“Certainly. It is understandable.”
Yet she longed for the happiness of the past weeks to continue. She wished to be included in the preparations for the weddings and, more than anything, to belong to that large, noisy, affectionate family.
“Georgiana, let us be honest. We all wish Lydia to marry and depart for the north. Afterwards, we shall arrange our lives, our weddings, our homes, and you will be a part of all this. Do not forget, you have four sisters now. And you have not yet properly come to know Mary.”
Darcy looked at Elizabeth with gratitude. If Kitty married, it was unlikely that the friendship Georgiana imagined could continue exactly as before. But their lives were changing so greatly that his sister would undoubtedly find a place where she could be far happier than she had ever been.
“Did you tell Lady Catherine who is coming with you and the colonel?” asked Elizabeth, changing the subject.
He saw at once the mischievous sparkle in her eyes. His future wife had some small wicked design behind the organisation of this excursion, and when she met his gaze, she made no effort to conceal it. On the contrary, she faced him with a smile that challenged him to discover it.
Day by day, Darcy discovered new things about Elizabeth. He knew the responsible young lady who would defend her family under any circumstances, the generous woman who thought of everyone around her, and the spirited lady who met every challenge with intelligence and occasional sarcasm. He remembered her arriving at Netherfield, wonderfully flushed, her hem covered in mud and entirely indifferent to the opinions of others. Yet only now was he discovering how completely happy she could be and how naturally she shared that happinesswith everyone around her. This woman, who also loved him, he was only beginning to know.
He would gladly have taken her into his arms. Indeed, scarcely a moment passed without his wishing to be close to her, alone with her. During those days, any presence between them felt, at the very least, an annoyance.
“Well?” Elizabeth interrupted his reverie. “Did you tell her?”
“I told her how many of us there would be, so she could prepare the necessary rooms. Was I also required to inform her that you were coming and that Miss Elizabeth Bennet happened to be my fiancée?” he asked, determined to discover what she was plotting.
“No, that was quite sufficient.”
“And yet, why are we going to Kent?”
Elizabeth smiled but offered no answer.
“Can it be that Miss Elizabeth intends to torment my elderly aunt with her betrothal, knowing well that the lady in question wanted a marriage between her nephew and her daughter?”
Kitty and Georgiana abandoned their whispering, for the conversation between Elizabeth and Darcy had become far more entertaining.
“Does your elderly aunt, as you call her, that is Lady Catherine as I know her, not deserve to see your betrothed in person?”
“And for you to see her face when she learns that youareengaged to me.”
“My dear Mr Darcy, what a dreadful opinion you have of me,” she exclaimed, though she laughed at the same time, almost as if she were pleased that he had discovered her intentions. “I do not know whether I can marry a gentleman who thinks such things of me.”
“That is something you ought to have considered before accepting me.”
“Mr Darcy, I accepted your sister.”
“Oh!” cried Georgiana in alarm.
But the other three immediately burst into laughter, and Kitty placed a hand over Georgiana’s, which rested quietly in her lap.
“Do not be alarmed. These are their games.”
“Their games?” Georgiana looked thoroughly bewildered.
“Yes, the games of people who…”
“Who?” asked Georgiana impatiently.
“Who love one another,” completed Elizabeth the sentence.
Kitty’s blush made Elizabeth suddenly wonder whether Kitty truly loved James, and whether such games were not entirely unfamiliar to her.
“You love James,” she said, serious once more, leaving both Darcy siblings rather uncomfortable, for they were not accustomed to discussing such matters openly and in company.
“Yes,” replied Kitty, her sincerity evident, while Elizabeth decided that the two of them would marry, regardless of whatever plans Sir William might possess.
