Page 31 of Why I Kissed You (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

“Oh, quite so, ma’am,” Bingley agreed readily.

“The character of both my sisters does very little credit to the goodness of the parents who bought us all up. I do not mean to say that to aspire to better is wrong in itself, but to pretend that one has more consequence than they do… to deny the very roots which gave them what consequence they have… to treat others with disdain and contempt for having less… I cannot abide it. It does not honor the memory of our parents.”

Mrs. Gardiner glanced at her nieces before carefully setting her teacup and saucer aside. “Then, if I may inquire, Mr. Bingley, if you despair of your sisters’ characters, why do you work to better the circumstances of one? Why do you not do as is commonly done in society and cast her off?”

Bingley shrugged and sighed at once. “She is my sister. And I would not be honoring my good parents if I should not endeavour to do all I could to see her settled in a way that would make her happy.”

“And the son of an earl will certainly make Caroline happy,” observed Elizabeth.

“Well then, I shall add my prayers to yours that your scheme is successful,” said Mrs. Gardiner with a smile.

“May Lizzy and I go to Hampshire, Aunt Gardiner, when the house party is arranged?” asked Jane.

“I can see no reason why you should not,” the lady agreed.

“After all, I suspect that your sister will be married in a day or two, so she may serve as a chaperone for you—and she has her own maid, who may stand in her stead when she is occupied. But in truth, you must write to your parents for their permission, when the arrangements are made.”

Elizabeth and Jane looked to one another again, then they turned their gazes to the gentlemen.

The former was amazed at the turn her life had taken in only the last four days: She was engaged to the last man in the world she could before have been prevailed upon to marry—was actually beginning to look forward to being his wife!

—and might well be in only a matter of days.

She had helped orchestrate her sister’s reunion with the man she loved and was in a fair way of suspecting Jane and Bingley to be as much in love with one another as ever—the house party would certainly aid them in growing closer, if Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst could be convinced to leave their brother’s choice of wife to himself.

For that matter, she would soon be attending a house party hosted by the sons of an earl wherein she would be helping to try and arrange a match between a woman she actively disliked and a man she found to be one of the most agreeable in the world.

“What a turn indeed,” she muttered as she lifted her teacup to her lips.

“What was that, Lizzy?” Jane asked her.

Elizabeth chuckled softly. “I’ve just been reflecting on the unbelievable turn the path of my life has taken these last few days, and… I am simply amazed.”

“I pray it is a positive amazement,” said Darcy.

She turned a smile his way. “Believe me, Mr. Darcy, were it an amazement of horror, you should certainly be the first to know.”

The two shared a look, and after a moment both burst into laughter.

Well, Elizabeth laughed heartily while Darcy’s amusement was rather more subdued.

She could work on that, she mused. After all, hadn’t Colonel Fitzwilliam charged her with making his cousin smile more?

Certainly, encouraging Darcy to laugh more freely fell within that purview.

After about a quarter of an hour, Mrs. Gardiner made a claim of needing to look in on the children and departed the drawing room. For a moment there was silence, then Jane looked to Bingley and asked,

“Have you spoken to your sisters since Friday?”

Bingley grimaced. “No. They did call at Darcy House yesterday, but I did not see them. I’d, uh, given Tolliver instruction to turn them away.”

“I can understand why,” Jane replied. “However, I fail to understand how Caroline will be able to determine if Winfield, and Colonel Fitzwilliam, are to her liking if you are not on speaking terms.”

“Jane has a point, Mr. Bingley,” said Elizabeth. “You’ll have to speak to her in order to issue the invitation. And these other friends will surely notice any tension between you if you do not work it out before we all go down to Hampshire.”

Bingley groaned. “I know. I shall go to Grosvenor Street tomorrow morning. But I mean to make it explicitly clear they are to keep their busybody noses out of my affairs, and that they are to treat Jane—that is, Miss Bennet—” He blushed and smiled at Jane, who did the same.

“—with the same level of respect and courtesy as they did before, even if they were only pretending.”

