Jane and Elizabeth had succeeded in avoiding their mother thus far; they knew exactly what their mother wanted them alone for, and, as it happened, neither wanted to be subjected to a lecture on the birds and the bees. However today, it seemed, was to be the day Mrs Bennet finally cornered her two eldest daughters.

Jane and Elizabeth were sitting on Jane's bed at six o'clock in the morning, talking. They both cherished these times of intimacy, as they both knew that when married, they might not see each other for weeks. Although this saddened the sisters, they were more than placated to know that while they lost the society of each other, they would gain the society of another. Their fiancés.

This was how Mrs Bennet found her two daughters a week and a half after Elizabeth had announced her engagement.

"Girls, girls!"

Elizabeth and Jane turned together and in horror saw that their mother had locked the door. Mrs Bennet's handkerchief was fluttering nervously here and there as her hand did the same. Elizabeth kept her eyes on that to keep her composure, as she was sure that whatever information her mother disclosed would not be able to be borne with equanimity.

"Thank goodness I have found you here together! Your weddings are three weeks away and I still have so much with which to acquaint you! My nerves! How shall I bear it all! Oh but girls! The time has come for me to tell you about your marital duties. Now to start with your husbands shall want to share your bed. Quite often when you are first married, and until you bear a son. This shall be very unpleasant for you. You must do whatever your husbands tell you to do, of course, but there shall be mortification, and I have heard tales of humiliation! You must show no outward signs of disapproval, as your husband will be very angry with you. You must lie back and think of England, and your duty to your husbands to provide them with heirs. If your husband is overzealous, it might be not only uncomfortable but painful for you, but my dear girls you must show no outward signs of that. It is very unladylike to do so..."

Mrs Bennet then proceeded, in great detail, to explain to her two horrified daughters the intricacies of the marital bed. Once she had finished, Jane was stark white, and Elizabeth was trying to make sense of the differences between what her mother had described and the tender embraces she had shared with Darcy. Mrs Bennet paused for effect, and then continued, with, "there are always things you can do to dissuade your husbands, however. A locked door shall make your sentiments clear. Wax eloquent on the taxing effect being Mistress of such great estates has on you, or, you may use the excuse of a headache. You may even persuade your husbands to take a mistress! That way you shall not have to share his bed after sons are provided. No doubt men of the station of your fiancés," Mrs Bennet continued with a pointed look at Elizabeth, "will have already made arrangements of this kind. But my girls! If you do not provide your husbands with sons, they will be very displeased you know! Though Mr Bennet favours you Lizzy I am sure that is only because there are no sons! Your husbands shall surely despise you if there are no sons to inherit their estates, mayhap your daughters too! Oh, my nerves! They shall go distracted."

Mrs Bennet then continued to elaborate on all of her previous points, effectively shocking her two daughters. There was then a knock on the door to inform them that the gentlemen themselves had arrived to spend the day with their fiancés, and the household was sent into chaos when the two maids were called up to help Jane and Elizabeth dress. Jane and Elizabeth; the former mortified, the latter confused, complied demurely when helped into their gowns and had their hair done. When they entered the room and saw the two smiling faces of their fiancés, the girls could not even meet their eyes. Mrs Bennet was greatly taxed by what she had just put her daughters through and had opted to remain upstairs. Bingley suggested a walk, and both girls took the arms of their fiancés. Bingley was confused by Jane's reticence, but Darcy had suspected something was wrong as soon as Elizabeth entered the room. He picked up on the way she would not meet his eye, would not meet Bingley's eye, would not meet her father's eye, and exchanged blushes with Jane whenever their eyes met. Now, when he had been walking with Elizabeth for over ten minutes, she still had made no attempt at conversation, and her furrowed brows made her seem in deep concentration, or perhaps even consternation, he knew that he had to break the barrier that had formed this morning. He saw the little bench near the top of the Mount where he and Elizabeth had spent so many happy hours conversing, and led her over to it. Darcy was at a loss as to what was wrong with his usually exuberant fiance. She still had not met his eye, and he gently lifted her chin so that she might. As soon as she did, her brows furrowed even further, and her cheeks went red. Although Elizabeth did not usually trust her mother, she had to admit that her mother had experience that she did not in this area, which made it impossible to disregard what she had been told, no matter how much she wanted to.

Elizabeth bit her lip, and moved her gaze to the ground.

"Will you not sit?" Darcy asked her softly. She sat down beside him, and he turned to face her. Understanding slowly began to dawn on Darcy as he observed his fiancé. Her downcast eyes, her hands tightly clasped, her bowed head. Mrs Bennet had not been present at the gathering this morning. Jane had also looked distressed. As he continued to think about it, he realised that he knew exactly what the problem was. He thought for a moment about confronting the issue head-on, but then decided that in this situation a more delicate approach was required.

"Something is troubling you Elizabeth," said Darcy. "You are not at all yourself today."

Elizabeth only nodded, her gaze still fixed on the ground. Darcy moved a little closer to her, and after a moment's deliberation, gently took her hand, giving it a little, reassuring squeeze. Elizabeth looked up at him at once, and although she blushed again she did not look away. She looked into his eyes, and saw nothing but concern and compassion. She was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. 'I fear many things,' she thought. 'But you, Fitzwilliam, are not one of them. We will discuss this together.' She squeezed his hand in response before taking a deep breath.

"My mother, this morning, had a little tête-à-tête with me and Jane about –" here she stopped, thinking on how to proceed.

"About?" Darcy prompted.

She looked at him, her eyes wide and mortified looking. "About, well," she started. "About the marital duties of a woman."

