“He was, yes.”
Elizabeth waited. She was quite familiar with her father’s tendency to tease his wife and daughters, and she was not in the mood for it. After a minute, she shrugged, selected a book from a shelf at random and began to walk out the door.
“Oh, very well, Lizzy,” Mr. Bennet said, peevishly. “I know what you are about.”
Elizabeth turned back into the room and dropped back into the chair. “What did he want?”
“He wants a courtship with you.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “And what did you reply?”
“That I would have to ask you first.”
She exhaled, loudly.
Her father eyed her keenly. “I told him I would send a message to Netherfield Park tonight with my answer. What shall I tell him?”
For a moment, she could not speak. Finally, she said, “Tell him that I would be happy to enter into a courtship with him.”
“Are you certain, Lizzy? You will always have a home with Jane, you know.”
Was there a catch in his voice? She went to his chair, knelt beside him, and rested her head on his knee, as she had done when she was little. “I will always love you, Papa.”
“And I, you, my Lizzy. I do not like to think of you as far away as Derbyshire.”
“You would visit me, would you not?”
“He brags a good deal about his library, so I suppose I would. Very well, Lizzy, I will write the note at once.”
“Thank you, Papa.” Elizabeth rose, kissed him on the cheek, and ran out to find Jane.
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Mr. Darcy found himself unable to settle after returning to Netherfield Park. Would she accept his offer of a courtship? Should he have waited until they had spent more time together? Perhaps he had rushed his fences! But it was too late now; there was nothing to do but to wait. He went into Netherfield’s library, hoping – quite irrationally – that new books had appeared magically on the shelves.
“Brother?”
He turned his attention to his sister, who was looking at him with a puzzled expression on her face. “Yes, Georgiana?”
“I have been speaking to you for the past five minutes! I suppose I have been speaking to myself.” She sounded exasperated.
“I apologise, Georgiana.”
“You have something on your mind, I suspect.”
He sighed.
“What is it, Brother?”
“I went to Longbourn today to ask Mr. Bennet for permission to court Miss Elizabeth.”
She clapped her hands, her delight writ large on her face, but then stopped. “Oh. What did he say? Surely he did not say no!”
“He said he would have to ask her first.”
“There is no problem, then.” She was satisfied.
“You sound quite sure, Georgiana.”
