Elizabeth feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand, that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure, his present assurances.
The happiness that this reply produced, was such as Darcy had probably never felt before, and he expressed himself on the occasion as sensibly and as warmly as a man violently in love can be supposed to do by impulsively cupping Elizabeth's face in his hands and kissing her.
Elizabeth, her happiness so great that she had lost control of the language, suddenly felt herself being kissed. Elizabeth was so surprised that she was unresponsive, causing Darcy to abruptly pull away, worried that he had overstepped a boundary.
He looked at her concernedly while she, still in shock, stared back at him.
"I am so sorry," he said. "I don't know why I did that without asking you."
Elizabeth, recovering herself, beamed at him. She looked around to confirm that there was no one in sight, and then looked back at Darcy. "I do," she said, and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
When they finally pulled away, looking at each other in awe, they embraced.
Darcy could not describe how it felt to finally hold Elizabeth, to feel her head on his chest and her body in his arms, and to have her holding him back! After a year of fighting with himself, and with her, and overcoming the many obstacles that had obscured their present understanding, Darcy finally felt at peace, and it brought tears to his eyes.
Until the moment when she had accepted his proposal, Elizabeth had never admitted her feelings to herself, knowing they could never come to anything. Now, the repression was gone and Elizabeth poured all of her feelings into the embrace, some of them appearing as tears on her cheeks.
"I love you, Fitzwilliam," she whispered to both of them for the first time.
She said his name. Darcy had never thought his name could sound so pleasing, and he was overjoyed that she felt at liberty to use it. Darcy pulled slightly away, and kissed her very gently. "And I love you, Elizabeth, so very much."
They smiled at each other, and Elizabeth took his arm to continue to the walk. They began to talk of family, of Jane and Bingley, and of Lady Catherine, who had proved to be of infinite use.
And they would, occasionally, glance at the other to prove that it was all real. By the time they arrived back at Longbourn, and saw everyone, it sank in as a reality for both of them, and their happiness was unexplainable.
In the hall they parted, sharing a meaningful, loving glance.