by Jennifer Joy
A lively tune played, encouraging the villagers to stomp and clap along with the rhythm. Elizabeth let herself be carried away in their glee, pretending that she was every bit as delighted in observing the hops and skips of the dancers before her. So intent was Elizabeth in her determination to be happy that she looked around in confusion when the instruments slowed to a halt, and the dancers stopped. Everyone looked toward the door as a hush fell over the room.
She saw him. And she knew the moment he saw her, for he left Mr. Bingley, and the crowd parted to clear a path before him. A path to her. He looked not to the right, nor to the left, but straight ahead until he stopped and bowed before her. He had come for her.
Elizabeth’s heart hammered in her chest, as if it would leap out and proclaim before the world, “Here I am, Mr. Darcy. Take me, for I am yours.” She covered her heart with her hand for good measure. She could speak for herself, thank you very much.
She curtsied. “Mr. Darcy,” she whispered.
His crooked smile made her knees buckle. “Miss Elizabeth,” he said, extending his hand out to her. “Will you… dance with me?”
Chapter 39
Elizabeth smiled at him and his cares melted away.
“Will you…” he began. Wrong question! It is too soon! “… dance with me?”
Without hesitation, she placed her hand on his arm.
The assembled resumed their chatter, and the musicians plucked their strings to begin another tune. Fortunately for Darcy, they selected a piece which encouraged conversation.
He watched Elizabeth before him, and fragments of their previous exchange as they stood in the same position at Netherfield Park came to memory. How overly proud he must have seemed to her, and how blindingly prejudiced against him she had been.
A wicked thought occurred to him.
Clearing his throat, he began, “How refreshing to see so many dancing this far into the evening. The size of the room is ample enough to accommodate the number of couples present. Although, I notice a distinct lack of gentlemen in the room,” he said, planting his tongue in his cheek. Encouraged by her laugh, he added, “I have heard it said that private balls are much pleasanter than public ones, but in this case, I must say that I disagree.”
She played along as he knew she would. In mock seriousness, Elizabeth said, “Do you talk by rule while you are dancing?”
How had she said it? Ah! "One must speak a little. It would look odd to be entirely silent for half an hour together. I often arrange conversation so that I may have the trouble of saying as little as possible unless I expect to say something that will amaze the whole room and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb. It is my unsocial, taciturn disposition, you know." His cheeks burned in his effort to control his laughter.
Elizabeth held no restraint. They laughed so loud, heads turned to look at them. Darcy did not care.
When she caught her breath, she said, “How ridiculous it all seems now. I accused you of being blinded by prejudice when I was the one who allowed my opinion to be swayed by one unworthy of my regard.” Their palms touched as they faced each other, sending sparks down Darcy’s arm. “I have a much clearer understanding of your character now,” she said in a voice meant only for him. With an impish grin, she added, “And I still like you.”
He guffawed, waiting until they were close enough he could speak softly to her. “I like you too. Very much.”
William— her William— strode across the room in search of Father. Elizabeth, too curious not to follow at a discreet distance, skirted along the wall and stopped within hearing distance of her two favorite men in the world.
After bows and exclamations of delight at the sight of each other— Father was in an extraordinarily jovial mood— William asked, “May I have the pleasure of calling on you on the morrow?” He looked over his shoulder, instinctively knowing where to find Elizabeth.
Father followed William’s gaze, and Elizabeth knew that she blushed, but she did not care.
With a chuckle, Father raised his glass of punch into the air. “Why not? Mr. Bingley has requested an audience for a similar purpose. Mr. Bingley… Mr. Darcy…. If any other eligible gentleman wants to marry one of my daughters, I am quite at my leisure!”
Instead of cringing at Father’s outspokenness, William grinned. “Then we have your blessing?”
“My good fellow, I am well aware that it is not me you wish to see in the morning. I merely aim to save you time and breath. I have found it best to show economy with nerves, and so I extend the same courtesy to you as I did to Mr. Bingley.”
Jane! Could the heart contain so much joy?
She longed for tomorrow morning, but that evening was one of the happiest of her life.
William arrived with Mr. Bingley at the earliest hour considered proper. Elizabeth wondered if their night had been as sleepless as hers and Jane’s. They had whispered their dreams to each other all night, and dreams which had been mere fancy became real as William knelt on one knee and took her hand in his.
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. I have fought against my own pride, the expectations pressed upon me by family and society, and my unforgiving nature… all of this has prevented me from yielding to the tender emotion you inspire within me.” Placing her hand against his chest, he continued, “I love you… most ardently. Please do me the honor of accepting my hand."
She fanned her fingers out, feeling his heart pounding against them, and her own pulse meeting its pace.
“Yes,” she said.
He pulled her closer, wrapping his strong arms around her waist. She twined her fingers through his hair and breathed in his scent. Shaving cream and sandalwood.
