Not long afterthe gentlemen departed, Mr. Bennet requested Elizabeth to join him in his study. “So, Lizzy, it seems your mother’s news was correct and both Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy have returned. I know you think better of Mr. Darcy than you did in the autumn, but he is far too rich and too well connected to settle for a woman of your standing. You have nothing to offer the gentleman. Though you are intelligent for a female and witty, those things will not tempt a man such as that haughty Mr. Darcy, at least not into marriage.”
Elizabeth sighed heavily. Her father’s reluctance concerned her, and for the first time, she heard his insults as they were intended rather than thinking they were meant affectionately as she hadbelieved before. Filing this away to think about it later, she attempted to refute her father’s words.
“Papa, you have misunderstood Mr. Darcy. I believe his intentions toward me are honourable.”
“Do not surrender to him, my dear. He will take whatever you give him, but in the end, he will leave. You are better off not giving him your heart—or anything else for that matter.” This was said with an arched brow, and it made Elizabeth’s cheeks heat.
“You are mistaken, Papa,” she said sadly, unwilling to say more before Mr. Darcy approached him on his own.
He shook his head in disbelief at her words, but said little else before dismissing her.
Chapter Eleven
Elizabeth left her house early the next morning, grabbing muffins from the kitchen that she planned to share with her intended as they talked. He was already waiting for her at Oakham Mount, and before a single word could be exchanged, he took her into his arms and kissed her with passion and longing.
“I have missed you, my darling girl,” he breathed when he finally released her.
“And I have missed you, William,” she replied, still a little dazed from his kiss. “But we do have much to speak about.”
He nodded and stepped further away to fetch the blanket that was attached behind his horse’s saddle. “I brought this so we might sit and talk.”
After they both settled on the blanket, Elizabeth leaning on Darcy’s shoulder, she began to speak. “Papa seems to think that you and Mr. Bingley will go away again soon. He does not think that you would lower yourself to marry someone like me. All of my life he has called all of us girls ‘silly’ and I did not thinkmuch of it, since he claimed that I was the exception. However, I realised that he was actually lumping me in with my mother and sisters, still considering me only a little less silly than the others. In particular, I recall him saying not long before your party arrived at Netherfield last autumn, ‘they have none of them much to recommend them; they are all silly and ignorant like other girls; but Lizzy has something more of quickness than her sisters.’”
She sighed and leaned into him a little more, and his arm came up around her shoulder. “I thought it was praise, but in truth, I should have recognised it for the slight it was intended to be.”
Pulling her a little more tightly into his embrace, Darcy looked down in concern. “What made you realise this?”
Elizabeth did not respond for several moments. Finally, she replied. “I think it was when he told me I had nothing to offer a man like you and laughed at me for suggesting that you might have any intentions toward me, at least not honourable intentions.”
She felt his whole body stiffen behind her. “What did he mean by that?”
“Merely that you would leave in a few months just as you did before. He encouraged me not to give you my heart—or anything else—that could not be recovered when you left to marry a woman with more beauty and a larger dowry,” she replied.
“Elizabeth, there is no one else I want. I cannot fathom there being another woman in the world more ideally suited to me than you. Without a doubt, you are the handsomest woman of my acquaintance.”
She turned to him to smile appreciatively at him. “I do know how you feel about me, though I appreciate the reinforcement. I am more troubled at my father’s low opinion of me, of all my sisters, than I am at his words. While Mama’s matchmaking can be difficult to take at times, at least she is worried about our futures. She may be worried about her own future just as much, but at least she is thinking of it.”
Darcy pulled her more tightly into his embrace, leaning down to kiss her temple. “You have nothing to worry about, Elizabeth. I will take care of you and any of your family members who need it.”
She turned in his arms to kiss him lightly on the lips. “Thank you, William.”
“Elizabeth, as soon as we marry, your family will be mine. I will do what I can to ensure they are provided for. Have no care about that.”
She relaxed back into him. “We can purchase a house for them in Meryton. Mama would like to remain near her friends and her sister, I think. Besides, as much as I love my mother, I would not want her to live with me.”
Darcy smiled at that. “Pemberley is a very large house, Elizabeth. It would be entirely possible for her to share the house and for you not to see her very often.”
That made Elizabeth laugh. “I am not sure what to think of that comment, William. While the idea of avoiding Mama in such a large house is appealing, the idea that I am soon to be mistress of it is frightening.” She looked around and noted the position of the sun in the sky. “Come, William, it is time for me to return home. You and Mr. Bingley will call later, will you not?”
He nodded before standing. Turning, he assisted her in rising from the blanket, which she folded and helped him attach to the saddle. Once that was done, he took her into his arms and kissed her. After several moments, he released her lips, but continued holding her.
“Will you teach me to ride?” she asked after a moment.
He glanced down at her. “You do not know how?”
“I know the basics, but Papa did not keep appropriate horses for us to ride. We had one, Nelly, who Jane would sometimes ride, but since I could walk faster and further than the horse could, I just never bothered,” she replied with a shrug. “I prefer to walk, but I think that I would like to learn. I know how much you enjoy the activity.”
That made him grin. “I would love teaching you to ride. Not only that, but I would adore riding with you once we are at Pemberley. There are many places on the estate that we can reach only on horseback. Now, we must depart for now. May I speak to your father today?”
