Chapter 9: When You Have A Good Day, Enjoy It

Richard was determined to make the night one which Mary would remember fondly for her whole life. Having fully consulted with both Georgiana and Elizabeth, and then embarked on preparations of his own, he was confident that he was as well prepared as possible.

While they were awaiting dinner (Aunt Catherine and Georgiana had been oddly late) he had excused himself for a few moments so that he could place a bouquet of flowers and a card right outside her door where they would be waiting when she went back to her room to change for the ball. He arrived back just when everyone was seating themselves and somehow managed not to get a seat besides Mary, which was disappointing.

During dinner, Elizabeth was a bit worried for her sister Mary as Lady Catherine seemed her usual self, trying to find out as much as she could about Mary. Elizabeth worried that she should have thought to prepare her sister. Certainly Lady Catherine knew all about the Bennets, so it meant that the questioning was quite focused on Mary herself.

At first Lady Catherine's questions did not dismay Mary much. She seemed simply trying to fill in some blanks that she had from whatever she had previously learned from Elizabeth. So Lady Catherine asked questions like, where Mary fell in the order of the sisters, how much younger she was than Elizabeth and whether she had previously visited Pemberley and whether she had prior acquaintance with Richard before they began dating.

Then Lady Catherine asked, "You must be in your forties by now. How old are you exactly and why have you never married?"

Mary felt mortified to be asked such impertinent questions, especially as the rest of the table had grown silent during Lady Catherine's interrogation, but did her best to seem composed as she answered, in a way that felt to her to be more like her sister Elizabeth than herself, "It is not considered polite to inquire as to a woman's age, but I have no objection in sharing that I am now forty-one. I have never married as I preferred remaining single rather than marrying simply for the sake of being married."

Lady Catherine observed, "When I first met your sister Elizabeth, I thought it likely that Richard had some interest in her and she in him. However, I suppose I might have been mistaken given who she ended up marrying."

Mary looked over at Richard, who merely shrugged. It was true that he had fancied Elizabeth, half felt himself to be in love, but knowing that he would be deploying soon knew he had no business in getting involved with anyone. It had come as a blow to him to learn months later that she was engaged to his cousin. It was after seeing them together and so happy years later when he was stationed once again state-side that he had begun dating Caroline. He had not talked to Mary about ever being interested in her sister or the role it had played in him beginning to date Caroline.

Mary felt her face becoming hot. Had Richard truly fancied her sister first? She felt all of her old insecurities springing to life.

Then Lady Catherine observed, "I have heard from your sister Elizabeth that you play the piano."

"Yes, I do," Mary answered.

"And what is it you do for your occupation?"

"I give piano lessons."

"What a particular occupation in this day and age. Still, I suppose it is satisfactory to have more musicians in the family."

It was only afterwards that it would occur to Mary that this was an endorsement of her continued presence in Richard's and Lacey's lives, perhaps even a permission for Richard to someday marry her, or as much of permission as anyone was likely to gain from the great lady.

Mary was feeling a bit insecure when Richard vanished again right after dinner. She couldn't understand why Richard had invited her to come on this trip with him and Lacey, if he was going to be absent for so much of it. She wondered if he regretted bringing her. Had he decided it was too much, too soon? Perhaps in seeing her compared with her sister Elizabeth, he found her wanting.

Mary felt Richard was sending her mixed signals. He had been so attentive during dinner, too attentive really after Lady Catherine's interrogation. She kept finding him looking over at her, even when the dinner conversation was occurring elsewhere. It made her wonder if she had a stain on her shirt or a bit of spinach in her teeth. But then sometimes it felt like he wasn't really looking at her at all, but at something else of his own imagining.

Richard, had he been asked, would have told the asker that he wanted Mary to know that he was devoted to her. But that was not really it at all, in knowing what he had planned, he was memorizing everything about Mary. He was noting every little smile and expression, where her freckles were, basking in merely being in the presence of his beloved. He was also imagining the proposal he had planned and adjusting little details of it. He was both too aware of what was going on around him and not attentive enough. He worried that because he had not said the words, that she might not be ready for his proposal and questioning whether he should say them earlier, or wait and announce them as part of his proposal.

He took himself off immediately after dinner as he wanted to consult with his cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy about what he had planned. After all, Mary was his sister-in-law and he wanted Fitz's blessing as odd as that might seem (really he wanted her father's blessing, but would wait for that until he could meet with him in person after a hopefully favorable response). Yes, it was old fashioned and yes Mary was more than old enough to know her own mind, but there was something nice about such traditions.

