Elizabeth’s face glowed with happiness. “It’s a family heirloom?” she asked softly, meeting his eyes and pressing her cheek to his. “I love it even more now.”
Will removed the ring from the box and held it lightly between his thumb and forefinger as he reached for her left hand. It felt a little slick . . .
And then they were both watching, horrified, as the ring shot out of his fingers, bounced once on the floor, and disappeared down the open heating vent.
Elizabeth and Will both dropped to their stomachs and stared down the vent. Without a word, Elizabeth whipped out her phone and turned on the flashlight app while Will stuck his long arm down as far as he could. No ring. Will could smell the WD-40 on his fingers. “Damned prying Richard and his stupid, oily hands,” he grunted, an aggrieved expression on his face. “I’m going to kill him.”
Elizabeth pursed her lips and pushed her head over the top of the hole, shifting the light around. “Okay,” she said thoughtfully, “it has to be down there. So we just need to get the vacuum cleaner . . .”
“And fix some kind of extension to the hose,” Will finished, pushing himself up to his knees. “Is the vacuum downstairs?”
“Mmm hmm,” Elizabeth muttered.
Will left the apartment and she heard him pounding down the stairs. Elizabeth rummaged through an open box in the corner and removed an unused roll of duct tape before standing up and going to visit her downstairs neighbors.
When she returned to the room, Will had duct taped a smaller hose to the larger one. Before he could turn on the vacuum, though, Elizabeth affixed the leg of a pair of pantyhose, toe-side in, to the end of the nozzle.
“This will catch the ring,” she told him, “so we don’t have to worry about it getting caught in the hose or having to dig through the dirt in the canister to find it.” He lifted his eyebrows. “At least Mrs. Ivan had a pair she was willing to give me,” she said, shrugging. “Hardly anyone wears them anymore.”
She lowered herself to the vent again. It took a few minutes, but she finally spied a flash from one of the diamonds. She pointed it out to Will, who carefully snaked the hose down the hole and flipped on the vacuum. About ten minutes and a few near misses later, Will gingerly pulled the hose up and fished the ring out of the pantyhose. Elizabeth slapped the register over the vent with a muted clang and switched the vacuum off.
Will cradled the ring in his palm and slipped it back into the box. “Sorry to take it back,” he told her, “but this is going to the jeweler’s to be properly cleaned before we try this again.”
For a moment, they both stared at each other and finally, began to laugh. “Only us,” Elizabeth sighed.
“Only Richard,” Will corrected, then grabbed her and moved in for a deep, searing kiss.
They were lost to each other for some time, but when they recollected themselves and prepared to leave, Elizabeth put her hands on his chest and said, innocently, “You know, we can’t say we’re engaged yet.”
“You mean until you officially get the ring?” Will asked, wrapping a tendril of her hair around his finger.
She shook her head and pressed her lips together, her eyes shining. “You have to ask Uncle Ed for my hand.”
He chuckled and sighed. “At the rate you’re digging, Bennet, you’ll be in China by nightfall.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Elizabeth was in the Gardiners’ dining room, sitting across the table from her sisters and pretending to work on her laptop.
“So, you’re going out to see him this summer?” Kit asked, watching her email for any incoming messages.
“He’s sending me a plane ticket,” Mary replied from the seat next to her sister.
“Is it here yet?” Lydia called as she bounced through the front door, hurriedly tossing a Gardiner’s Plumbing jacket up on her peg.
“No,” her three older sisters said in unison.
“Good,” Lydia sighed, and Kit glared at her. “I just meant I wanted to be here when you found out.”
“Have you two decided what you’re going to do?” Mary asked.
“I have,” Kit said. “I don’t feel any need to contact Mr. Goulding. Lydia’s not sure.”
Lydia shrugged uncomfortably. “I dunno. I thought I wanted to meet him, but now I don’t think so. I mean, if he wanted to meet us, he’d have contacted us by now. I don’t need any more Tom Bennets in my life.” She wound a thread from her shirt around her finger. “We have Uncle Ed and Aunt Maddy. I don’t need any other parents.”
Elizabeth smiled to herself but didn’t look up.