Darcy continued to look Elizabeth in the eye. Although the topic was a little uncomfortable to discuss in this way, Elizabeth had now validated Darcy's assumption, and he was ready to talk about it with her.

"What did your mother say?" he asked, still holding her hand.

Elizabeth raised both eyebrows and gave a little half-hearted chuckle.

Darcy sighed. Damn. That bad, was it? Darcy knew he shouldn't be surprised, with a relationship like the one harboured by Mr and Mrs Bennet one could not expect any good to come of the conversation.

"Tell me, Elizabeth. If I know, I can refute any falsehoods."

"It is not at all proper."

"That has never stopped our conversations before," Darcy replied, and Elizabeth smiled.

"All of it?"

Darcy stared into her eyes and said, "All of it."

Elizabeth nodded, before taking a deep breath and saying, "My mother is not a discreet woman. To begin with, she talked of pain and humiliation, and the necessity to show no signs of it, for fear of offending you." Darcy looked appalled. "None of what she said was favourable. She then proceeded to tell us that should we wish to dissuade you, we should lock our doors, complain of headaches, lie to you about being fatigued, or even to persuade you to take a mistress."

Darcy reached to take Elizabeth's other hand. "Did your mother say anything else?"

"Yes, she did. She said that if I do not bear you a son it will at the very least put a strain on our relationship, and at the worst that you would resent me, and draw away from me, as my father has with my mother, and even, if you are particularly upset, any daughters we may have. She also said that you will have already made arrangements in regards to a mistress–"

"That is not true."

Elizabeth looked taken aback. Darcy had been all that was gentle, and now his eyes were blazing, his jaw clenched, and his words spaced apart from each other, his tone hard. "Elizabeth," he said. "I am shocked, disgusted by what you have just told me; I... don't know what to say."

Darcy was thoroughly offended. He had kept silent throughout Elizabeth's speech, even though the part about the dismissal of his daughters, should he be blessed with any, nearly caused him to jump from the bench in anger. But the last part, the last part struck him cold. He could not believe the possibility of Elizabeth believing these – these accusations, yes. Accusations. That is exactly what they were.

"Let me tell you Elizabeth that I am irrevocably in love with you. Do you know what that means?"

"I do not want to believe her, William. I… I do not believe her. It was just a shock, that is all."

This calmed Darcy a little, but he said, "Please, Elizabeth, let me finish."

Elizabeth nodded, looking at him, waiting for him to continue.

"It means," He said emphatically, "that whatever children we are blessed with shall be loved equally, and shall be given equal affection and equal opportunities. It means that not only our sons but our daughters as well will grow up knowing that their father loves them more than they could ever comprehend. It means that my preference shall never be given to a son simply because of his gender. It means that if you have five daughters like your mother I would not love you any less. It means that I am your friend, Elizabeth, and that means that I would never impose myself on you, never try to take something from you that you are unwilling to give. It means that I would never hurt you, not for the world. To hurt you is to hurt myself." Darcy paused, and then said, "Do you know what else it means, when I tell you how much I love you?"

Elizabeth just continued to stare at him, her eyes wide and watering.

"It means that I would never, never, disrespect you by taking a mistress. I love you so much, and I would never – I believe taking a mistress to be a horrid thing to do, I was never party to it, even though at Cambridge and in London that kind of behaviour is common. I did not know what situation would feel right, or honourable, out of wedlock, but it never occurred –"

"You have not, you have not, not," Elizabeth couldn't go on. She was so surprised by Darcy's admission that her mouth fell open. Darcy looked at her.

"No, Elizabeth, I have not. We shall learn together."

Elizabeth was so moved by her fiancé's words and his speech before them that she nodded vigorously before quickly wrapping her arms about his neck and burying her head in his shoulder. He moved her onto his lap and held her.

Elizabeth looked up from Darcy's shoulder and into his eyes. "Thank you, Fitzwilliam," she whispered, as they continued to hold each other. "You astonish me every day – I fall asleep thinking that it would be impossible for me to love you any more than I do, that the affection, the devotion I feel toward you could not be any more, it is overwhelming already. Then, the next day I see you and I prove myself wrong."

"Lizzy," Darcy whispered, touching her cheek. "Lizzy, believe me when I say that it is my wish that we will both enjoy the experience of being wed. I would wish for us to be on equal terms in that respect. I would also wish for you to tell me if there is something, not just in regards to this, but in anything, that bothers or alarms you in any way. I would wish us to be the best of friends, Elizabeth."

"As do I."

They both smiled. Elizabeth continued. "I feel, however, that we have got off to a very promising start. I mean, even though this conversation was... perhaps a little embarrassing, I feel as if I can talk to you, about practically anything. I am confident that you shall take care of me, and I am confident that I shall reciprocate your care. I want to be with you always, and I always look forward to our outings, so that we may spend time alone. I want you to be as proud of me as I am of you, and I am extremely proud of you. Is that not what best friends have with one another?"

"Yes, it is," said Darcy before giving Elizabeth a dazzling smile that made her insides flutter. "And know this, Elizabeth," he continued. "I am extremely proud of you. I am proud of you because despite the various, shall we say constraints of our social circle, you always remain true to who you are. Despite what others think of you never change to please others. I greatly admire that about you."

"Thank you. I – I admire you too, in – in more ways than you can know."

"I love you, Elizabeth."

"I love you, Fitzwilliam."

Darcy just looked at her, and then they kissed, a hungry, passionate kiss. When, breathless, they finally pulled apart, Elizabeth, her wit returning to her, said with a smile, "I believe I shall very much like learning to be your wife Fitzwilliam."

"And I your husband; dearest, loveliest Elizabeth."