Page 84 of The Widower of Pemberley

They walked in silence for some minutes.

Darcy then said, “It was dreadful while I waited for Wickham to appear. Colonel Fitzwilliam and I hardly said a word, but I could feel his judgment the whole time. He thinks that Emily would be well cared for, and that there is no cause for a dishonourable action to protect her—avoiding a duel in such a case is dishonourable. I think he hoped that, in the end, if Wickham did not grovel, I would shoot him.”

“I feared that the duel would happen,” Elizabeth said. “The entire time you were gone.”

“Do you think less of me?”

“It was not cowardice. If you were required to put your life at risk to protect your daughter or your sister from any threat, I have no doubt that you would do so, and with a manly steadiness. I would judge you harshly if you were to take lightly how Emily would be affected if you died.”

Darcy nodded. “I hate this—I had bolstered myself up to the point where I could endure the shame. The way that I would be mocked. Yet now, my reputation is secure. I have gained all the glory that comes from defending my honour in a duel, yet I deserve none of it.”

“That,” Elizabeth said, “is much like you. You hate anything that smacks of disguise. But I fear it would be awkward if you insisted to everyone that you wouldnothave fought him. Poor Mr. Darcy. But you must let others think better of you—no,differentlyof you—than you deserve.”

He found himself smiling at the way she spoke. They had by now completed several circuits of the yard, and Emily bounded up to them pointing at the carriage. “The horses are hitched! The horses are hitched.”

When they both smiled at her but did not immediately return to the vehicle, she explained again, “The horses arehitched.”

“Yes?” Darcy asked. “And?”

“It means we have to leave!”

“We do,” Darcy agreed, “if we are to reach Dunstable before it is dark.”

He spoke more during the following hours of the carriage ride, but it was still chiefly the females who carried the conversation.

There was no ice on the road and little snow, and they made good time, stopping for the night at an inn whose proprietor was familiar to Darcy, as he often stayed there on the way to London.

As they drew in under the arch, Darcy was filled with both eagerness and nerves.

A jolt shot through his whole body when Elizabeth gave him her hand so that he could help her down from the carriage.

Their eyes met, and as his hand lingered on hers, he thought she felt it too.

They walked into the inn arm in arm.

Her body was next to his.

The innkeeper told Darcy that he would have the best suite in the house, and Darcy signed the register.

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.

His mouth was dry.

They went to the sitting room of their suite, and Emily ran around and around, demanding Elizabeth’s attention. Elizabeth laughingly chased the girl, while the meal was brought up and set out.

The silk of her dress swished around Elizabeth’s hips. The hem pulled up to reveal her stockinged ankles. He admired the line of her neck. The smiling lips.

They ate, and both Elizabeth and Darcy read a story to Emily. Night had fallen and the candles were bright.

Darcy handed his daughter over to Rose to put her to sleep and then announced that he was going to bed as he was exhausted from how early he had risen. He suggested to Georgiana that she also retire as they would wake early to make the most of the short day.

Elizabeth’s eyes caught his, then she looked down and smiled in a private way before she walked across the room to join him, saying that she also thought it was time to go to bed.

Georgiana flushed but agreed that it was certainly time to sleep.

Darcy grabbed one of the candles before blowing out the others in the sitting room.

He could barely walk from the anticipation.