“So,” Mary said, dragging them back to the matter at hand, “how much longer?”
“Not too much, I don’t think,” Kit said anxiously. “They probably wait until everyone’s leaving the office so they won’t have to deal with all the disappointed emails and messages until Monday.”
The girls huddled around Kit’s laptop screen. “Fingers crossed, girls,” Maddy said cheerfully as she entered the room with a basket of laundry. “We’re pulling for you, Kit, but remember you’ve already had a letter from Montclair State. No matter what, you’ll have a place to go to school next year.”
“I know,” Kit said, nodding, “but I really want Rhode Island. I really, really, really . . .” Something chimed. “Oh my God, it’s here,” she said.
“Open it!” Lydia exclaimed. Kit hesitated, and Lydia reached over her. Kit grabbed her hand.
“Lydia, touch my keyboard and die,” she said hotly. “In fact, everyone needs to back off. I want to read this first. Alone.”
Elizabeth stood and patted Kit on the shoulder. “They’ll accept you, Kit. They’re morons if they don’t.”
“Thanks, Lizzy,” Kit said.
They all began to walk away, but before they could even reach the hall, Kit let out a high-pitched squeal.
“’Congratulations!’” she shouted, tossing both arms up in the air. “It says ‘congratulations’!”
“She got in!” Elizabeth screamed, launching herself at Will as he walked through the door. He dropped his coat and laptop bag on the floor to catch her. “She got in!”
“Kit?” he asked, blue eyes warm with delight. “Really?”
“Yes!” Elizabeth cried, “She got in!” She released Will and tossed her arms up in the air, doing a little whirling victory dance while he watched. She stopped suddenly, her hands moving to her hips and her eyes narrowing. “What’re you looking at?”
Will smiled. “Do you need to ask?”
Her chin came up defiantly. “Would I ask if I didn’t?”
He nodded seriously. “Yes.” He ignored her puff of exasperation and with a definite twinkle in his eyes, said, “You like to hear me say that your rear end, while always quite fine, is nothing short of exquisite when you dance like that.” He pulled her close and dipped her low.
“Will,” she groaned, “One-track mind. My baby sister got into the Rhode Island School of Design today! Do you know how hard that is?”
He smiled broadly. “I know how hard . . .”
“Oh my God,” she interrupted, starting to laugh and covering her face with her hands. “You are a glutton.”
Elizabeth was incredibly happy. She’d never understand Kit’s obsession with clothes, but she’d benefitted from it so she wasn’t complaining. More importantly, Kit was going to do what she loved. It felt good. It felt great.
Her attention was drawn back to Will, whose eyes were methodically sweeping the floor inch by inch.
“What are you doing?” she asked, bemused, and dropped into a chair.
“I’m checking for uncovered manholes,” he quipped, then sank to a knee next to her. “I don’t have any pantyhose in the apartment.” He opened a black ring box. “I’d really like to see you wearing this,” he said, earnest eyes meeting hers.
Elizabeth smiled widely and sat up. “It’s cleaned?”
Will nodded and set the box on the table. He took her hand and slid the ring onto her finger.
“Sometime,” Will acquiesced, taking her hand and gently guiding her to her feet. “But not tonight.” He held her hand in his and led her to the bedroom. “Tonight, I get to see you wearing nothing but that ring, and my great-grandmother doesn’t belong in that picture.”
“You are annoyingly persistent,” Elizabeth chided him, but walked beside him without protest.
Will lifted her hand to his lips and moved in for a kiss. Just as she lifted her head to meet his advances, he shifted his approach a little to the left and whispered in her ear, “And you love it.”
“Mmm,” she hummed languidly, “I do.”
She felt his lips smiling against her temple. “Just remember that answer, Elizabeth Bennet,” he murmured, “because I don’t intend to wait much longer.”
“I’m not speaking to you,” Jane said calmly, handing a patient file to the desk nurse.
Richard frowned. “Still?” he asked. “I apologized to your sister. I even apologized to Will.”
