With Bennet’s permission, Richard led his fiancée to the family library, where the door was left fully open, and Biggs was stationed in the hallway.
He told Mary that he was no longer in the army and his commission had been purchased. However, she could tell that he was not at ease. “Richard, I can see there is something weighing on your shoulders. I hope you already know you are able to share anything with me,” Mary stated after she had regained her breath thanks to a searing kiss behind one of the bookshelves before they sat on a settee in full view of the door.
“You know me too well, my darling Mary. In addition to discovering that my Aunt Cat was a murderess, I received a letter from my late Uncle Lewis, which he wrote a month or two before he was called home more than twenty years past. Here, you may read it, and then we will discuss its contents.” Richard handed his beloved Mary the letter which had been in his inside jacket pocket.
Other than a few times when Mary’s eyebrows shot up, she did not react and said nothing while she read. On completion, she folded the letter and returned it to Richard. She took one of his hands. “If I know you, you are ambivalent about accepting all of this which would have belonged to Cousin Anne had she not been taken ill over twenty years past. In fact, I wouldwager you are feeling guilty, are you not?” Richard nodded that she was correct. She continued, “Yes, you should mourn Anne as you intend to do, but you will need to move forward with your life.
“This misplaced guilt is rather self-indulgent, Richard. I am sure I am not the first to tell you that you had no influence or fault in what happened to Cousin Anne.”
“No, you are not the first. However, my strong, brave, and intelligent Mary, you are the first to point out that I am being self-indulgent. I knew that speaking with you about all of this would give me clarity. It seems that you and I will be living in Kent for a good portion of the year.”
“I understand it is only about fifty miles to Meryton from Rosings Park. After all, Richard, when we need to visit Meryton, what is fifty miles of good road? It will be an easy distance, and when we are in London, we will be even closer to Longbourn.”
“How I love you, Mary Bennet. I cannot wait until you resign the name Bennet for Fitzwilliam.” Richard would have gifted Mary another passionate kiss. However, he stopped himself when he saw Biggs was looking right at them. They would find a brief time alone later.
By the time they returned to the large family sitting room, those who were not aware of Richard’s inheritance had been informed.
Elizabeth was very happy for Richard, although it meant after he and Mary married, they would be about one hundred and fifty miles distant from one another. She remembered that Hilldale was not more than thirty miles from Pemberley, so at least Jane would be close by. It was then she realised that Chatsworth was less than ten miles away and that Aunt Connie and Uncle Harry’s estate, Granville, was barely fifteen miles away over the border into Nottinghamshire.
Even though she would be far from Mama, Papa, Henry, Mary, Tommy, and Ellie, Elizabeth was well aware they would see one another often.
What pleased Elizabeth more than anything else was the fact that Liam had returned with Richard. Without asking Mama about the signs denoting that one was in love; she was positive she was deeply in love with him. She had missed him terribly while he had been away, even though it had only been a little more than five days. Never had she thought she could make such a deep connection with a man so quickly. When she tried to imagine her future life without him in it, she saw a blank canvas with nothing on it. Only when she put Liam next to her walking life’s paths were there vibrant colours and lots of life in the picture of her future.
“Liam, you know that question I said I would be ready for soon?” Elizabeth said near his ear insotto voce.
At first Darcy was confused. Then he remembered her words the day Elizabeth had accepted the courtship. Darcy felt a wave of excitement throughout the whole of his body. “Elizabeth, are you saying you are ready to hear a proposal of marriage from me?” he verified excitedly.
“I am,” Elizabeth confirmed. “I suggest you go ask my papa if we may speak in private.”
Darcy did not need to be prompted twice. He shot up and took three quick strides to stand before Becca and Bennet. The two had been watching the interaction between Lizzy and Liam and were almost sure of what Liam wanted to say to them.
Becca pre-empted him. “Yes, you may speak to Lizzy in private. John is still outside the family library. You have ten minutes, and the doorwill remainpartially open.”
Soon enough Darcy was leading Elizabeth out of the sitting room; both had looks of absolute joy on their faces.
Chapter 30
Elizabeth and Darcy both had to fight their inclination to run to the family library. They did their best to maintain decorum as they walked out of the sitting room as fast as they could without breaking into a run.
“It seems that Lizzy is as keen to be asked as Liam is to propose to her,” Beth noted. She was beyond happy for her granddaughter. She was also grateful she had married at barely sixteen because at four and sixty years, Beth still felt as well as she had two decades past. She was fully aware of the gifts He had bestowed on her to allow her to see some of her grandchildren marry and possibly for her to meet some great-grandchildren.
“If she thought she could get away with it, I am sure our granddaughter would have dragged Liam out of this room.” Lady Anna smiled.
Becca heard Mama’s and Mother’s words and could not disagree with them. Lizzy was very ready to marry Liam, and he was completely besotted with her. Yes, God was being very good to them. A third child making a love match. She was confident that none of her children, or for that matter the children in the extended family, would ever settle for anything less than the deepest love and respect in their future partners. Now it was a short wait to hear the announcement. She wondered if Lizzy and Liam had reached the family library yet.
“Good morning, John,” Elizabeth smiled as she greeted the huge footman. “I feel safer now that I see you are ready to defend my honour,” she jested.
Biggs, whose face was usually inscrutable unless he needed to intimidate someone, came very close to smiling. He liked all of the Bennets greatly, but somehow Miss Lizzy had wormed her way into his heart as his favourite among them. “That I am, Miss Lizzy,” he responded as he schooled his features again.
Once inside, Darcy set the door as instructed and led Elizabeth to the centre of the room, which, thanks to a glazed skylight in the ceiling, bathed her in a pool of sunlight. He took one of her hands in each of his own and sank down onto one knee. He momentarily forgot what he wanted to say as he took in the beauty of his beloved. The sunlight behind her almost made it look like she had a halo around her head and shoulders. It fit because she was his angel. He forced his mind back to the task at hand, especially as Elizabeth was looking at him questioningly with an arched eyebrow.
His eyes locked onto her incredibly fine emerald-green eyes and felt himself getting lost in the intensity of the love shining back at him. Darcy shook his head to clear it. “Elizabeth Georgiana Bennet, you are everything and so much more than I ever desired in the partner of my future life. Until I met you, the question for me was, ‘will she deserve me?’ when I thought about my possible future wife. On that first night when I almost put my shoe in my mouth, I began to ask a new question: ‘am I good enough for her?’ You are by far the handsomest woman of my acquaintance. You are, however, so much more than your aesthetic façade.
“You, Elizabeth, are kind, compassionate, generous, gracious, and extremely intelligent. I do not even hold the factthat you have beaten me in chess twice as many times as I have you, against you.” Darcy grinned, and Elizabeth beamed a smile back at him. “I could go to the ends of the earth and back again and never find a woman even half as well suited to me as you are. Most importantly, my heart belongs to you. I love you. I love you with all that I am, and more than that, I could not respect you more if I tried. Without you, I would be lost in the barren desert of the broken-hearted because I could never marry another. Elizabeth, will you be that oasis in the desert and grant me your hand in marriage?”
“Fitzwilliam Alexander Darcy, you are the most handsome man I have ever beheld. As pleasant as you are to look at, your looks are not the thing which made me fall in love with you. You are, in fact, the best man I know. What draws me to you is your strength, your generosity, your intelligence, and so much more.
“I knew I was close to being in love with you before you travelled to Kent with the Fitzwilliams. It was when I did not see you daily that I came to understand my life would be empty without you as my husband. When I examined my feelings, I realised I had been in love with you even before you departed London. It seems I was in the middle before I knew I had started.
