AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She closed the book. “Will we always be like this, together as though the world outside no longer matters?”
He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “Truthfully, I doubt it. We have a great many responsibilities, particularly at Pemberley. But such moments as these will be the sweeter for it.”
“I am greatly looking forward to Pemberley,” Elizabeth said. “I am all anticipation to see where you spent your youth. But that is not what I meant,” she told him uncertainly. “I suppose I wish to know—this feeling between us . . .”
“Yes?” he prompted when it did not appear as though she would continue.
“Promise me that this is how you will always think of us,” she said, placing her small hand over his heart, “just as we are today. As deeply in love as we are at this moment.”
“Any easy promise to make,” he told her. “I shall.” He watched as her nose wrinkled.
“No matter how often I vex or tease you?” She peered up into his face.
She truly had no idea. “I enjoy it when you vex and tease me.”
“William . . .” she chastised him.
He recalled from his brief acquaintance with her family that her parents neither truly respected nor valued the other. “Yes, Elizabeth Darcy,” he said quietly. “But you fail to understand that this is only the beginning. Our love will continue to grow, even through adversity. It will never be less than it is now—though I cannot fathom how it is possible to love you more than I do at this moment, I do expect our love to grow even greater and more profound as we live our lives together.”
Elizabeth embraced him, and Darcy held her close, relieved to have stumbled upon what she needed to hear. He had spoken from his heart, never an easy thing to do, but perhaps with Elizabeth—perhaps it was what she needed. Darcy jumped when he felt her mouth on his, but when she stiffened at his surprise and began to pull away, he would not allow it. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her deeply, allowing her to draw what reassurance she could from him.
“I love you, William,” she murmured.
The best way to cheer Elizabeth when she was nervous or unsure was to annoy her. He was good at that. “I know.”
She pulled away slightly to scowl at him, and he laughed. How could he not? She was very much like an angry kitten when she pulled such a face. Of course, her claws could be just as sharp. “I love you, too, Elizabeth.”
Elizabeth leaned her head against his shoulder and played with a ribbon on the cuff of her dressing gown. “When must you fight Mr. Howard?”
“We will meet tomorrow, but I am not really fighting him, love,” Darcy reassured her. “It is only a match. He knows I do not duel, and until recent events, I would have said he felt the same. A public set-down is the best I can do under the circumstances, and he has never been more than an average fencer. There will be money and insults exchanged, I am sure, but no blood will be spilt.”
Wrapping the end of the ribbon around her finger, Elizabeth said, “His anger is incomprehensible.”
“It is.”
“Your cousins will make sure he does not try to injure you?”
“He may try, my dear, but he will not succeed,” he said confidently. “I am very good with a foil and his men are either in Newgate or back in Meryton awaiting court martial.”
She took his hand and Darcy’s heart swelled to see her concern for him. “Still, it is better that you will have family with you.”
He nodded. “Yes.”
Elizabeth leaned her head against his shoulder. “Have you and the colonel always been close?” she asked. “Jane and I have always been the best of friends, though I am sure I tried even her patience when we were young.” She smiled wanly. “Perhaps even now.”
Sated by a few days of excellent food and loving his wife, Darcy was in a contemplative mood. “Fitz and I played together as boys, but Matlock is too far from Pemberley for us to spend a great deal of time together. When I was eleven, my mother fell ill and died here in London. The Fitzwilliams came, but they spent their time with my father and sister.”
“Even Henry and Fitz?” Elizabeth asked.
Darcy smirked. “Although he both looks and behaves like a child, Henry is nearly twelve years my senior. He was already an adult.” Elizabeth waited as he gathered his thoughts. “I was at an age where one both wishes to weep and does not wish to appear weak. I do not think Fitz knew what to make of me.”
“Oh, William.” Elizabeth was all sympathy.
He bestowed a kiss on the back of her hand. “I was deeply unhappy, and I missed my father. Georgiana was just a babe and was kept in the nursery. Fitz was hiding. Father spent all day with my uncle and Henry and worked late into the evening here in his study. I realize now how terribly he must have been struggling, but at the time, I felt abandoned.”
Elizabeth made a small sound of commiseration.
“Finally, I remembered the room. One night, I dragged some bedding down here and made myself a pallet near the fire before my father arrived.” He closed his eyes, remembering. “I thought at least I could be closer to Papa without bothering him. The very first night, Fitz found me. He was thirteen then, already at school. I thought he would tease me, but instead, he sat near the fire. All night.” Darcy rubbed the back of his neck. “He never said a word. We neither of us slept. He just sat there, next to me, all night.”
