“Yes, Mama, this house is mine, and so is its master.”
“Mr Darcy?” she asked, still distrustful. At the same time, her eyes wandered about the room, attempting to understand what her daughter had just told her.
“Yes, Mama, yes. Mr Darcy has asked me to be his wife.”
Mrs Bennet looked at the table laid for fifty people, glittering beneath hundreds of lights. Through the glass doors, standing open on the terrace, a mild, pleasant breeze entered the room, stirring the lace curtains like a beautiful dream.
“What are you saying, my dear?” Mrs Bennet asked again, though she was already seeing the room with different eyes, the walls covered in red silk and adorned with impressive paintings that completed the elegance of the vast room. She remembered the house as she had first seen it an hour earlier, and only then did she take Elizabeth into her arms with a tremendous sigh of happiness.
“I never imagined that one could die of happiness,” she whispered, looking towards her sister-in-law, “yet I cannot be far from it.”
“Do not die, Mama,” Elizabeth joked, gazing affectionately at the tears in Mrs Bennet’s eyes. “And please do not cry!”
They parted only when the first guests arrived, led by Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam, who was smiling. He knew what had taken place in the library. Upon his arrival, he had searched in vain for his cousin, and then, with much hope, he had sought Miss Bennet. At least Darcy would now have an answer and bring an end to the weeks of turmoil he had witnessed in his cousin. Miss Bennet shone with happiness; at last, the event they had all desired had taken place, and he could finally share in their joy.
Although the guests were already seated at table, many of them impatient for the meal to begin, Elizabeth had one more thing to do. She took the astonished Georgiana by the hand and looked for Darcy. He was just emerging from the library, accompanied by her father, his eyes eagerly searching for her. When he discovered the two ladies he cherished standing together, he stopped at once, understanding what Elizabethintended. She was the love of his life, but she was also the wife he needed, since even in that moment of perfect happiness, Elizabeth had remembered what was most precious in his life—his little sister.
Once inside the library, he took Georgiana into his arms and then, gesturing towards Elizabeth, said, “My dear sister, may I present your future sister-in-law?” And when Georgiana seemed not to understand, he added proudly, “I have asked Miss Bennet to marry me, little sister!”
In the end, they scarcely knew who was happier, the future bride and groom or Georgiana, who had hoped from the moment she met Elizabeth that she would marry her brother. At last, she would have the sister she had always dreamed of.
For the last time, Georgiana took her place at the head of the table opposite her brother, though only because Darcy could not imagine having his betrothed seated so far from him. Seated at his right hand, Elizabeth shone with happiness, whilst Darcy could not take his eyes from her. The guests already suspected that a joyful announcement would be made that evening, particularly when dinner failed to appear at the appointed time.
Darcy tapped his knife against a crystal glass, and the noise abruptly silenced the room.
“Dear family and friends, beloved Georgiana, when I invited you to this dinner, I did not know that we would have a celebration. The most important celebration of my life.” He looked at Elizabeth, who blushed with happiness, then took her hand and invited her to stand beside him. “Miss Bennet and I are delighted to announce our engagement.”
A general exclamation of joy broke the silence. Dinner was forgotten, everybody eager to congratulate the newly betrothed couple.
One of the last to speak was Mr Kendall. There was a strange look in his eyes, yet Elizabeth, too happy to notice, did not pause to consider it.
“I think our betrothal ought to be celebrated with a ball,” Darcy said to Elizabeth, loudly enough for some of the guests to hear. Again, joyful exclamations greeted his words.
“Yes, a splendid idea,” Thomas Bennet agreed. “But the wedding breakfast and the ball will take place at our house.”
Then, in front of everybody, he kissed the duchess’s hand. “My dears, Her Grace and I also have an announcement to make. Three weeks ago we lost a Miss Bennet,” he said with a smile for Jane, “but our family gained another Mrs Bennet. However, as the last Duchess of Beauford, the Regent has graciously granted my wife permission to retain the title for the remainder of her life.”
Applause followed, though this time admiration and nostalgia accompanied it. A love story that had begun fifty years earlier was flourishing anew beside a younger one.
They might all have forgotten to eat had Mr Bennet, with his customary humour, not intervened.
“If anybody wishes to announce another engagement or marriage, pray postpone it until the end of the meal, as I am starving.”
A burst of laughter greeted his words, and everybody finally began to eat. Only Mrs Bennet examined the table with a critical eye. She had at last grasped that her daughter was about to become the mistress of this house, and a second marriage in only two months seemed such an achievement that she found herself incapable of eating.
∞∞∞
Later that evening, whilst Georgiana entertained the guests at the pianoforte, the duchess, the Bennets, and the newly betrothed couple gathered upon the terrace to enjoy their happiness amongst themselves.
“How did he ask for my hand, Papa?” Elizabeth wished to know.
“I hardly understood what he wanted at first,” replied Mr Bennet in his usual manner. “Fortunately, I had some experience with Mr Bingley, and from his garbled speech I eventually understood that he wished to purchase Netherfield… but the house was taken, so I deduced he wanted Jane's hand.”
They smiled kindly, looking towards Mr and Mrs Bingley seated in the midst of the gathering, yet seeming entirely alone within the enchanted circle of their affection.
“And not to mention that I did the most difficult part,” Thomas said. “I had to promise Darcy five Moroccan stallions to marry you.”
The astonished amusement in Elizabeth’s eyes made him laugh, so he continued, “Yes, I suggested camels, as the Bedouins do, but the gentleman was unfamiliar with the custom, and I was obliged to exchange them for horses.”
