Page 52

Several Weeks Later

Elizabeth and Mrs Gardiner sat in the parlour at Gracechurch Street, enjoying a leisurely morning before the hustle and bustle of calls began.

Elizabeth smiled, thinking of how greatly her feelings had changed.

Where the calling hours had once been at best a mixed blessing, half to be looked forward to in the hope of pleasant society, and half to be dreaded for the visits that sometimes mixed insipidity with dull formality, she now liked nothing better.

The polite hour for visitors could not come soon enough, for she could expect a visit from Mr Darcy almost every day.

“Please, haven’t I practiced enough now?” Harriet whined from the pianoforte. She slammed on the keys, making a discordant ruckus echo throughout the room and down the hall.

Elizabeth stood and went over to her little niece.

She placed her hands on Harriet’s shoulders and leaned down to kiss her cheek.

“You will get it, you just need to be patient with yourself. You know, Mr Darcy and his sister might come calling today. Perhaps you ought to practise just a bit more, so you can show Mr Darcy how much you have improved.”

“But he was here only yesterday. No one can improve that much in a day,” Harriet pouted.

Elizabeth only chuckled. “You keep practising. And do not be too hard on yourself, Harriet. You are a bright young girl.”

“But I am not as good as Georgiana.”

“ Miss Darcy,” Elizabeth corrected.

Harriet’s pout deepened. “She said I could call her Georgiana!”

“Very well,” Elizabeth replied and went back to the sitting area to rejoin her aunt.

“She will soon be your sister-in-law, if I am any judge,” her aunt whispered. “Then you will call her Georgiana, just as my dear daughter thinks she ought to.”

Elizabeth blushed. She had not dared to get her hopes up too high, for fear of having them dashed again. She did not think she could bear it if she had once truly allowed herself to hope.

A knock sounded at the door, and Elizabeth sat up straighter, hope filling her heart at the thought that Mr Darcy had come a little earlier than usual.

Her face fell when it was only the maid, coming in with a silver tray filled with letters.

“These just arrived for you, Mrs Gardiner. And there is one for Miss Bennet, from Meryton, I believe.” The maid bobbed a curtsy and held out the silver tray to Elizabeth.

She took her letter eagerly, thanking the girl.

“It is from Jane!” she exclaimed. She tore open the seal in haste, then scanned the contents. Her head snapped up, and Elizabeth looked at her aunt in joyous excitement. “It has finally happened!”

Her aunt looked up from her needlework, taking her letters from the tray and setting them aside. “What has happened?” she asked.

Harriet got up from the piano stool and joined them in the sitting area. “I want to know, too!”

“Sit down and I shall read it to you,” Elizabeth said, taking Harriet up on her lap.

∞∞∞

Dearest Lizzy,

It is with great joy that I write to you this afternoon.

Indeed, I can barely hold pen to paper, my hands are shaking so violently.

Mr Bingley has proposed to me! I can hardly write the words, for fear that this is all a dream and simply writing them will break the spell.

But it is true. He came to call on me this morning and asked for a private audience.

He said that he should have asked sooner, but he had taken his time to ensure he had not misread my feelings.

He then got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife, with a more gentlemanly evocation of feeling than I could ever have imagined.

Rejoice with me, dear sister. I am undone, as you will no doubt ascertain from this most uncharacteristic letter. We have planned to marry in a month’s time, and we hope you will return to us before the ceremony is to take place.

With affection and haste,

Jane

∞∞∞

Elizabeth looked up at her aunt, tears of happiness welling in her eyes.

“It could not have happened to a more beautiful soul,” she said.

She folded the letter and gave her cousin a squeeze.

“Well, I am sure you and uncle will soon receive an invitation. A month is not a long time to plan a wedding.”

“With the money your future brother-in-law possesses, it should not be too much of a problem.” Her aunt eyed her mischievously. “Do you think Mr Darcy will come today?”

Elizabeth’s stomach swirled with butterflies. “I do not think so. He has already been here several times this week.”

“I suppose not. In addition, he has already taken you and his sister to the theatre, and had us all to supper a few nights ago at his townhouse. I wonder that he is not tired of all of us,” she teased.

But Elizabeth knew it could not be. Mr Darcy was always so gentlemanly when he came to call, not only paying attention to her but to the whole of the Gardiner family, including the young children.

