Her tears had driedby the time she saw him leaning against a tree near the top of the rise. His hat was near his feet, and his horse was nowhere to be seen. His wavy hair was appealingly dishevelled and looked lighter in the afternoon sun. His forbidding countenance was focused intently on the ground. Despite his stern demeanour, Elizabeth found him striking. She recalled the strength of his arms when they danced, and she wished they were now wrapped around her.
She heard him curse and knew she must approach him, but Mr Darcy was so deep in thought he did not notice her. Elizabeth stood directly in front of him before he looked up, startled to find her so near. She gently laid her hands on his upper arms that were still crossed over his chest, tilted up her head, and lightly pressed her lips against his cheek. She pulled away to arm’s length but kept her hands softly touching him, feeling the fabric of his coat more so than the limbs underneath.
Mr Darcy had done little to react to her presence other than raise his eyes from the ground. She felt shy of him, but he had already put forth all he could for her. She gathered her courage and drew on her love for him. “Please do not send me away.”
Mr Darcy only stared, alternating his gaze among her hands, her lips, and her eyes, but he said nothing.
“I know you said your temper is too little yielding, resentful perhaps. I have been just as easily offended and unforgiving. What must I do for you to forget my folly? How can I earn your forgiveness?”
He did nothing but look at her with dark, fathomless eyes. Amazement, resentment, indignation? She knew not what he felt, so she became more hurried and anxious as he did nothing but stare. She dropped her hands from his arms and stepped away from him.
“I have long regretted my actions toward you, but never more so than I do at this moment. My self-respect has been challenged. You must see that. Not a month ago I hated you. And now my soul aches at the thought of separating from you.” Her voice broke a little. Elizabeth knew she had hurt him, and she could only hope she had not lost him forever. “You were the arrogant man who disdained all who were close to me, who would not lower himself to dance with me, who separated my beloved sister from Mr Bingley, and who wilfully blasted the prospects of a man who flattered me.”
Elizabeth, fearful of his silence, rambled. “Can you not imagine my surprise to learn that, despite my efforts to provoke you, I had attracted your attentions? My love for you has come upon me so suddenly and so powerfully that I was frightened by its dominion over me. In a short time, you have come to mean very much to me, so much so that, when I envision my future, you feature prominently in every picture I imagine. It was easier to believe you remained conceited and callous than believe that I could so suddenly be completely in love with you.”
The trees and sky in her field of vision unexpectedly blurred past her and she felt the warm pressure of Mr Darcy’s lips against hers. He had uncrossed his arms and used them to pull her into his chest and kiss her.
Her eyelids fluttered closed when one of his hands wrapped around her waist and the other lightly traced along her cheek and jaw. Elizabeth was deliriously happy, and she gave in to the wondrous feeling of his lips lingering against hers. One of her arms wound its way around his waist beneath his coat, while the other rose to rest on his shoulder. Mr Darcy moaned against her lips as he pulled her tighter, so close that she could feel the pounding of his heart.
The moment Darcysensed her relax into his embrace, he allowed himself to drown in the feel of her. The feel of her full lips on his and her hands touching him was exquisite. He indulged himself in the hope that Elizabeth might want him as desperately as he did her. All reserve was gone as his hand moved from her cheek and down her back to pull her closer. He would have continued in this vein had not the moan of desire that escaped her lips reminded him of their location.
He had been caught unawares when she appeared in front of him, and it was not until she begged his forgiveness that Darcy realised she had kissed his cheek. After he heard her declaration of love, he could not help but take her into his arms and kiss her soundly.
Darcy pulled his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers as he caught his breath. He was not capable of speech, but he held her close and bestowed kisses everywhere. Her hair, her eyes, her cheeks, her jaw, and her neck begged for his attentions, and they were received while she smiled dreamily. After such a sharing of pure intimacy, Darcy was unsure what to say. He longed to tell Elizabeth the value he felt for her, but as she gazed lovingly on him, he supposed she might already know.
“My purpose in riding to Longbourn today was to see you,” he said breathlessly, “to show you I am properly humbled and do ardently love you, and that I shall do anything in my power to earn your love.”
“I am the happiest creature in the world if you would love me as I love you!”
“Tell me at once that you will consent to be my wife, and I shall endeavour to love you as you deserve to be loved for the rest of my days.”
“Yes, you have my affection, my devotion, my love. Nothing would make me happier than to marry you.”
The happiness that this reply produced was such as he had never felt before. He wanted to claim her lips again, but felt that he would not be strong enough to stop once he had begun. She was far too tempting, and there was much to be thought and felt and said.
“When you did not answer me regarding our sisters’ association, it was an excuse for me to deny my affection for you. That will never happen again,” she assured him. “But why did you not say what was on your mind when I spoke of your sister’s visit?”
“You may add it to my list of defects. Though my tongue is often prompt enough with an answer, there are times when it fails me. I am unaccustomed to sharing my thoughts with anyone until I have made a decision. In almost all matters, I keep my own counsel.”
“You would not exclude me from your confidence if you admit me to your heart?”
Darcy found the thought of Elizabeth’s familiarity with his concerns to be a welcome relief from a lonely existence. “You are welcome to all my confidences worth having, Elizabeth.”
“Let us assume I find all of your confidences worthy of sharing with me.” He gladly nodded his acquiescence. “If I had not come across you, would you have gone to London and forgotten me?”
“I could as soon forget you as I could forget my own existence. I would have ridden to London in anger, but once I arrived, there is little doubt in my mind that my desire to see you again would have overruled my temper. Why did you not confess your affections for me sooner?”
“You cannot imagine how suddenly it has come on me, how unprepared I was! After you arrived today, I knew my only wish was for us never to be parted.”
He now realised the lateness of the hour and the necessity of his return to town. They walked arm in arm to find his horse, and she began speaking of his next visit.
“Let us explain and understand one another. The officers will dine at Longbourn the last Wednesday in May, the very last day of the regiment’s remaining in Meryton. Might I enquire when I shall again be graced by your presence?”
“Georgiana and I shall call on you Thursday at the earliest possible hour. I should like an interview with your father when I arrive.”
“Must you speak to him so soon?”
Darcy frowned. He wanted to tell everyone that Elizabeth loved him and make their engagement public as soon as possible.
