Page 36 of Requirements for Love (Love in London with Mr Darcy #3)
“They were not unreasonable hopes,” he insisted. “You wanted your husband to be kind, willing to be sported with, clever, respectful of your family, write you long letters, be willing to travel with you, and be confident and honest.”
“You remembered all the requirements?” she said in some wonder.
“I did, and I want to meet all of them.” He hesitated and added, “I have not been confident as far as you go, but I defy any man who has made as many missteps as I have to feel confidence when it comes to the woman he loves. And I know I have not shown you that I will respect your family or that I will write you long letters or take you anywhere you want to go, but I promise to prove myself worthy.”
He suddenly looked embarrassed. “I have talked too long about what I want, Elizabeth. What matters is what you want. Tell me what you require to be happy.”
He looked as though a word or a glance from her would either be the answer to all of his hopes or the destruction of all his wishes. Even as she sat here nearly completely in his arms, he truly did not know how much she felt for him.
“You said once that honour and honesty go hand in hand. I should be honest with you.” She reached up to cover Darcy’s hand that still held her cheek.
“I thought you did not care for me after what you said about my family’s want of sense.
As little as I liked to hear such talk, it was true, and I thought both their behaviour and my resentment of your honesty drove you away. ”
Darcy vehemently shook his head. “No, it was my arrogance that almost drove me from you.”
“And what you said made it easy for me to turn to Captain Peck. I was wounded, and he was there and interested, and immensely likeable.”
“Yes, he is,” he said with pain in his voice. Darcy dropped her hand and stood. Elizabeth rose quickly and grasped his arm before he could leave.
“I do like him—but I love you!”
He fixed his gaze on her face. He looked ready to smile, but then it fell and he stared in stunned silence.
“That list of mine does not matter. I want someone to share the small and large moments of life with, and someone to hold on to when everything is joyous and when everything else falls apart. I want that person to be you, Darcy.”
“You love me?” he asked in a low, desperate tone. “You prefer me to Peck, even after all I have foolishly said and done?”
“Just because I hesitated to declare it does not mean that I do not,” she said, smiling. “I love you. I liked your friend, but I was in love with you before I ever met him.”
His hand curved round the back of her neck, firm and gentle at the same time, drawing her close.
She let out a faint gasp and swayed closer as Darcy’s lips brushed gently across hers.
Elizabeth was taken by delighted surprise, and then closed her eyes and kissed him back.
His lips were so soft, and his response reflected her own longing.
And when his tongue pressed between her lips, she moaned into his mouth.
What utter foolishness to think she could have been happy with anyone other than Darcy. Clutching the lapels of his coat, all rational thought was consumed by the stunning intimacy of sharing his breath, tasting him.
He lifted his head and ran his thumb gently over her swollen lips, looking stunned at what they had done. She put her hand on his chest, feeling his heart thundering as they caught their breath.
“Have I been too precipitate?” he asked, possibly regretting his impulsive kiss. “Do you need more time to attach yourself?”
“When you meet all of my requirements, and I meet your single one? Why would I need more time to be attached?”
Her teasing could not solicit a smile from him. “Because while my feelings are of a long duration, yours have undergone a material change in a short time. ”
Grinning as she cupped his cheek, she said, “I think my aunt and uncle would appreciate a long season of courtship to know you better and to be certain of my choice, but I have no doubts at all.”
Elizabeth leant against him and kissed him again, and they stayed entwined in one another’s arms until they heard footsteps on the stairs.
Darcy immediately released her and took a great step away.
She stumbled in surprise as she lost her balance after being pressed so fully against him. He reached out to steady her.
“We have had quite enough of this tumbling about and spraining of ankles,” he whispered into her ear before letting her go. It sent a pleasurable shiver over her.
“I hope I can still rely on you to carry me if it happens again?”
“I thought you would want crutches next time,” he teased.
“Oh no. I infinitely prefer being in your arms.”
He could not do more than smile at her before her aunt came in.
“I am sorry to keep you waiting,” she said, a little breathless from dealing with whatever catastrophe her children had caused. “I think we can return to the drawing room and interrupt the happy couple.”
Her aunt’s gaze narrowed, and she looked between her and Darcy. Elizabeth fidgeted under her scrutiny, and she suddenly noticed how raw her lips felt and how rumpled Darcy’s hair looked.
Mrs Gardiner levelled them with a serious look. “It seems I have already interrupted a happy couple.”
Darcy stood from the box he rented in Covent Garden to allow the Gardiners, their nieces, and Bingley to precede him from the loge and down the stairs to the lounging room.
News about both his and Bingley’s engagements would spread faster now that they had appeared in public together, and Darcy was glad for it.
Elizabeth wore to the opera the large pendant necklace he had given her as an engagement gift.
Although it was enamel and not porcelain, the bright white and hand-painted flowers with pinks, yellows, and blues was reminiscent of the walking stick handle she had admired.
She had already received compliments on the unusual piece and proudly told everyone that her betrothed had presented it to her.
Six weeks from now, he would be united in marriage to Elizabeth, and he was already counting the days.
It had taken some time last Sunday for Darcy to explain himself to the Gardiners’ satisfaction.
While partiality for Elizabeth made her aunt soon think any admiration of Elizabeth was perfectly natural, her uncle had required convincing that their attraction was more substantive than a fleeting interest while they stayed in the same house.
Once persuaded, Mr Gardiner then asked his wife and Elizabeth to leave the library and told Darcy to remain.
