Chapter 3
"Oh, Mr. Bennet!" his wife exclaimed, blotting her watery eyes with her handkerchief. "I do love weddings!"
"It's time to go," Jane interrupted, hustling them all out of the room. Elizabeth hung back a little, waiting to take her papa's arm.
"My little Lizzy," he murmured as she placed her hand upon his sleeve. "Try not to forget me altogether now, you hear?"
"Oh, Papa," Elizabeth cried, thinking that he teased her. A quick glance revealed to her that his eyes were again misting over, and he tried to hide his sniffle.
"Papa, don't you start, or I will too," she said with a smile, tilting her head back and waving her face with her free hand. "It wouldn't do to go to my own wedding with a red nose and blotchy cheeks. Think of my complexion."
He gave her a chuckle and squeezed her hand. "All right, all right. I'll contain myself. Are you ready?"
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, willing the maelstrom of emotions to leave her be. Finally in control, she looked at her father and gave him a wide smile. Studying his garments, she finally reached over and unbuttoned the cufflink from his left sleeve. Its sapphire sparkled in the mid-morning sunlight.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Something blue," she replied with a wink.
He shared her conspiratorial smile and they made their way to the small, private chapel on the estate. The organist could be heard from halfway to the great house and, as they got closer, Lizzy tightened her grip on her father's arm, breathing deeply.
"Are you all right, Lizzy?" he asked her one more time before the doors swung open before them.
"Very much, Papa. I'm nervous, but in an excited sort of way," she assured him, willing herself to relax her grip. He gave her a satisfied nod.
The chapel had been so elaborately displayed and wonderfully decorated that she could not imagine how long it must have taken Caroline and Kitty, who took full charge of the décor. She hardly noticed any of the details though, as her eyes rested solely on her adoring fiance.
Everyone in the room stood and turned to watch her enter, craning their necks to get a better look at her wedding finery. Darcy was no different, though he had the best vantage point, and the amazement on his face at seeing her was nothing short of incredible. Elizabeth felt sure that the expression on her own face must have been the same.
Darcy stood at the end of the room, his tall figure handsomely tucked into a formal black coat, white collared shirt, and slim black trousers. His demeanor was quite the opposite of what it had been the first time she met him back at the Meryton assembly, where he commanded the attention of the entire room. This morning he commanded nothing but the express attention of his new bride.
Lizzy felt her heart quicken with each step until she stood just short of Darcy, where her father stood with them before the clergyman for several moments. Elizabeth couldn't tell how many, as enraptured as she was with Darcy and the realization they were to be spending the rest of their lives together from these moments forward.
The warmth of Darcy's skin startled her as Mr. Bennet murmured the appropriate agreements to the clergyman and placed Elizabeth's bare hand in her fiance's. Darcy gave her a warm smile and gently squeezed her fingers, sending warm tremors up her arm.
She squeezed his back, delighted in the contact, however public it may have been. Indeed, the flutters in Elizabeth's belly made her think that perhaps they were being too forward, and should save such things for private, were it not necessary to hold hands for the ceremony. Indeed, between her excitement and Elizabeth's sudden fascination with watching her husband speak his vows, his supple lips moving as he uttered the words of declaration that she so desperately ached to hear, she nearly had to be reminded when it was her turn to speak.
She repeated her vows in a clear voice, rather proud of herself when she was finished. Her eyes twinkled up at him and Darcy found that it was nigh impossible not to take her in his arms then and there. The way she looked up at him, the devotion and anticipation written across her face, was nearly his undoing.
They stared at each other, entranced as the clergyman continued the ceremony, reading various prayers and scriptures from the Common Book of Prayers, until finally, it was finished. Darcy and Elizabeth turned back to their family, now united as one, to be met with applause and exclamations of happiness on their part.
Completely ignoring propriety for once, Darcy pulled her close, her hand splaying against his chest as he gently kissed her forehead. She leaned against him for the briefest of moments before he led her back down the aisle, this time as his wife.