Jane shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. She was angry, true, but it was the disappointment that lingered. “I told you not to look, and not only did you look, you touched. You got your greasy hands all over my sister’s ring, and you wrecked her proposal.” She bit her lower lip. “And now I’m talking to you when I said I wouldn’t.” She glanced over at the desk and realized that Nancy was very studiously not eavesdropping. She took Richard by the arm and walked him down the hall. “Richard, I know you feel like Elizabeth’s big brother, but there are things you just don’t do.”
“I know, Jane, and I swear I’ve learned my lesson,” he said pleadingly. “I apologized. And they had their fun with me, too.”
Jane grimaced. It was so difficult to remain upset with him when he looked at her that way, his entire posture penitent. And Will and Lizzy had taken their revenge. From three different stories, she’d pieced together what had happened. Will had presented Richard with a detailed invoice for ripping out the apartment’s floor and replacing both the floor and the ring, which he’d said was damaged in the process. Richard had felt so guilty he’d immediately written a check. Elizabeth walked into the study pretending that she was unaware Richard was there and then giving him a look so sadly reproachful that Richard said he’d felt two inches tall. Just as he was begging for forgiveness, Will and Elizabeth began laughing and couldn’t stop. He’d been confused, then annoyed, but ultimately relieved that nothing irredeemable had happened. Jane sighed. She was the only one who still felt affronted, and it was clear Richard didn’t know why.
“I know,” she said. “I think . . .” She paused. “Richard, I told you to put the box back. But you treated it like a joke, and you told me I was outvoted.” She searched his face for understanding. “I know you tease me about ordering you around, but I really don’t do it that often. When I do . . .”
His expression softened. “You need to know that I’ll listen.” Richard nodded. “You’re right. It’s what I would ask from you, too.”
“You’re very lucky this was Elizabeth,” Jane continued. “Once they had the ring back, she had a funny story to tell. Can you imagine if someone did that to Georgiana? She would have been devastated.”
Richard’s expression was truly contrite. “I didn’t think . . .”
“No, you didn’t,” Jane said emphatically. “That’s my point. But we all do stupid things. It’s really not that so much that upsets me now as it is the fact that you didn’t listen to me.” She put a hand on his arm and turned her eyes up to his. “I’ve had plenty of experience with being disregarded. I can’t handle it from you.”
He touched her cheek. “I promise, Jane,” he said in a low, intense voice. “And you have permission to call me to account if I mess up.”
Jane nodded. “Okay. I’ll think of a way you can make it up to me.”
Richard smiled and gave her a brief kiss. “Can I drive you home?” he asked hopefully.
“Have you found one yet?” she teased him. His eyes shone with relief.
“I haven’t called the realtor since . . . ” he said, the sentence trailing off. “You need to be there.”
And with that, Jane forgave him. “I have my car here,” she told him, relenting. “But you can take me to a really nice hotel and . . .”—she leaned over to whisper in his ear—“sing to me.”
The June sun lit the sky, but it wasn’t hot yet. Elizabeth stood inside the Central Park apartment, one hand on her uncle’s arm, in the other, a bouquet of blue hydrangea and white peonies with five pink rosebuds at the center, bound tightly with a navy-blue ribbon. As her eyes moved to the terrace outside, she nearly gasped. Jane had kept her downstairs with one essential task or another, so she’d not seen it until now. They must have been out here at the crack of dawn, she thought, stunned.
“Are you sure?” Uncle Ed asked as he offered her his arm. “You can call the whole thing off right now, and we’ll still have the party.”
Elizabeth placed her hand in the crook of his arm and kissed his cheek. “I’m sure, Uncle Ed,” she told him quietly. “This is exactly what I wanted. Just our family, the terrace, and Will Darcy waiting for me at the end of the aisle.”
“And another K. Gardiner original,” he added with a tender smile, placing his free hand over hers.
“Nobody else,” Elizabeth replied airily. “She’s my personal designer and I’m not giving her up, ever.”
He chuckled. “You’ll have to share her with legions of fans soon.”
She sighed dramatically. “I still have her for ten weeks before she leaves for school. I can do some damage in ten weeks.”
It seemed to take Jane an inordinately long time to join them, but it was probably only a few minutes. She held a small package in her hand. “Will said this arrived at the apartment last night with a message that he was supposed to give it to you for the ceremony. He says he trusts you know who it’s from?”
