Chapter 33

D ue to none of his stratagems to have his family, specifically Elizabeth, come crawling back to him bearing fruit, Bennet became more morose which led to him drinking more by the day.

At the same time, the one thing he had always sworn would never happen, had occurred—not that he was aware of the fact. The daughter who was supposed to have been so much like a man in education, opinions, and even physical activities, that no man would take her as a wife, regardless of her beauty, had gone and fallen in love with a man. Had Bennet known how spectacularly he had failed in everything with regards to his second daughter, especially as the man in question was the one he had planned she would behave so terribly towards; it would have been the end of him. He had hoped word would have spread far and wide about her behaviour towards Mr Darcy, making sure no man would ever approach her again.

About ten days after Jane's wedding—two days before Christmas—and with plans for the upcoming double wedding well in hand, Elizabeth realised she had moved beyond tender feelings for Mr Darcy and she now loved, trusted, and respected him. He was the best no, the only man who suited her in character, disposition, intelligence, and talents. As improbable as it was, it seemed he too had tender feelings for her.

Other than Sundays, the daily visits to Netherfield Park deepened her friendship with Louisa, Becca, and Gigi, but most of all she spent time with Mr Darcy, always in company with others, of course. That did not count the mornings she rode or walked out and by chance was discovered by him.

They both loved to debate. He was never condescending to her, never rejected her point of view because of her sex, and always gave her the respect of defending his points with vigour. Just like he played to his true ability when they battled over a chess board, so it was when they debated. Like chess, their debates were split evenly between wins and losses. Elizabeth knew if he was to declare himself, she would be well pleased.

The next day was to be a very busy day, Jane and Charles as well as Lord and Lady Matlock were to arrive at Netherfield Park. Everyone was in great anticipation of the newly married Bingleys' arrival. Jane, as she had been admonished not to, had not wasted any time by writing letters from Bath, where Charles had leased a house for their shortened wedding trip. They would be at the coast for a month in the summer for the rest of their honeymoon.

Louisa Hurst was in anticipation of ceding the duties of mistress to her new sister. She and her husband were far happier than they had ever been, now he no longer had to pretend he was in his cups and asleep most of the time.

Given the proximity of the weddings, the Fitzwilliam parents had completed all of their social obligations in London, in order to be able to remain in Hertfordshire until after their sons' weddings. The bond between the Earl and Countess and their soon-to-be family had been strengthened when the previous week Charlotte, Mary, their mothers, and fiancés had travelled to London to purchase their trousseaus. The brothers had slept at Hilldale House on Portman Square while the four ladies had been hosted at Matlock House. One of the days Mary and Fanny had toured Hilldale House. As the house had not been redecorated for more than thirty years, the Viscount insisted they do so regardless of how reticent Mary was about spending his money. Unlike he had with Jane, her father had not allocated any funds for her to use in London, so much to Mary's chagrin, her fiancé was paying for everything.

Thanks to her father's edict she was disallowed to travel to London, Elizabeth had remained at home. She and her two youngest sisters spent each day Mama and Mary were away, at Netherfield Park, from morning until evening. It gave her much opportunity to be close to Mr. Darcy.

Elizabeth had to fight to contain her excitement, Mr Darcy had asked her to meet him at the fence in the morning, where they had met on the day when he had ridden with the others.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Thursday, the day of Christmas Eve was cold—cold enough that had there been precipitation it would have snowed. This day, however, was clear and practically cloudless which only made it feel colder. As cold as it was, all Elizabeth felt was exhilaration. When she rode out this morning, she did not know why Mr Darcy had asked her to meet him—she was hoping it was for a particular reason, but she did not want to get her hopes up. After all they had met by chance most mornings, but he had always been with others. This day, the one before the Son's birth, she hoped she would discover her love was requited.

Sleep had not come easily to her the previous night because of her feelings of excitement. Not long after arriving home from Netherfield Park with her mother and sisters, she had requested the groom have Penny ready for her by half past the hour of seven in the morning. Before retiring she did go see her mother and told her of Mr Darcy's desire to meet her alone.

She had received permission as the chances of being seen at that location early on a winter's day was extremely low. Mama had given her a very warm hug and wished her luck.