Mother burst into the room. She always did have horrible timing. “Oh, Lizzy, I am the happiest mother in the world today! Two daughters engaged to marry rich men with townhouses and estates!”
William stood, but he did not release Elizabeth’s hand.
Just as quickly as she had interrupted their tender scene, Mother left— no doubt to disturb an equally romantic moment in the dining room where Jane and Mr. Bingley were.
“Are you certain you want to marry me, William? Not all of the members of my family will change. Even Kitty and Lydia may be beyond reform,” she said. He would never have asked her if he was not willing to cope with her family, but she knew that they would often test his forbearance to the limit.
“Fate chooses our relatives. I choose you as my friend and my wife. I would not be worthy of you if I let such a trifle come between us.”
“It is hardly a trifle. I appreciate that the distance between Pemberley and Longbourn will assist us in our pursuit of peaceful relations with the more volatile members of my family, but what will you do when they come to visit?”
“It will not be easy, and there will be occasions when we will not agree on matters concerning our families, but I am confident that we will rise above the storm together. Do not forget that my own little sister attempted to elope with an officer… and you have yet to meet my aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh.”
“Hmm. Intriguing! What will she think of your marrying me?” she asked, passing over his reference to Georgiana delicately.
Mother appeared again, her face red from scurrying between the drawing and dining rooms. She tapped her fan in her hands. “What a dilemma I face! Three daughters to marry! Can you not imagine Lady Lucas’ face if the rector reads the banns for all three of my daughters? On the other hand, how delightful to have two of you married by special license! She will be so jealous!”
“But, Mother, Charlotte is marrying an earl,” Elizabeth reminded her.
The fan tapping ceased. “True… true…,” she mumbled to herself. Then, coming to a decision which she emphasized by raising her fan triumphantly in the air, she said, “I will have to ensure that Kitty or Lydia marry a duke.” With that settled, she left the room again.
William pulled out a small box tied up with a tiny satin bow. “I had
best give you this before Mrs. Bennet intrudes again.”
She took the box, holding it on her open palm to measure its weight, and then shook it. It jingled like something delicate.
“You open presents just like Georgiana. I am always tempted to tear through the wrapping for her!” William teased.
“I cannot undo this perfectly done, miniature bow.” Elizabeth stretched the satin over the sides of the box and slid it off. “The ribbon is just the size of a bracelet if I can squeeze my hand through it.”
William watched in fascination as she maneuvered the ribbon onto her wrist without undoing the bow. She held it up for him to admire.
“It is quite an accomplishment to turn the packaging of a gift into a present. I will never look at a bow the same again.”
Elizabeth smiled at him and opened the box. Inside, resting against a bed of velvet, were her teardrop earrings. He heard her breath catch and she wiped at her eyes.
“Allow me?” William picked an earring out of the box and tucked a tendril of curl behind her ear, his fingers lingering in her hair.
“Once again, you are my hero,” she whispered.
He stepped closer to her, so close that she could feel his warmth. Closing her eyes, she tilted her face up to him.
And then Mother entered the room.
Epilogue
Three weeks later
Elizabeth signed her name next to William’s in the registry. It was official. She was Mrs. Darcy!
Mother took great pains to prepare a wedding breakfast at Longbourn for her growing family. Elizabeth was pleased to see that instead of crowding everyone into their smallish dining room, she had decided to take advantage of the good weather to set up tables in the garden next to the pond. The sky was so brilliantly blue, the normally murky pond transformed into a smooth mirror with happy ducklings bathing and rippling the water with their mother.
“How lovely to feast outside on this glorious day!” said Georgiana, who had arrived the week before to join them in the festivities. She had brought the good news that Mr. Gordon was courting Sophia. It pleased Elizabeth to hear that Sophia would marry before the summer.
Miss Bingley swatted at an insect buzzing by her face. “It is rather rustic,” she commented. Elizabeth was pleased to see how Mr. Bingley kept a close watch on her. If she so much as hinted that she would make a snide remark, he silenced her with a glare only an elder brother could give an insolent sister.
They sat down at the long table spread with a flowery tablecloth on which was set such a spread as to do the family credit. Mother fluttered about, giving orders, arranging, and rearranging before Father was able to induce her to sit.
Three lovely, white wedding cakes for the three brides rested in the middle, attracting bees drawn to its sweet aroma and the flower petals used to decorate it.
With everyone settled, Father stood with his champagne glass raised. “To my daughters: Jane, Lizzy, and Mary, who took a gamble and won. May you live long, happy lives with the gentlemen you have chosen. Never forget that you married for love. They were your choice. Love them always. To my sons: Treat my daughters well and return every measure of affection they give with interest. I have found that a little attention goes a long way. A great deal of attention, well…” he looked down at Mother, who blushed at him, “…a great deal of attention goes even further.” He kissed Mother’s hand, and she could not have looked happier than if he had given her a crown of diamonds.
