Page 48 of The Talented Daughters of Longbourn
Matlock House
Midnight
“It was a great honor to meet you,” Jane said, curtseying toward her fiancé’s parents.
“It was delightful to meet you as well,” Lady Matlock replied and cast a stern look at her husband, who promptly said, “Yes, Miss Bennet, we are pleased to welcome you into the family.”
“Goodbye, Mother,” Richard said, kissing his mother on the cheek. “Good evening, Father.”
He turned and guided Jane out of the door, down the steps, and to the waiting carriage, where Darcy was handing Elizabeth inside. Richard helped Jane enter and then stepped in, pulled the door closed, and tapped on the ceiling, whereupon the coachman started the horses.
There was complete silence in the darkness for a full minute, and then Jane released a loud sigh, which provoked a chuckle from Elizabeth and a hidden frown on Richard’s face .
“I hope that was not too terrible, my dear?” he asked worriedly.
“No, not at all,” his beloved replied with commendable promptitude. “Lady Matlock is delightful, and Lord Matlock, while solemn, was welcoming enough. I find Lady Catherine a challenging lady, but fortunately, I did not need to speak to her much, thanks to Elizabeth.”
Richard huffed and said, “Our aunt has been autocratic, condescending, and snobbish for as long as I have known her.”
“I do hope that you were not bothered by her bombastic views, Miss Elizabeth,” Darcy said, genuinely concerned.
“Not in the least,” the lady replied cheerfully. “To be entirely truthful, I found her rather amusing; she made a point of taking the opposite view of everything I said. I can only assume that she enjoys debating?”
“She enjoys being considered correct about everything,” Darcy said sourly, “and I fear that most people do not contradict her, which gives her the idea that almost everyone accepts her authority in everything.”
“Well, I made it quite obvious that I do not consider her infallible in the least,” Elizabeth said.
/
Sitting Room
Matlock House
“A dreadfully impertinent young woman,” Lady Catherine announced, marching up and down the red and blue Oriental carpet. It was late, and Lord Matlock had already ascended to his bedchamber, but Lady Catherine had insisted on speaking to her sister-in-law about the evening’s events.
Lady Matlock, who had been lifting a well-earned cup of tea to her lips, lowered the cup and stared in bewilderment. “What are you speaking of, Catherine? Miss Bennet seemed both refined and courteous!”
“Not Miss Bennet, her sister, Miss Elizabeth!” Lady Catherine snapped, her pace increasing in her outrage.
“She is not yet one and twenty – she is a mere child , and yet she dared to argue with me about what constitutes the genuine accomplishments of a true lady! Moreover, she claimed to know far more about Yorkshire than could possibly be expected, and her view on sculptures – well, what an obnoxious, boasting female! It is insupportable!”
Lady Matlock suppressed a sigh. She had not spoken much to the second Miss Bennet, but her impression had been of a lively young woman of considerable charm and beauty.
“The impudence!” Lady Catherine continued, her face twisted in a most unbecoming grimace. “To think that she, a country girl of no importance, would imagine that she knows more than I do, the daughter and sister of an earl.”
“Do not worry, Mother,” Anne said, and Lady Matlock noted, with surprise, a mischievous look on her niece’s face. “It is not as if Richard is marrying Miss Elizabeth, after all.”
Lady Catherine wrinkled her nose, considered, and then nodded grudgingly. “It is bad enough to be connected to such a woman in any way, but you are correct, Anne. So long as Miss Elizabeth is not permitted to pollute the shades of Matlock House or Darcy House, I suppose it will not be so very bad.”
/
The Bennets’ House
Cheapside
“Lydia!” Jane exclaimed, stepping into the vestibule with Elizabeth at her side and Richard and Darcy at her heels. “Why are you still up?”
Lydia, who was curled up like a cat on a padded seat, with three wax candles burning on a low table beside her, hopped up and said, “Oh, Jane, I did not think I could sleep until I heard how your dinner party went. Richard, Mr. Darcy, good evening.”
“Good evening, Miss Lydia,” Richard said. “I think that dinner went well?”
“It did,” Elizabeth agreed, and Darcy could hardly take his eyes off of her dancing eyes and smiling lips.
“May I call on you tomorrow, Jane?” Richard asked.
“Of course.”
“Shall we, Darcy?” his cousin inquired and took a step toward the door.
“One moment, please,” Darcy said suddenly, and swallowing hard, turned his intense gaze upon the lady he loved. “Miss Elizabeth, might I have the honor of speaking to you privately tomorrow?”
In the uncertain light of the candle, Elizabeth blushed pink and looked adorably confused. “That would be wonderful, Mr. Darcy, but I fear, oh dear, I am supposed to go to the modiste for a fitting, and then visit our Aunt Gardiner, and that will take much of the day.”
