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As they walked, Fitzwilliam took note of Elizabeth’s continued silence and began to worry that learning of the true extent of his wealth had genuinely upset her. He attempted to apologize again. “I’m sorry if this has distressed you.”

Elizabeth looked up at him and he was relieved to see that she did not look unhappy, merely thoughtful. When they finally passed behind the trees and could no longer be seen from the house or road, she turned and, lacing her fingers behind his neck, encouraged him to lean down and kiss her.

Will felt his passion swell immediately but also sensed that she needed comfort more than a demonstration of his desire.

He kept his kisses light, moving from lips to eyelids to forehead.

Holding her to him, he could feel her light breath on his neck and quickly cast his mind about for something less… inflammatory… to think on.

He was unsure how aware Elizabeth was of his struggles but after a moment she stepped away and, taking his hand, led him to a stone bench below an enormous oak. When she finally spoke, it took him a moment to realize that she was responding to his last statement.

“You have nothing for which to apologize, Fitzwilliam. I admit to being unaware of just how wealthy you are… and then seeing it laid out with all the arrangements for myself and our children… well, it was a bit of a shock to see it all in such stark terms.”

Will began to speak again but she silenced him with a finger against his lips. “Shhh… my love, you have nothing for which to apologize. Truly, it is I who must thank you.”

Uncomfortable with the praise, Darcy could not stay silent. “I have done no more than is expected by a gentleman of my station.”

Lizzy smiled at him fondly. “Hmmm… I may not have read a marriage settlement before but I know enough to suspect that you have done a great deal more than the minimum expected.”

Seeing that he was about begin protesting again, she shook her head.

“Will, I’m thanking you for your generosity in the settlement…

but more than that, I wanted to thank you for treating me with such respect.

Most men would have discussed it with my father and shared very little with me despite the fact that it is the wife who is the one affected most directly by the contract, in my humble opinion. ”

Darcy blinked and then sank down on the bench beside her.

“I never even considered it.” He thought for a few more minutes.

“It never occurred to me to not discuss the settlement with you. And yet, I can very easily see myself expecting to work out the contract for Georgiana’s marriage with her betrothed and his father and only informing her of the most general details after the fact. ”

Elizabeth smirked. “Poor Mr. Darcy—our acquaintance continues to infect you with terribly radical notions…”

Darcy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close so that he might kiss her forehead. “You’ve changed me for the better, my dear. All for the better.”

She smiled up at him but he noted a more serious look in her eyes when she rested her hand on his chest, above his heart. “You are the best man I have ever known. And that is in your essential being—it has nothing to do with anything I’ve ever done or said. ”

When he appeared ready to argue, she silenced him with a kiss that quickly flared into something more ardent. However, before many minutes passed, they were recalled to the present by the sound of the housekeeper calling to a maid in the kitchen garden.

Will groaned but shifted to a marginally more appropriate distance, although he still kept hold of her hand. Laughing lightly, Elizabeth rubbed her thumb along his knuckles. “Poor Will; only six more weeks.”

He turned a pair of very dark, very intense eyes on her. She smirked. “We could run away to Scotland.”

“Do not tempt me.”

“My mother would not be pleased. Though, having lived through her fussing over the last fortnight I rather think that might be a point in favor of such a plan.”

After sharing an amused look, the couple stood by mutual accord and began to stroll arm in arm among the herbaceous borders.

They spoke of how pleased they were with the plan of a double wedding with Jane and Charles and this naturally led to a discussion of how best to manage Mrs. Bennet’s desire to show off her daughters’ fiancés through a seemingly endless series of teas and dinners.

Darcy mentioned the Fitzwilliams’ wish to hold a dinner to celebrate his engagement and Elizabeth confirmed the plan for herself, Jane, and Mr. Bennet to go to London the following week.

“You and Mr. Bingley may accompany us, if you wish,” she teased. “We would certainly appreciate your assistance at the modista’s.”

“Shall I hold your reticule while you shop, then?”

“Of course! And if you are very good, I shall take you for ices at Gunter’s after we’re done.”

