“Yes,” she said quietly. “And he was wrong.”
She lifted her head slightly to look at him.
“But he believed he was protecting me. Even if he went about it in entirely the wrong manner.”
“I am not nearly so forgiving as you.” Darcy exhaled slowly. “I find my good opinion, once lost, is not easily restored.”
Elizabeth laughed softly.
“Then you may be resentful for us both,” she said. “I think I shall choose otherwise. I prefer to remember the parts of the past that bring pleasure, not sorrow.”
Darcy studied her in the dim light. Her generosity of spirit humbled him.
After a moment, he spoke again—more hesitantly. “Elizabeth… did I act wrongly?”
She stilled. “What do you mean?”
“I came for you,” he said. “Without waiting. Without seeking further explanation. I would not have you think—” he broke off, then continued more quietly, “—that I forced you into a situation you now regret.”
Elizabeth pushed herself up at once, staring down at him in astonishment.
“How can you even ask me that?”
Darcy blinked.
“You did exactly what was needed,” she said, her voice firm despite the softness of the moment. “You came for me. You saved me. You chose me when everything else was confusion.”
“I will always choose you.”
Her expression softened. “I regret nothing,” she said. “Nothing except that my father was not honest with me.”
“It would have made things a great deal easier.”
Her hand came up to his cheek. “I would not have had it any other way,” she added, more quietly. “I love being your wife.”
Darcy felt something in his chest give way entirely.
Love.
Gratitude.
Awe.
He drew her back down to him without another word and kissed her—slowly, deeply, with all that he could not put into speech.
She answered him at once. And as the world beyond their room faded once more into silence, there was nothing left but the certainty of each other.
∞∞∞
The following morning, Elizabeth searched everywhere for her father.
She found him in the library.
Ofcourseshe did.
She paused just inside the doorway, one hand still resting against the frame, and could not help the faint, almost incredulous breath that escaped her.
“I suppose,” she said, “I ought to have thought to look here first.”
