Page 47

They stared at each other for a long moment, neither smiling, neither speaking. Elizabeth’s pulse beat ferociously in her ears as she stood pinned to the spot by his ardent, unblinking gaze.

They gave in at the exact same moment, both springing forwards by unspoken accord, as weeks and months of yearning spilled over into a conflagration of desire.

Darcy took her face in both his hands and kissed her hard.

Without a thought for modesty, she threw her arms around him and clung to him, craving the contact, savouring the closeness.

What was propriety to them, given their recent tribulations?

He mirrored her, wrapping her in his embrace and holding her to him so tightly there was no daylight left between them.

After that, it seemed that his touch was everywhere: her waist, her arms, her face, her hair.

She was not so brave as he, but her hands were far from still as she explored the broadness of his back and the strength in his shoulders.

When she touched the curls at his nape, he tossed his hat to the ground, grinning against her lips in an invitation for her to continue.

His kisses were astonishing, awakening sensations Elizabeth had never known or dreamt of, and driving all rational thought from her head.

His hands alighted on her hips, pulling her firmly against him, and he transferred his kisses from her mouth to her neck.

She made an involuntary noise in her throat that was somewhere between a groan and a gasp, which might have mortified her had she not been incandescent with pleasure.

Darcy abruptly pulled away. “Good God, Elizabeth, I must stop!” Breathing heavily, he held both her hands and rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed as he observably fought to calm himself.

With a deep breath, he stood tall, shaking his head and chuckling lightly.

“I suppose I should not be surprised that the woman who has taught me the true meaning of gentlemanly behaviour should so easily induce me to forget it.”

Indeed, she had never seen him so discomposed, so wholly without his usual sedateness—so wild.

The observation did nothing to check her own ardour.

“I cannot have all the blame. You made me forget myself entirely.” She grinned and bent to retrieve his hat.

Handing it to him, she said, “It would certainly give them all something to talk about if they knew, would it not?” earning herself another of his bewitching little smiles.

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed the backs of her fingers. “You have made me the happiest man alive.”

“And I am the happiest woman! I wanted so desperately to believe that you could love me despite my mother’s frailty, but I confess, I had all but given up hope. Especially after my clash with your aunt. I take it you have heard about that?”

“I have.” With an expressive smile, Darcy tucked her hand over his arm and gestured for them to begin walking.

“What did she say?”

“Exactly what I told you she would say—that she likes you. She thinks you will do very well for me.”

Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief. “That cannot be true! She spent the entire evening eking out every ounce of proof as to my unsuitability.”

“It is perfectly true. She spent the evening appraising your sense and disposition, and concluded that, in the circumstances, it would be better for the family if I married you instead of Anne. Her ladyship is nothing if not pragmatic.”

“But she was furious.”

“Yes.” He nodded, a small smirk on his lips. “She does not like being gainsaid. Having decided in favour of the union, she disliked being told it did not exist.”

“What of your cousin? I thought she would choke when I blurted that I loved you.”

His smirk broadened into a fully-fledged smile. “As did she, but not for the reason you are thinking. I have told you, she and I have never considered ourselves engaged. She was only shocked because she had never heard anyone speak to her mother in that way before. She is quite in awe of you.”

Elizabeth puffed out her cheeks. “I am not sure that is something of which I ought to be particularly proud! I was unpardonably rude to Lady Catherine. Mr Collins has yet to forgive me.”

“It is my aunt who ought to be ashamed of her conduct. Anne said she was more than commonly high-handed.”

“Pray, let us not begin comparing the conduct of our relations, for we both know mine would come off worse.”

Darcy gave her a sympathetic look but said nothing as he turned them up a small rise into a wooded area.

It did not escape Elizabeth’s notice that it was in the opposite direction to both the parsonage and Rosings.

She smiled to herself at the thought that Darcy was keeping her to himself for as long as possible, and squeezed his arm a little tighter, more than content with his scheme.

“What exactly did you promise my mother?”

“That I would look after her and your sisters.” He looked at her with the tenderest affection. “And you.”

“Thereby proving what I already knew—that you are as generous as the most generous of your sex.”

“It was an easy promise to make.”

“But it was not. I have four sisters, at least three of them with questionable marriage prospects. And my mother is…well…you are very good to overlook her offences.”

Darcy’s brow contracted into a pensive frown. “She is not the only person I know who is guilty of having behaved, in an unguarded moment, in a way which they later regretted.”

“You mean Mr Bingley?”

“No, although I have spoken to him, too, and he has expressed his deepest regrets. I was referring to my sister.”

“Georgiana?” Elizabeth could not have been more surprised—nor any more incensed as she listened to Darcy explain how, the previous summer, Mr Wickham had persuaded his sister to believe herself in love and consent to an elopement.

