“Lizzy, that is unkind. True, Mr. Collins is not…the ideal mate for our Jane, but he was whom she chose––”
“Mamachose.”
“That might be so, but Jane ishiswife andismarried.We cannot lament a life that might have been when we are living the one we have chosen. No matter the injustice of it. That is not how life works.”
“I do not want to live a life of regrets.”
“It does not appear you will have to, my dear.”
Elizabeth stood and began pacing the room. “But what if I have to? What if Mr. Fitzroy does not feel the same for me as I do him? What if he was attached to another lady before his accident? What if he does not come today? What if he cancels our plans for the theater and dinner tonight?”
Madeline Gardiner’s soft laughter filtered through the room, causing her niece to stop abruptly. “Oh, my dear. You are thoroughly in love with this man.”
Elizabeth took only a trice before her feelings were as plain to herself as they were to her aunt. “I think I am.”
The older woman shook her head. “I cannot promise you he will fulfill your expectations…”
“I know but,” she said, fidgeting with a ribbon on her cuff, “I have no desire to appear missish, either but, I have this great fear that…”
“That what, my dear?”
“That I will lose him,” Lizzy cried, waving her hands. She began to pace again without looking up. “It perplexes me, as there is something about him which leads me to feel a level of comfort as if I have known him longer than these few short weeks. That we have had conversations before. As if we have taken long walks before. That we have teased each other before. I cannot distinguish why, but I fear I will live a life of monotony with myownMr. Collins, while this man…this man who I respect and…love”—she stopped and whispered into the universe—“and love above all others, will not love me in return.”
The hinges on the door squeaked as the parlor door opened. Elizabeth turned abruptly, her face draining of color.
“Mr. Fitzroy!”
A softness had overtaken his handsome features and his dimple was peeking through before he seemed toremember himself. “Miss Bennet, Mrs. Gardiner. Forgive my intrusion. I met Mr. Gardiner outside, and he invited me in.”
His eyes never left hers. The woman whose love he hadfinallyobtained. He hardly noticed Mrs. Gardiner standing to gather her sewing. She moved toward the corridor while ushering him in the room and closing the squeaky door.
“You…you love me?”
“You should not eavesdrop on the ramblings of a silly woman.”
“You are no silly woman.” She had not moved, but his voice thick with emotion. “Say it again. Say you love me.”
“I love you, William,” she said in a breath.
He could not move. Two lifetimes’ worth of unrequited love coursed through him, propelling him forward. But fear could not hold him back. “Elizabeth,” his ragged voice whispered.
Then, in two long strides, he reached her and enveloped her in his arms before reverently lowering his mouth to hers.
As her hands shyly wrapped around his neck and her fingers wove through his hair, he waslost in her response. Her hands dropped to his chest, and with eyes lowered, she looked up through thick lashes. It took all his self-control to curl his hands around her waist and step back, allowing her taste to linger on his lips.
Reaching up, his thumbs traced her skin as he cradled her face in his hands. “From the very first of our acquaintance, Elizabeth Bennet, there is nothing that I have dreamt of more than this moment.” He placed a tender kiss upon her brow, slowly drawing his lips away. “I haveneverloved another woman as I have loved you.” He swallowed a lump in his throat, unnecessary fear taking hold where her rejection had left a hole in his heart in a previous lifetime. “Say you will be my wife, the mistress of my estates, and the…mother of my children.”
She colored prettily. “There is nothing I would rather be, than your wife, Mr. Fitzroy.”
“I have much to tell you.” He leaned in and kissed her gently before pulling away. “Please, call me Darcy, my love.”
Day 16
Their final days in London had been a whirlwind of the theater, shopping, and drawing up marriage contracts at Bainbridge & Sons. However, Elizabeth could not imagine a more perfect trip.
“We should be in Hunsford in a quarter of an hour.”
She looked across the carriage at him, the man she had promised to marry, and rested her book upon her lap, a slow smile playing at the corners of her lips. “And are you so eager to remove yourself from my company, Mister…Darcy?” she asked, still becoming accustomed to his reclaimed identity.
