Chapter 18

“Y ou are a horrible person, Miss Bennet,” he said tenderly, with a large smile on his face that revealed his dimples and made Elizabeth shiver. “You cannot be trusted to keep your word, nor to see reason or to act reasonably.”

“One who promised to take his medicine and keep to his bed until fully recovered and instead is wandering around seeking justice should not be allowed to speak of trust and keeping one’s word, Mr Darcy,” she replied. “But we shall debate this subject later. You look truly ill. We must return to Netherfield immediately, and I shall fetch Mr Jones.”

She helped him climb into his carriage, and she entered too.

“Mr Jones should first take care of that pathetic idiot,” Mr Darcy said. “The shot was superficial but still needs to be attended to. The woman needs care too — your blow might have been stronger than my bullet.”

“I acted like a savage,” she said. “I cannot believe I hit a woman, and I am ashamed to admit I do not even regret it.”

“I acted like a savage too, shooting a man in the leg without warning. And I am ashamed to admit I do not regret it either,” he said, mirroring her words. “We seem to be a perfect match, Miss Bennet.”

He was clearly speaking at least half in jest, and so she responded, “I hope we are, sir. Except that I love to dance, and you loathe it.”

“Ah, yes, but I once told Sir William that every savage can dance. And here I am, a savage. Although it might be a while before I am able to do so. Dance, I mean.”

Their eyes were locked, and they were sitting close to each other in the carriage, teasing each other.

He attempted to laugh at his joke, then moaned in pain.

She gently touched his face, and he took her hands, removed her gloves, and placed a kiss on each of her palms, while she watched, entranced, shivering.

“Are you cold?” he asked. “You must be. You are all wet and dirty. Would you please sit here, by my side? Let me remove your bonnet too. How did you find me? Where have you been?”

“Sir, I found this,” Stevens interrupted them, handing Mr Darcy a package. He took it and put it next to him.

“Shall we take Wickham and the woman to the regiment?”

“Yes. And be sure Mr Jones takes care of them as soon as possible. Then you may send those letters by express.”

Stevens hurried to carry out his duties, and their carriage began to move.

“Letters?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes. To my cousin and to Bingley, to inform them that I have captured Wickham. I wrote them last night, and they can be delivered now. There are still many things we have to discuss, so many things to clarify, so many things that I need to tell you, Miss Bennet.”

“You may call me Elizabeth. You have already done so,” she whispered.

“Thank you. Should I dare ask you to do something that you have already done too?” he enquired, gazing deeply into her eyes.

“Crawl in the mud? Or hit someone in the face?” she replied as warmth and thrills coursed through her.

“Not quite, Elizabeth. If you have forgotten, maybe I should show you.”

“You should, Mr Darcy.”

He leant towards her, his face coming closer and closer until finally her lips touched his again. But this time, everything was different; her lips surrendered to his sweet, tender possessiveness, hoping they would never have to separate.

He paused some time later and withdrew from her enough for their eyes to meet.

“I must speak to you first, Elizabeth. I am still uncertain whether this is real or another dream — one of the many I have had about you. I must tell you how ardently I love and admire you, and how I have longed for such a moment to happen.”

“You have? For how long?”

“From almost the beginning of our acquaintance. Perhaps before I refused to dance with you at the assembly.”

“Surely you are joking!” she whispered, dumbfounded.

“I am not. Surely you can see that. But I must ask you — how is this possible? I prayed that your feelings would be similar to mine one day, but now? So soon?”

“I am not sure…I cannot understand it either… I never imagined you had such feelings for me. Until the accident, we were not even friends. And then…I am not sure what happened. Day by day, you conquered my heart and my mind. And today…”

“Today you were willing to put your life in danger for me,” he finished for her. “And you actually did. Of everyone, you were the closest to Harriet’s pistol.”

“I was, but it was pointed in the wrong direction, unlike my branch.” She laughed, but only for an instant before his lips captured hers again.

“You should take me to Longbourn first,” she whispered, trying to catch her breath. “I need to change, and then my father and I shall pay you a proper visit, as per your invitation.”

“As you wish. I could speak to your father now. That is — if you will allow me to ask for your hand in marriage, Miss Bennet, and if you will grant it to me.”

“I shall answer yes to both, Mr Darcy,” she said, repeating one of his earlier answers. “But now, you must go and rest immediately. You have not another moment to lose!”

“Very well…”

“You must recover as soon as possible, Mr Darcy.”

“Fitzwilliam,” he said.

“You must recover as soon as possible, Fitzwilliam,” she repeated, then leant towards him for another kiss, just before the carriage stopped in front of the house.

She entered through the kitchen and ran up to her room. She changed her clothes and washed her face as quickly as she could, placed several more pins in her hair, and glanced in the mirror one more time. She smiled and blushed seeing her lips were red and a little swollen. She could still detect Mr Darcy’s — Fitzwilliam’s — scent, and the recollection of his kisses made her quiver. She had often declared she would marry only for love, but she had never imagined that love would feel so overwhelming.

Doubtful, she touched her lips again. Could it be true, or was it only a dream? He had asked her the same question in the carriage. A fortnight ago, Mr Darcy was the last man in the world whom she imagined she could marry. Yet in a very short time, he had become the only one.

Perhaps she should be grateful to Mr Wickham, after all. He was the one who had made her despise Mr Darcy even more. He was the one who had hurt him and placed him in her path; he was the one who had caused fear, torment, and pain — which had helped them to bond with each other.

She did not have much time for reflection as she was eager to see him again and to be certain he was truly resting. And to have her father’s blessing so she could openly rejoice in it.