That is what had enticed her out of her warm home, into the frigid temperatures, on her way across the frozen fields this morning, as she approached the fence between the estates before sunrise. She took in a deep breath, caused by the pleasure of seeing Mr Darcy on his stallion Zeus, already waiting for her on the Longbourn side of the fence.

Darcy smiled widely as he saw the woman he loved approach on her mare. There was no mistaking the look of pleasure on her countenance as she neared him. Today was one of the most important days in his life, and depending on Miss Bennet's response to him, it would either be the best or worst day he had ever experienced. According to his three cousins and his sister, Elizabeth had feelings for him and his worries were for nought. Regardless of their reassurances, or how well things were between him and his beloved, with all of the past history, he did not want to make the error of overreaching. The look on her face went a long way to chasing away any doubts he had.

"Good morning, Mr Darcy, it is good to see you this morning," Elizabeth stated as a cloud of condensation formed in front of her mouth, like that issuing from the horses' nostrils.

"And to you, Miss Bennet," Darcy responded as he doffed his hat. It was silly to try and bow when mounted on a horse. "Do you object if we dismount? As there is no block, with your permission I will assist you down."

"I have no complaint to us dismounting, or," her cheeks bloomed scarlet, and not from the cold, "you assisting me." She watched as the tall, extremely handsome man vaulted off his stallion and approached her. He looked at her for permission, even though she had given it verbally, and Elizabeth nodded. Through the layers of clothing, which included one of her thickest coats, Elizabeth felt as if his hands, albeit gloved, were burning her where he touched her waist to lift her out of her saddle. At the same time her heart sped up rapidly.

"There is a particular purpose for which I requested your presence here this morning. Before I speak to that, let me explain why I requested that we meet here."

"I must admit I wondered why you chose this particular spot."

"It is here that I saw more than friendship in your look for the first time. Please pardon me if I am being overly sentimental, but from that morning on, this place has taken on a special meaning for me. That leads us to what I desire to say to you. If I have misread things and like there have been in the past, this is another misunderstanding, I will remain silent and not importune you with my declaration."

"There is no variance in our feelings, so I would be more than happy to hear whatever you desire to declare. I do not want you to remain silent."

"In that case, I must tell you that in vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you."

Elizabeth's pleasure at his declaration was beyond expression. She stared, coloured, was filled with pleasure, but was silent.

"My love for you began before you allowed me to apologise, it started as a spark, and grew from there. Never did I consider any factor other than I loved you, as that was what my dearly departed parents had charged me to do. They told me more than once, like Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie have told my cousins, as long as the person was gently born, and I loved her, then, living or not, I would have their blessing." Darcy spoke well; but there were feelings besides those of the heart to be detailed; and he was no less eloquent on the subject of tenderness and respect than of any other. His sense of her superiority—of how it would have been a degradation to his parents' memory had he not followed his heart—of the family who had already accepted her, were dwelt on with a warmth which animated him. Everything he said could not but recommend his suit to her .

In spite of her former deeply rooted dislike, she was not insensible to the compliment of such a man's affection, nor what she would have lost, had her eyes not been opened, and she not determined to walk the path of self-discovery. She could not but be pleased with the warm way he spoke of his feelings for her. He spoke eloquently of how close he felt to her mother and sisters, but did not include her father in those feelings.

"If it were only up to me, I would drop to my knee here and now, but I am not aware of your…" Elizabeth placed a finger on his soft, warm lips.

"In that case we are in agreement, as I too love you deeply. You are free to drop to your knee as long as you are willing to brave your valet's displeasure," Elizabeth smiled widely.

He did just that. He cared not if Carstens had to throw the riding breeches away later. "Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I have said much, far more than I mayhap should have said, so all that is left is for me to ask you to join your life with mine and become my one and only love, my forever wife. Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

She stopped the tears of joy, worried they would freeze to her cheeks. "Yes William, as there is no one other than you I would ever want to marry. I will marry you. But…"

Darcy stood, no man wanted to hear a ‘but' when he proposed to the love of his life, his soul mate. "But?"

"With thanks to my father's strictures…" she briefly explained what her father had stated during her confrontation with him after the Bingley's wedding. She watched as the tension bled out of him as soon as he understood the genesis of her condition, which was not her own choice.

