“Of course, Aunt.”
She continued on about her steward, the ungrateful tenants, and the impertinent neighbor who had dared invite her to a dinner when they were so clearly beneath her.
Darcy nodded and spoke when necessary, hoping his little explanation would be enough for her if she heard something from her servants.
Elizabeth had just stepped up to Rosings’s front door when she was seized by the arm.
“Pardon me, I must borrow Miss Bennet for a moment.”
“Colonel Fitzwilliam!”she cried as he led her around the side of the house and into the shrubbery garden.“What are you doing?”
“Forgive me, Miss Bennet, but it was necessary.”Fitzwilliam looked behind them to make sure no one had followed, then slowed his pace and led her to an enclosed area blocked from the view of anyone in the house.
“Mr.Darcy!”He stood in the center of the wall of shrubbery.
“Good evening, Elizabeth.”
She looked around and saw that Colonel Fitzwilliam had disappeared.She looked back to Darcy with suspicion.“What is going on, sir?”
“When we were walking in the rose garden yesterday, we were observed.”
She looked nonplussed, then her eyes widened.“You mean…?”
“Yes.I have taken the liberty of telling my aunt that you felt light-headed and nearly tipped into the fountain.She will likely inform you of the proper way to walk in a rose garden at tea.Forgive my subterfuge, but I could think of nothing else to tell her that would both explain the situation and protect your reputation.Not that you would be the first lady to… fall into a fountain, but I did not want stories spread about you.”
She flushed, but immediately understood the situation.“I thank you, Mr.Darcy.I see why you chose what you did.Hopefully your explanation will mitigate any potential damage.”
He nodded, looking awkward and uncomfortable.She stepped closer, unsure of her own actions, but wishing to assuage his concern as well.
She reached out and touched his arm.“I am not angry with you, Fitzwilliam.”
He sighed heavily.“Truly?”He placed his hand over hers on his arm.“You are certain?”
She smiled mischievously.“I may change my mind after listening to your aunt instruct me in walking for a quarter hour, but at the moment, no, I am not angry with you.”
He sighed and lifted her hand to his lips.“Thank you, Elizabeth.I do not know what I would do if I lost you now.”
She was clearly surprised, but he thought she did not appear discomposed.She flushed a little and looked at the ground.He could not resist running the back of his hand down one flushed cheek.Her eyes rose to meet his, and he raised her hand to his lips again, kissing it softly, then turning it over to kiss the inside of her wrist delicately.
Her eyes widened.“You truly love me, don’t you?”She flushed a deep red as soon as the words had left her mouth.She had not meant to say them aloud.
“Yes, I truly do.”
She smiled tremulously, her mind emptying of all thought.
“Come,” he said gently as he looped her arm through his and began to lead her back toward the house.
Elizabeth followed silently, wondering what one did with such a declaration when uttered by a man such as he.What did one do with a man like Mr.Darcy?
Thursday Once Again
Elizabethhadgonetobed Wednesday evening with a feeling of contentment, and she woke Thursday with a smile on her face.She and Mr.Darcy had faced their first trial, albeit a small one, and come out unscathed.He had handled it with discretion and consideration, and she could not be displeased by the result.It was still possible Lady Catherine would discover what was truly happening—that Mr.Darcy was courting Elizabeth on her own estate—but she now knew that he would stand by her.
She had not admitted it even to herself, but she had feared that Mr.Darcy’s love was confined to Rosings, where she was unencumbered by her inappropriate family and undesirable relations.They were in a secluded society, with little company and no real-world troubles to intrude.Would his feelings be as strong in London?Where she stayed with her relations near Cheapside and he was surrounded by his noble family?What about at Longbourn, where the company was less varied and her mother most voluble?
She had been floating along, enjoying flirting with an attractive man and being doted on with such seeming devotion, but it had not felt real, not truly, until she felt it threatened by Lady Catherine’s discovery.
Now… now it was all very real.His love was genuine.His pursuit in earnest.He would not give her up the moment difficulties arose.He would chase her until he caught her.His heart was hers for the taking.
