“I do. You, not so much. It might take many more strolls to make amends for my errors.”
“Your actions since we met in London and your present visit are enough amends for any presumed wrong, Mr. Darcy. I dare say there is no need to debate this subject further.” She paused a little, then she looked at him, and their eyes met. “However, I do agree that we need many more such strolls, just to talk. On any other subjects.”
His heart raced and melted. “There is nothing I would like more, Miss Bennet.”
That was their first agreement. Afterwards, every time Darcy and Bingley called, the four of them would take a stroll, and he walked with Elizabeth a few steps behind Miss Bennet and Bingley. They were in full view of the house, but still, they had the desired privacy, allowing them the opportunity to really talk — openly and honestly — and to come to know each other. Every single day, every single conversation strengthened Darcy’s conviction that Elizabeth was the one his mother spoke of. The one to complete him and make him happy. She was always present in his mind, and his heart was full of her.
Her pleasure in his company was also obvious — she even declared it several times. Every day they seemed more comfortable with each other.
After the Gardiners, Georgiana, Mrs. Annesley, and the colonel arrived, the opportunities for private encounters came at Netherfield, where they all met often. There were two official dinners, with the extended families attending, in the Netherfield dining room. The meeting between Bingley’s sisters and the Gardiners was amusing for both Darcy and Elizabeth, who shared it through meaningful glances.
As the wedding was approaching, Elizabeth and Miss Bennet would come to Netherfield and stay a few hours. Miss Bennet was busy with the housekeeper and the servants, while Elizabeth spent time with Georgiana and with Darcy, and he was happy to see the growing bond between the two women he so dearly loved.
One afternoon, while Miss Bennet and the Gardiners were engaged in conversation and Georgiana was resting, Darcy gathered the courage to ask Elizabeth to take a stroll in the gardens. Her changed countenance proved that she suspected the reason for his invitation, and the little shy smile that twisted her lips and the sparkle in her eyes were enough encouragement for him to proceed.
Once out of doors, a few minutes passed in silence, with stolen glances and only the sound of their steps breaking the silence; until he finally found the words to express the feelings that had thrilled and tortured him for months.
“Miss Bennet, I might be too hasty, or too arrogant in assuming you will accept what I have to say. I hope you will allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
He lost his voice and had to gulp a few times. Enough for her to stop and gaze at him.
“You are not too hasty and certainly not arrogant, Mr. Darcy. I have hoped to hear such words for quite a long while now. Except for the word ardently. I confess I never expected to hear Mr. Darcy using it,” she teased him, her voice and eyes tearful with emotions.
“I did not expect to hear myself using it. In fact, I never expected myself to feel it, until I met you, my dearest, loveliest Elizabeth. You must be warned that I shall use it quite often if you do me the honour of becoming my wife.”
“I would be honoured to, Mr. Darcy. But even more, I would be happy and grateful. And I look forward to hearing that word used every day.”
The bliss was too deep to be voiced further. And they were in full view of the house, so there was no kiss, no embrace, no tender gesture that day, but that was fully compensated for as soon as their engagement was acknowledged and private walks were allowed with no restriction — even encouraged by Mrs. Bennet.
Mr. Bennet’s blessing was obtained the same afternoon, but, except for Georgiana and the colonel, the engagement was made public only after Bingley and Miss Bennet’s wedding.
Two more busy weeks — madness, as Mr. Bennet called it — followed until, in the middle of February, Darcy and Elizabeth were married by licence in Longbourn Church.
There was much joy for some and much resentment for others about their wedding. Some supported it, others objected and refused to acknowledge it or responded with rage — like Lady Catherine de Bourgh.
Others — like the Matlocks — needed some time to accept the idea that a fortuitous meeting in Hyde Park had brought more consequences than they had assumed at the beginning, and that the man who had been the least pleased by that meeting had benefited the most from it.
In the end, however, nobody and nothing altered the strength of Mr. Darcy’s decision, nor the happiness his wife brought him from the day of his proposal to the day when he held her in his arms as the carriage took them to their London house — and on all the days that followed.
Pemberley was their beloved home — as well as Georgiana’s — and the place where their extended family often gathered. Among many other newly acquired skills, Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy learnt to ride and drive a phaeton — activities that she came to enjoy as much as walking.
Mrs. Darcy quickly assumed her responsibilities and made efforts to learn to accomplish them in the best possible way. She was kind and warm to others yet determined and confident.
Mr. Darcy called his wife his joy, and she called him her quiet strength. Their characters and natures were different but completed each other. The world ardently was used and felt every day between them, just as they had promised on the day of Darcy’s proposal.
When their first son was born two years into their marriage, both called him the perfect gift of their love.
Every time they all met, Lady Matlock still wondered how a simple ride in Hyde Park and an almost accident could have changed the lives of so many utterly and completely.
Darcy often claimed that he would have come to the same conclusion eventually. That, one way or another, he would have understood his officious involvement between Jane and Bingley and would have accepted his love for Elizabeth and proposed to her, regardless of anything else.
Still, he did not deny he was grateful that fate had intervened and hastened things and smoothed his path towards Elizabeth — towards happiness.
THE END
