“No, not wrong. It’s just that Stephans promised to come back and check on me. She has been glued to my side since the incident.”
“I am glad to hear it. I am the one who told her to keep a close eye on you.”
“I am fine,” Elizabeth said, rising from the settee. “I was frightened beyond anything I have ever experienced in the woods.” She turned, and he stood to come to her. She rested her hands on his chest as he pulled her close once more. “Thinking of you and all I wanted to say to you was what kept me alive.”
Will kissed her again and again. She could hardly breathe, but never wanted it to end. When he finally ended the kiss, he touched his forehead to hers. “Come with me,” he whispered.
He offered her his hand, and she knew that when she accepted it, her life would never be the same. She would finally be his wife in more than just name.
For once and forever, and quite completely, she would truly be Mrs Darcy.
Epilogue
On one of the first warm days of April, Elizabeth woke to find a scene of lush beauty outside her window. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the trees, still the delicate pale green that showed not many days had passed since they had first budded out. Delicate sunshine played over the gardens, beginning to be rich with flowers.
“Good morning, my love.” Will entered her dressing room from the door separating their rooms, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek from behind. She sat at her vanity, finishing preparations for the day ahead.
“Good morning, love,” Elizabeth said. “I had a thought.”
“Did you? I should very much like to hear it,” Will said.
She turned around and watched him cross the room, sitting at her writing desk. “I think we should invite guests for the summer. Pemberley is so beautiful with all the flowers blooming and the trees fully clothed in green. I should like to share it with some of the people we love.”
He chuckled, standing to join her at the desk. “An excellent idea.” He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently massaged them. “I should like to have some guests in the house. Georgiana has been much recovered lately. I think an increase in society could only do her good.” He went to stand by the window and looked out over the garden, enjoying the sight of it in full bloom just as Elizabeth herself had.
As the weather turned warmer, they could soon enjoy sunshine and warm days every day. It had been a long winter, but she had been more than happy to be cloistered inside Pemberley with her husband for the last few months. What had started as a match of necessity had turned out to be nothing less than a love match. In his kindness and intelligence, his strength of will and his gentleness, Elizabeth could not imagine a man better suited to earn her respect and admiration than Mr Darcy.
“Who will you invite?” he asked her curiously.
“Jane,” Elizabeth said decisively. “Not only do I miss her dreadfully, but my oldest sister is the gentlest soul. I think she might help lift Georgiana’s spirits.”
Over the past months, Georgiana had recovered from the shock and grief of Mr Wickham’s death only gradually. She had spent the first several weeks locked away in her room, shedding endless tears. Elizabeth had been present for many of the long nights when she had simply not wanted to be alone. Georgiana’s position was a difficult one. Near the end, she had known something was amiss, that things with her husband were not as they should have been. But there was still a piece of her that grieved for what might have been, if her husband had chosen to be a man of honour instead of abandoning himself to his worst impulses.
Darcy nodded. “An excellent notion. Should you like to keep Jane as our only guest?”
Elizabeth looked at him curiously. “No, we need not. Jane is very fond of society and very generally popular. What did you have in mind?”
“I should like to invite a very good friend of mine by the name of Bingley, Charles Bingley,” he told her. “Perhaps you may recall that it was he who rented Netherfield Park. I have not seen him since leaving that place, and I should like to amend that. You would enjoy his society, I am sure, for everyone does. Not only is he a most good-natured fellow, liked everywhere he goes, but he is a man of sense and principles as well.”
“I am sure I will like him when you describe him so,” Elizabeth laughed. “Indeed, your description rather reminds me of Jane. By all means, invite him.”
He grinned at her. “Excellent, Lizzy. Let us invite our respective friends and loved ones.”
Elizabeth truly was most interested to meet Mr Bingley, for, as his lease of Netherfield Park had led to their compromise and marriage, he might be said to be the accidental architect of all their happiness. She looked forward to confusing him with her thanks.
The day Jane was to arrive dawned beautiful and warm. Elizabeth and Darcy made their way down to the drawing room to await her arrival.
“I cannot wait to see Jane. So much has happened, it feels like it has been a lifetime,” Elizabeth squeezed her husband’s hand. “When does Mr Bingley arrive?”
“Tomorrow. He was delayed in London on business for an extra day,” Darcy replied. When they reached the grand staircase, he pulled her into his arms instead of heading downstairs as they should have. She smiled, delighted by the spontaneous show of affection. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close. “Are you sure we must go down right away?” He kissed her long and slow, and she relished every second.
To think she had been nervous about marriage when she had first come to Pemberley as a bride! She smiled up at him when he ended the kiss. “I wish we could delay, my love, but Jane is due to arrive any moment.”
“Very well. Later, then,” he said. He turned her and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. “Will Georgiana come down with us to greet your sister?”
“I believe she is already downstairs in the parlour. She has been practicing a new piece of sheet music to entertain Jane for her first evening here.” Jane was an ideal guest to introduce to Georgiana at so difficult a time, for there could hardly be a gentler companion. Georgiana would surely benefit from her soft heart and wise counsel. Elizabeth suspected that, with all she could say to each in praise of the other, they would be firm friends before a week was out.
When Elizabeth and Mr Darcy at last reached the drawing room, they found Georgiana was there before them. “Do you think the carriage will arrive soon?” Georgiana asked them eagerly.
