Charlotte had taken a bold leap of faith in accepting Mr. Collins’s proposal after so brief an acquaintance and had found unexpected contentment. Reflecting on her own leap of faith—agreeing to this journey with her father—made the miles to Netherfield Park pass swiftly.
“I knew you would agree,” Jane Bingley greeted her with a warm embrace, as though they were parted for years instead of mere weeks. “You would never allow father to go alone. Besides, you have always yearned for a bigger life than our shire can offer.”
“You know me too well. Our father has shuffled his responsibility for Mama and Longbourn to you. Are you certain you do not mind? Are you not overwhelmed already?”
Bingley said, “We are thrilled at the possibilities, Lizzy. Though neither of us has any desire to see Egypt or Rome, you will return home with tales to entertain us for decades.”
Tension drained from Elizabeth’s body. “Then I am grateful to you. By the bye, while visiting Charlotte, I met a gentleman who claims an acquaintance with you, Charles. Mr. Darcy’s cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. In observing the cousins, I noticed how different their characters are.”
Bingley grinned. “They are as different as night and day, though both are good men. Darcy is the finest fellow I know. Other than when he was mistaken about Jane and his first impression of you, Lizzy, I have always known him to see people accurately, a talent I envy. I tend to think well of everyone until proven otherwise. He has saved me from any number of poor decisions. I sometimes wonder if his cautious nature prevents him from taking chances that might lead him to a happier life. Steadfast as a rock, he is.”
Elizabeth struggled with Bingley’s easy forgiveness. Mr. Darcy’s interference had nearly prevented her sister’s current felicity. She had held Jane through her tearswhen her spirits dimmed with each day of Bingley’s absence. Elizabeth looked between them, satisfied with their obvious affection.
“His cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam…is he equally meddlesome in other people’s affairs?”
“Richard? He is everything delightful in a companion. He is as pleasant and honorable as Darcy.”
Mr. Darcy, pleasant?Elizabeth’s imagination failed to stretch that far.
“Had I not been summoned home early, I am sure it would have been a pleasure to spend more time in the company of the colonel. Not with Mr. Darcy.” Despite Bingley’s praise, she was painfully aware of Mr. Darcy’s conceited disdain for the feelings of others. The first moment she met him the prior autumn, he had insulted her at an assembly. Since then, nothing she learned about him improved her opinion of his character.
Bingley frowned. “Although they approach the world quite differently, the cousins are devoted to one another, and each recognizes the other’s strengths. Darcy wishes he had Fitzwilliam’s ease with people, while Fitzwilliam respects Darcy’s unwavering principles.”
Elizabeth remained unconvinced.
Jane attempted to change the topic of conversation. “Are you eager to travel?”
“Though I shall miss you and Charles dreadfully, I would not trade this opportunity for anything.”
She did not add that leaving England also meant blessed freedom from encountering Mr. Darcy again—a relief for which she was eternally grateful.
2
Rosings Park, Kent
Fitzwilliam Darcy stood before his mirror, adjusting his midnight blue coat with unnecessary precision. His stylish sister, Georgiana, had mentioned more than once that the color made him seem less forbidding than his usual black. Today, he needed every advantage. He tugged at his collar, straightening what was already perfect.
In vain, I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed.
The words he had rehearsed a dozen times now sounded inadequate. How did one propose to a woman whose family connections were so far beneath his own? How did one explain that, despite every rational objection, the scandal it would cause among theton, he could not imagine his future without her?
Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
Even her name affected him in a way that he had never experienced before. Four months had passed sincehe had fled Hertfordshire. Four months of telling himself that distance would cure his fascination with her. Instead, each day confirmed what he had tried so desperately to deny: she was everything he had not known he wanted. Seeing her again in Kent had decided it. There would be no going back.
Where other women simpered and agreed with his every utterance, Elizabeth challenged him. Where they calculated their responses for maximum advantage, she spoke her mind with refreshing honesty. Her quick wit matched his own. Her intelligence sparked conversations that energized him rather than wearied him.
And those eyes!Dark and expressive, they sparkled with mischief when she teased him. They also flashed with anger when he offended her principles. What touched him the most was when they revealed depths of feeling that he was only now ready to name.
Love.He loved her.
The master of Pemberley, grandson of an earl, one of the most sought-after bachelors in England, was in love with a country gentleman’s daughter who had no fortune and an abundance of embarrassing relations. The realization should have terrified him. Instead, he was determined. Today, when the party from Hunsford Parsonage came to tea, he would find a moment alone with her. He would speak the words that had been burning in his heart for months.
He offered security, position, social acceptance, and wealth. A life far beyond anything she could hope to achieve without him. The thought of her joy, her gratitude, sent warmth spreading through him. Today, once she said “yes,” he would be the happiest man alive.
“Would you sit down?”his aunt barked from her throne.
Darcy paced Lady Catherine’s drawing room with impatience. The guests from the parsonage should have arrived by now. Each minute that passed felt like an eternity.
