“Yes, you broke off your engagement with the Trent girl.”
Here it was. I was hoping to get out of town before being forced to deal with my aunt’s wrath. “We both decided it wouldn’t work.”
“And how long did you spend getting to know each other?”
“Aunt, it wasn’t going to work out.”
“Andnow,half the town is saying that you are engaged tothatgirl.”
I stared at her in confusion. “Engaged? To what girl? Rosalie?”
“Elizabeth Bennet! I knew the moment I met her that she would be trouble. And when you went off with her in that coachwithout a glance or consideration for your betrothed…” She shook her head. “It is most unbecoming behavior for a king.”
I sat there, trying to process it. Everyone thought I was engaged to Lizzy? I almost wanted to laugh at the irony.
“That upstart of a girl thinks she can steal you and make herself queen.” Aunt Catherine stood up and paced in front of me. “Of course, I knew it was a false rumor from the start. My nephew wouldn’t have the gall to propose to another woman the day after he broke off his engagement.”
“Well—”
“But when I went to prove the rumor false, Lizzy was very disrespectful. That obstinate, headstrong girl.”
I froze. “You spoke to Lizzy?”
“Such a rude little thing. After much coaxing, which someone of my station shouldn’t be reduced to, she finally denied being engaged to you.”
I ran a hand over my face. “Aunt Catherine, you really shouldn’t have—”
“And then, when I asked her if she would agree never to become engaged to you, she had the nerve to refuse me.”
I stared at her. Then I rose from my seat, my heart racing in my chest. “She said that?”
“Of course she did. She is a very unkind young lady who has no respect for position or seniority.”
I stepped closer to her, a hope I didn’t dare trust sparking inside me. “Just to be clear. You asked Lizzy never to accept my proposal, and she said she wouldn’t do that.”
“Yes.” Aunt Catherine's eyes flashed with anger. “Which is why I’ve come here to ensure that you won’t be silly enough to propose to her this Valentine’s Day. You are king, Fitzwilliam, and you need to think wisely about who you are going to marry.”
Aunt Catherine’s words rolled into me like a piercing ray of sunshine cutting through the mist. Lizzy had refused my aunt. Was there a chance that she’d changed her mind about me?
Knowing Lizzy, she might’ve said that to my aunt to spite her since the two didn’t get along, but even so, I couldn’t stop the bit of hope springing in me.
I’d hate myself forever if I didn’t try.
“Fitzwilliam Valemont, are you listening to me?”
“Sorry, Aunt, I need to go take care of some things.” I hurried from the room, my mind spinning, my heart lighter than it had felt in weeks. Netherfield cast a shadow of Lizzy on the wall, and I smiled, knowing the house approved.
Aunt Catherine followed. “Where are you going? Surely you can’t be thinking about proposing to that girl.”
“Charles! Georgiana!” I yelled down the hall before turning back to my aunt. “She’s not ‘that girl’. She is the woman I love, and I might have one last chance to convince her to be mine.”
Fury shone on Aunt Catherine’s face. “You will regret this.”
“The only thing I’ll regret is doing nothing.” I hurried toward the foyer, where my friends met me with worried looks on their faces. It wasn’t like me to run through the house shouting names. “Is everything all right?” Charles asked.
“If you guys don’t mind a slight change to your plans,” I said. “I need your help to plan one more thing for Valentine’s Day.”
Charles, Jane, Wickham, Lydia, Henry, and Georgiana looked at each other, smiles on their faces as if they already knew. Georgiana grasped my hand and squeezed. “We’re in.”