“I had worked out that he was not to be trusted, but I had no idea he was so despicable as this! Your poor sister!”

“He used her infamously, for his chief object was unquestionably her fortune of thirty thousand pounds. Believe me, I lay the blame for what almost happened entirely at his door. But my point is this—Georgiana, however briefly, however misled by her youth or encouraged by more knowledgeable parties, did willingly consent to the elopement. Among other liberties.”

“Oh. I see.”

He nodded, confirming that she had not mistaken his meaning.

“Even believing herself engaged, she ought to have known better. As ought your mother and Bingley. We are all fallible.” He laid his hand over Elizabeth’s and said, resolutely, “I would never dishonour you in such a way—but I have my own weaknesses, as you have taught me.”

Elizabeth scoffed. “If I have taught you anything it can only be forbearance. You have shown me nothing but patience and kindness throughout this entire affair.”

“On the contrary, my behaviour has been deserving of the severest reproof. I shall always regret telling you about your mother. It has permanently marred your relationship with her, yet it was wholly avoidable.”

“Perhaps, but I doubt you would have felt obliged to tell me if I had not accused you of treating my relatives with contempt when all the while you had been trying to protect us from scandal.”

“Would that I could be so easily absolved, but you have hit upon the exact reason why I cannot be. I was brought up to care for none beyond my own family circle, to think meanly of all the rest of the world, to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own. To my shame, it was on these foundations that my opinion of your family was formed, and to which subsequent observations and discoveries only gave substance. I thought, when I came to you to propose the first time, that you would be grateful I was overlooking your connexions.”

Elizabeth stopped walking and stared at him. “What did you say?”

He looked briefly surprised, then smiled ruefully. “Oh yes. The day we argued on Gracechurch Street, I came to ask for your hand. I had not a doubt of my reception, either. What will you think of my vanity?”

“Never mind your vanity—what of your feelings? You came to propose, and instead I berated you in the street! This is awful—I am so sorry.”

“Do not let it distress you—my conceit was sufficient to see me comfortably through that ordeal. I still believed that you wanted only for a full explanation of what your mother had done to understand that my contempt of all your relations was justified and accept my hand. Indeed, I continued to believe it right up until I dined with your excellent aunt and uncle and had it pointed out to me what an utter fool I had been.” He cupped her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

“It was a lesson I needed to learn. I shall do better in future.”

Without hesitation, Elizabeth rose to her tiptoes and kissed him again. He did not require any further encouragement and returned her caress instantly—though with greater restraint than before, which brought them apart rather sooner.

“Not that I shall ever complain about your doing that, Elizabeth, but might I ask how I came to be rewarded so handsomely for a confession of all the worst defects of my character?”

“Because you continued to help me. I all but spurned your offer of marriage, and yet you still welcomed me into your home and gave me the warning you thought I needed. You still followed me to Henrietta Street when you knew I was in no fit state to go there. You still came to Lady Fulcombe’s dinner to help find Mrs Randall’s address.

You still rescued me in the Four Feathers—and were kind to me even after I fell asleep on you! ”

He broke into a startlingly rakish smile. “You may do that however often and for however long you please.”

“I may take you up on that—you are surprisingly comfortable. But that is not the point. I would hardly call it a defect that you continued helping me, even though you thought I hated you.”

“I only continued loving you, Elizabeth.”

“Then be assured that you do not need to do better in future. You are doing perfectly well as it is.”

He looked exceptionally pleased with this answer, grinning complacently as he turned them back to the path. They walked in silence for a short way, until he mentioned Mrs Bennet’s letter. “Will you tell me now what she wrote that embarrassed you so?”

“Oh, that!” Elizabeth said, laughing happily. “I was only embarrassed because I thought she was making assumptions.”

“About what?”

She grinned slyly at him. “The prospect of her soon becoming a grandmother.”

Elizabeth very quickly learnt that her mother’s anticipation for this happy event was nothing to Darcy’s.

He left her in no doubt of his feelings on the subject, this kiss making their first seem positively staid by comparison, and revealing to her some of the extraordinary sources of happiness that she could expect as the wife of Mr Darcy.

She did not have time to read the rest of Lady Rothersea’s letter until many hours later, as she lay abed that night.

I advise you not to entirely dismiss the notion of attending the duchess’s ball.

She has a good deal of influence; you would not like to vex her.

And though I am loath to give you false hope, I feel confident in saying that Mr Darcy might not be as averse to the idea of attending as a couple as you seem to think.

Keep your hopes up and your heart open, Lizzy. All is not lost.

Elizabeth hugged the letter to her chest, smiling so broadly her cheeks hurt. Darcy loved her. Every ball she would ever attend from here on out would be as either his betrothed or his wife. So yes, all was far from lost, and her heart was so full it was fit to burst.