When they were alone, he said, in a grave tone, “I like you, Darcy, and I can tell you are not a man accustomed to defending himself.” Mr Gardiner took a breath and continued.
“But concern for my niece’s reputation requires me to ask something.
While this could be an advantageous match, I need to know if anything inappropriate happened while you resided together. ”
“No,” he cried. “Absolutely not.”
He supposed after being all but caught kissing Elizabeth in Mr Gardiner’s library that it was a fair question.
He wondered if Mr Bennet would have been so cautious and concerned if he was in Mr Gardiner’s place.
Darcy swiftly assured Mr Gardiner that nothing beyond talking had happened under his roof and promised that nothing beyond pressing her hand would happen until they married.
Once he was satisfied on that score, Elizabeth’s uncle had no reservations about the match.
As Darcy left the house that night and only bowed over her hand rather than kiss her again, he realised how rash that promise was.
“Will you tell Georgiana our happy news?” she had asked that evening as he waited for the carriage.
“I will call on her tomorrow. I fear she will be hard to convince. She never considered me as a possible suitor for you. However, once she accepts the idea, she will be delighted to have you for a sister. ”
“I know of a way to convince her that you are my choice,” she had said with an ardent look. “Tell Georgiana that you are the only one who ever made my heart beat fast and my stomach dance with flutters.”
He smiled at the memory of how Elizabeth’s confession made him feel when, in the large principal lobby, Darcy looked over the crowd and saw Captain Peck notice him. His friend had a hard look in his eye, and he wondered if that friendship was now over.
Guilt pressed on him. He had unjustly hated Peck for several days and would regret to end their acquaintance.
He never thought a sporting man who would be endlessly idle if not forced into a profession the right person for Elizabeth, but Darcy would have disapproved of any man who admired the woman he loved but feared he could not have.
He whispered into Elizabeth’s ear not to wait for him, and she went into the lounging room with her family and Bingley as Peck came near.
“She chose you?” he asked, watching Elizabeth leave.
“Yes, she did, and I had to earn it.”
A flash of disappointment crossed his friend’s eye. “Well, I wish you joy,” he said flatly, “although I cannot say I am ready to join you for the wedding breakfast.” Peck winced and then added, “Assuming I would be invited.”
“I would always invite my friends,” Darcy insisted, hoping that Peck would eventually forgive him.
Peck crossed his arms over his chest. “And will you forbid your wife from greeting me on the street?”
“Not at all,” he said. “If you would still be willing to touch your hat to us both,” he added hesitantly.
He dropped his arms. “Yes, I am just…” He swore quietly. “I am irritated that you introduced me to a pretty single woman without mentioning you wanted to marry her yourself.”
Peck thought he had been played for a fool. “I never meant to deceive you,” Darcy said in a tone of apology. “I did not think I could marry her. Or rather, I thought the family obstacles too great, and then I said something thoughtless and assumed she hated me.”
He could share an opinion with anyone, and honesty came easily to him.
She had seen it as a fault when applied to her and her family.
But rather than hate him for his unkind words, she forgave him.
Whether it was because of her generous nature or because she was already in love with him, he could not say. But he was grateful for her tolerance.
“And when I call this spring to invite Mrs Darcy for a drive,” Peck said with a sly look, “will you allow her to accompany me?”
Peck was provoking him. He did not want to be that kind of husband, and he suspected forbidding Elizabeth from doing anything would have to be done with great explanation to justify his reasoning.
Still, the thought of her enjoying a drive with Peck hit him with an inexplicable wave of insecurity and anxiety.
“If she wishes to join you, I hope she enjoys it. Just try not to overturn her.”
Peck barked a laugh. “That looked like the words tasted foul in your mouth.”
“Your jealousy has no foundation, my dear.” Elizabeth had returned to his side, slipping a hand under his arm. “Captain Peck, it is good to see you.”
“Congratulations, Miss Bennet,” he said graciously. “Darcy is a terrible fencer when he is preoccupied by heartbreak, so I hope your impending union will make him a better competitor.”
She laughed politely and said she hoped it would be true. “I did not mean to mislead you, you know,” she added softly. “I loved Darcy but assumed he did not want me, and I thought perhaps knowing you better would help me recover from that loss.”
His friend waved away her apology, and a short dialogue on the subject of the opera ensued. Peck bowed and wished them a good evening, offering to take Elizabeth and her sister for a drive in the spring.
Darcy felt relieved the awkward encounter was over, but then Elizabeth gave him a long look as they joined her aunt and uncle.
“I know my jealousy is unreasonable,” he said through a sigh, “and must be productive of the most unhappy effects both to myself and to those who are the subjects of it.”
“Will you forbid me from taking that drive with him?”
Darcy shook his head. “You turn your reflecting mind and warm benevolence toward everyone fortunate enough to have earned your regard. And Peck is worthy of it.”
“But it makes you jealous when I talk with him?”
“That is my flaw; it has nothing to do with either of you.” Peck had given every indication that he bore them no ill will, and Darcy certainly trusted Elizabeth. “Only a man of a weak mind might be jealous of a friendship that is creditable to his wife.”
“I do think a friendship can exist between the three of us—if not now, then soon. He is only a little dissatisfied with us. He and I had not the time to become genuinely attached. He is not inclined to be resentful, and you will not remain jealous.”
“You have great faith in me,” he said, but supposed she was right.
“I also have great faith that more kisses from you will drive any thought of him from my heart and recollection,” she murmured into his ear as they met with her family.
Darcy smiled as heat rushed into his cheeks, and he could not look Mr Gardiner in the eye for a full five minutes.