Elizabeth shook her head, tears beginning to course down her cheeks. Darcy moved towards her, lifting her chin with his finger. “Elizabeth, my darling, why are you crying?”
She stared at him. “Have you not brought me here to tell me that you no longer wish to court me?”
He looked at her in confusion. “No… well, yes, I no longer want to court you, but that is because I wish to marry you. Elizabeth, in these last two months, I have come to love you deeply. I know we cannot wed immediately, however much I might wish to, but I brought you here today to ask you to be my wife. I did not want you to leave before we were officially engaged.”
Elizabeth’s eyes flew to his, searching to ascertain if he was speaking the truth. “Truly?” she asked after a moment.
Darcy chuckled slightly and pulled her into his embrace. “Yes, my darling Elizabeth. Whatever gave you the idea that I would take you on a ride, just the two of us, to this spot, only to tell you I no longer wanted to see you? I love you, Elizabeth.”
She squeezed his waist. “You barely spoke on the ride here. It was so unlike our usual rides that I became concerned.”
“Forgive me, my darling. I… I was a bit nervous to propose. We know each other well, and while I was mostly convinced you would accept, I still worried you might refuse me. I worked myself into quite a state on the ride here, not thinking how you might be affected by my behaviour.”
Feeling more secure of herself now, Elizabeth smiled at him mischievously. “But you have not asked me a question, Fitzwilliam.”
Darcy let out a soft sigh, a hint of a smile tugging at his lips, before stepping back to take her hands in his. “My darling Elizabeth, I have come to know you well over the last two months and in that time, have fallen in love with you. You are intelligent and witty, and I believe you are my perfect partner. I eagerly await the day you become mistress of both my estate and my heart. Will you do me the honour of marrying me?”
She smiled brilliantly. “I would be delighted to marry you, Fitzwilliam. Even though we have spoken of waiting until I turn seventeen to wed, I wish we did not need to wait so long. However, my father will likely not wish me to marry sooner.”
“I will write a letter for you to take with you to your father so I will have permission to write to you while we are apart. Untilhe gives his permission, I hope you will write to Georgiana and include a few words for me. I cannot travel to Hertfordshire until after the harvest is fully complete, so it will be after Michaelmas before I will see you again. Will your father likely approve my suit in a letter, or will he wait to see me in person?”
Elizabeth frowned. “Since my father is not the best at replying to letters, I imagine it will take him several weeks to respond, if he bothers at all. This is the first time a suitor has requested the hand of one of his daughters, and I am his favourite, so I do not know whether that will make him more or less inclined to reply.”
Darcy’s smile softened, his gaze warm and unguarded as he regarded her. “I can understand his reluctance to give you up, my darling girl.” He paused for a moment and pulled her into his embrace again. “Elizabeth, seeing as I have just proposed marriage, and you have accepted, might I… will it be acceptable if I seal our agreement in the usual way?”
Again, her eyes sparkled up at him. “What is the usual way, my darling Fitzwilliam? I have never been engaged before and am uncertain as to the protocol.”
He leant down until their noses almost touched. “I believe the accepted protocol is to seal a proposal with a kiss, my darling. Will you allow me the liberty?”
His closeness made her nearly unable to speak. She merely nodded instead. As soon as his lips met hers she felt like she was melting into him. Her knees grew weak, and her body seemed to meld with his. Everywhere their bodies touched, she felt inflamed.
Too soon, he lifted his lips from hers and took a step back, releasing her. “My love, what do you do to me?”
She sighed, trying to regain her composure. “I do not know, nor do I know what you do to me. That was… exceptional. I believe it will be difficult to wait a full year before we do that again, Fitzwilliam.”
He laughed. “You have no idea, Elizabeth. Perhaps it is fortunate we will conduct much of our engagement via the post. I believe it would be difficult to wait for you if we were in closer contact.”
The two spoke for a short time longer before deciding they needed to return. Though their hands remained clasped while they spoke, they kept some distance between them to avoid repeating the kiss. They both desired it, but knew it would be too difficult to wait if they continued to engage in such passionate exchanges when they would have to wait so long to wed.
Soon, they decided to return to Pemberley and share their news with their relations. Georgiana would be thrilled, as would Mrs. Gardiner. Elizabeth was a little concerned with how the news would be received once she arrived at Longbourn, though she was certain her father would agree once he understood she wished it.
When Elizabeth departed a week later, she left a large part of her heart in Derbyshire. During her stay, she had worn the ring he gave her openly, but as she prepared to leave, she placed it on a chain that disappeared into her neckline, keeping it hidden until the time came to announce her engagement.
At each stop, she added a little to letters to both Darcy and Georgiana. At the last stop before she arrived at Longbourn, she posted them both. Since her engagement was not official yet, she included a letter for Darcy insidethe one to Georgiana, hoping he would not mind in this instance.
Likewise, Darcy had sent a messenger ahead to her last post stop, assuring her of his love. Neither expected any difficulties with her father, but since it was uncertain how quickly her father would agree, he wanted her to have something from him before she reached home. There were several letters included in the packet, and he had them marked for her to read over several specific days between receiving and the time he would next see her.
She smiled at his thoughtfulness and spent most of the night doing something similar. The messenger was still at the inn, having been told to wait on a response, and she did not disappoint. She handed the messenger a packet of letters with similar markings, confessing her love to him in each one and confessing that she was counting down the days until she could see him again.
Darcy relished these letters, reading them over and over again, especially as no additional letters arrived—neither for him nor for Georgiana. This was a little troubling to him, but he wondered if her father would insist she wait until things were more official between them. Georgiana had written several letters to her friend, and he almost always included a line in these, but no response had come.
In mid-October, a little over six weeks after he had last seen his beloved, Darcy presented himself at Longbourn, requesting an audience with the master of the house. Though he hoped to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth before meeting her father, he was shown into Mr. Bennet’s study. He was nervous, as any man would be when meeting the father of the woman he loved for the first time, but mostly he was anxious to see his Elizabeth again for he missed her dreadfully. Her letters had been treasured and readmany times over, but they were no substitute for her physical presence.
Instead of the joy at his suit being accepted and seeing his beloved finally, Darcy was stunned and upset when Mr. Bennet informed him that his suit was summarily being denied. Demanding an explanation, Darcy was further surprised when Mr. Bennet informed him that Elizabeth was pledged to another. Knowing that Elizabeth would not have accepted him had she known of this previous engagement, he attempted to argue his case, but to no avail.
Mr. Bennet was terse in his responses and refused to explain further. Nor would he agree to Darcy's request to see Elizabeth, to hear directly from her that their engagement was broken. It was a brief interview, and Darcy left Longbourn disappointed and unsatisfied. He went into Meryton to see if there was any news there, but everyone seemed unwilling to speak to an outsider, especially regarding one of their own.
When he arrived in London, he sought out the Gardiners and learned little more than what he already knew. The Gardiners had been informed of the supposed engagement, though they knew nothing more than he did. Since Mrs. Gardiner returned to London, Mr. Bennet had cut off all contact with them. Letters were returned unopened and even Gardiner’s other sister and brother who lived in Meryton would say little.
