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“Yes, your Grace,” Elizabeth replied impertinently.

“The oath was in the name of the King, and only between himself and your father. It did not preclude the Regent from his actions,” Elizabeth explained.

“I do not know why your father refused the King’s offer, but as I understand it this is not an offer.

It is done, and as soon as you feel that you are able to take a carriage ride, I am to inform my cousins so that you may be invited for your investiture. ”

“I will have another ally in the Lords,” the new duke’s Uncle Reggie stated with glee.

“Who said I will join the Whigs, Uncle?” Darcy teased.

“Anne, you are a duchess, a dowager one, but a duchess none the less. If I was prone to that sort of thing, I would be calling for my salts right now,” Lady Catherine joked.

She did not miss the irony that she, who used to be so concerned with the distinction of rank, was now the lowest ranked person in the room.

“I am Lady Georgiana Darcy?” the newly elevated young lady exclaimed. “William is a duke, just like your father, Lizzy.”

“Yes, Georgie,” her mother could see that her daughter was still processing all the changes to their family. “William will be the second Darcy to be the Duke of Derbyshire. Your Papa, my dear George, will be named the first in his line.”

“William, did you know the Derbyshire duchy has four estates and much wealth associated with it? The main estate, the duke’s seat, is Falconwood which is located near the north-eastern border between Derbyshire and Cheshire.

In fact, I believe the last duke added an estate in Cheshire so that Falconwood straddles the two shires today.

All was held in abeyance until the Crown bestowed the title on someone, and it seems that someone is you,” the Duke of Hertfordshire informed Darcy.

“If I remember correctly, the secondary title is Marquess of Dovedale and the estate of Dovedale will belong to the marquess, when you decide to gift the world with a son.”

“William, is Dovedale not five miles the other side of Lambton?” Lady Anne asked.

“I believe that you have the right of it, Mother.” Darcy turned to Bennet, “I also know of Falconwood. With the estate that was annexed to enlarge it, I believe it is larger than Pemberley.”

“As far as I know, all of the income from the estates has been held in trust for more than thirty years since the former Duke passed on to his eternal reward. If my sources are to be believed, the amount generated from the four ducal estates plus the Marquess’s is an enormous fortune.

It is in addition to the wealth that was originally part of the dukedom.

Now that I think about all of the wealth that you have just inherited, you will be as wealthy as the combined Bedford and Hertfordshire dukedoms, or close to it. ”

“I never sought any of this, although I have accepted it,” Darcy was stunned and stared at Lord Thomas as he absorbed the information. “We are wealthy enough without the Derbyshire estates and fortune.”

“In my opinion, the dukedom could not be in better hands, your Grace,” Lady Elizabeth replied, her approval evident when her eyes met his. “Most would see nothing but the wealth, but from what I know of you, William, your first concern will be the welfare of the people who are dependent on you.”

The new Duke inclined his head toward his love in appreciation of her words and made an un-Darcy-like spontaneous decision.

“Bennet, would you grant me a private interview with Lady Elizabeth, if she has no objection?” Thomas Bennet looked at his daughter while the occupants of the drawing room held their collective breath.

She gave her father a slight nod to indicate that she had no objection to hearing what Darcy wanted to say to her.

Her father granted the request, and everyone present exhaled in relief.

The rest of the party left the drawing room so that Darcy would not have to strain himself to stand and walk to his study.

Once the door was closed except for the inch or two required for propriety, he tried to stand but the lady skewered him with a look of warning, daring him to exert himself in that fashion. He wisely remained seated.

“Elizabeth, do I presume too much believing that you are no longer indifferent to me; that you may, in fact, have tender feelings for me?” he asked hopefully, knowing that his future felicity was dependant on her answer.

“No, William, you are not mistaken. In fact, my feelings are in fact far more than just tender.” She replied softly.

Lord Fitzwilliam Darcy felt relief and a warm feeling suffused his entire body.

“You are too good to trifle with me. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I love and admire you, Lizzy. It has been many months now that I have known that you are the only one for me. I pray that your love of me is not just gratitude for saving your life, but for me, the man. Not the Duke, just me, plain William Darcy.” He looked at his beloved hopefully.

“Firstly,” Elizabeth said, looking directly into his eyes so he could see the truth of her words, “My asking for your elevation was in no way because I wanted to marry a duke. My only requirement for a husband was deepest and truest love, not a title! I truly believed that I was doing it for you! It was never about me, although I fully acknowledge that I went about it the wrong way, and should have consulted you prior to talking to my cousins. I too love you and would not care if you were still Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, wealthy or not. As I stated earlier, I am still willing to go back to my cousins and have them rescind your elevation.”

“I know that your motivation was not selfish Elizabeth,” he said as he returned her look, showing her that he meant his words completely.

“I made my decision, and I did not make it because I felt that you wanted it or not, I considered the impact on my family and future generations of Darcys, and made my decision on that basis alone,” he reassured her.

She could see that he wanted to say more, so Elizabeth placed her finger on his lips softly.

“I have to say this William,” she said as her expressive eyes begged him to allow her to finish what she felt that she needed to say.

“My parents taught me, and all of their children, the best principles, the way to relate to everyone based on the worth of their character, not their position or wealth. For the most part, I did that, but I took the story of what that woman almost cost mama and papa as a lesson to mistrust and be quick to judge, as I did with you.” Elizabeth saw that he was about to interject so she continued before he could say anything.

“I was guilty of some of the same things that I accused you of William.

I may not have looked down on those that I thought below me, but I let my pride and my belief that I was not wrong in my judgements pass quick and harsh judgements, and was in my own way, selfish and petulant.

“You once told me that my setdown of you caused you to hold a mirror up to yourself and see who you were becoming, and that drove your desire to change.” William nodded to indicate that it had been so.

“I went through similar introspection, and I learned that my judgement is far from infallible, and because of that, I have learned to take a step back, look at all sides of an issue, and then come to conclusion.

Seeing how contrite you were the next day after the assembly started me questioning myself, but I had too much pride and prejudice to allow myself to own up to my errors yet.

After talking to a number of people, culminating in my conversations with Aunt Anne, I did see that I had been very wrong, not just in my judgements but in making them in the first place.

As we are told, ‘remove the tree from your own eye before you try and remove the splinter from that of another,’ and that is what I have tried to live up to.

“Acknowledging my own failings made me revaluate everything and led me to see you, the real man, not the one that I had deemed you to be. All of that led me to the point that fateful day when I finally allowed my heart to win the battle with my head that it should have weeks before, that I love you, William, and always will.”

“My love, we both made mistakes, I appreciate what you have told me, but my eye is now to the future, a future that has you in it by my side,” he said closing the issue, then he looked at her with a grin.

“Now,” he said, lightning the serious mood, “when did you fall in love with me, my dearest loveliest Elizabeth?”

“It has been coming on so gradually that I was in the middle before I realised what I was about,” she said, and he could see the love shining in her countenance.

“While I fell in love with you before that day, William; before any of what had happened, and will soon happen, I confess I had admitted it to myself on my walk that momentous day.

How could I not fall in love with you, William?

Everything changed for me after our visit to Haven House.

“I know what you did to fund New Haven House,” she stayed his protest with a finger on his lips before he could make it.

“It is not because of your generosity, but that and much more forced me to look at the real you and I liked, no loved, what I saw. When we talk and debate, you are never condescending and respect my point of view, even when it is diametrically opposed to what you hold true. The short answer is no, William. Although I am very grateful for your actions to save me from harm, it is not the reason that I love you. It only enhances the love that I allowed myself to admit to before that event.”