Chapter XXXII
Elizabeth’s laughter lingered for another moment after the girls had disappeared.
Darcy found himself smiling simply because she was.
The house gradually resumed its ordinary sounds.
Somewhere a servant crossed the hall; from farther away came the faint closing of a door.
It was curious, Elizabeth thought, how readily the world returned to its accustomed business.
Only a few minutes before, Lydia had declared that Darcy was to become her brother.
Georgiana had embraced her with tears in her eyes.
Nothing in the house had altered – and yet everything had.
She looked towards Darcy. He had not taken his eyes from her.
The expression upon his face made her smile fade into something quieter. There was still astonishment in it, as though some part of him expected the afternoon to dissolve into a dream from which he would presently awaken.
“What?” she asked gently.
“I was merely wondering how long it would take before I believed this.”
She inclined her head questioningly.
“That you have agreed to marry me.”
She lowered her eyes for a moment, unable to suppress the warmth rising to her cheeks. Even now, hearing him speak the words aloud made them seem almost improbable.
“I might ask the same of you.”
“You doubt me?”
“No.” She looked back at him and smiled. “I did flatter myself that you might have done all this… with Lydia… for me.”
Darcy shook his head slowly.
“I have spent months attempting to persuade myself that I had forfeited every hope of your good opinion.”
He looked down at his injured hand, turning it absently as he spoke.
“When I realised you avoided Pemberley in Lambton, that is what I thought. But then you did not seem to hate me anymore… what is more, you said something that allowed me to hope.” A faint smile crossed his face.
“When you did not come the next day, I told myself I had merely been indulging another foolish hope.”
He looked at her again. “I went to the inn. I learnt you had left Lambton.”
“You did not receive our note?”
“No. They were too busy and did not think it was urgent.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “I could barely stand on my legs in front of the innkeeper. I believed whatever had begun between us had ended before I could name it.”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled. “Oh, Fitzwilliam…”
“Only one thing prevented me from surrendering entirely. The innkeeper mentioned that you had been crying when you left. I could not reconcile that with indifference.”
“Oh, dear man.”
“When no letter came from Longbourn, I tried to persuade myself it was over. I even attempted to mourn what might have been. Yet something within me refused to believe I had seen the last of you. It was a very slender foundation upon which to build hope. I wish I had been more courageous. I should have just gone to Longbourn to see things for myself. So, when I came across Miss Lydia – I understood why you left. I should like to tell you I did everything solely for your sake.” His voice became thoughtful.
“Perhaps, in part, I did. But I also knew Wickham.
I knew what sort of man he was. Once I realised who she was, I could not have abandoned her, no matter whose sister she had been.
“If someone had told me this morning that, before the day ended, I should hear Lydia Bennet calling me her brother, I should have questioned his sanity.”
Elizabeth laughed again, though more softly than before.
“I think even without this, she considered you a brother figure.”
“Really?” There was genuine astonishment in his voice.
“Have you not noticed how she listens to you? She very rarely listens to any of us. She had learnt that in the end, she always gets what she wants. But with you, she follows your wisdom.”
“Why do you think that is?”
Elizabeth sat back on the footstool at Darcy’s armchair. “Maybe she needed a gentle but firm hand. It is difficult to say no to you.”
“Is that so?” Darcy asked, a teasing light entering his eyes as he leant forward. The movement pulled sharply at his ribs. He stopped with an involuntary breath.
Elizabeth’s smile vanished. “It is better that you do not move about for a few days,” she said anxiously. “And yes, I know how absurd that sounds coming from the woman who once refused you, but it is true.”
Darcy’s eyes twinkled. “When have you seen me commanding anyone?”
She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I do not need to see it. I can imagine it. I do not think you command people in the ordinary sense. You simply expect them to do what is right.” She smiled. “There is something about you that makes them wish to.”
“Is there?”
“Yes. I mistook it for arrogance once.” She held his gaze. “Now that you are my intended, it is my privilege to think better of it and say that I find it a most attractive quality.”
Darcy was silent for a moment.
“You cannot know,” he said quietly, “how much it means to hear you say that.”
Elizabeth smiled. “I think I can.”
He shook his head. “No. For months, I have measured myself against the opinion you formed of me at Hunsford. I hoped I had become a better man, but there remained a part of me that feared you might still see only pride where I wished to show principle.”