Darcy felt his heart sink with disappointment, but he said, “Perhaps the next day, then?”
“Or,” Lydia said, her eyes sparkling, “given that the house is quiet, and Jane and Richard and I are here, and the sitting room is just over there…”`
She gestured dramatically toward an open door, and Elizabeth looked at Darcy, and her expression was so hopeful that he could only say, “That seems an excellent plan, Miss Lydia.”
“Let me light the candles in there!” the girl cried out, picking up one of the tapers and carrying it into the sitting room, where she quickly lit three candles on the mantle of the fireplace, and two more on a low table.
Elizabeth and Darcy followed her into the small, cozy room, and waited until the youngest Miss Bennet retreated out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her .
Darcy stared at Elizabeth, and she stared back at him, both with thudding hearts, both with expectancy and hope and some fear on their faces.
“Miss Elizabeth?” Darcy finally managed to say.
“Yes?” she whispered, swallowed, and repeated more loudly, “Yes?”
“Do you remember the evening we first met?”
“I do, of course. You took one look at me, or perhaps you did not, and declared me ‘not handsome enough to tempt you’.”
Darcy grimaced. “Yes, and I was a complete and utter fool. You are, in fact, one of the most handsome women of my acquaintance.”
Elizabeth felt her face grow hot and said playfully, “Thank you, sir. Given that you have often seen me in company with Jane, that is praise indeed.”
He gazed at her, his dark eyes intense, and said, “You are a very beautiful woman, but more than that, you are intelligent, kind, loyal, and utterly remarkable. I love you, Elizabeth.”
The lady quivered at these words and raised those mesmerizing eyes to meet his own. “Do you?”
“I do,” he declared fervently. “I do, with all my heart. Now, I realize we have not known one another for long, and perhaps you do not love me yet, but I hope that with time, you can…”
He stopped, his heart thudding in his chest, as she reached out a slender hand and laid it on his arm. Their gazes met for a long moment before she said, with becoming shyness, “I respect, admire, and love you as well, sir.”
A broad smile lit up his already handsome face, and he took both of her hands in his. He lifted them to his mouth and kissed her gloved fingers. “Thank God. Elizabeth, will you be my wife?”
She peered back, her expression uncertain, and he felt his stomach twist oddly within him. Would she refuse him in spite of their love? Surely not!
“Mr. Darcy,” she said gently, “I know my own worth, but I am not a woman of wealth, and I suppose one could argue that we are in trade, since Jane is selling her sculptures and wood carvings, and I assist with my sketching. Also, Kitty sells angora garments. Are you at peace with these mercantile activities?”
“I am more than at peace, I am overjoyed,” he said fervently. “You and Miss Bennet have remarkable gifts which you are sharing with the world. I look forward to having your sketches framed and placed in the gallery at Pemberley, if, indeed, you are willing…? ”
She smiled now and nodded. “Yes, Mr. Darcy. I would be most honored to be your wife.”
Darcy had always considered himself a cerebral, controlled sort of man, but with the lady of his dreams only a step away, and with her acceptance still ringing in his ears, he found himself stepping forward to sweep Elizabeth into his arms. They clung to one another, and their lips met.
It was thunder, and it was lightning, and thirty seconds later, Darcy forced himself to break away, aware that this lady was not yet his wife, and Elizabeth’s sisters and Richard were but a few yards away in the vestibule.
Elizabeth stared up at him, breathing heavily, her eyes shining like stars.
“I love you, Elizabeth.”
“I love you too, so very, very much.”
/
Drawing Room
The Bennets’ House
Cheapside
The Next Morning
“Mamma?”
“Yes, Lizzy? Oh, Lydia, do go put your boots on. The half boot ones, my dear! We are to be at the modiste in an hour, and you know that you often lose track of your boots!”
“Mamma?”
“Yes, Lizzy – oh, Clara, where are you taking that box? Is that my hat? Lizzy’s hat?”
“Mamma!”
“Yes, Lizzy, what is it? There is no reason to shout, my dear. I am right here!”
Elizabeth took a deep breath and let it out. There was no reason to lose her temper with her mother, who could not help but be flighty.
“Mamma,” she said patiently, “do you remember Mr. Darcy?”
Mrs. Bennet turned a bewildered look on her daughter and looked down at the pile of lace in her lap, which she began plucking with questing hands. “I think blue lace on ivory, or perhaps ivory on blue? We will have to see. Mr. Darcy? Of course I do! He is dear Richard’s cousin!”
“Yes, and he is in love with me, and I am in love with him, and we are engaged to be married.”
Mrs. Bennet’s hands froze, her body stilled, and her mouth drooped open.
Thirty seconds passed.