Elizabeth let her own hands move upward until her arms curled about his neck, and her feet left the ground as she felt herself pressed against the wall with a softthump. A picture fell, bumping the top of her head before Mr. Darcy swatted it away and continued to kiss her senseless, laughing a little as his lips crushed against hers.
When finally they broke apart, each gasping for air, Elizabeth gazed up at him in wonder. “I have always thought you handsome, you know. I am glad you have finally come to your senses and returned the compliment.”
He gave a throaty chuckle before kissing her again. Elizabeth had never been so well-rewarded for her impudence, but with such an inducement as this, she was resolved to be forever impertinent to her husband.
Epilogue
By the next day, news of Lydia’s recovery had been conveyed to Longbourn, and an express was sent in return. The residents of Mrs. Jennings’s house had but a few hours’ notice to prepare for the arrival of the rest of their relations. With Longbourn no longer in crisis, Mrs. Dashwood was eager to return to Norland, and her daughters were scarcely less so.
Lady Rebecca Fitzwilliam had, since meeting Elinor and Marianne, wished – and therefore expected – to call them both sister. Having gotten her wish, she now insisted Mr. Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam accompany the ladies for safety. Naturally, Lady Rebecca would be obliged to be one of the party as well, for her brother and brother-in-law would not have done half so well in wooing their ladies without her assistance, and she was determined to bestow this same generosity upon her eldest brother and their cousin Darcy.
Mrs. Bennet had neither Mrs. Dashwood’s good reason nor Lady Rebecca’s cunning, but she was determined nonetheless that she and her remaining two daughters must also travel to London. Her letter to Mr. Bennet conveyed all this, and despite the haste in which she had written, misspelling a great many words and forgetting some entirely, he took considerable pleasure in pronouncing it a delightful communication.
Mr. Bennet read the letter aloud in all its nonsensical glory as Jane sat with Elizabeth and their aunt, taking tea with their friends and future relations in the parlor. He was alreadyexceedingly proud of his future sons-in-law, for they bore his teasing in good cheer; now he must prepare them for the excesses of his wife.
“I have told her that our Lydia’s misadventure came to a safe and swift conclusion, rather than ending in tears – or worse yet, at the altar with that mealy-mouthed miscreant,” Mr. Bennet informed them. “My sister shall have all the triumph of her two eldest daughters becoming engagedan entire daybefore you, Jane, Lizzy. Perhaps a little more fanfare and congratulations forthemshall be in order when they arrive this afternoon, before your mother hears of your news, for once she does, we shall not hear two words of sense spoken together for at least a month!”
Lydia looked up at her father and grinned. She had recovered enough from his scolding the day before to brave a little defiance as she said, “But Papa, you have lamented the lack of good sense at Longbourn for these five years or more. Are you not accustomed to it by now?” On either side of her, Georgiana and Sophie giggled, until Mrs. Gardiner admonished all three with a simple tilt of her head and furrowing of her brows.
Elizabeth grinned. “Indeed, Papa – what is another month of nonsense?”
Mr. Darcy declared himself entirely at Mr. Bennet’s disposal, resolved as he was to be guided by Elizabeth’s sense of mischief and mirth. At Jane’s side, Mr. Willoughby tutted and shook his head. There existed between the two gentlemen an easy sense of camaraderie already, and he grinned at his new brother.
“I shall take what I daresay may be the easier path, if my dear Jane’s information is to be trusted. I shall accept that, despite managing a very large book store, I shall only be yoursecond-favorite son, sir – and I shall instead be content to be Mrs. Bennet’s favorite son.”
Mr. Bennet nearly choked on his tea and began muttering protests about his enthusiasm for Hatchard’s. Lydia came to Mr. Darcy’s defense, for his determination to share in the blame for Wickham’s perfidy had spared the girl considerable reprimand from her father, who had been tempted to lock his youngest away until she was fully forty-two. Mr. Darcy suggested she was not beyond reclamation, if she instead spent more time learning from Georgiana at Pemberley.
Jane and Mr. Willoughby shared a playful smile, their hands entwined. “If your mother is fond of London, I am sure to win her over – I also share her enthusiasm forherfavorite.”
Jane nudged his shoulder with hers. “It will be convenient indeed to have her as an ally, if we are to be often visiting Longbourn. I mean to ask Papa to involve you more in the running of the estate,” she said softly.
