“No, Elizabeth,” he said, breathing her name and taking another step toward her. “Because of you, Ilived. My life has been filled with sorrow, for I did not know true joy until a cloudy day in Hertfordshire where a maiden appeared—with her petticoats six inches deep in mud.”
“It was definitely not at an assembly in Meryton where this recognition took place?” She raised one single brow, attempting to go back to the familiar world of teasing.
“No one until a woman with eyes as dark as a summer storm had arched her perfectly shaped brow and shook me to my soul. You, Elizabeth, you possessed me. Unlike the vapid women at Almack’s and St. James. Your soul crackles and burns. Its fire consumes me. I do not understand the hold you have over me, Elizabeth Bennet, but I am unwilling to regain control. I cannot account for what it is.” He reached to touch her cheek, and she closed her eyes and allowed his hand to cradle her face.
“At times in my life, I have felt as Odysseus. I have been many men and lived a lifetime before truly coming home to those who love me. I have had to fight for what is mine, and I will not lose it.” His thumb grazed her cheek and gently caressed her lower lip. “I will not lose you.” His voice husky with emotion, he allowed his words to linger between them. “Dare I hope that you feel the same and that this too is not a dream?”
Her lips pursed together, laying a soft kiss upon his thumb. “It is not,” she replied, opening her eyes. “I too, have lived in a world of dreams, unwilling to see reality for what it is. Allowing my foolish pride and false hopes to control mydestiny. But that has changed. You say you have chosen me. Yet…Fitzwilliam…I choose you. I choose a life of joy and happiness, of love and respect, of––”
But there was nothing left to say; no words were necessary. Darcy pulled her close and she tasted the sweetness of his lips, stemming any other thoughts. She tentatively returned his kisses, fueling Darcy’s response. His hands rested on her hips as he slowly pulled back, leaning his head against hers.
“You cannot know how I have waited to hear those words fromthisElizabeth Bennet.”
She smiled and stretched up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “And you shall hear it for many years to come, sir. For you cannot be rid of me so easily.”
“Nor do I wish to, my love. For I choose you.”
Epilogue–1
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennet
of Pemberley
Happy was the day when Mrs. Bennet finally forgave her least favorite daughter for rejecting her cousin Collins as she married the wealthiest man in Derbyshire. Although the matron did not appear in this story, Mrs. Bennet’s presence could still be felt throughout.
Mr. Darcy was not the only one to feel the wrath of a mother whose daughter was spurned. No, the amiable Mr. Bingley did as well. From his arrival at Rosings upon receiving the letter of Darcy’s illness, to his own confession of the odd dreams he experienced during the last several days while on holiday, Mr. Bingley felt the love and devotion of good friends and the encouragement of his angel’s most beloved sister.
Therefore, he received quite a shock when he rode into Hertfordshire and found a most unpleasant welcome from the matriarch of Longbourn. His progress was greatly impededuntil he had placated said mother by wooing her daughter and proposing in three days’ time. He was swiftly accepted.
The younger Bennet girls offer little significance to this story, and therefore it will only be said they married well for their station (a curate, a country squire, and a soldier in the Regulars––you may assign to each girl the spouse you choose).
Mr. Bennet accepted Elizabeth’s decision to marry Mr. Darcy with skepticism. But he was won over after witnessing the adoration of the young man toward his favorite child.
What of the errand that took Mr. Collins away from Rosings, and then in effect Lady Catherine and Mrs. Collins as well? As the most sycophantic of minions to the great lady, Mr. Collins was tasked with acquiring a special license for Mr. Darcy to marry his cousin Anne the day after Easter. However, with the parson of Hunsford having more articulacy than brains, he somehow found himself mistaken for a common criminal with insane tendencies and was carted away to Bedlam. It wasn’t until an avaricious guard at the institution decided to write a letter to the noble patroness of the quirky little man, that Her Ladyship realized something was amiss, and she must set off to rescue her parson, as no one else could.
The revelation upon their return from Town that Darcy and Elizabeth’s fate was already decided, as well as Anne de Bourgh’s herself, left Lady Catherine in a foul mood and with a nervous parson. Although his position at Rosings was not in jeopardy, he was still made to feel the wrath of his patroness herself.
And what of Anne de Bourgh? The mousy spinster whose mother believed her destiny was with her cousin? Her mother was right on one account. But, unbeknownst to the matriarch of Rosings, it was adifferentcousin entirely. Anne and Richard were wed in a quiet ceremony by the parson of Matlock House, the Fitzwilliam family’s seat for over two hundred years. Although Lady Catherine railed against the union, she was drowned out by her brother and patriarch of the Fitzwilliam family, Lord Matlock, who was a romantic at heart.
Georgiana did havesomefond memories of her dreams from her “other” life. She often spoke of the joy in having remembered a mother she had never really known. As a gift for her seventeenth birthday, her brother had commissioned a portrait which had only existed in their dreams––a painting of Georgiana and both her parents, which hung at Darcy/de Bourgh House in London. She cried uponseeing it, recognizing it at once from a life she had never really lived.
The other remnant of the dream–world was the memory of her marriage to Wickham. It secured her decision to only marry for an equal, enduring love. In the end, she wed a man who, like her brother, adored his wife. Their estate was only twenty miles from Pemberley.
And what of our beloved couple? How did the adventure affect their lives? Doting Mrs. Reynolds welcomed them home. It seemed that she had had some colorful dreams as well. Her cup overflowed at the addition of the new mistress of Pemberley.
Darcy had immediately written to his man of business in London, who had personally called upon Bainbridge & Sons to confirm the solvency of the Merino account. It was still entirely intact.
He also took it upon himself to pay special attention to a particular tenant’s cottage. Going with his wife, he visited the home of the shepherd, Jonathan Smith, whose Aunt Clara also resided there. She mentioned she had played with the elder Mr. Darcy as a child and how the current Mr. Darcy looked so much like him. He made sure she was never burdened, and upon her death, saw to the expenses of thefuneral himself. It was the least he could do for someone who could have been his mother.In another life.
And what of George Wickham? He was not one who purely loved Darcy, so therefore his presence was nil in this lifetime. Elizabeth received a letter from her mother that he had left the militia to seek his fortune in the East Indies and was never heard from again.
Elizabeth and Darcy could not comprehend the mystery from their dreams of Lady Catherine’s fear of Wickham’s search for a letter. Over time, they pushed it from their minds, but the truth was revealedin this lifeafter Lady Catherine’s death. Anne and the colonel were redecorating a room in Rosings and had sent a piece of furniture to Pemberley for Georgiana: the writing desk from Lady Anne Darcy.
As Elizabeth was investigating the intricate patterns of the piece, she stumbled upon a hidden spring, revealing a small, secret compartment. Inside was an envelope with “My Love,” written in a thin script.
“Fitzwilliam, come. Look what I have discovered.”
Darcy handed his eldest son, Henry, off to Nanny Flora, and shooed his three daughters back to the playroom with kisses and promisesof a story later.