After some teasing, Elizabeth mentioned that the Gardiners would be hosting an engagement party for their two nieces a few days after the Bennets arrived in London.

Darcy responded with rather more enthusiasm than he usually greeted such invitations; his experience with the Gardiners having led him to believe that their guests would be far more interesting than the usual insipid company he endured at such events in the past.

After agreeing to forward the Gardiners’ invitation to his Fitzwilliam relations, Darcy inquired about the work she and her father had been doing before he arrived at Longbourn.

Elizabeth grimaced and admitted that, when she had returned from Derbyshire, she had reviewed Longbourn’s accounts and found a great many bills and other correspondence related to both the estate and the household had not been dealt with.

She sighed. “I worry about what will happen when Jane and I leave for our new homes. Mama has not the head for numbers and Papa can’t be bothered. ”

“Why not hire a steward?”

Lizzy laughed mirthlessly. “That was how I gained the position. We had a man, Mr. Felder, but… well, when I was fifteen, I decided that the best way to learn how to keep household accounts was to work them out for myself.” She smiled at the bittersweet memory.

“So, I lined my writing slate to look like Papa’s ledger and then went around collecting the various expenditures from Hill and the shopkeepers.

It was quite impertinent of me, I suppose.

Fortunately, Mr. Felder was away for the week. ”

Darcy smiled and squeezed her hand. “I would say it was quite enterprising of you.”

Elizabeth quirked her eyebrow mischievously. “You were not skimming funds from the estate’s accounts to line your own pockets.”

That was enough to stop Fitzwilliam in his tracks. “What!?!”

Lizzy smirked. “I entered all the quarter’s debts very carefully in my pretend-ledger but no matter how many times or ways I tabulated them, I could not arrive at the sum that Mr. Felder had presented.

Mama told me to leave the arithmetic for the men, so of course I was determined to find my error. ”

The couple shared an amused look before Elizabeth continued; “Finally I was so frustrated that I badgered Papa into looking over my sums.” She grinned.

“When he couldn’t find the error, he reviewed Mr. Felder’s ledgers and found…

discrepancies. It was not so very much—a crown or three each quarter—but it was significant enough that my father dismissed him. ”

“And appointed you his replacement?”

Elizabeth tipped her head to the side. “Nothing so formal, but it made sense at the time as I was interested in learning the accounting… I’m certain that Mama, at least, assumed it would be temporary.

However, time passed and Papa is not so good at exerting himself, particularly if it isn’t an emergency.

” She sighed, remembering the most recent example.

“It was easy enough to conclude that funds could not be spared for a new steward’s salary.

He had books he wished to buy and Mama had five daughters to decorate with ribbons and lace. ”

“I would be happy to pay for someone…” Darcy trailed off when Elizabeth instantly began shaking her head.

“It’s a very kind offer, but… Papa may be…

apathetic toward his duties, but I’m afraid he would be offended if you were to offer.

He’s already a bit testy that I’m leaving him for you—that’s how he describes our marriage, I’m afraid—and I should not like to give him an excuse to sulk over some perceived insult. ”

Darcy nodded his understanding and refrained from commenting that, in his opinion, Mr. Bennet had lost his right to feel affronted when he had abdicated his responsibilities to his fifteen year old daughter. After a moment of consideration, he inquired, “What about your younger sisters?”

Elizabeth blinked, instantly ashamed that the idea had not even occurred to her.

She considered carefully before speaking.

“I wish I could recommend Mary; she’s so serious and it would give her a reason to feel useful and…

valued.” She sighed. “But neither she nor Kitty have much aptitude for arithmetic. Oddly enough, of all of them it was Lydia who learned most quickly.”

She laughed out loud at Darcy’s disbelieving look.

“I speak truly! Jane and I taught the younger girls their sums and we would make a game out of it—racing to see who could multiply numbers in her head the quickest. Though she was the youngest, Lydia usually won.” Lizzy’s face fell.

“She did, that is, until she realized that those were not the sort of tricks to gain Mama’s approval.

Almost overnight it was all bonnets and ribbons and boys. ”