by Meg Osborne
“I do, Miss Bennet. I confess, it has taken me this long to fully understand you, but I hope that you also, at last, understand me.”
Elizabeth tilted her head to one side, regarding him curiously.
“I confess you seem different, somehow. Perhaps it is London, or the festivity of New Year’s Eve!”
“It is all of this, and a hundred things besides,” Darcy confessed. He glanced around, to be certain they might not be overheard. “Can you forgive me for being so misguided in my actions towards your sister?”
“Only if you can forgive me for assuming your continuing determination to keep them apart.” She frowned, and Darcy wished he could stop her doing so, for he hated to see her concerned over any little thing.
“Might we both agree to a measure of misunderstanding on either side?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“Yet that is not all I wished to say to you. Miss Elizabeth, I feel...that is, I have come to know you better in this past few days than I did in all our time in Hertfordshire.”
“And I, you,” she said, shyly.
“I am a fool, perhaps, for rushing to do this now, but I cannot wait any longer. A friend said that there is something in the air of London at Christmas that makes men insensible and I own it for myself, but I cannot hold my tongue any longer. Miss Elizabeth, I - I love you. Previously I would assume it likely you could be persuaded to care for me, for my wealth and position would make a deal of difference to a family such as yours -” He heard her sharp intake of breath, and raised a worried glance. “Please, allow me to finish.” He frowned. “I do not speak as I ought. I now know, as I should always have known, that a person is not defined by their family. I have friends whose sisters are a poor indication of their own worth. I myself have relatives that act as I would not. And so, I must not judge you on the appearance of those close to you.” He hesitated. “Except on the appearance of those very closest to you. Your aunt and uncle, for example, have impressed me greatly in their kindness and compassion. Your sister, Miss Bennet, is the gentlest, truest person I have come across, at great contrast to the artifice one most often experiences in women destined to be wed.”
Elizabeth’s eyes sparkled, and Darcy wished he could read in them the truth of her feelings.
“I am saying everything wrong,” he said. “Let me be brief, then. I love you for your wit and your wisdom, your concern for those you love, and your spirit. I can boast no such qualities, yet I pray my feelings might be returned.”
He looked up at her, then, in a silent entreaty to her to answer quickly and honestly. It was as if they were the only two people in the room, for the hustle and bustle of the party faded to nothing, and he heard only her voice, quieter than perhaps he ever had heard it before.
“Yes, Mr Darcy.”
“Yes?”
“Yes, your feelings are returned, though I can scarcely understand how or when they began to be!” She laughed, then, and he joined her.
“Then we have both been caught unawares.” He clasped her hand in his, sealing the matter in one wordless gesture.
“I blame my sister!” Elizabeth said.
“Your sister?”
“I came to London with one thought only - well, this and cheering my poor Uncle Gardiner - to reunite Jane with her true love. I never dreamed I would find my own alongside him, the very man I had thought an antagonist.”
“Ah, but I played the role well, to my detriment!” Darcy acknowledged, with a grimace.
“No, you were ally at last,” Elizabeth said, her cheeks reddening.
Darcy frowned, confused.
“I heard you urging Mr. Bingley to speak to Jane, after Miss Bingley’s ball.” She hurried to explain. “Oh, I did not intend to listen in on your conversation, but once started...I confess I could not stop.”
“I see. I must add “insatiable curiosity” to the traits possessed by my dear Elizabeth.”
“Curiosity is a precursor to wisdom, and if you admire the latter you must accept the former,” she said, with a rosy smile won, in no small part, by the addition of “dear” to her name, which had never before sounded so sweet to her.
“You knew already, then, of my affections for you?” Darcy pressed. “Surely you must have guessed it by my words.”
“No,” Elizabeth’s reply was barely a whisper.
Darcy smiled, then, glad of an opportunity to recount the ending of his conversation with Mr Bingley for Elizabeth to hear in full.
“I admitted to spurning a woman on the first occasion of meeting her, only to repent at my leisure and realise the damage was too deeply done to be mended.” His smile turned serious. “And yet, now I see that this is not the case. For it is not too late to repair a thing.”
“Too late? Mr Darcy, look at the time. A new year is about to begin.”
But Darcy could not bring himself to look away from her for a moment, not even to examine the clock face. As the chimes began, he leant in and kissed her, as he had wanted to do since they had met once more in London, and marvelled at the change this Christmas had wrought.
Epilogue
Mrs Bennet could scarcely contain her joy when she saw a carriage approaching Longbourn a few days later.
“Mr Bennet! Kitty, Lydia, Mary! Your sisters are home again. Come, let us all go out to meet them!”
This request was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, such that it was Mrs Bennet only, and dutiful, if disinterested, Mary, who met the carriage as it pulled up to the house.
“Jane! Elizabeth! How was London?”
Yet it was not her eldest nor second eldest daughter who was first to get out of the carriage.
“Good afternoon, Mrs Bennet!” Mr Bingley said, cheerfully helping his fiancée to the ground.
“Mr Bingley!” Mrs Bennet was all astonishment. “But - I -” Her ability to speak was lost to her entirely when another gentleman followed his friend out of the carriage, ably assisting Elizabeth to the ground.
“Mr Darcy!”
Their mother looked from Jane to Lizzy and back again, wordlessly demanding some explanation.
“Hello, Mama!” Jane said, beaming with excitement. “We have so much to tell you.”
“Mrs Bennet,” Mr Darcy said, cordially. “I wonder if Mr Bingley and I might be permitted an audience with your husband.”
“Of course! Mary, go now and alert your father to the new arrivals.”
Elizabeth could see her mother struggling visibly to process the tableau before her.
“I dare say we are surprised to see you returned so soon to Hertfordshire!” Mrs Bennet managed at last. “Yet, of course, you are welcome, so very welcome.”
“Might we all go inside, then, Mama? For January is not really conducive to conversations out of doors.” Elizabeth laughed, and Mrs Bennet hurried everyone into the house.
Mr Bennet had been persuaded out of his study long enough to receive his returning daughters and was surprised that they did not return alone.
“Mr Bennet!” Mr Bingley greeted him, as soon as the door was closed behind their party. “My friend and I wish to speak to you of marriage, to your daughters.”
“Marriage?” Mrs Bennet squawked. “Both of you?”
Elizabeth felt Mr Darcy’s grip on her hand tightened, and laughed, merrily.
“Yes, Mama. Both of us wish to be married, as soon as possible.”
The End
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Also by Meg Osborne
A Convenient Marriage
A Convenient Marriage Volume 1
Longbourn's Lark: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Three Weeks in Kent: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Suitably Wed: A Pride and Prejudice
Variation
A Visit to Scotland: A Pride and Prejudice Variaton
The Consequence of Haste: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
A Surprise Engagement: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Fate and Fortune
Too Fond of Stars: A Persuasion Variation
A Temporary Peace: A Persuasion Variation
Three Sisters from Hertfordshire
A Trip to Pemberley
An Assembly in Bath
An Escape from London
Standalone
After the Letter: A Persuasion Continuation
Half the Sum of Attraction: A Persuasion Prequel
A Very Merry Masquerade: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella
The Other Elizabeth Bennet: A Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella
In Netherfield Library and Other Stories
Mr Darcy's Christmas Carol: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Such Peculiar Providence
A Chance at Happiness
The Colonel's Cousin: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Watch for more at Meg Osborne’s site.
About the Author
Meg Osborne is an avid reader, tea drinker and unrepentant history nerd. She writes sweet historical romance stories and Jane Austen fanfiction, and can usually be found knitting, dreaming up new stories, or on twitter @megoswrites
Read more at Meg Osborne’s site.