Page 57 of Elizabeth Bennet Says Yes to Mr. Darcy

“That's precisely what worries me. He might ask for advice.”

We found Jane and Bingley in the small parlor. They were sitting much too close for people supposedly still choosing a date.

I looked at my sister. She understood immediately.

“Oh, Lizzy.”

She rose and embraced me.

Bingley seized Darcy's hand with enthusiasm.

“At last! I was beginning to think you'd marry after our grandchildren did.”

Darcy rolled his eyes.

I had never been so happy to hear him laugh.

Chapter 18

Elizabeth

The official announcement of our engagement transformed Longbourn into a house under siege.

Neighbors came to congratulate, to question, and to see for themselves that Mr. Darcy had truly chosen a Bennet. My mother received each visit with the modesty of a victorious queen. She repeated Pemberley's income so often that I began to fear she might wear the figure down through sheer repetition.

The gossip in Meryton did not disappear immediately. It changed form, however. The document signed by my father and Darcy's man of business clearly established that the debt would be repaid with interest and that the agreement did not depend on my marriage. My father, who detested making his affairs public, consented to show the clauses to Colonel Forster. The colonel then spoke with calculated discretion to those most likely to spread the truth.

Wickham left the regiment a few days later. His gambling debts, having grown too visible, had finally cost him the sympathy of several officers. I felt no satisfaction at his fall. Only relief to know he was far from Georgiana.

Lady Catherine wrote to us.

Her letter, addressed to Darcy, filled four pages with indignation. She announced that she would never receive a wife chosen from such an unsuitable family, that his mother's shade must be shuddering at Pemberley, and that Anne had been betrayed.

Darcy handed me the letter without comment.

“Would you like me to read it?” I asked.

“Everything concerning our marriage concerns you.”

I scanned the pages.

“Your aunt possesses remarkable energy.”

“She rarely employs it for the benefit of those around her.”

“Will you answer her?”

“Yes. I will tell her that I regret her decision, that Pemberley will welcome you as its mistress, and that no insult toward you will be tolerated in my house.”

“Do not break with her on my account.”

“It is not for you alone. I should have long ago put an end to her habit of treating Georgiana and Anne as children with no will of their own.”

I thought of Anne, silent at Rosings. Lady Catherine claimed she had been betrayed, but no one had asked whether she desired this marriage.

“Invite your cousin to Pemberley,” I said.

Darcy looked at me.