After three days on the road, the Darcy coach passed the gatehouse with the brass arch spanning the gateposts proudly proclaiming ‘Pemberley’ to the world. Elizabeth felt her excitement build. The coach wound its way up a wooded drive, bordered with new spring greenery on both sides.
Eventually the coach negotiated an incline. When they reached the crest, Darcy hit the ceiling with his cane and the coachman brought the carriage to a halt. Darcy stepped out, handing his wife down. Tiffany and Giana exited as well.
Elizabeth looked out over a long verdant valley, then her husband turned her slightly to the left and she saw her new home, and what a home it was! From what she could see as the façade glowed gold in the afternoon sun, it was a four or five storey structure situated on rising ground on the eastern side of the valley. There was a tree-covered hill behind the house.
She had never seen a place that nature had done more for and had not been counteracted by the awkward tastes of man. Of all of this she was mistress. She had thought Charlotte had a large home to manage, but it seemed Pemberley was much larger. She hoped she would not be overwhelmed by the enormous responsibilities she was about to take on, and that she would be a good mistress of her husband’s houses.
There was a lake in front of the house fed by a stream which wound its way through the valley. The water in the lake was still, as there was little or no wind, and reflected the almost cloudless sky.
Yes, Elizabeth could be very happy living here. It was not the size of the house, but the beauty of the estate and so many places to walk and ride that impressed her. “William, your home is perfect,” Elizabeth gushed.
“As much as I hate to disagree with you on our first day at Pemberley, it isourhome,notmine,” Darcy corrected.
“You have my concession,ourhouse is perfect,” Elizabeth stated with arched eyebrow.
“Did I not say you would love Pemberley, Lizzy?” Georgiana enthused.
“Yes, Giana, you most certainly did and I cannot dispute your words,” Elizabeth told her newest sister.
“Shall we?” Darcy indicated the coach. The four took their places again and they were soon on the way down toward the house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After dinner that evening, Elizabeth and Darcy sat on the patio that had a view across the lake to the forest on the other side. It was a cool evening, but not uncomfortably so.
“William, I could not imagine myself happier than I am at this moment,” Elizabeth sighed as she leaned against her husband’s comforting body.
“If I had not regulated my foolish pride and not asked Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie what my father meant about marrying well, I may have missed finding you again, my Elizabeth,” Darcy stated.
“Much happened in the past, but if you think about it, if it had not happened as it did, there is a good chance we would not be sitting in this place now,” Elizabeth stated thoughtfully.
“That, my love, would have been a tragedy,” Darcy opined.
“In the end, I must be thankful for Mrs. Bennet,” Elizabeth sighed again.
“For that murderous insane woman?”
“If she had not banished me, the chance of us meeting again would have been unlikely,” Elizabeth explained her thinking. “Look how much better my life was after I was told to leave Longbourn and the Bennet family.”
“I suppose when you look at it in that light, you are correct,” Darcy stated contemplatively. “On the other hand, I believe love would have found a way and we would have discovered one another again, eventually.”
“If it is all the same to you, Mr. Darcy, I am pleased we did not have to test that hypothesis.” Elizabeth loosed one of her tinkling laughs her husband so loved to hear. “Did you not promise you would assist me in looking for a book in that magnificent library you…weown?”
“That I did, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth,” Darcy replied as he stood.
“Before we return indoors, kiss me Husband,” Elizabeth commanded.
Darcy found her instruction easy and pleasurable to comply with and kiss his wife he did.
Epilogue
Longbourn, 1826
Grace Elliot, almost eighteen, watched her sister and two brothers playing. She looked up and smiled at her mother and father, who were sitting on a bench near the roses that were her mother’s pride and joy.
Jane and Patrick Elliot looked on as their younger children took turns pushing one another on the swing under the mighty oak in the middle of the park. “Are we ready to leave for Rosings Park in the morning, Jane?” Patrick Elliot asked his wife of almost fourteen years.
“Yes, Husband who I adore beyond reason, everything is ready; there are only a few items yet to be added to the trunks before we depart in the morning,” Jane replied contentedly.
