Darcy had been struggling with his own criteria for a very long time. Actually, it was not his criteria, but the criteria decided by society. Darcy sighed. He knew he had a duty . . . to his position, to his family . . . but, did he really have a duty tosociety? Not to his way of thinking. He was not beholden to the ton. He did have family, however, who wished to maintain their status and influence within that sphere. They would take issue with Darcy going out of bounds in any way.
Up until now, Darcy had not been required to deal with these expectations. He had not been in a hurry to marry, nor had he found a young lady that he wished to consider marrying . . . until now. Now, he had met Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and he was taken with her. It was high time he addressed the expectations placed on him.
Saturday was clear and cool. Ever since the storm, the temperatures had been cooler. Elizabeth had enjoyed the warm weather while it lasted. Now, it felt unmistakably like autumn.
Elizabeth went downstairs. She knew it was a little early, but she decided she would go down anyway. She told herself that it was not in the hope of spending time with Mr. Darcy. When she entered the dining room, her eyes found him immediately. He was sitting at the table, drinking coffee and looking out the window. He was so handsome! She smiled and her heart gave an extra beat. Why did it give her so much joy to see him sitting there? She took a deep breath to calm herself.
“Good morning, Mr. Darcy.”
He put down his cup and stood. “Good morning, Miss Elizabeth.”
She walked to the window and looked outside. “I wonder if it will warm up much today."
“It might. Do you have much planned for today?” he asked.
She turned from the window and smiled at him. “Not much. Just riding out to check the progress of the debris removal.”
“May I accompany you?”
Her heart pounded. “Yes, I would like that.”
He smiled, then asked, “Would you like some tea?”
Her breath caught. She certainly was not expecting that question either! “Yes, I would, thank you.”
“How do you take your tea, Miss Elizabeth?”
“With milk and one sugar,” she said, taking a seat across from him.
He set her cup in front of her.
“Thank you."
"You are welcome," he said, resuming his seat.
“I imagine you are eager to get back to your home in London,” Elizabeth said teasingly. “You will not be so surrounded by women there.”
Mr. Darcy smiled. “Not at all, Miss Elizabeth. We have enjoyed our impromptu stay at Longbourn. You and your sisters have been excellent hostesses. Now that we are to leave for London before you and your sisters do, Georgiana will probably wish to stay.”
Elizabeth chuckled. “She may surprise you and be quite ready to go. We will not be here much longer than you in any case.”
“Yes, that is right. You are scheduled to leave on Wednesday.”
“We are,” she confirmed and sipped her tea.
“I hope we will see much of each other in town,” Mr. Darcy said, looking into her eyes.
“Yes, that would be nice,” she said, boldly maintaining their eye contact.
“I look forward to meeting your aunt and uncle, and also getting a glimpse of their ideal marriage.” Mr. Darcy said with a grin.
Elizabeth laughed.
“I recall you said you had given it much study and done a thorough comparison of it with other marriages,” he added.
She smirked at him and said, “So I have.”
Mr. Darcy nodded. “Please tell me the conclusion you have reached as to what the recipe is for an ideal marriage.”
