At last they had enough and they returned indoors. The gentlemen retired to the billiard room and the ladies set about arranging their berries and foliage. The activity prompted good cheer and merriment.
They soon agreed to dispense with formality and call each other Georgiana, Elizabeth and Jane.
‘I have always wanted a sister,’ Georgiana confided. ‘Now I feel I have two.’
That evening, after dinner, Elizabeth and Georgiana played duets to entertain the others. Georgiana was indeed a most accomplished pianist, but her natural diffidence made her shy of performance and occasioned some wrong notes and a few awkward passages. Elizabeth, with more confidence but having practised less, also made a few mistakes, but they were overall well matched and their listeners were not in a mood to be critical.
The spirit of the season was having its effect on them all. Lady Sarah nodded by the fire, her head falling forward on to her chest, and not even the pianoforte could wake her.
The curtains were still open, at Elizabeth’s request. The night was clear and the sky was speckled with stars. An ethereal moon hung behind the trees, casting a silvery light over the snowy park.
Inside, all was warmth and soft candlelight.
‘Let us have some carols,’ said Mr Darcy. ‘There is nothing better on Christmas Eve.’
The mood became more contemplative. Georgiana knew some of the most fashionable carols and they all sang the joyful songs with gusto.
By and by, Georgiana began to yawn. Shortly afterwards she bid them all goodnight and retired.
Elizabeth, still seated at the piano, began to play. Her fingers brushed the keys with a musicality that reached the spirit. Not every note was perfect, but there was an emotion to her playing that filled the air with the soul of Christmas, of peace on earth and goodwill to all men.
Mr Darcy watched her with unmistakeable love in his eyes. His gaze ran over every detail of her face, from the clear, smooth brown to the perfect nose and carmine lips, and then to her eyes, which held him mesmerised.
At last he stood up and went over to the piano. Elizabeth looked up as he approached and felt a feeling of strength and security, of calm and contentment as well as excitement and happiness wash over her. As she played, he began to sing. Elizabeth lifted her voice with his in perfect unison and when they had finished, the room fell silent apart from the shifting of the coals in the grate.
Colonel Fitzwilliam was the first to move.
‘I think I must follow my ward and bid you all goodnight,’ he said.
He went over to the fire, where Lady Sarah was still dozing, and gave her shoulder a gentle shake. She stirred and looked about her.
‘It is eleven o’clock,’ he said to her. ‘Time to retire.’
‘Is it so late already?’ she said. ‘The evening has flown by.’
He gave her his arm and conducted her out of the room.
It was then Jane and Mr Bingley’s turn to bid them goodnight, leaving Elizabeth and Mr Darcy alone.
‘Would you think me very odd if I said I should like to walk along the terrace?’ asked Elizabeth. ‘It is such a beautiful night. The sky is not often so clear, and the moon is seldom such a size.’
‘I see nothing wrong in it, as long as you will allow me to escort you.’
‘Thank you. I should like that.’
‘If you wish, we can go out of the side door. Outdoor clothes are kept there in case my sister and I wish to walk outside without returning to our rooms first. My sister’s cloak and pelisse will fit you.’
Elizabeth agreed, and they were soon outfitted for the cold and yet beautiful night.
‘The last time I used this door was the night on which I found you,’ said Mr Darcy, as they went outside. ‘I could not settle to anything and I wanted to check on my horses.’
‘It is a good thing you did,’ said Elizabeth.
He gave her his arm and they began to walk.
‘I cannot imagine what you must have thought when you found me,’ she went on.
‘I did not know what to think, but I believe I felt more than thought.’
‘I must thank you again for all you did for my sister Lydia. I wish to thank you not only for myself, but on behalf of my family, too.’ She added ruefully, ‘I think they may have forgotten to thank you themselves.’
‘I need no thanks, and certainly not from your family,’ said Mr Darcy. ‘I believe I thought of you, and only you.’
Elizabeth felt a warm tingling sensation run over her and she stole a glance at his face. He was looking down at her with such love in his eyes that she found herself daring to hope.
He turned to face her.
Their breath was misting in the cold night air, and the mists intertwined, becoming one.
‘I proposed to you once before in the most shameful manner, but now I am so grateful that I have a chance to make amends. When I went out to the stables that night I was desolate. My life was cold and empty, and I had lost the one woman in all the world who could make it warm and full. I longed to see you again, to apologise for my conceit and my arrogance, but I could not come to call at Longbourn, not after everything that had passed between us at Rosings, for I was sure you would not agree to see me. I did not blame you. When I was able to think rationally, I blamed myself. I did everything in my power to listen to your reproofs and become a better man. I have no right to hope for a better outcome from a second proposal, but I must make it nonetheless. My fate is in your hands. Miss Elizabeth Bennet, will you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’
Elizabeth, who had been listening to this speech with mounting colour and burgeoning hope, said softly, ‘Yes, Mr Darcy, I will.’
Her words were simple, but her tone was so heartfelt, that her reply satisfied his every wildest desire. He took her face in his hands, and then he kissed her. It was the sweetest moment, full of love and tenderness and the promise of passion to come.
They turned to walk on, with Elizabeth’s hand on his arm, and rounding the corner the came to the stable where it had all begun.
‘It is strange to think we have Lydia to thank for our present happiness,’ said Elizabeth. ‘If she had not run off, then we might never have met each other again, and we would not be standing here now.’
‘You have given me a new light in which to see your sister,’ said Mr Darcy with a laugh. ‘Now I am doubly glad I helped her, for despite her iniquities she has brought us together, and for that I will forgive her anything.’
‘It is even stranger to think it all began with me losing my memory, for this is a Christmas I will long remember.’
‘Yes,’ agreed Mr Darcy, as he turned to kiss her again. ‘This is a Christmas I will never forget.’
The Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Series
These novellas are all separate, standalone stories. They can be read in any order.
They are available in Kindle and paperback formats.
#1 Elizabeth’s Mistake
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#2 Mr Darcy’s Rescue
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#3 A Pair of Fine Eyes
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#4Mr Darcy’s Hallowe’en
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#5 Twelve Days of Christmas
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#6 Winter at Netherfield Park
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#7 Mr Darcy’s Valentine
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#8 A Ball at Pemberley
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#9 Mr Darcy’s Waterloo
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#10 Mr Darcy’s Wedding
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The Darcy and Elizabeth Collections
Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection One
Contains #1, #2 and #3
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hat If? Collection Two
Contains Novellas #4, #5 and #6
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Darcy and Elizabeth What If? Collection 4 Page 28