They had accepted Mrs. Hatchard’s generous offer to reside with her at her husband’s home in Cavendish Square, for Mr. Willoughby knew he had not many months left with his beloved step-father. Beyond this, their future was full of possibilities. They might use her fortune to let a house of their own in Mayfair. Someday they would have Combe Magna, when it became solvent, and in what Jane hoped was the far distant future, they would have Longbourn.
“I suppose we shall get on well with our neighbors at Netherfield,” he teased her.
Jane laughed. “I cannot believe Marianne will be content so far from Norland, now that it is restored to my cousins. Between her sentimentality for Sussex and Mr. Bingley’s perpetual desire to please, I daresay they will have found anestate near Norland Park before they have exchanged their vows.”
Elizabeth caught the turn of their conversation and leaned in to add her own sportive speculation. “And if they do quit Netherfield, what a fine thing for Mamma, and for Mary and Kitty. Another single gentleman in possession of a large fortune will surely soon come into the neighborhood.”
Their merriment together lasted through the afternoon, and gave way to chaos when the caravan from Meryton arrived. Jane found that she could meet again with Mr. Bingley with perfect equanimity, and in warm friendship she declared herself happy to call him cousin, for he was profusely generous in congratulating her and her betrothed, the man he had only the day before threatened to shoot.
Jane and Elizabeth and Elinor and Marianne were joyfully reunited, and they spent a happy hour together congratulating one another on finding husbands so perfectly suited to their dispositions, and who were soon as perfectly at ease together as their fair ladies. They were nearly as elated as Mrs. Bennet, who found there were not enough smelling salts in all of London to calm her lengthy exultations.
Mrs. Bennet surprised them all by declaring she had always known Mr. Darcy admired her ‘dearest Lizzy,’ though Mr. Willoughby carried his point in the end by promising her that her ‘lovely, clever Jane,’ should always be settled an easy distance from Longbourn.
Mrs. Palmer called in the midst of their celebrations, and after making sure her absent mother, Mrs. Jennings, was duly credited for all four of the splendid matches, she so swiftly found a kindred spirit in Mrs. Bennet that she invited the Bennets to stay at her husband’s home for the few days Mrs. Bennet was determined to remain in London and purchase her girls’trousseaux. The Dashwood ladies remained at Berkeley Street, with every promise of daily visits – and the relief of not having to share bedrooms.
Lady Rebecca was as forward and imperious as ever in acquainting herself with Jane and Elizabeth, and they were already disposed to think so well of the impudent creature who had helped bring about the healing and happiness of their beloved cousins.
Lydia and Kitty were delighted by Georgiana and Sophie, and formed an inseparable cluster of giggles as they celebrated the four engagements and speculated on when their own turn for romance would come. Mary was encouraged by her elder sisters and cousins to participate in their cheerful frivolity, but found herself more agreeably engaged when Colonel Brandon called to lend his own placid felicitations to the revelry.
All of them were very well-pleased with Lady Matilda's generous invitation to dine at Matlock House the next day and celebrate the betrothals properly. It was there that the four couples were soon persuaded by Lady Rebecca that a fifth engagement was imminent, and greatly to be desired, for the easy kinship between Julia Gardiner and the viscount’s three daughters made obvious to everyone what Jane suspected she was the first to comprehend.
When their stay in London had delighted them all long enough, Mrs. Dashwood was elated at the prospect of hosting a house party immediately upon her return to Norland Park, and Lady Rebecca reached new heights of self-congratulation as she made herself indispensable in assisting Mrs. Dashwood with every possible arrangement.
The Bennets, Dashwoods, and all their future relations travelled south to Sussex in what can only be described as a roving ruckus. The ailing Mr. Hatchard and the equally infirmEarl of Matlock insisted on accompanying their families, and rode together in the earl’s carriage, which was so finely outfitted for their particular comfort that the various complaints of their ailments soon gave way to rousing political debates, and never had two stout old Englishmen been so delighted to disagree.
The young ladies were all so attached to one another that they exchanged places in their carriages at every stop, and those who were engaged deigned only to give their betrothed (mostly) chaste kisses as the horses were changed, before returning to the company of their feminine kin. Mr. Willoughby supplied the gentlemen with ample reading material for the journey while Mr. Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam devoted themselves to distracting the other men with every manner of japery. Lady Rebecca perversely provided her nieces and their new compatriots with enough sugary treats to render them entirely ungovernable for the entire journey south.
