Page 47 of Why I Kissed You (Pride and Prejudice Variation)

On their return to London, the Darcys invited Jane to stay with them at Darcy House until it was time for her to return to Longbourn for her wedding.

Bingley went on to Netherfield to ensure that the instructions he had given his staff before the house party were carried out, and that the estate was ready to receive its new mistress.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Hurst attended the wedding of their brother to Jane Bennet a week later, Caroline Bingley was notably absent.

The excuse given was that she was unfortunately indisposed with a cold and had not been well enough to leave the house at Grosvenor Street.

Bingley later revealed to Jane, Darcy, and Elizabeth that Louisa had confessed to him the true reason for their sister’s absence.

“So, what is her excuse?” Elizabeth asked, keeping her voice low so that the other guests at the wedding breakfast would not overhear.

“Firstly, she’s not actually in London—she’s gone to one of our cousins in Scarborough, she’s so humiliated,” Bingley replied.

Jane paled. “Humiliated?” she cried softly.

Bingley’s expression as he nodded was glum.

“Aye—and I am sure you all can guess the reason. This Lord Malford fellow she attached herself to seems to have done with her. After courting her almost the entire time we were in Hampshire, he has cancelled planned outings and they’ve not seen him at Hurst’s one time in the last se’nnight. ”

“Oh dear,” said Elizabeth. “That does seem to indicate he has given her up. ”

Jane drew a breath and looked to her new husband with a sympathetic smile. “Charles, I am sorry if Caroline has been disappointed, but if I may speak plainly, I should not like to dwell on her troubles. This is our wedding day, and we are meant to enjoy it.”

Bingley sighed and nodded, then he smiled and leaned to touch his lips to her cheek. “You are correct, Mrs. Bingley. Let us rejoice in the fact that we are united at last.”

A fortnight after the Bingleys were married, they joined their brother and sister Darcy—and Georgiana—in going north to Derbyshire, that Mr. Darcy could at last acquaint Mrs. Darcy with Pemberley.

Elizabeth was in love with the house and its situation on first sight.

The grounds were as delightful as her aunt Gardiner had described them, being filled with shrubberies, fruit trees, and flowering bushes—including Elizabeth’s beloved lilacs—and the rooms well-lit through most of the day with natural light that passed through large windows.

Once they were in residence, she vowed she would not leave the place again until she had seen every room and knew every servant’s name by heart.

Her favorite room was, of course, the extensive library—she’d thought her husband jesting when he’d claimed Pemberley housed nearly six thousand books, but she had been sorely mistaken.

There were so many books that a whole wing of the first floor was necessary to contain them!

Her father, whenever he visited, would likely never leave that room.

Jane and Bingley stayed with them a month before returning to Meryton to begin their lives together at Netherfield, and only after they had gone did Darcy tell Elizabeth that Bingley was considering not keeping that house.

He had found he could not bear to think of his wife being unhappy to have her favorite sister living so far away, so had asked Darcy to look about for a place nearby that he might purchase instead.

Jane confirmed her husband’s plan in the first letter Elizabeth received from her after their return to Hertfordshire.

Elizabeth could not have been happier, and it lifted her spirits whenever she was missing her family to think that Jane would one day—hopefully soon—be nearby again.

Darcy had received word from his uncle while they were at Winfield that Wickham and Anne had been married—reluctantly—by Mr. Collins at Hunsford Church at the appointed time.

As much as the whole family despised the connection, they were without doubt that Anne, Wickham, and Lady Catherine being forced to endure their new relationship—and each other—was just punishment.

Just days after the Bingleys’ departure from Pemberley, Darcy heard again from Lord Disley, this letter saying not only that Wickham was surprisingly holding up his end of the bargain and managing the estate well, but also that it was a good thing they had forced the Wickhams’ marriage, for it was recently discovered that Anne was to be a mother and the child expected to arrive in the first month of the next year.

The Darcys, sometimes alone and sometimes with Georgiana, made prodigious use of the refurbished landau that summer—visiting tenants, going on picnics, or just driving about the park to enjoy the views—and by the start of autumn, Elizabeth could say she’d gone round the full ten miles.

Although she did miss her family occasionally, she was in agreement with Darcy that they would spend their first Christmas together alone with Georgiana as the small family they were.

Late on Christmas Eve, they were enjoying just holding one another in a cozy embrace on the sofa before the fireplace in their private sitting room.

“Fitzwilliam,” said Elizabeth after a time, “do you ever wonder why I kissed you that day at the parsonage?”

“I have often wondered why we kissed that day,” Darcy replied. “As angry and vexed as we were with each other then, who would not wonder?”

Elizabeth extricated herself from his arms and sat up. “You misunderstand me, my love. I’ve gone over that moment a million times, and I am almost certain that I kissed you .”

His expression showed his wonder at her words, and his curiosity. “Have you reached any conclusions?” he asked her.

“I could say that I had realized my mistake in refusing you, or that I regretted my anger, or that I simply thought I would show you what you’d lost because of your arrogance and conceit,” she replied.

“But it was none of those things—I cannot rightly say what it was that motivated me to take that first step save that I felt an overwhelming desire to kiss you.”

Darcy flashed a smile. “To own the truth, I have often thought the same,” he said. “I could not, at the time, say which of us had moved first toward the other—I only remember the overwhelming urge to taste your lips.”

“Perhaps we both of us received a little nudge from God that day,” Elizabeth suggested. “He must have seen that we were both being fools.”

Suddenly Darcy rose from the sofa and turned to face her, then he dropped to one knee and reached for her hand.

“In vain did I struggle, as only a fool would do. You have bewitched me, Elizabeth, with your eyes, your smile, your wit, and your heart. You have captured me with your love and your beautiful soul. You must allow me to tell you—again—how ardently I admire and love you. I beg you would reaffirm your vow to me and consent again to be my wife.”

Elizabeth was stunned for a moment, then she laughed and cried a few happy tears—he had remembered her challenge to surprise her with a more romantic proposal.

Darcy then went a step further and reached into the pocket of his waistcoat, pulling out a stunning ring of small, round diamonds around a large opal, set in silver as was her wedding ring.

In fact, the new ring, which he then slipped onto her finger, quite perfectly complemented the other.

“It’s beautiful,” said she.

“As are you,” said he.

The two smiled at each other, and kissed, then Darcy moved back onto the sofa to hold her again.

“Fitzwilliam, I have a gift for you as well, but I am afraid I cannot give it to you now,” Elizabeth said. “For it will take another six or seven months to arrive.”

His arms tightened about her, and for a moment he stopped breathing. When Elizabeth lifted her head to see his face, she was again stunned, as she found Darcy’s eyes had filled with tears.

“I… I hope the news of a child makes you happy, my love,” said Elizabeth hesitantly.

Darcy lifted a hand to caress her cheek. “Oh, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth… You have just made me the happiest man in all the world.”