“Yes, Colonel Fitzwilliam, I do. Like you do me, I respect you and have very tender feelings for you. Since the first time we met, you have treated me as an equal and been willing to discuss anything with me, including military subjects, which most would consider unladylike. That demonstrated to me that you do respect me and my opinions. All of that added to my attraction to your amiable and jovial demeanour, along with the honour and honesty of your character, has shown me that you could be the only one for me.”
“Miss Mary, you know I am a second son, do you not?” He saw her nod. “I mention this because if you grant me a courtship, I intend to resign from the army, and I will only have half-pay along with the dividends from the money I have invested. It is important for me to tell you before I ask the question I want to ask. Although we will be able to livecomfortably, we will not be wealthy. Are you sanguine with that? I have heard your dowry is only two thousand pounds, but I care not about what you will be able to bring with you.”
Mary could not but giggle. She saw the affronted look on her suitor’s face. “Do not misunderstand me, Colonel Fitzwilliam; my amusement was only about the size of my dowry. It isfarmore than two thousand pounds. That is the amount Papa and my uncle made known to ward off fortune hunters, which, as plain as the head on my shoulders is, you are not one of them.”
“Whatever your dowry is will be left under your control,” Fitzwilliam decided.
“Do you not want to know what the real amount is?” Mary enquired. “I am sure it will be relevant.”
“If you want to tell me, I will listen, but as it will remain yours, it is irrelevant.”
“So a little less than thirty thousand pounds is not relevant?” Mary almost giggled again when she saw the reaction on Colonel Fitzwilliam’s face.
“My goodness. But I still want the money to remain under your control,” Fitzwilliam insisted.
“We can reserve it for any daughters, if we end up marrying, that is. However, the two to three thousand pounds per year it earns will be for us to live on,” Mary stated firmly.
Fitzwilliam made a quick calculation. Their combined income would be more than five thousand, five hundred pounds per annum. Financially, they would do well as a couple. He could only shake his head when he realised that Bennet had built dowries in those amounts for each of his five daughters. Fitzwilliam had always joked that he would need to marry an heiress, and that was what he may do, without even trying.
Looking at the man sitting a few feet from her, Maryalmost chuckled. “We are speaking of a possible shared future, but is that not putting the cart before the horse?” Mary smiled at the confused man. “Was there not a question you meant to ask me?”
Fitzwilliam slapped his forehead with one of his palms. “What a dunderhead. In the conversations of the future, I forgot the most important thing. Miss Mary Eloise Bennet, will you honour me by accepting an offer for an official courtship?”
“Yes, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, it is my pleasure to accept a courtship with you.” Mary beamed, making her already pretty face even more so.
On hearing the acceptance, Fitzwilliam’s first impulse was to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. He did not do that; rather, he kissed the top of both of her hands. “When we are in private, will you not call me Richard?”
“As long as you call me Mary.”
“Mary, you have made me very happy. First, I will ride to see Phillips and gain his permission and blessing, and next, I will be for London to resign from the army and sell out.”
“Is that not premature, Richard? We are not engaged yet.”
“No, we are not, but we will be,” Fitzwilliam stated determinedly. “I should warn you that my resigning from the army will make you the most popular woman in my mother’s eyes.”
“I look forward to meeting Lord and Lady Matlock. Did you not say they are at your cousin’s estate in Kent?” Mary enquired.
“Indeed, they are. My brother and sister-in-law are with them as well. I will be sending them an express from Meryton after I gain Phillips’s permission and blessing. It is not only Mother who wished me to resign; it will make all of the family,Darcy and Anna included, very happy,” Fitzwilliam shared.
He led her back to the drawing room, where he saw Darcy pacing impatiently. Fitzwilliam, was in too much of a hurry to ask his cousin what vexed him. He took his leave of everyone, telling them he would be away for two or three days. By the time he reached the drive, Invictus was saddled and ready for him.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy too had Phillips’s permission to address a Bennet daughter. As soon as Fitzwilliam exited the drawing room, he approached Miss Elizabeth. “Would you do the honour of granting me a private interview,” he requested.
“Most certainly. I assume Uncle Frank gave his permission, or even Uncle Edward before the Gardiners returned to London?”
Darcy allowed that was so and led Miss Elizabeth to the study with Bingley’s permission and admonition about time and the door. When they reached the study, Biggs and Johns were still at their posts, and Darcy saw how the two huge men allowed their mouths to turn up when they saw Miss Elizabeth. She could charm the birds out of the trees if she ever chose to do so. It was the first time he had seen them almost smile.
Soon they were seated where the previous couple had been, with the door set about the same as well.
“Miss Elizabeth, with the way I began our association, I am not sure you are ready…” Darcy stopped speaking when a dainty finger rested on his lips. He had to exert all of his self-control not to kiss the digit pressed against his lips.
“Mr Darcy, you sincerely apologised more than once. Hence, it is all to be forgotten and forgiven. Perhaps, I did not always think as well of you as I do now, but that was the past. In cases such as these, a good memory is unpardonable. It isthe last time I shall ever remember it myself, and I implore you to do the same,” Elizabeth insisted. “You must adopt some of my philosophy. Learn from the past—which you have—and then only remember the past as that remembrance gives you pleasure. Now, state your purpose without any further self-recrimination.”
Her words made Darcy smile, a wide, dimple-revealing smile.
‘Oh my!’ Elizabeth thought as she felt a fluttering in her belly. ‘If I thought him handsome before, when he smiles he becomes an Adonis.’