Elizabeth’s expression softened.
“Fitzwilliam, I no longer see the man who first proposed to me.”
“I do not want to be that man.”
She reached for his hand once more, her fingers slipping naturally into his.
“The strange thing is,” she said with a smile, “I do not believe that man was nearly as dreadful as I imagined.”
Darcy raised an eyebrow. “That is a remarkably generous revision of history.”
She laughed. “Do not misunderstand me. You were insufferable.”
“Ah. There you are.”
“You were proud, conceited, and entirely convinced that I should accept you.”
“I was.”
“But you were also honest.”
He looked at her in surprise.
“Painfully so, at times.”
“You have never pretended to be anything other than yourself. I merely failed to understand the man beneath the manners.”
“And now?”
She held his gaze. “Now I know him.”
Darcy did not answer.
There seemed nothing worthy of the moment.
Instead, he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it with a tenderness that required no words at all.
She sighed. “It has been rather an extraordinary day.”
“It has.”
For a little while, neither attempted to say more. There seemed no urgency now. The future, which only hours before had appeared so uncertain, had quietly unfolded before them, and for the first time, they were permitted to just look at it together.
“How can I go to your father like this?” He gestured vaguely towards his face. “It will be agony to wait. Now that you have said yes, I do not wish to lose another day. Would you object to our marrying by special licence?”
Elizabeth looked at him in astonishment.
“I could have one obtained within a few days,” he continued. “I think a small, private ceremony would serve us best under the present circumstances. Your parents, your aunt and uncle – those whom you wish to be present – could come to London. I shall send my carriage for them.”
He smiled ruefully.
“Before any of that, however, I must see your father. I should like him to think me a sensible man before he discovers that I intend to carry his daughter away with the least possible delay.”
Elizabeth laughed. “I do not know that Papa will think you sensible after hearing that.”
“Perhaps not,” Darcy admitted.
“And afterwards?”
“Afterwards, we could travel to Ramsgate. You would have the opportunity to write to your family with particulars of the house, and together we could ensure that everything is prepared before they arrive. Once they are comfortably settled…” His voice softened.
“… I should like to take my wife home to Pemberley.”
Elizabeth smiled. “You have planned everything.”
Darcy shook his head. “No. Only the parts that concern your happiness. You will learn – once I decide something, I am a man of action.”
***
Elizabeth rose reluctantly. “I really must go.”
Darcy rose as well, though considerably more slowly than she did. “Must you?”
She smiled. “I fear so.”
“I dislike the necessity exceedingly.”
“I shall see you tomorrow if you want.”
He stood looking at her for a moment before a sudden thought occurred to him. “One moment.”
He rang the bell.
Mrs. Barnes appeared almost immediately.
“Mrs. Barnes, would you be so good as to send a note to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner? If they have no other engagement, I should be honoured if they, together with Miss Elizabeth and Miss Lydia, would dine with us this evening. Nothing elaborate, if you please. I believe Cook has already been informed that I am an injured man.”
Mrs. Barnes’s eyes rested for the briefest moment upon Elizabeth before she inclined her head. “Very good, sir.”
When she had withdrawn, Elizabeth looked at him with amused resignation. “You are determined not to let me escape.”
“I have only just found you. It would be unreasonable to lose you again so soon.”
She laughed and shook her head. “I begin to suspect you are accustomed to getting your own way.”
“I am an invalid after all.”
“You are not an invalid for me.”
“No? Then what am I?”
Elizabeth smiled. “You are my Fitzwilliam. All right. I suppose I shall remain for dinner.”
***
The Gardiners accepted with pleasure, and what had begun as an afternoon of anxiety became one of quiet happiness.
Darcy himself related the events of the day, beginning with his extraordinary dream.
Everyone listened with bated breath, though they already knew how the story ended.
Mr. Gardiner listened with growing admiration, while Mrs. Gardiner more than once reached across the table to squeeze Elizabeth’s hand, her eyes glistening with happiness.
Mr. Gardiner smiled across the table. “Well, Mr. Darcy, I once told my wife that I believed you a man worth knowing. I did not expect you to become part of the family. That said,” Mr. Gardiner warmly added, “I can think of no man to whom I would more willingly entrust my niece.”