Page 151 of Mr. Darcy’s Diamonds

“I realize you have far more opportunities now, and you need not accept me only because of a prior friendship.” His gaze fell to his knees as he spoke the words that would release her from their almost-engagement.

“Fitzwilliam.”

He looked into her eyes, now shining with unshed tears.

“Forgive me. I have upset you.”

“Yes, you have upset me. I have missed you, and I was unsure whether you would return. I thought perhaps my only draw for you was as a helpless damsel requiring saving. As soon as you saw to it that I have no need of rescuing, you withdrew and then disappeared…again.”

“My love. Forgive me. I did not mean to make you feel abandoned. I expected you would wish for time with your family, time to become accustomed to your new standing and your new expectations. And while I recognize that you no longer need me, I could stay away for less than two days because I do need you.”

“Then you still wish to marry me?”

“With all my heart. I will step aside not for your uncle or for your grandfather but only with the greatest reluctance for you, if you choose someone else.”

“Fitzwilliam, how can you think I would ever choose someone else? Until November, I had been dismissing or fighting my love for you since I was sixteen. Well, aside from that confusing time when I tried to convince myself I hated you. But since you returned to me last winter, I have been unable to deny my love for you.”

Darcy had slid closer to her as she spoke, and he now took her hands in his. “Are you certain? You have not been able to associate with people of your grandfather’s sphere, but you now will meet many more eligible men⁠—”

“Fitzwilliam. I love you. I will not be entertaining other suitors, no matter what their titles. If my being who we now know me to be upsets you, then I hope you will take the time you require to accept it. I only pray you may be quick about it, as I am quite tired of waiting to marry you.”

Fitzwilliam’s smile took her breath away. “You know, the years when you hated me were the worst of my life. I tried not to love you but dreamed of you day and night. And then Richard called me out and told me my love was false.”

Elizabeth startled in surprise. “How could he presume to know your heart?”

Fitzwilliam chuckled. “I thought the same thing at first, but you must admit I had not acted like a man in love. Insulting, abandoning, avoiding, and angering you are not common courting practices.”

Elizabeth laughed. “Presumably why I had no idea at all that you cared for me.”

Fitzwilliam sobered. “But I do. When Richard showed me what a fool I was being, I knew I had to make a change. Either I had to stop pretending I loved you, or I had to prove my love. For weeks, I battled my upbringing. I was forced to decide what I truly value. Connections, fortune, and birth were what I had always been told mattered. I had already decided I need not marry for fortune, as I have enough. Connections were not so difficult to give up. But birth.” Fitzwilliam shook his head, looking at their joined hands.

He looked into her eyes then, and she saw a tenderness she had been missing lately.

“I believed you to be the daughter of a tenant farmer. I respect my tenants and consider them to be good, hardworking people. But I would never for a moment have considered seeking a wife among them.”

Elizabeth gave him a small smile of encouragement. She had known he had shifted his views enough to return to her, but he had not previously explained so fully his struggles. She shivered as his thumbs traced her knuckles.

“As I said, it took me weeks to adjust my opinions, and I thought about what and who I would have to give up to be with you. Once I was sure I was willing to give up all but you, I came back.”

“So, when I told you I thought I was illegitimate, you truly did not care?”

“I was sorry you had been holding that secret alone for so long, but it did not affect my love or my plans to marry you. Forgive me for not making it clear to you that day. It was never a question for me at that point, but I should have told you. I wished to propose that very day, but it did not seem the right time for you, and then I was called away.” He looked intently into her eyes. “I wanted to claim you as my wife a year ago, but you were not ready to trust me, and I had to prove to myself I would hold true to my decisions to give up friends and society. I do regret your pain over the summer, though, when you did not understand my heart.”

Elizabeth squeezed his hands. “That is all forgot.”

“Elizabeth…” He cleared his throat. “Lady Elizabeth⁠—”

“No, no. None of that. You are the only one who has called me that, and I wish you would not. It makes me feel birth matters too much to you after all.”

“Very well. Elizabeth. If you will still have me, I would like nothing more than to marry you.”

Elizabeth could feel the strain of her smile stretching wider than it had in many weeks. “Thank you for facing your fears and coming tonight. I love you, Fitzwilliam.”

“I love you most ardently, which is why if your uncle and grandfather disagree, I am inclined to follow your esteemed parents’ example and elope.”

Elizabeth laughed. “I do not think it was so scandalous as that. My father was of age, and my mother had consent from her father.”

Fitzwilliam’s face fell, and he swallowed.