“You know I am, Papa!” Caught, Elizabeth steered her gaze firmly back to her father. “I am not certain it was wise for you to come tonight. You must take care not to tire yourself! Remember, Mr Darcy offered his coach to take you home early.”
“How very generous. A true hardship to him, I am sure,” her father gibed. “However, I believe I shall have to deny the good fellow the honour of escorting myself and mydaughterhome early.” The last bit was spoken with a pointed gleam in his eye. “At present, I am deriving too much enjoyment from watching him look for you. At any moment, that raw-boned lad next in line is going to tread upon his toes if he is not careful. I confess, however, I would find your Mr Darcy far more entertaining had Mr Collins and Lady Catherine seen fit to remain in the area.”
“You are cruel, Papa!”
“Cruel! I am not the one who refused to stand up with the poor man again! Have a heart, Lizzy. If you do not rescue him immediately the dance ends, I predict your mother will attempt to draw him into a conversation on wedding lace. No man should be subjected to such a fate.” He shuddered.
Elizabeth laughed. “Mr Darcy has found the perfect method of appeasing Mama. He lets her have her head, and then makes himself scarce.”
“I could have taught him that strategy long ago.” Mr Bennet raised his glass, savouring the light drink—the first he had been allowed in some while. “Ah, here he comes, Lizzy. If you can convince him to it, I shall keep Miss Darcy company on the wall. We, neither of us, ought to be out in public at present, correct? She shall be quite comfortable here, and I shall be spared the trouble of conversing with Mr Hurst, who is at present also in search of a seat near the refreshments.”
Elizabeth glanced in the direction he indicated, shaking her head. “I believe Georgiana and Mary were going to perform together shortly. They ought to be withdrawing at any moment to make ready.”
Mr Bennet lowered his glass, his eyes wide. “Mr Darcy! Did you make some mention of offering your carriage in case I should feel poorly?”
Darcy, who had in the past few days come to take very little of what Mr Bennet said at face value, peered quizzically at his future father-in-law. Elizabeth’s answering smirk decided it. “Only after I have danced with Miss Elizabeth, sir,” he smiled, releasing his sister and drawing his fiancée toward the floor. He was rewarded with a sweetly arched brow from his bride-to-be and a hearty chortle from her father.
Darcy dipped his head lower, his eyes lingering on those delicious chocolate spirals framing her pretty face.Three more days and I shall stroke those curls whenever I please!He shook himself slightly. He would never get through the night, let alone three more days, if he allowed thoughts like that!Deep breath!
“Mr Bingley just informed me,” he leaned near in a whisper, “that the next is to be a waltz. I am most eager to claim your hand for that dance, but I believe it will be all I will be able to manage for the night!”
“The waltz! I have never danced it, William. Is it very challenging?”
“It will not be so for you. For me, it will be the most exquisite torment imaginable, but I shall bear it if I must.” He angled a suggestive smile down at her.
“Mr Darcy! Your manners have not improved after all!”
The musicians lifted their bows, and Darcy slipped a hand about her waist, tugging her scandalously close to himself. Both of their breaths caught. “Allow me to make amends,” he pleaded, offering his leading hand. “I find you exceedingly handsome and devastatingly tempting. I am utterly enchanted by your fine eyes and your delightfully pleasing figure.”
“Oh!” Elizabeth choked back a mock affronted cry. “Do I detect another insult you are putting to rights?”
“Not at all. Come, my Lizzy, I want to see your cheeks flushed and those eyes brightened by the exercise.” He tightened his arm around her and led her in a spinning, breathless interlude to the music. Elizabeth’s heart was pattering wildly.No oneshe decidedshould ever dance this unless they are betrothed, at the very least!Her gaze locked on his compelling dark eyes. How they avoided colliding with the other couples, Elizabeth could not fathom. All she could focus on was the man who had captured her entire heart and the feelings playing across his face as he held her.
Colonel Fitzwilliam, again partnering with the cousin he had barely known before, gave a curt nod in their direction. Anne smiled indulgently as she took in William and Elizabeth’s enraptured inattentiveness to their surroundings. “It is a good thing,” she whispered to her cousin, “that the wedding is not far off!”
HappyforallofMrs Bennet’s maternal feelings was the day she got rid of her two most deserving daughters. She sat beside her relatives in the family pew, all aflutter with excitement and pride in the fine matches her girls were making. Everyone turned as the rear doors of the church were opened to admit Mr Bennet with his two favourite daughters on his arms. His steps were slow, but his smile was incandescent.
Though Mr Bennet would sorely regret the loss of any sensible conversation to be had at Longbourn, there was no greater gift a father could ask than to know his daughters would be cherished and adored. That, he decided as he looked at each of his eldest girls, was never again to be a worry for them, at least. They both fairly glowed in radiant happiness. Jane was resplendent in soft pink, drawing sighs from around the church, but it was Elizabeth, in her sage green, who took the breath of a certain gentleman away.
Mr Bennet, chuckling a little, kept a close eye on Darcy as he walked his girls down the long aisle. Bingley fairly vibrated in elation at his friend’s side, but Darcy was the very picture of one who has beheld his first masterpiece. His face was awash in speechless wonder, as though he were afraid it was all a dream, and any movement might wake him from it. He had to be prompted twice to take Elizabeth’s hand, so intent was he on staring at her face and catching the reassurances she mouthed silently to him. Once he had taken her hand, Mr Bennet was quite certain that Elizabeth would never get it back again.
Mr Bennet withdrew; his fatherly duties for these two daughters, at least, ended forever. He blinked away the unshed tears, obstinately determining to seek his amusement at the young grooms’ expense. Darcy spent the entire ceremony in a daze, he observed with a merciless grin. Bingley looked ready to jump out of his tailcoat. His girls, however, he observed with unapologetic pride. They were everything gracious and lovely, smiling encouragement to the young men who so hopefully and fervently swore their devotion.
Darcy did not once crack a smile until the vicar announced Elizabeth to be his bride. At that pronouncement, the man’s face underwent the most dramatic shift imaginable. He exceeded even Bingley in his boyish enthusiasm as he swept his new wife into his arms and fairly scandalized the entire congregation. The town of Meryton whispered for weeks afterwards that Miss Elizabeth Bennet must have bewitched that taciturn man from Derbyshire to cause him to commit such a breach of propriety.
Laughing heartily—one of only a handful of voices in the congregation to do so—Mr Bennet peered across the aisle. That young sister of Mr Darcy’s, as well as the colonel and Miss de Bourgh, clapped in glee and laughed merrily at Darcy’s expense as he ushered his bride out of the church. Mr Bennet released a conflicted sigh. Oh, yes, he was delighted for his girl, beyond a doubt. Christmas this year, however, would not be the same without her... and neither would any other day.
Epilogue
FitzwilliamDarcywasworried.Elizabeth was nowhere to be found, though he had already sought her in all of her usual haunts. He clutched his letter more tightly in his gloved fist as he barged through the library door once more. Her usual chair, by the fire, was quite empty.
“Do you want to send the footmen out, sir?” Mrs Reynolds caught up to him, wringing her hands in her apron. She, like every other person at Pemberley, had fallen at once head over heels in love with the young mistress and was most vexed that the young lady had once again slipped from her watchful gaze.
Darcy clenched his jaw. “When did you speak with her last?”
“Just after luncheon, sir. The mistress was well. She just said she wanted a little air.”
“In her condition! What is she thinking of? And you did not send someone with her?”
