Page 6 of Elizabeth Bennet Says Yes to Mr. Darcy

I must not lie. Yet I could not reveal my father’s debt to him without my father’s permission.

“I believe that affection can grow from esteem,” I said. “And that esteem can deepen when two people are willing to know each other better.”

He took a step closer.

“Elizabeth.”

I should have corrected the tenderness he heard in my words. Instead, I lowered my eyes to his hand, open between us.

“Yes, Mr. Darcy. I will be your wife.”

His fingers closed over mine.

I was wearing gloves. Yet the warmth of his palm came through the fabric with surprising clarity. He did not raise my hand to his lips. He simply held it in his own, as if he feared I might take back my word if he let go.

“I will do everything in my power to deserve your trust.”

This promise caused me unexpected pain.

I had just given him my consent for a reason he did not know. He answered me with an honesty I perhaps did not deserve.

“We must speak to my father,” I said.

“As soon as you wish.”

“Not before my return to Longbourn. I want to write to him first.”

“Of course.”

The silence that followed was no longer that of two near-strangers. It contained an entire future, with its shared chambers, its meals, its obligations, its nights. I felt the blush rise to my neck.

Mr. Darcy followed the flush despite himself. His gaze dropped for a second to my mouth before rising again. The desire I glimpsed there took my breath away.

He released my hand at once.

“I will take no liberties that you do not grant me.”

I did not know whether this statement reassured me or made what I had accepted feel more real.

Charlotte reappeared a few minutes later. She stopped in the doorway and looked at each of us in turn. Mr. Darcy announced our engagement to her with a gravity befitting a treaty between nations.

She congratulated me without betraying her surprise, then asked if she might inform her husband.

“Not yet,” I replied. “Please.”

Mr. Darcy agreed to this discretion without argument. He stayed only a short while, but before leaving, he turned to me.

“May I see you tomorrow?”

“You are dining here.”

“Before dinner.”

“I may walk in the morning.”

A gleam flickered in his eyes.

“Then I hope chance will prove favorable.”