CHAPTER TWELVE #3
"The lease ends in two years," he continued. "Your father will renew it, but the house must eventually pass to Mr Collins. I could purchase an estate now. Darcy knows of one in Surrey. It is larger, and there would be no uncertainty."
"Do you want it?"
"I want a home that is ours. I thought Longbourn might be that because you love it."
Jane looked around the schoolroom. "I do love it. But it is full of my family's memories. I do not know whether I wish our marriage to feel as though I returned to childhood with a husband added."
Bingley's worry eased into curiosity. "What would you wish?"
"To remain here for a year. Long enough to learn how we live together. Then search slowly. Not for the largest estate or the grandest name. For one where you understand the land and I can know the tenants."
"Together?"
"Every part."
He smiled. "I believe I should like that better than Surrey."
"You have not seen Surrey."
"Then it has already disappointed me."
Jane laughed and rested her head briefly against his shoulder.
Across the room, Elizabeth turned away to grant privacy and found Darcy watching her.
"They have learned quickly," he said.
"Jane has always known how to listen. Mr Bingley has learned to ask."
"A useful distinction."
The carpenter called Sir Thomas downstairs. Lady Bennet followed to ensure no portrait was moved. Jane and Bingley went to inspect the nursery, leaving Elizabeth and Darcy alone among the childhood marks.
Darcy approached the doorframe. "Which is yours?"
Elizabeth pointed. "E.B., age eleven. Papa attempted to measure us after dinner and made every mark too high because our shoes were on. Miss Harwood corrected him the next morning."
"He kept the incorrect marks."
"To preserve the record of his error, he said."
Darcy touched the faint pencil line with one finger. "Your father possesses an unusual willingness to make correction visible."
"He learned late. Perhaps that made him less ashamed of admitting it."
"I learned late."
Elizabeth held his gaze. "Not too late."
The words changed the room.
Darcy turned fully toward her. "Elizabeth—"
The use of her name was soft and unplanned.
Bingley's voice sounded from the corridor. "Darcy, the nursery ceiling is painted with birds. Did you know?"
Darcy closed his eyes.
Elizabeth laughed so suddenly she had to lean against the wall.
Bingley appeared in the doorway. "What happened?"
"You," Darcy said.
"I only asked about the ceiling."
"We shall explain when you are older," Elizabeth said.
Jane understood at once and drew her bewildered betrothed away.
Darcy faced her. "Tomorrow morning."
"Is that a request or a warning?"
"A request. Will you walk with me?"
"If the roof remains attached."
"I shall post guards."
Their smiles faded into something more tender.
The roof was repaired over the next week, but the discussion it began continued. Sir Thomas brought Mr Collins from Hunsford to review the long-term lease. Charlotte accompanied him and prevented three speeches concerning his future rights.
"Longbourn may not be mine for many years," Mr Collins said, glancing at Sir Thomas's healthy figure. "Which is, of course, an occasion for rejoicing."
"Then rejoice quietly," Charlotte murmured.
The renewed lease granted Bingley three additional years with protections for improvements he funded. When he and Jane eventually purchased elsewhere, Longbourn could be leased again until the entail took effect.
Sir Thomas also opened the matter of his daughters' portions.
Ten years of income from both estates and careful investment had allowed him to set aside ten thousand pounds for each daughter, with additional income to Jane upon marriage and equal interests in Netherfield after both parents' deaths unless a different family arrangement was agreed.
Mr Collins looked stunned. Lady Bennet looked proud enough to ascend.
"They will not need Longbourn," Sir Thomas said. "But they will always be welcome in it while I hold the estate."
Charlotte studied the settlement. "This is fair."
Mr Collins began, "Lady Catherine might observe—"
"Lady Catherine called upon Netherfield yesterday," Elizabeth said. "Her observations have reached their allowance for the week."
Charlotte's mouth curved.
Mr and Mrs Collins returned to Hunsford the following morning, the renewed lease settled.
That evening Sir Thomas stood alone in Longbourn's empty library.
Bingley's books had been moved temporarily from the damp western room, leaving disorder on every surface.
He placed one volume upright and remembered how many years he had sat there believing provision meant merely keeping the estate intact.
Elizabeth found him.
"Do you miss it?"
"The room? Sometimes. The man in it? No."
She came beside him.
"Mr Darcy asked to walk with me tomorrow."
"I know."
"Of course you do."
"He asked my consent last night."
Elizabeth turned. "Before asking me?"
"He asked whether I would consent if you did."
"And you consented?"
Sir Thomas looked at her. "I told him your answer was yours."
She slipped her arm through his. "Ten years ago, you might have forgotten that."
He looked around the library one final time before they left.
"At considerable expense."