my dear. You are a perfect lady. My lady. And I want my lady to delight in every step of our life together.”
At last she caressed his face.
“I should return to my room now, Mr Darcy. My father is still in the house.”
“Indeed you should, Miss Bennet. I shall count the days and the hours until I may call you Mrs Darcy. But stay a little longer, and I promise we shall do nothing except talk. I do not wish to speak of Rosings anymore, but I do want to know what happened in London whilst you were searching for me.”
“Papa or the colonel will tell you everything you wish to know. As for me, I never want to think about this past week again. Only the happy moments…like the moment I found you—”
“And placed my head upon your breast—”
“Fitzwilliam!” she cried. “You are impossible. You cannot take anything seriously.”
“My love, your breast is a matter of the utmost seriousness to me. Indeed, I may safely declare that, at this moment, it is the most important place in the whole universe. But do go on. Tell me more.”
“I only want to go to Pemberley,” she whispered.
That dreadful day ended, at last, with a kiss.
∞∞∞
The following morning, Darcy invited Mr Bennet into the library.
“I shall be very brief, sir.”
“There is no hurry anymore,” Mr Bennet replied with his familiar smile, where warmth and irony always seemed to live side by side.
“Quite true. I wish to speak to you about a decision I reached even before this dreadful week. I had long suspected Mr Collins possessed an unpleasant character, though I never imagined him capable of behaving so despicably. During my last stay in Hertfordshire I had an opportunity to become better acquainted with the neighbourhood. Bingley and I found an estate no more than ten miles from Longbourn. It is a little jewel, with a handsome house, an extensive park, and a river running through the grounds.”
“It is the Emsworth estate,” Mr Bennet said. “I used to hunt there with the owner. He is quite advanced in years now.”
“Yes. He was a friend of Bingley’s father.
We visited him some weeks ago after hearing that he wished to sell and retire to London.
He has no children, only an elder sister who is married and lives there.
I intend to instruct my solicitor to purchase the estate jointly in Bingley’s name and my own. ”
Mr Bennet looked at him in bewilderment.
“But you already possess an enormous estate,” he said at last.
“Yes, we do.”
Mr Bennet smiled. That little we now included Elizabeth as naturally as it included Georgiana.
“I cannot describe what I felt when I saw Mr Collins again and realised how precarious your family’s situation truly is.
I want my family to be secure. And by my family, I mean every one of you.
The Emsworth estate will be purchased in your name, so that your wife and your other daughters may always have a comfortable home, whatever the future may bring. ”
Mr Bennet remained silent. The possibility that his family’s future might finally be secure seemed almost beyond belief.
“I scarcely know what to say,” he murmured at last.
“Then let us say no more about it today. We shall have plenty of time after the wedding.”
“Indeed we shall. For now, let me simply say…thank you, my son.”
There was something unusual in Mr Bennet’s expression.
For many years he had hoped for a son. When fate denied him one, he had almost forgotten that five daughters would one day bring him sons-in-law instead.
If Wickham had proved a bitter disappointment, Darcy and Bingley were more than any father could have wished for.
“I deeply regret never having known your parents, my dear boy,” he said quietly, “but I am sure, as a father myself, that they would have been immensely proud of both you and your little sister.”
“So you accept…our proposal, sir?”
“I shall be perfectly honest with you. It pains me to know that I could not provide a better future for my ladies. Yet I accept your generosity with gratitude, because I have no right to place my own pride before their welfare.”
Darcy inclined his head.
“You see, sir, when I resolved to marry Elizabeth, I too had to struggle with my own pride and prejudices—”
“Say no more. That belongs to the past, and it has no importance for me.”
“Thank you. I appreciate your generosity. Yet I want you to know that, when Elizabeth and I marry, and I hope it will be very soon, it will be with the great happiness of seeing Elizabeth become a Darcy and the great joy of becoming part of a family such as yours.”