Elizabeth frowned as she read the address. There was no postage. But she recognized the handwriting. Abby. She unwrapped the brown wrapping paper and removed the top from a small box. There was a note on top in two scripts. From Arch: “Something new. From all of us.” Then, beneath Arch’s message, Bob’s tiny print. “Fair winds, Dutch Apple.” She rolled her eyes and looked under the tissue paper. Inside was a silver anklet, from which dangled a small pi symbol. She let out a little laugh.
Jane cocked her head. “Not really wedding jewelry,” she said dubiously. “Do you want me to hold it for later?”
Elizabeth felt her uncle’s gaze on her. “No,” she said to them both. “I want to wear it. Something new from a life that’s old.” Jane gave her a blank look, and Uncle Ed squeezed her hand. Elizabeth began to bend over and Jane stopped her, horrified.
“You’ll ruin your hair,” she warned. “Let me.” She crouched before Elizabeth and had the anklet on her in no time. Elizabeth turned her ankle to better admire the gift.
Georgiana began to play “A Thousand Years,” and Jane, after gently pushing Moira and Sarah down the aisle with their flower baskets, turned to flash Elizabeth a huge smile. Jane is a gorgeous woman, Elizabeth thought for the millionth time. She was wearing a slim, dark blue dress that set off the pink roses in her maid of honor bouquet. Her blonde hair was swept up off her neck into a sophisticated style with a single curl hanging down just in front of each ear. They smiled at one another before hearing a big laugh outside. All three peeked around the curtains just enough to see Sarah throwing flower petals like a baseball and Moira trying to demonstrate the proper way to strew them.
Uncle Ed grimaced. “I think I need to speak to my sons,” he said grimly. The women giggled, and Jane gazed happily at Elizabeth.
“You look amazin
g,” she said enthusiastically, reaching out lightly tracing the white embroidery on Elizabeth’s silk brocade gown. “Watch Will when he sees you for the first time—he might just pass out.”
Elizabeth touched her hair nervously and smiled back. “I can’t believe that De Roos was a year ago today. So much has happened.” Uncle Ed squeezed her hand.
Jane smiled. “Hopefully life will be calmer for you from here on out.”
“A nice thought,” Elizabeth said with a grin. “But doubtful. Look at the surprise Aunt Maddy had for Uncle Ed last week.”
Uncle Ed laughed softly. “I told your aunt we were too old to have another child and she nearly took my head off.”
Jane rolled her eyes. “Sorry to say it, Uncle Ed, but you deserved it.”
“It was the shock speaking,” he said with a grin.
The music changed, and Jane gasped. “Oh, that’s me.” She stepped quickly outside.
Elizabeth imagined Richard’s smile as he saw Jane appear, and then it was her turn. She took a big breath and let it out slowly.
“Ready?” asked Uncle Ed.
She nodded, her elation nearly lifting her off the floor. “Ready.”
Will turned as the music began to play. He grinned at Sarah and Moira’s bickering and Charlotte leaving her seat to usher them quickly down to the front. He gave Jane a little smile as she took her place. He glanced back at Richard and chuckled at the stupid grin his cousin was wearing. Then Jane was past him and everyone stood as Elizabeth stepped outside on her uncle’s arm.
Intellectually, Will knew that Ed was there. He knew Richard was standing behind him. He heard Georgiana playing, though it seemed far away. But he saw nothing and heard nothing else. Only Elizabeth. His Elizabeth.
She was wearing a simple off-the shoulder gown of white silk and an emerald pendant on a gold chain dangling just low enough to tease. The bodice nipped in to accentuate her trim waist, the skirt flaring out just slightly over her hips. She’d forgone the veil because he’d asked her not to cover her hair, which was curled and hanging loose over one shoulder, a white peony pinned on the opposite side. And the entire way, she was looking directly in his eyes, smiling shyly. Will blinked. He was a little light-headed, to be honest, the only thing keeping him from leaping down the aisle and meeting her halfway. Well, that, and Ed probably wouldn’t give her up. He swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry, and promised himself that he’d find many, many reasons for her to wear this dress.
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