“Oh, Mr. Bingley…” Jane began. “As much as I dislike their interference in our friendship, I cannot believe that their kindness and attentions to me were always false. They cannot always have been playing a part.”

“I concur, Miss Bennet,” spoke up Darcy. “Remember, Charles, how often your sisters praised Miss Bennet as a ‘sweet girl’.”

Bingley scoffed. “Well, I suppose there is that.”

“Sir,” said Jane as she set down her teacup. “You have forgiven Mr. Darcy his part in the business, have you not?”

Elizabeth glanced at Darcy and noted a flush creeping up his neck; he pointedly looked down at the teacup still held in his hands.

“I have,” said Bingley. “But that is because he offered sincere apologies and explanations for his actions. All Caroline and Louisa could do was make pitiful excuses and whinge about degrading alliances ruining our position in society.”

Elizabeth watched her sister blanch as though she’d been struck, and immediately reached for her hand. Bingley noticed her reaction and sat forward.

“Pray do not distress yourself, my dearest Jane!” he cried softly. “Do not give credence to their thoughtless words.”

Jane stared, her countenance flushed, for another moment before straightening her posture and taking a deep breath.

“I am well,” she said. “Though I am also glad to know the true esteem in which they hold me and my family. Tell me, Mr. Bingley, are your sisters at all aware that as a gentleman’s daughter, I rank above them, even with all their fortune?

A match between us would elevate you, not bring you down. ”

“I have tried to make them see this,” said Bingley.

“Now allow me to ask you this, sir,” Jane went on, tilting her head as she regarded him, “why should I even consider allying myself to a man whose sisters and friends are all wishing him to marry elsewhere? ”

Bingley stood and moved to stand before her; Elizabeth quietly rose and stepped toward Darcy, that Bingley could take her seat.

Instead, he knelt down and took Jane’s hand in his. “Because I love you. I am not ashamed of where I come from. I am not ashamed of your mother’s connexions, for they are the same as my own—well, except I have no uncle who is an attorney.”

His words teased a small smile from Jane.

“Because I love you,” he said again. “I do believe I have loved you from the very first moment of seeing you across that crowded assembly hall in Meryton. I thought you were an angel that night—I still do. I’m so terribly sorry that you have suffered for their cruelty and my lack of conviction. ”

“Mr. Bingley,” Jane began.

“No, let me speak,” said he. “I must own I am equally as guilty of foolishness as my sisters and Darcy, for I allowed them to influence me. I did not return to Hertfordshire to confirm or disprove their claims and I should have done. But I was afraid to know the truth. Your modesty was such as you guarded your heart so closely that few could see it, and my own was such that I secretly felt intimidated by you.”

“Intimidated! By me?” Jane said, her shock evident. “But how can that be, I am only a woman—”

Bingley silenced her again, this time by placing a finger to her lips. Elizabeth was reminded of Darcy doing the same to her only the night before, and when she looked down at him, his expression told her he was remembering that moment also.

“You are an angel,” Bingley said, smiling softly. “And I a mere mortal. How could I do anything but fear that they were right, and you did not truly love me? I think, deep down, every man fears rejection by the woman he loves—and to me, you are so much more than a beautiful woman.”

“Oh, Mr. Bingley,” said Jane, who lifted a hand to her heart as tears filled her eyes.

“Will you marry me, my beloved? I swear to you I will spend every day of the rest of our lives making up for my wretchedness,” Bingley implored her.

Jane was so overcome that she could not speak; instead, she nodded and threw her arms around him.

Elizabeth laid a hand on Darcy’s shoulder and leaned to whisper in his ear, “Now that is how you propose to the woman you love, Mr. Darcy. ”

He turned his head to such an angle as their lips were very tantalizingly close together and lifted a hand to cover hers. “Shall I get down on one knee and propose to you again?”

“Not today, sir,” Elizabeth replied with a cheeky grin. “You must wait for the perfect opportunity, and surprise me with your proposal as you did the first time.”

Darcy smiled. “I promise you, Elizabeth, that I will.”