He only hoped Elizabeth would arrive on time.
She did, but he almost failed to recognise her. The young lady getting out of a very grand carriage wore a gown with a ridiculously long train, and her hair was teased into an enormous coiffure, decorated with a bandeau headdress and white ostrich feathers. She dazzled with diamonds in her hair, on her throat, and at the high waist of the gown.
Darcy looked again and startled. “Elizabeth!” he said.
“Good evening, sir,” she said, sounding miserable.
“You look…beautiful,” he said.
“I thought that disguise of every kind was abhorrent to you.”
“Well, I do not admire the style you have had to adopt, but you are still beautiful despite the excess of your clothing.”
“Thank you.”
Darcy offered his arm and led Elizabeth to the door. “You will be meeting with the Prince Regent in the state room,” a servant informed them. “This way, sir, madame.”
They had to wait more than a quarter of an hour, but the Prince was finally announced and entered. The court official who had met Darcy several times reintroduced Darcy and introduced Elizabeth to the Prince.
Darcy bowed low, Elizabeth dipped a deep curtsey. They both smiled and waited for the Prince to begin the conversation.
“You are even lovelier than His Grace claimed,” the Prince said.
“Thank you, Your Royal Highness.” Elizabeth smiled one of her most brilliant smiles and said, “I cannot say the same to you, since His Grace never spoke of you except as a fearful object who would wish to destroy my life and my family.”
Darcy’s insides clenched. That was certainly a bold thing to say, but he studied the Prince’s face and saw that Elizabeth’s smile, her bright tone, and her one lifted eyebrow, which showed her to be dealing with irony, had charmed him.
To his relief, the prince laughed. “Where on earth did you find this delightful creature?” he asked Darcy.
“In Hertfordshire, Your Royal Highness.”
“And are you certain you know what to do with such a treasure?” he asked Darcy. He turned to Elizabeth and said, “You know the nickname for your intended, do you not? He has ever been called The Monk, and my dear, he earned the title in the most tedious way possible.”
Elizabeth laughed as if the Prince’s words were witty. “Thank you for the laugh, Your Royal Highness. I dearly love to laugh, almost as much as I dearly love my very own Monk.”
The Prince laughed, too, no doubt convinced by Elizabeth’s charm that he had been amusing and quick-witted. He turned to Darcy again and said, “I have heard of late that ‘The Monk’ is now ‘Saint Darcy.’ You are too liberal by half, I believe, but I am of a mind to dismiss all of Lymebourne’s complaints as just so much steam. What say you?”
“Britain is great because we have a government that reflects the people and cares about the people. We are great because we work hard, we invent machines and conveyances, we support artists, and we invite the best of the world into our drawing rooms and theatres and lecture halls. The Duke of Lymebourne spurns everything that makes Britain great, and I am delighted if you ignore him in favour of those who add to society rather than distract and attack.”
Before the prince could respond, Elizabeth said in a low but carrying voice, “I am certain, sir, that you now see exactly why I am so very proud to be attached to this man.”
The prince nodded at her, perhaps believing that he agreed with both Darcy and her—Such is the power of Elizabeth!Darcy thought.
Only a few minutes later, Elizabeth and Darcy found themselves dismissed back to the curb. The carriage thatMadame DuBois had arranged for Elizabeth had left, and Darcy handed her into his carriage, where his valet and the lady’s maid waited. “What are we to do with the gown, headdress, and jewels, Elizabeth?” Darcy asked.
“Madame said she was sending boxes to Darcy House,” she replied. “And I promised that you would send everything back with armed guards at first light tomorrow.”
“Good, good,” he said. “If we had had any sort of warning, I would have been able to access the Darcy jewels.”
“I should have expected there to be Darcy jewels,” she murmured.
“Do you realise what happened in there?” he asked.
“I believe that you won and the dastardly duke lost,” she said.
“I believe that we now have a green light for getting married!” he explained.
“Oh! I believe that you are correct.”
