She was to be married.
Not as a distant possibility, not as a theoretical future she might consider and set aside, but as something immediate, real, and entirely her own.
It did not frighten her.
That, perhaps, was the greatest surprise of all.
It was Bingley, later in the day, who introduced another proposal.
“My family must come,” he said, with the same enthusiasm that governed most of his thoughts. “We cannot have such an occasion without them.”
Darcy raised a brow. “Your sisters?”
Bingley hesitated only a fraction. “Yes. And Mr. Hurst, of course. They will wish to be present.”
Elizabeth felt a brief tightening in her chest, though it passed almost as quickly as it came.
Darcy did not immediately respond.
“I shall write to them at once,” Bingley continued. “And you must do the same, Darcy. Your family will wish to be informed.”
Darcy inclined his head. “They will.”
Elizabeth glanced toward him.
There was no uncertainty in his expression.
Only resolve.
In the days that followed, letters were written and dispatched, their contents carrying news that would alter the expectations of many beyond Hertfordshire. Elizabeth thought of it only occasionally, and never for long. She could not quite bring herself to dwell upon the opinions of those she had not yet met,nor to anticipate their judgments in a way that might unsettle what she had only just begun to claim as her own.
Darcy, however, did not share her indifference.
He spoke of it one evening, when they found themselves again in the smaller sitting room, the light dim and the house quiet.
“My aunt,” he said, “will not be pleased.”
Elizabeth smiled faintly. “I had gathered as much.”
“She has formed expectations which this engagement does not fulfill.”
“And she will express her disappointment,” Elizabeth said.
“She will,” Darcy agreed. “At length.”
Elizabeth laughed softly. “Then we must be prepared to endure it.”
He studied her. “You do not seem troubled.”
“I am not,” she said. “Or not greatly so. I have lived long enough under the weight of others’ expectations to know they are seldom aligned with one’s own happiness.”
Darcy’s expression softened. “You bear it lightly.”
“I have learned to.”
He took her hand.
“My aunt’s displeasure will not alter my intentions.”
