Page 43 of A Prudent Engagement

That made Elizabeth laugh again. “I confess it—I do have news. News of a particular sort.”

Her friend threw her arms around Elizabeth then. “You accepted him!”

“And he asked,” Elizabeth agreed.

“Well, if he had not, it would have been quite odd for you to accept him.”

“I have heard tales of strange masculine women asking a man to marry them. But suppose the woman was of a much greater consequence than the man… I think in such a case it would be natural for her to ask since a lower gentleman would not presume. If for example a queen regnant—”

“Eliza,” Charlotte said with a grin. “How did it happen? Your engagement. Speak. No delay.”

“Well…” Elizabeth pursed her lips.

“Eliza!”

“First, I felt a need to cry again. Poor Papa—I hardly know how I would explain my engagement to him if he were still alive. Except I just recalled that Mr. Darcy has a great library, and that is what I would say. But then I do not know what I would have said to Mr. Darcy if there had been no anxiety from immediate circumstance. It makes me feel terribly guilty since he is a good man, an admirable man, and a man who deserves to be liked—Jane will be unhappy when I tell her. But I must. And—”

“Eliza, I approve of you. I think you will be happy together. There is much in Mr. Darcy that must be respected and admired and liked. And—the way that he has spoken to you about your grief, it—” Charlotte shrugged. “I would have advised you to marry Mr. Darcy simply on the account of prudence. But he…I began to think he is a positively good match for you—not only on account of his consequence. You two are suitable companions for each other. But I would like very, very much to hear how it happened.”

Elizabeth felt that glow towards Darcy in her heart again. There was real happiness when she thought about him.

She even liked him. “Do you really think we are suited?”

“I do,” Charlotte said firmly. “But he will be very sad when I murder his bride if she does not tell me more about how it happened, and precisely how she became engaged. You had begun to cry again, and then?”

“So demanding,” Elizabeth replied, giggling.

Charlotte raised a brow and a fist, which made Elizabeth laugh even harder.

“I shall tell, I shall tell,” Elizabeth gasped out when Charlotte moved closer as though to threaten her. “But the chief of it is that once we reached the garden, he held me while I sobbed. And then when I ceased to cry, I said that I must be ridiculous because I cry so much. But then he got this look in his eyes, and he said that it was impossible for him to delay any longer, that he needed to tell me how ardently he admired and loved me. And then he asked me to marry him. He also said some lovely things about how beautiful I am and about how—how he only wished to make me happy and to see me cared for.”

Charlotte sighed. “That is so lovely.”

“It is. I only—I still felt like—I do not know whether I love him. But I feel safe with him. Like he can protect me from everything bad in the world. I know that is not true, not really, but something about his nature, his commanding presence, the confidence with which he moves, and the caring way he looks at me. He makes me feel like nothing can really go wrong so long as he is nearby and trying to take care of me.”

Charlotte looked at her with an unreadable expression.

“Does that sound like the most errant nonsense?”

“That sounds beautiful,” Charlotte replied.

“Do you…feel anything like that with Mr. Collins?”

“No,” Charlotte replied. Then she laughed. “But you know, I am not romantic. I was not looking for such a sensation.”

“But I do not know—it is not love. That is different.”

“Are you certain?”

“I had to say yes. Otherwise, he would have gone away. And besides, one of us needed to marry well. But, I feel—I wish I could have told him that I love him.”

“Eliza, I…” Charlotte then embraced her again and squeezed her tightly. “I am so, so happy that you will be well. I have had many anxieties on your account.”

“I have on occasion been anxious on my own account as well.”

“So very, very happy,” Charlotte repeated.

“Mr. Darcy had a suggestion. I must talk with Mama first, but he said that he would like to rent Longbourn since Mr. Collins means to let it out.”