As much as Darcy wanted to marry sooner, he would not suggest an elopement, especially not after what had almost occurred with Gigi. "What date is your birthday?" he asked .

"The fifth day of March."

"In that case, as long as you are in agreement, I will acquire a special license and we will marry the day after your birthday so your father cannot try to call the legality into question because of a technicality. Who would you have sign the settlement for you?"

"You will hear no opposition from me regarding the date of the wedding. I believe when I looked at a calendar for 1813, my birthday falls on a Friday, so the next day being a Saturday will be a good day to marry. As far as the settlement goes, I have two uncles and a brother, and in a few weeks, I will have two more brothers after living more than twenty years without even one male sibling. I would be happy with any of them signing the settlement."

With the business between them settled, Darcy gently pulled Elizabeth into a hug. She came into his arms willingly. She was shivering some, so Darcy enfolded his great coat around her for some added warmth.

Elizabeth placed her hands on his chest. Even through his jacket, vest, and shirt, Elizabeth could feel the hard planes of his muscles. She raised her head and closed her eyes. She felt his lips brush her own which caused a rush of warmth throughout her body. They kissed a few more times, each one deeper than the one before.

He kissed her cheek and felt how cold she was. "You have bewitched me mind, body, and soul, but we need to make for the warmth of our homes. The coach will arrive at Longbourn to collect the Bennet ladies before eleven this morning. Neither noticed the sun had peeked up above the horizon since it had done nothing to warm the cold around them.

Darcy assisted his fiancée back into her saddle and they parted reluctantly. He squeezed her hand before she rode off towards Longbourn. Darcy stood watching her until he could barely distinguish between horse and rider. She had accepted him; he was engaged to the woman who completed him and his heart.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

As happy as Jane was to be Mrs Bingley, the reunion with her mother and all five of her sisters was all that she had imagined. Louisa was as dear to her as any of her by blood sisters, but she was most proud of the way Kitty and Lydia had changed and behaved like proper ladies. When her mother and Lizzy related the way her father had been behaving since the talk after the wedding, Jane was disappointed, but not very surprised.

Charlotte, who was visiting Richard, was welcomed as a soon-to-be sister, and there was no missing the way Mary glowed with happiness since her engagement. Then Jane turned to Lizzy, and truly looked at her. There was the glow she saw in Mary and Charlotte on Lizzy's countenance, the one she noted in the mirror each day when looking at herself. It was the glow of love. It took no time at all for Jane to see the mooncalf way Mr Darcy was looking at Lizzy, or the way Lizzy returned his looks with besotted ones of her own. Her husband had been trying to speak to his friend who had been unaware he was being addressed.

"Elizabeth Rose Bennet, do you have something to tell us?" Jane demanded with a wide smile.

Darcy gave his fiancé a nod. "Thanks to Mr Bennet's snit it will be unofficial until I reach my majority in March, but William proposed and I accepted him."

Anything else Elizabeth was about to say was lost in a chorus of squeals produced by the four youngest girls in the room. Elizabeth was surrounded by her mother and sisters—current and future—while Darcy was having his back slapped by his cousins, Bingley, and Hurst.

"I am so happy you will be my sister," Georgiana gushed. "All of you will!"

"Who will be your sister, Gigi?" Lord Matlock boomed as he and his wife arrived in the drawing room. The poor butler's announcement was lost in the noise of the impromptu, somewhat raucous, celebration in the room.

"It is Lizzy, and all of the Bennet sisters I refer to. Lizzy accepted William!" Georgiana gushed. "Oh! I just realised, Becca will be my sister and Andy and Richard my brothers."

"Do not forget about Louisa, Hurst, and me," Bingley added.

"It is about time," Lady Matlock told her nephew as she hugged him. "I am so glad you two found each other," she said as she gave her future niece a hug as well.

When it was shared with the Earl and Countess that the engagement was not official and why, Lord Matlock's first inclination was to go give Mr Bennet a much deserved setdown. His sons, nephew, and soon-to-be niece convinced him it was better to allow sleeping dogs to lie.

When it was time for the five Bennets to depart for Longbourn after dinner that night, they did so with great reluctance. They and the Lucases would all be spending Christmas day with the residents of Netherfield Park.