She stopped the tears of joy, worried they would freeze to her cheeks. “Yes William, as there is no one other than you I would ever want to marry. I will marry you. But…”
Darcy stood, no man wanted to hear a ‘but’ when he proposed to the love of his life, his soul mate. “But?”
“With thanks to my father’s strictures…” she briefly explained what her father had stated during her confrontation with him after the Bingley’s wedding. She watched as the tension bled out of him as soon as he understood the genesis of her condition, which was not her own choice.
As much as Darcy wanted to marry sooner, he would not suggest an elopement, especially not after what had almost occurred with Gigi. “What date is your birthday?” he asked.
“The fifth day of March.”
“In that case, as long as you are in agreement, I will acquire a special license and we will marry the day after your birthday so your father cannot try to call the legality into question because of a technicality. Who would you have sign the settlement for you?”
“You will hear no opposition from me regarding the date of the wedding. I believe when I looked at a calendar for 1813, my birthday falls on a Friday, so the next day being a Saturday will be a good day to marry. As far as the settlement goes, I have two uncles and a brother, and in a few weeks, I will have two more brothers after living more than twenty years without even one male sibling. I would be happy with any of them signing the settlement.”
With the business between them settled, Darcy gently pulled Elizabeth into a hug. She came into his arms willingly. She was shivering some, so Darcy enfolded his great coat around her for some added warmth.
Elizabeth placed her hands on his chest. Even through his jacket, vest, and shirt, Elizabeth could feel the hard planes of his muscles. She raised her head and closed her eyes. She felt his lips brush her own which caused a rush of warmth throughout her body. They kissed a few more times, each one deeper than the one before.
He kissed her cheek and felt how cold she was. “You have bewitched me mind, body, and soul, but we need to make for the warmth of our homes. The coach will arrive at Longbourn to collect the Bennet ladies before eleven this morning. Neither noticed the sun had peeked up above the horizon since it had done nothing to warm the cold around them.
Darcy assisted his fiancée back into her saddle and they parted reluctantly. He squeezed her hand before she rode off towards Longbourn. Darcy stood watching her until he could barely distinguish between horse and rider. She had acceptedhim; he was engaged to the woman who completed him and his heart.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As happy as Jane was to be Mrs Bingley, the reunion with her mother and all five of her sisters was all that she had imagined. Louisa was as dear to her as any of her by blood sisters, but she was most proud of the way Kitty and Lydia had changed and behaved like proper ladies. When her mother and Lizzy related the way her father had been behaving since the talk after the wedding, Jane was disappointed, but not very surprised.
Charlotte, who was visiting Richard, was welcomed as a soon-to-be sister, and there was no missing the way Mary glowed with happiness since her engagement. Then Jane turned to Lizzy, and truly looked at her. There was the glow she saw in Mary and Charlotte on Lizzy’s countenance, the one she noted in the mirror each day when looking at herself. It was the glow of love. It took no time at all for Jane to see the mooncalf way Mr Darcy was looking at Lizzy, or the way Lizzy returned his looks with besotted ones of her own. Her husband had been trying to speak to his friend who had been unaware he was being addressed.
“Elizabeth Rose Bennet, do you have something to tell us?” Jane demanded with a wide smile.
Darcy gave his fiancé a nod. “Thanks to Mr Bennet’s snit it will be unofficial until I reach my majority in March, but William proposed and I accepted him.”
Anything else Elizabeth was about to say was lost in a chorus of squeals produced by the four youngest girls in the room. Elizabeth was surrounded by her mother and sisters—current and future—while Darcy was having his back slapped by his cousins, Bingley, and Hurst.
“I am so happy you will be my sister,” Georgianagushed. “All of you will!”
“Who will be your sister, Gigi?” Lord Matlock boomed as he and his wife arrived in the drawing room. The poor butler’s announcement was lost in the noise of the impromptu, somewhat raucous, celebration in the room.
“It is Lizzy, and all of the Bennet sisters I refer to. Lizzy accepted William!” Georgiana gushed. “Oh! I just realised, Becca will be my sister and Andy and Richard my brothers.”
“Do not forget about Louisa, Hurst, and me,” Bingley added.
“It is about time,” Lady Matlock told her nephew as she hugged him. “I am so glad you two found each other,” she said as she gave her future niece a hug as well.
When it was shared with the Earl and Countess that the engagement was not official and why, Lord Matlock’s first inclination was to go give Mr Bennet a much deserved setdown. His sons, nephew, and soon-to-be niece convinced him it was better to allow sleeping dogs to lie.
When it was time for the five Bennets to depart for Longbourn after dinner that night, they did so with great reluctance. They and the Lucases would all be spending Christmas day with the residents of Netherfield Park.
Chapter 34
With the lessons in horse riding Andrew had been teaching Mary, combined with his calm manner, and the complete trust she had in her fiancé, by the time the day before the wedding arrived, Mary was comfortable atop the beasts she had once been afraid to approach any closer to, than sitting in a conveyance.
For the last sennight or so, whenever there was a riding party, Mary had been one of their number. The compliments of her two older sisters, who had both been riding horses for many years, only added to her pleasure in the activity. Andrew had told her together they would find her a horse in Hilldale’s stables which fit for her, and if one of the existing stock was not suitable, then he would purchase one for his Mary.
The Gardiners had arrived on the Wednesday before the wedding—Gardiner had not been able to get away from his business sooner—so Longbourn was as full as possible with the nursery and all guest chambers occupied.
None of the residents of Longbourn had seen hide nor hair of the master of the estate for some time now. It had been some weeks now that Bennet had taken to sleeping in his study. He took every meal within as well, and sad to say, his family did not miss his absence at all.
Bennet could not understand why Lizzy had not come and begged him to reinstate her allowance, or crave his forgiveness for her unconscionable words to him. Also, he could not fathom why his wife had made no demands of him, not even for funds to purchase Mary’s trousseau. He was sureshe had had to purchase one no matter how austerely she liked to dress as she would be a viscountess soon. As none of his ploys to pull Lizzy back in had succeeded, Bennet’s answer was to drink even more, to the point that he would pass out from imbibing far too much, and miss most of his meals.