Mother oversaw the serving of the cake. The air filled with the perfume of cinnamon, raisins, and sugar.
Miss Bingley took a bite, moaning as she chewed before coming to her senses and darting her eyes about to see if anyone had noticed. She scooped up another morsel with fluffy icing surrounding it when a bee dove in front of her nose. She flailed her spoon, sending a gooey piece of cake flying through the air.
Elizabeth watched as time slowed and she saw every detail without the benefit of having sufficient time to react. The cake with its sticky icing landed with a smack in the center of William’s forehead.
Miss Bingley was horrified, and it was all Elizabeth could do not to burst into laughter when William instinctively looked up at the cake and she saw his eyes cross. He looked like a five year old boy playing with his food. It was adorable!
“Oh! I want to throw cake too!” shouted Lydia from the other end of the table. Scooping a spoonful of icing, she took aim at Mr. Collins.
A stern voice froze Lydia in place. “A proper lady never throws her food nor engages in aggressive conduct while at the table.” Mrs. Roderick, Kitty and Lydia’s new companion, cast such a fierce look at Lydia, she slowly lowered her cake-laden hand.
Elizabeth dabbed her napkin in water to clean the white mess from William’s forehead, letting her fingers run over his smoothly shaved cheeks.
“Mrs. Roderick has a difficult task before her, but she seems up to the challenge,” Elizabeth said with a smile.
“She raised five boys on her own. There is not much your sisters can do that she will not anticipate,” he added.
“She’s perfect,” teased Elizabeth.
“No. You are perfect, my love.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Hardly! I am only content that you love me despite my imperfections, just as I adore you.”
“I stand corrected. Let me amend my saying: You are perfect for me, my love. Is that better?”
“Much better.” She leaned in toward him, hoping that he might steal a kiss. She was not disappointed.
As they finally drew apart, Elizabeth rested her forehead against William’s, intoxicated in passion. She ignored Miss Bingley’s huffs and sour expressions. She was being reimbursed in full for every unkind word and mean-spirited action she had made against Jane.
Elizabeth felt the whisper of William’s breath as he spoke softly into her ear. “We are all of us richer for the events of the last months, are we not, Mrs. Darcy?”
She looked around the table. Bingley had his arm around Jane’s waist and kissed her when he thought nobody noticed. Mrs. Roderick placed herself between Lydia and Kitty— all the better to ensure their improved behavior. Father and Mother sat close to each other while they spoke with Mr. Collins, and Mary struck up a conversation with Georgiana. Everyone was in high humor— everyone, that is, except Lydia and Miss Bingley.
“We are indeed, Mr. Darcy.”
Standing from the table, he clasped her hand to pull her up beside him. “Then, I propose we depart to begin our lives together. We shall make it our aim to treasure up memories to enrich our lives well into our old age.”
“What is this I hear about treasure and riches?” Mrs. Bennet exclaimed.
William looked askance. Elizabeth laughed as she shook her head.
“Some things in life may change, but apparently, not your mother,” William teased.
Sighing contentedly, Elizabeth said, “Father will see that she lacks nothing of what really matters. After all, fortunes may be won and easily lost. They know this better than most. But a tested and loyal love…”
“That,” William said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and squeezed her to him, “is a love to last a lifetime. What do you say, Mrs. Darcy: Shall we begin?”
THE END
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About the Author
When Jennifer isn’t busy dreaming up new adventures for her favorite Austen characters, she is teaching English, reading, per
fecting her doughnut recipe, or taking her kids to the park.
Her wish is to continue to write sweet romances with happy endings for years to come.
She currently lives in Ecuador with her husband and twins. All of them are fluent in Spanglish.
Right now, Jennifer is imagining a new way to bring our beloved Darcy and Lizzy together so that they can enjoy another Happily-Ever-After.
Other Books by Jennifer Joy
Historical Romances
Darcy’s Ultimatum: The Cousins Series, Book 1
Anne’s Adversity: The Cousins Series, Book 2
The Colonel’s Challenge: The Cousins Series, Book 3
Earning Darcy’s Trust
Accusing Elizabeth
Love Never Fails
Win, Lose, or Darcy
The Honorable Mr. Darcy: A Meryton Mystery, Book 1
The Indomitable Miss Elizabeth: A Meryton Mystery, Book 2
The Inseparable Mr. and Mrs. Darcy: A Meryton Mystery, Book 3
Cozy Mysteries
Cabs, Cakes, and Corpses: Murder on the Equator, Book 1
Rum Raisin Revenge: Murder on the Equator, Book 2
Sweet Contemporary Romance
Written in the Stars: Starlight Terrace Proposals #1