“Good morning, John, and to you as well, Brian,” Elizabeth greeted.
“And to you, Miss Lizzy,” Biggs responded as Johns nodded his agreement with the sentiment.
On entering Papa’s study, Elizabeth sat herself on the settee between the windows while William positioned the door, leaving it cracked open by a few inches. Her breath hitched as she watched her suitor stride towards her purposefully, looking as handsome as he ever did.
He dropped to one knee and took each of her hands into one of his, upon which he bestowed a kiss on the top of first one and then the other before he said anything.
Frissons of pleasure shot out from where William kissedher on each hand and were felt in the furthest reaches of her body, playing havoc with her equanimity.
“Elizabeth Rose Bennet, my love and respect for you is deeper than anything I ever imagined. You are the one and only woman for me. I could not envisage, even upon the pain of death, sharing my life with anyone but you as my wife. I love all of you—your intelligence, your compassion, your generosity, and your beauty—with every part of my being, mind, body, and soul. My love for you consumes me, and it will never be any other way. The world would be cold and grey without you as my wife. You must know I seek a partner and an equal. You are my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth, and I will spend the rest of the days God grants me on the mortal coil proving that I am worthy of winning your love. Elizabeth, please marry me and make me the happiest of men.”
“As I love you with all of my heart and could not respect you more, I would never marry another. There is only one reply I can give you. Yes, William, I will be your wife and walk life’s paths at your side,” Elizabeth responded. She was glowing with pleasure, and then, she got a saucy look in her eyes. “I will honour every vow I make to you when we marry, except for one.”
“You minx, you mean the one to obey, do you not?”
“That is the one, William; you know me so well. Now is there not something you should do to seal our engagement?”
Darcy did not need to be asked twice. He drew her up from the settee and lowered his head toward her.
Elizabeth looked up and was so caught up in the intensity of his look that she decided to wait for his lips to reach hers. William released her hand, leaving it feeling bereft of his warm touch, but snaking his one arm behind her back, he drew her very close to him until they were almost touching.
Her mouth suddenly felt dry, and her heart thumped asif it wanted to escape her chest. It seemed as though he was moving very slowly, too much so for her, so she raised herself on her tiptoes. She felt the light pressure of his lips on hers as they shared their first, chaste kiss. Suddenly, she felt very hot as he pulled her even closer. Her arms, which seemed to have a will of their own, found their way around his neck, and the fingers of one hand began to run through his dark curls.
When their lips met again, they both groaned, but rather than pull away, they could not get close enough to each other. After some deep kisses, their mouths opened simultaneously, and their tongues tasted one another and did the dance of love. The sensations this action caused were exquisite for both.
The kiss lasted until they had to stop to breathe. Knowing they were nearing the limit of the time that they had been granted, they reluctantly pulled away from each other.
Darcy was breathless and his legs felt leaden. He could hear his heart beating in his ears, and it sounded like Zeus’s hooves at full gallop. He could smell her faint lavender scent as if she was still in his arms, where he very much wanted her to be.
They both looked at each other with silly smiles on their faces and, even though they wanted nothing more than to be kissing again, they exercised restraint.
Elizabeth felt she had been floating on a sea of sensation, unlike anything she had ever imagined. She wished that his strong arms were yet wrapped around her, supporting her, buoying her; his soft and warm lips enticing hers, but that dream was pierced when she heard either John or Brian clear his throat, telling her their ten minutes had passed. Elizabeth felt as disappointed as William looked.
Darcy had always imagined Elizabeth was a passionate woman: it was how he saw her in his dreams. He was beyond happy that she was so in reality. There had been a bulge in hisbreeches, which had shrunk as soon as one of the enormous guards had cleared his throat. He would never breach propriety, but Darcy could imagine one of the mountain-sized men snapping him like a twig if he ever did so in the guards’ company before he and Elizabeth were married. He opened the door all the way to let the men know they had been heard.
“William, wait here; I will summon Papa to come see you,” Elizabeth said. Even to her own ears, her voice sounded breathy. She raised herself onto her tiptoes and gave him a quick peck on his cheek.
It took all of Darcy’s self-control not to pull Elizabeth back into his arms and kiss her deeply again. Instead, after she exited, he looked at the books on a shelf.
It was not a long wait before Bennet joined Darcy in the study. “Elizabeth told me to say yes,” Bennet stated seriously. This was the third of his girls to become engaged. He gave thanks on high again—like he did many times a day—for allowing himself and Lulu to find one another and marry.
“That Elizabeth knows her own mind is one of the many things I love about her,” Darcy responded.
Bennet noticed that Darcy addressed Lizzy by her familiar name but said nothing. He was aware at this stage to do so would seem rather churlish. “Let us summarise. You proposed, and Lizzy accepted you. I know she loves and respects you, and from what I have seen, the same is true for you regarding her.”
“You are correct,” Darcy confirmed.
“As I told your uncle some weeks ago, I could not agree to part with my girls unless the men were worthy enough to deserve them. Like Fitzwilliam and Bingley before you, I find you to be such a man. You have my consent and blessing to marry Lizzy,” Bennet agreed.
“Thank you, Bennet.” Darcy reached out to shake the hand of the man who would be his father-in-law. “It will be my life’s work to make sure she is always happy.”
“I believe it will be,” Bennet said, his voice gruff with emotion.
“Before you ask, we have not discussed a date. We would not disrespect you by doing so before you bestowed your consent. Personally, I would prefer not to wait too long, but that depends more on your daughter than me,” Darcy related. “Also, not that it matters, but Richard shared the size of your daughters’ dowries. In the settlement, aside from the amount I will settle on Elizabeth, her dowry will remain under her control. As an aside, it is just as well that Wickham is in custody and soon to be on the way to New Holland. Had he an inkling of the worth of the dowries, he would have done anything in his power to get his hands on one or more of them. He would never scruple to use blackmail to gain that which he wanted. Hopefully having to serve the hard labour and never being allowed to return to the United Kingdom will make him rethink his choices in life.”
“I too am glad that miscreant will be in the penal colony and not close to us. As to deciding when to marry, we have time for that. First, I suggest you and the other two young bucks who are to spirit my daughters away should discuss when you would like to marry with each of your betrotheds.”
Bennet and Darcy made their way to the drawing room, where the former made the superfluous announcement because even though she said nothing, as soon as they saw Lizzy when she came to ask her father to go to the study, Louisa, Jane, and Mary knew that she was engaged. They had refrained from sharing their good wishes for the future until the official announcement was made. As soon as it was, the congratulations flowed freely.
