Page 38 of A Prudent Engagement

There.

It was said.

It could not be unsaid. Or, it could be. A woman could end an engagement without being seen as deeply dishonourable, but Elizabeth knew that she would not.

There was a lump in her throat.

Her stomach ached.

She felt a little detached from herself. The lack of sleep, the sickness in her heart because of her father—what would Papa have said? He would have told her not to accept Mr. Darcy.

But Papa is dead.

And he had left them with no money. And she had to live as best she could. She had to decide, now. And this was her decision.

To her own surprise, Elizabeth burst into tears.

Mr. Darcy held his arms out to her, and she eagerly embraced him and let him wrap her in his strong arms and hold her there, where she was safe.

She delighted in that, in the way that he let her cry. But mixed with that delight was guilt. She did not know for certain that she wished to marry him.

He made soft soothing murmurs, and he kissed the top of her head, and that comforted her.

“Will you always hold me when I cry,” Elizabeth asked through her tears.

“Always,” Mr. Darcy promised.

And that at last made her feel the warmth she had expected—the warmth that ought to have been there before she said yes.

Chapter Eight

Darcy had not expected Elizabeth to burst into tears after agreeing to be his wife, but the deep satisfaction he felt at being able to hold her and comfort her made it impossible for him to be unhappy about it.

And, besides, he remembered his own father’s death.

While he had not cried so frequently as Elizabeth did, it had been many weeks before his state of mind had returned to usual.

What did leave Darcy with a slight sense of unease was that there had been something in how she had agreed to marry him, in the words that she had said, which had not been what he had anticipated.

I must.

What did she mean by that?

When Elizabeth ceased crying, she moved only a little away from him and looked at him with wet glowing eyes and a smile that made his stomach swoop. “You must think me absurd, to cry so often, and at such a time.”

“No. I do not.”

He put his hand on her cheek.

She leaned into the touch and closed her eyes, and then she took a deep breath. She let it out again. A soft smile slowly spread across her face. “And so we shall marry.”

And that made the sun in Darcy’s heart come out again. He was going to marry Elizabeth.

A glow ran through his whole body.

He stepped closer to her, and she opened her eyes.

They looked at each other from only a few inches apart. Her eyes were wide, waiting, curious, accepting.