How darling he was with young Harriet! In the days when it had been her firmest belief that he was not a man of good temper, Elizabeth could not have imagined it.

She should have discovered his true nature sooner, Elizabeth thought with a smile.

No man who treated a small girl with such caring respect could be wholly arrogant and unfeeling.

And Mr Darcy was anything but. He had quickly become Harriet’s favourite playmate, and sometimes when he sat with her and carefully answered her impertinent questions, he turned to Elizabeth with a look of longing, almost as though he was imagining —

No , Elizabeth told herself firmly. I shall not imagine too much. I must not dream too much.

But it was necessary to reply to her aunt. “Perhaps he is rather tired of us, and will remain at home,” she said, with an attempt at lightness that was not entirely successful.

Mrs Gardiner pursed her lips as she tried to hold back a smile. “Even still, I rather think he will come today.” She picked up a letter and broke the seal. “And I think he might have an idea as to what his visit might entail.” She nodded at the letter Elizabeth still held in her hands.

Elizabeth’s heart skipped a beat, wondering if she meant that he might decide to propose that day. It was more than Elizabeth could hope. “Surely not,” she said, forcing a smile. But Elizabeth could not deny the truth to herself. In her heart of hearts, it was all she wanted.

The last few weeks had been wonderful. True to his word, Mr Darcy had come to see her the day after the ball.

Though he told her seriously he wished to be sure she was unharmed, Elizabeth could not help feeling that the visit had another purpose — to test her feelings, and to show that his own were unchanged.

Each call and outing that followed seemed more joyful than the last.

The Mr Darcy that appeared when Elizabeth was at last able to view him without prejudice was a man she could only love.

Perhaps it had been that way from the beginning, and she had only been too stubborn to see it.

Despite their difficult beginning, Mr Darcy seemed to fit her as a key fits a lock.

His strength of will and the generosity of his spirit, his excellent understanding and quick wit, even the taste they both shared for nature and wild things — it was as though they were made for each other.

Almost as though she had conjured him with her thoughts, the maid appeared with a calling card from Mr Darcy. “Shall I show him in, Mrs Gardiner?”

“By all means!” Her aunt stood up and waved for Harriet to get off of Elizabeth’s lap. “Run along, Harriet. You can come and see Mr Darcy off when he departs.”

“But I want to see him now and play my piece for him! Where is Georgiana?”

Elizabeth stood and kissed her cousin on the cheek. “I do not think he has brought Miss Darcy today, my dear. But if he has, I shall have the maid fetch you from the nursery to see her.”

With one last pout, Harriet gave in and made her way to the nursery. Elizabeth smoothed down her dress and tried to calm Mrs Gardiner. “There isn’t any reason this visit should be like any other, aunt,” she laughed.

“We shall see, my dearest niece, we shall just see. Whatever happens, dear Lizzy, I am so glad you came to visit us. It has been such a delight to see you blossom.” Tears welled in her aunt’s eyes.

“You have made me very proud and very happy.” She hugged Elizabeth just as the maid was returning with their visitor.

Elizabeth took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. Mr Darcy was handsome — it was simply a fact. Why, then, did it take her breath away anytime she saw him?

They exchanged bows, no longer with stiff formality, but with the haste of friends eager to move on to the serious business of visiting. “I have brought a present,” he announced with a smile, producing a bouquet of exquisite roses from behind his back.

“Mr Darcy, how could you? You have already covered half my room in flowers.” Elizabeth smiled and accepted the gift, nonetheless. She pressed the delicate petals into her face and breathed deeply of their heady scent. “Thank you.”

“I would never dream of coming empty-handed again. And risk a tongue-lashing from Miss Harriet?” he said, shaking his head in mock despair. “I would never dream of it.”

Elizabeth nodded and handed the bouquet to the maid, so it could be taken downstairs to be put in a vase.

“I was not sure you would come today,” Elizabeth said brightly.

Could Mr Darcy tell that she ached to be as close to him as possible?

Surely not. She could not be so obvious.

“Aunt Gardiner was sure you would, though.”

“Wild horses could not keep me away,” he said softly, looking deeply into her eyes. A moment of silence ensued until Elizabeth glanced at her aunt. “Shall we call for some tea?”