“Yes, of course—I was considering our future. Aside from time spent with my aunt and uncle Gardiner, I do not have a pleasing picture of conjugal felicity or domestic comfort. My parents have no affection for one another. Respect, esteem, and confidence are missing from both sides. I was thinking how fortunate I am that I shall be able to respect my partner in life.”
“I hope, dearest Elizabeth, that you might feel more for me than respect.”
She stopped and looked up at him, eager to assure him that her love for him was beyond mere deference, when she determined a slight upturn to his lips. “You are teasing me! I was about to profess my love for you in the very fondest of terms, but I see you require no assurance.”
“On the contrary, you should reassure me of your affection and partiality as often as possible.” Elizabeth could hear the intensity of emotion in his low voice.
Elizabeth knew she was blushing. They were in full view of the house, and Kitty and Georgiana sat on a bench near to them. How she wished to ask him whether he wanted a kiss to prove her affection for him.
“For the present, you must be content when I tell you that I am marrying you for affection. I love you sincerely. Anything is to be preferred or endured rather than to marry without love.”
“You are thinking of your parents’ marriage?”
“Yes, as well as Mr and Mrs Collins’s. You asked me once what I thought of their happiness, and I can tell you now that, although they might be content, I would not wish for a loveless union.”
“Then you are fortunate that I have a steadfast love for you. I cannot remember the time when I did not.” Darcy reached for her hand and held it in his own for a long moment before he wrapped it under his arm and they walked again.
“Your mother is more disposed to tolerate my presence than ever before, so I presume you told her of our engagement. Did you speak to your father as well?”
“Not explicitly. That honour falls to you, since he does not take me seriously when I tell him how I admire you and prefer your company. I only suggested to my mother that you are my suitor, and now she regrets having ever disliked you.”
Kitty and Georgiana joined them. Forwarding Elizabeth and Georgiana’s conversation required Darcy to walk with Kitty, though little was said by either. Elizabeth heard Kitty and Darcy speak on the weather, the ride from town, the date of the next assembly, and then nothing at all. She suspected her sister was too much afraid of him to talk, and Darcy, although improved in civility, would never be a man who could be described as loquacious.
During dinner,Mrs Bennet was in great spirits while she sang Elizabeth’s praises and officiously flattered Darcy. He knew Elizabeth’s misery increased with such unnecessary attention, but Darcy kept his countenance for her sake. His sister did not speak more than a monosyllable as she listened with undisguised astonishment while Mr Bennet mercilessly teased his daughters.
“So tell me, Lizzy, have you any further warnings of your sisters’ imprudent manners? Have additional gentlemen been kept aloof by Lydia’s folly? If I believed you had any inclination to marry and leave home, it would be to your advantage to make a match now while she is at Brighton.” Mr Bennet gave a sardonic smirk that made Elizabeth wince.
Darcy, while keeping his self-importance in check, could not help but share his opinion. “Your daughters’ behaviour ought not to be the subject of sport. Should one daughter be censured, the other sisters, wherever they are known, will also be involved in the disgrace.”
“This is hardly a matter with which you need to concern yourself, Mr Darcy. You never noticed any of my daughters in all of your life.”
Darcy shifted his gaze from Mr Bennet to his second daughter. “I disagree, for I must admit that one of your daughters caught my attention from the very beginning of our acquaintance.”
“I am surprised there was one of us tolerable enough for you to notice,” Elizabeth interjected archly, to which Darcy could only smile in response.
“Of what are you talking, Mr Bennet?” called his wife from farther down the table.
Mr Bennet peered at Elizabeth, and then he gave Darcy an icy glare. “Regardless of any daughter who may or may not have been worthy of your attention, Lizzy is not a young girl that has been spoilt for home by great acquaintance.”
Did Mr Bennet not approve of him, or think his daughter would be swayed by fortune? “I suspect that, when Miss Elizabeth leaves home, it will not be for one who offers her more advantages than Longbourn has, but because she feels the gentleman who has the good fortune to earn her love and respect is worthy of her.”
“Mr Bennet, I cannot hear of what you are talking!”
“Mr Darcy was talking of Lizzy, and he has exhausted that subject.” Before Darcy could refute this ever being possible, Mrs Bennet continued it for him.
“Oh, Lizzy is so good-natured! She may not be half so handsome as Jane, but she is a good girl.” Her mother continued in this manner for the rest of dinner.
After the meal, Darcy and Elizabeth sat together, discussing the book he had brought for her.
“I remember your defence of Gilpin’s travelogue, so I bought this yesterday. The protagonist sets out on a quest for picturesque scenery and remains ignorant to the realities of the world.”
Elizabeth laughed as she read the title, a cheerful and sincere sound that Darcy would never tire of hearing. “You have brought me a satire! I have egregiously underestimated your sense of humour.”
While Elizabeth flipped through the pages of her new volume, Darcy realised he had no greater ally in securing Elizabeth than her mother. She was visibly anxious to get Elizabeth alone with him. Mr Bennet had retired to the library, as was his custom, and Mary went upstairs to her instrument. Two obstacles being thus removed, Mrs Bennet sat looking and winking at Jane and Kitty for a considerable time without making any impression on them.
When at last Kitty observed her, she innocently asked, “What is the matter, Mamma? What do you keep winking at me for?”
“Nothing, child, I did not wink at you.” Then she said in a rush, “Why do you not show Miss Darcy your new bonnets? I am sure that Miss Darcy knows the latest fashions and could help you trim them up nicely.”
