by Jane Grix
Mrs. Bennet said, “If that is the case, then I am prepared to like Mr. Darcy better than I did before. What do you think, Lizzy? We know he doesn’t like you, but do you think he might like one of your sisters?”
Elizabeth choked and hid it with a cough. “I have no idea.”
DARCY AND HIS SISTER arrived at Netherfield a week before the wedding. Mr. Bingley invited all the Bennets and Mrs. Gardiner for tea one evening. Elizabeth sat beside Miss Darcy who took her hand and said, “Please call me Georgiana.”
That was encouraging.
Darcy was there, but she did not know what to say to him, particularly with everyone around them. Three weeks before he had said he would propose to her, but had he changed his mind?
For entertainment, Mrs. Hurst played the pianoforte, followed by Georgiana.
At this point, Darcy stood and said he had a recitation in honour of Mr. Bingley and Miss Bennet. “That is, if you agree, Bingley.”
“Please, do,” Bingley said.
Darcy looked directly at Elizabeth as he spoke:
Drink to me only with thine eyes
And I will pledge with mine,
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine,
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
“Now, all this talk of wine is giving me a thirst,” Mr. Hurst murmured.
“Shh,” Mrs. Hurst said.
Darcy looked at Elizabeth with amusement and affection in his eyes as he continued:
I sent thee late a rose wreath,
Not so much honouring thee,
As giving it a hope that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent it back to me
At this, Elizabeth thought of his first near proposal, which could be like a wreath. Was there a special meaning for her? She had sent his love back to him by not being willing to commit.
He finished the poem:
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee!
Darcy bowed. Miss Bingley clapped her hands with the others, and said, “What a lovely sentiment, but then, Shakespeare is such a masterful poet.”
Elizabeth was tempted to correct her mistake, but in the end, she decided not to. From all appearances, it seemed that Darcy still loved her, and she would not be petty.
Bingley asked if anyone else wished to perform.
Mary glanced at Mr. Bennet, and Darcy, observing her, said, “Oh, yes. Miss Mary. Do you have a concerto for us?”
Mrs. Bennet beamed her approval. “Although Mary is my plainest daughter, she is the most talented.”
Elizabeth was embarrassed by her mother and surprised by Darcy’s statement, until he sat at the back of the room and silently motioned for her to sit beside him.
As Mary made her way to the instrument and arranged her music sheets, Elizabeth changed chairs quietly, hoping that no one noticed.
“I hope she plays a nice, long concerto,” Darcy whispered.
“Shh,” Elizabeth warned.
Darcy nodded. “I will be circumspect.”
But his heated gaze on her was not circumspect. Elizabeth looked down at her hands in her lap. She admitted, “I feared I would blush during your poem.”
“I enjoy your blushes.”
At this, Mrs. Gardiner turned to look at them with a question in her eyes.
“Shh,” Elizabeth repeated and Mrs. Gardiner looked back at Mary.
“Very well,” Darcy said quietly. “We can communicate another way.” He took a small engraved box from a side table and opened it. Inside there were miniature white wooden letters less than an inch square. The game was called Alphabet. He chose a small handful of letters and placed them in her palm.
She looked at the collection of letters and arranged them so they spelled out:
I LOVE YOU.
She hastily handed the letters back to him. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Shall I continue?”
Elizabeth looked about the room. No one was watching the two of them. Bingley was whispering to Jane and Mrs. Hurst was playing with her bracelets. Mr. Bennet was glancing through a book and Mr. Hurst looked as if he were falling asleep.
She nodded. “Yes.”
He took his time choosing the next letters and Elizabeth admired a lock of his dark hair that fell across his forehead.
Mr. Darcy loved her. She was astonished that a man of his wealth and position, a man who could have any women he wanted, wanted her.
He handed her a few more letters and she arranged them on her hand.
WILL YOU MARRY ME
She looked at him then and was humbled by the adoration in his eyes. Her breath caught.
“Yes.”
“When?”
She smiled, pleased by his impatience. She held out her hand for the box of letters and he gave it to her. She counted out some letters and gave them to him to decipher.
AFTER JANES WEDDING.
His dark eyes flared and in response, he handed her letters that spelled out:
SOONER
Elizabeth smiled. She was flattered by his impatience. She gave him letters for a single word:
HOW
His response:
SPECIAL LICENSE
Elizabeth nodded, thrilled by the two words. They meant that he had made plans while he was in London. She whispered, “Very well. Yes.”
Darcy reached for her hand and squeezed it briefly. Then he rummaged through the letters that spelled out:
DEAREST DARLING
Elizabeth blushed and when she looked up, she saw Mrs. Gardiner looking at her with an inquiring look. Elizabeth handed Darcy the letters and said, “That is enough for now. Let us listen to Mary.”