She briefly wondered what Miss Darcy would say, as well as Miss Bingley and Mrs Hurst. That would be quite a spectacle, probably bigger than the one her mother would create.

“Lizzy, you are incorrigible,” Mrs Bennet scolded her when Elizabeth entered the drawing room. “Where on earth have you been, child?”

“I went for a walk, Mama. You know I always do that.”

“I do know — how could I not? I have given up any hope of correcting your bad habits. You are too stubborn for your own good.”

“Forgive me, Mama. I know I am headstrong and obstinate — I was told that very recently. But I hope you will soon see you do not have to worry about me,” Elizabeth replied, unable to conceal her smile.

In the carriage that took her and her father to Netherfield, Mr Bennet watched her closely.

“Lizzy, where have you been? What happened? I can see on your face something important has occurred.”

“It has, Papa. But let us talk later, shall we? It is a long story — one that I hope will please you.”

Mr Bennet nodded; his eyebrow arched in reproach, but he did not insist.

At Netherfield, a servant informed them Mr Darcy was waiting for them. Miss Bingley and the Hursts were nowhere to be seen.

They found Mr Darcy lying in his bed, talking to his sister. The girl immediately greeted them, and she embraced Elizabeth — a clear sign that she had been informed and approved of the news.

“Mr Bennet, thank you for coming.”

“My pleasure, sir. Do you have news from your cousin or Mr Bingley? I sent John to Meryton to enquire about Colonel Forster…”

“That does not matter any longer,” Mr Darcy replied with a smile, puzzling Mr Bennet. “Miss Bennet, I assume you have not revealed to your father the most recent news?”

“No, Mr Darcy. I decided to allow you the pleasure of doing that. May I ask how you are feeling, sir? How is the pain?”

“Not as bad as I expected,” he responded. “I have hardly thought of pain at all today.”

“So? Would you be so kind as to tell me what has happened?” Mr Bennet interjected impatiently.

“Of course. There is a bottle and some glasses on the table if you wish for a drink.”

“It is too early for drinking,” Mr Bennet said, and Mr Darcy finally began to talk.

In his story, he did not mention his sister’s letters, only named a few objects he wished to recover from Mr Wickham. Miss Darcy looked disquieted but not really surprised, which indicated she had already heard the tale once.

As Mr Darcy’s narration unfolded, Mr Bennet’s amazement changed his countenance several times. The gentleman glanced from Mr Darcy to Elizabeth with apparent disbelief; he frowned, asked for details, and expressed his doubts until the final part shocked him into silence.

Wordlessly, he poured himself a glass of brandy and resumed his seat.

“So people have been searching the country for Wickham, and he was still here?”

“Yes.”

“And you went to meet him by yourself? As injured as you are? You did not trust me enough to ask for my assistance?”

“Time was too short for such arrangements. It was not a matter of trust but of urgency and safety. It was my mistaken pride that prevented me from exposing Wickham sooner. It was my mistake, and I had to remedy it.”

“And you, Lizzy — you climbed the west side of the hill? In this weather?”

“Yes, Papa. It was not so difficult — you know I have done it before.”

“I remember. When you were twelve and fell all the way down! Your uncle and I feared you would die!”

“I assure you it was nothing so dramatic this time, Papa.”

“You assure me? You faced a pistol and punched a woman in the face! What else would you call it?”

“It was dramatic, Mr Bennet,” Mr Darcy interjected. “You may imagine my shock when I begged her to leave, she promised to do so, then she suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”

“Did that shock cause you to propose to her, Mr Darcy?” the gentleman asked in earnest, and Mr Darcy laughed despite the pain it caused him.

“Not at all. I have long admired Miss Elizabeth. You may remember that I confessed as much to you when we first spoke.”

“Yes, but… I did not imagine it was this sort of admiration. And you, Lizzy? This is all so unexpected and confusing to me.”

“It was confusing to me too, sir,” Miss Darcy interjected in a sweet, gentle tone, and everyone looked at her. “Miss Elizabeth told me many times that she and my brother were enemies rather than friends, that he was proud and arrogant at first, and many others have told me how much they dislike each other.”

“I certainly believed the same,” Mr Bennet replied.

“When my brother told me about the engagement, I was certain of his feelings, but I doubted Miss Elizabeth’s reasons for accepting him. As I talked to my brother, I realised her actions showed her feelings beyond any doubt. He demanded she leave in order to keep herself safe, but she stayed against his wishes. She put herself in danger to protect him, even without knowing how to do that. There are few reasons why someone would do such a thing.”

The girl spoke with so much emotion that Elizabeth was tearful. Darcy looked at his sister with pride and joy, while Mr Bennet gulped from his glass.

“I cannot argue with your reasoning, Miss Darcy,” the gentleman finally said. “However, such a succession of events, with such a shocking conclusion, one can hardly imagine happening in a lifetime, let alone in less than a month.”

“I cannot argue with that, sir! I am still amazed myself,” Mr Darcy agreed. “And I apologise for asking for your blessing in such an unusual and hardly proper manner.”

“Of course I give you my blessing. You are the sort of man to whom I would never refuse anything he would do me the honour of asking. Also, you are one of the very few men I have liked from the very beginning of our acquaintance.”

“Thank you, Mr Bennet. The feeling is mutual, I assure you.”

Elizabeth embraced her father tenderly, then he took another sip. “I shall need another drink before I return home and give your mother the news. Considering everything that has happened this morning, it is surely not too early for a strong brandy.”