Darcy knew precisely what he wanted to say; he and Elizabeth had talked all day, although their decision was made in minutes. It was mutual and final—and the duke had to accept it.
“Sir, I have the highest respect and the deepest gratitude for you, and I am sure we shall bond as father and son in time. It is my wish and hope as much as it is yours. But I have a father, George Darcy, whom I profoundly love…as I shall forever. He is the father who raised me, educated me and made me the man I am today. I respect him, I love him, and I miss him. He is the only father I knew for almost thirty years and the only father I and the entire world will know.”
“So you reject me?” the duke shouted in despair.
“Not at all, sir. I only wish to state that no one will ever take my father’s place in my heart.”
“I understand and respect that. I do not intend to take his place but to gain mine! I cannot wait for more, as I have little time left.”
“But I do need time to become accustomed to our situation, sir,” Darcy replied, impressed by the duke’s obvious distress. “More time than one day. Elizabeth and I want to be a part of your family, and we are honoured by your attention. But I beg you to let Louis take the position he was raised in. He was educated to be a duke, a peer of the United Kingdom, just as I was educated to fulfil my duties and to honour my heritage. Louis is the Marquess of Brimpsfield. I am Fitzwilliam Darcy, the master of Pemberley, and it is what I intend always to be.”
Darcy ended his discourse, looking with intense emotion at the duke. Then his eyes turned to Elizabeth to receive her smile of approval and tearful, adoring gaze.
“It is what suits us,” Elizabeth told the duke, her eyes still locked with Darcy’s. “And it is the life Fitzwilliam promised me.”
“You could be a duchess!” The duke made one last attempt to convince her, but Elizabeth responded with a splendid smile. They all knew the final decision had been made, and nothing would change. It was a rational decision based on honour, wisdom, delicacy, and generosity. Darcy was worried about a brother he did not yet know, willingly letting him take the position that was his by birth.
“I am sad and happy at the same time,” the duke admitted. “I am sad that I cannot remedy past mistakes, but I am happy and proud to see the kind of gentleman you became. And I must thank your father, George Darcy, for that.”
“On that, I wholeheartedly agree,” Darcy answered.
Little by little, the turmoil that governed their lives for the past days was fading, leaving in its place a serene atmosphere.
The duke smiled and unexpectedly turned to Elizabeth:
“I am finished talking to my son. Now, I shall speak only with my future daughter-in-law. I accept your decision with some conditions.”
Elizabeth was startled by such an address, looking at Darcy, who returned a helpless shrug and denied involvement in their discussion.
“What would those be, sir? And I respectfully ask Your Grace to remember that no man has the right to impose any conditions on me except my husband,” she replied in her usual teasing tone, which Darcy loved and had admired since they first met.
The duke laughed. “Upon my word, you express yourself very decidedly for someone so young!”
It was Elizabeth’s turn to laugh. “I have been told that before, sir. So what might those conditions be?”
All three smiled, as this was a light-hearted conversation now that the essentials were settled.
“First, we shall discuss this great news with our closest relatives. We shall reveal the truth—that you are my first son, and I do not intend to hide it any longer. But we shall limit this news to our families; others might suspect something when Darcy is at my side, but we shall not publicly reveal more than you want. We shall let them all presume, imagine stories, gossip, and all that such news could imply. In the end, nobody will dare do more than gossip, and I think that, in a short time, it will become a settled fact in London society.”
Elizabeth agreed it was the best way to solve the problem in such a difficult situation.
“Then,” the duke continued, “in two weeks, I shall stand with your godmother, Lady Edwina, at your wedding, and if tradition requires a pair of godparents, I shall marry her!”
“Agreed, thank you!” Elizabeth exclaimed in pure delight; she was so pleased to have the duke at their wedding, but she wondered whether he was joking about Lady Edwina or whether there was a secret he had been keeping, even from himself. She studied him at the limit of politeness, but the duke was too happy to understand her gaze.
“Well, sir,” Elizabeth said, “we have nothing to negotiate, as I approve your conditions entirely. We shall happily have you at our wedding…with Lady Edwina!”
“And in the end, we are one big family. And we shall spend as much time as possible together. I hope your children will call me ‘grandfather’!”
“We accept,” Elizabeth said affectionately, looking from Darcy to the duke.
But Darcy was not satisfied. The duke and Elizabeth watched him without comprehension, so he spoke. To their relief, however, his voice had a touch of amusement.
“Your Grace,” he said, deliberately employing the title to lend weight to his words, “this young lady has promised me that if we resolve these ardent matters of the past, she shall marry me the very next day.”
“Is it true, Miss Bennet?” the duke inquired, feigning the severity of a father.
“It is, Your Grace,” Elizabeth replied, joining the jest with a twinkle in her eye, adding to the light-hearted atmosphere.