“As you wish,” Darcy whispered.
At the end of the evening, Darcy spoke to Mr. Bennet, asking for an audience with him the following morning. Mr. Bennet mentioned it on the carriage ride home. Mrs. Bennet was surprised. “Whatever can he mean by it, I wonder.”
Mrs. Gardiner and Jane both smiled and Elizabeth kept her silence, savouring her news in her heart.
CHAPTER TEN
Darcy appeared at Longbourn right after breakfast and he spoke to Mr. Bennet for fifteen minutes. When he returned to the drawing room, he told Elizabeth that her father wished to see her.
When Elizabeth arrived, she saw her father pacing about the room, looking grave and anxious. “Lizzy,” he said. “What are you doing? Are you out of your mind to be accepting this man? I thought you hated him.”
Elizabeth wished that her former opinions had been more reasonable and her expressions more moderate. “I did hate him,” she said. “But that was only in the beginning. As I continued to see him, I began to like him, and now I love him dearly.”
“How long have you loved him?”
“It has been coming on so gradually, that I hardly know when it began. But I believe I must date it from my first seeing him stand on his head at Darcy House.”
Mr. Bennet laughed. “Stand on his head?”
“Yes. He did it at Uncle Gardiner’s request.”
Mr. Bennet nodded. “I see. That changes my opinion completely. I thought Mr. Darcy a solemn, reserved man who might not appreciate you. But if he is willing to stand on his head at a party, well, I am inclined to think better of him. Unless he was foxed.”
Elizabeth assured him that Mr. Darcy did not drink to excess.
“Then yes, I am glad I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse anything. I pray you will both make each other happy.”
“I will do my best, sir.”
EPILOGUE
Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters.
Elizab
eth stood in the church as she and her sister both promised to obey, serve and honour their new husbands. Elizabeth felt as if she were washed with light. She had never felt such joy and peace. She knew she had made the right choice to marry Mr. Darcy. Afterwards there was a wedding breakfast at Longbourn, where all her friends and family gathered to share their good wishes.
Miss Bingley looked as if she had just eaten a pickle, and Lady Catherine chose not to attend, but everyone else seemed jovial until it was time for the couples to leave. Mrs. Bennet wailed, “What will I do without my dearest daughters?”
“You still have me, Mama,” Lydia said.
Finally, after numerous hugs and tearful farewells, the married couples were able to leave in separate carriages.
The Bingleys were headed to London and the Darcys to Derbyshire.
Darcy sat beside Elizabeth in the carriage. He carefully untied the ribbons of her bonnet and placed it on the seat across from them before reaching over and kissing her lips gently.
Elizabeth sighed happily. It was her first kiss and everything for which she had hoped.
He said, “Ah. That was the kiss I wanted when we played blind man’s bluff.”
She said archly, “Are you sorry I made you wait?”
“Not at all. Anticipation made it sweeter.” He kissed her again.
When he pulled back, she looked into his eyes and said, “How many people, do you suppose, fall in love while playing parlour games?”
“I do not know, and I do not care,” Darcy said firmly. “At this moment, all I care about is us. You are mine and I am yours.”
Elizabeth could not help but tease him a little longer. “Oh. And here I thought we might play parlour games tonight if we became bored. Game of Twenty perhaps. Or Alphabet.”
Darcy’s eyes gleamed. “I have no interest in parlour games. I am more interested in private games with you, Mrs. Darcy.”
Elizabeth laughed and snuggled closer. She reached up and kissed his lips. “Excellent notion, Mr. Darcy.”
AUTHOR’S NOTE
I hope you enjoyed Evenings with Darcy. I had fun researching various Victorian and Regency Era parlour games. I also liked the idea of Darcy’s courtship happening in the midst of a series of evening parties.
I love watching the various Jane Austen films, but I often wonder what people did to entertain themselves in the evenings without Facebook and Netflix. I wish there were a time machine, so I could go back in time and attend some of those dinner parties. I think that is why Jane Austen Variations are so popular – we all want to visit Pemberley again.
I thoroughly enjoyed Kate Beckinsale in Friendship, which was based on Jane Austen’s Lady Susan. I have watched that movie many times, not just for the humorous story, but to swoon over the costumes, the architecture and the furniture. If you noticed, there are two very pretty chairs on the cover for Evenings with Darcy.
And now for a request. I would LOVE to hear from you. Please leave a review or you can email me at [email protected] .
Happy reading,
Jane Grix
Website: www.janegrix.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Jane-Grix-Author-122554261410387/
Email: [email protected]
For a FREE DOWNLOAD of Four More Elizabeth and Darcy stories, sign up for my VIP mailing list here: http://janegrix.com/ano-fd-signup2/