“So, I understand.”
Elizabeth covered her eyes briefly.
Darcy’s mouth altered very slightly then, not fully a smile, but something warmer restrained only by circumstance. The expression vanished almost immediately when he turned back toward Mr. Bennet.
“I would not willingly show disrespect to your household,” he said. “Nor would I wish Miss Elizabeth placed in an uncomfortable position.”
At that, his gaze shifted toward her again.
The room seemed suddenly much too warm.
Elizabeth could not look away.
For one suspended moment, the noise surrounding them receded entirely. The twins, Lydia, the open doorway, even Mrs. Bennet hovering nearby—all faded beneath the quiet intensity of his attention.
And beneath it, unmistakably, lay vulnerability. Not precisely confidence or assumption. Hope would be a more accurate descriptor.
Something inside her melted.
Darcy spoke again, more quietly now.
“Had Miss Elizabeth given me any reason to believe my regard unwelcome, I should never have presumed to proceed.”
Elizabeth’s heart stumbled painfully against her ribs.
Mr. Bennet’s expression changed almost imperceptibly at the words. Some trace of humor remained, but beneath it emerged something more thoughtful.
“And has my daughter given you encouragement, sir?”
Elizabeth nearly expired upon the spot.
Darcy did not answer immediately.
Not because he lacked certainty, she realized, but because he would not speak for her where such matters were concerned.
That restraint alone might have undone her entirely.
At last he said, “I believe she has shown me more kindness than I deserve.”
The answer, so sincere and wholly unguarded, silenced even Lydia.
Elizabeth stared at him.
This man—this grave, proud, occasionally insufferable man—stood before her looking as though her opinion carried the power to alter the course of his entire future.
And suddenly she understood with perfect clarity that he loved her far more deeply than she had ever permitted herself to imagine.
“Sir, I have asked Miss Elizabeth to marry me, and she has done me the great honor of accepting.”
Mr. Bennet studied him for a long moment.
“At last.”
Darcy was confused.
Mr. Bennet turned to Elizabeth. “My dear, be so good as to wait in the hall.”
Elizabeth hesitated.