Richard knew that Mary's parents approved of him; that was not at issue. Mrs. Bennet, especially, had been most effusive in telling him (she had somehow been waiting for him when he dropped Mary off after their second date). She said, "Oh, General Fitzwilliam, I am so pleased you are interested in my Mary. She will make you a wonderful wife and be a terrific step-mother for your daughter. I am sure she will be ready to marry you whenever you are so inclined."

Richard felt that it was fortunate that he was not a younger man as likely he would have run for the hills. Mrs. Bennet would be enough to scare any single man off. However, Mary had already warned him that her mother was likely to get very carried away from the fact that they were going out on another date, while she was happy just to be getting to know him better.

Her father was a more restrained sort and Richard had not had much of a sense of him, but had no reason to believe her father would not be satisfied to have his last single daughter marry.

As Richard had rushed off, Mary sought out Elizabeth before she left the dining room. "Do you have a minute?"

Mary watched as Elizabeth exchanged a quick glance with her husband. She admired how they were able to resolve things without even a word, though her brother-in-law did say, "I hope you won't be too long."

Mary waited until everyone was well gone before asking, searching her sister's face for her reaction, "Elizabeth, is it true? Did you and Richard like one another before you dated and married Fitzwilliam Darcy?"

Elizabeth gave a little shrug. "I did like Richard almost immediately upon meeting him and certainly found him much more charming than Willie, even though Richard was a new acquaintance and I had known Willie for a while. Richard definitely had better manners and was an amusing conversationalist. However, there was never anything between us but perhaps a bit of flirting. He told me early on that he would be deploying soon and could not be involved with anyone. Even if he had not, we were the two of us too similar in temperament. I know it is better that I married Willie. That whole thing about still waters running deep is all too true. The depth of feeling he has, well, it was astonishing to me. On his own Willie is too reserved and serious, I help him be a bit more carefree and he grounds me. Why do you think I call him Willie? It is my way of helping him to not take himself too seriously. I still like Richard, but just as a friend. He is easy to get along with. In seeing you together, I think that you suit each other well. You provide him with a grounding much as Willie does for me."

"But I don't know what Richard is really feeling about me, Lizzy. I know he is fond of me, but perhaps our feelings are unequal."

"You love him, don't you Mary?"

"Yes, but I have not told him that. Isn't the man supposed to tell the woman first? I don't want to scare him away."

"I don't think you can, Mary. I think he is all in. What do you want from your relationship? Where do you see it going?"

Mary looked down, suddenly embarrassed. She whispered, "I am really hoping that we will get married and sooner rather than later. It may be too late, but I would really like to have a baby, but I have never wanted to do that on my own. He is such a good father and I love his daughter also, but I want my own, also."

Elizabeth was very tempted to share what she knew, but she settled for saying, "I think Richard loves you and will ask you to marry him one of these days."

The sisters exchanged a hug then and Mary walked to her room feeling more at ease. She was surprised to see a lovely bouquet of flowers, in several shades of pink and white waiting for her with a card that said her name in Richard's handwriting. She brought the flowers and card inside the room and took a deep sniff. Yes, she was right, those large white blossoms were gardenias, her favorite flower by far. Mary was surprised that Richard had remembered. With no particular expectation of what the card would say, she opened it and read:

Dear Mary,

Would you do me the great honor of allowing me to escort you to the ball? I find that I am obligated to share a few dances with my daughter, but want nothing more than to have the pleasure of your company this evening.

Richard

Mary pulled out her phone and texted Richard: Of course I will go to the ball with you.

He texted back immediately, Terrific. Tell me when you are ready and I'll come get you.

A moment later, Mary heard three raps on her door. She opened the door to find a woman pleasant looking woman with a tote bag over her arm. "I am Megan, Lady Catherine assigned me to help you with your hair and makeup for the ball. All the ladies have help assigned to get them ready for tonight."

Mary was ready to turn Megan down on the offer but then decided it might be nice to have someone help her look her best. She did not want to be the dowdy one at the ball.

When Mary texted Richard to tell him that she was ready, she was amazed at all that Megan had done. Of course the dress was lovely and had done much to transform her appearance, but the soft curls and mostly natural but enhancing makeup highlighted her eyes and lips, made Mary feel beautiful.

It felt as if Richard was waiting for her text as it seemed to only be a moment later when there was another knock on her door, a familiar Richard knock.

Mary opened the door and admired how good Richard looked in the tuxedo he was wearing. But even better was the look he had on his face when he saw her. "Mary, you look beautiful, just perfect. You always look beautiful, but now I know without a doubt that I will have the most beautiful woman on my arm to night."

He held out a florist's box with a wrist corsage inside, like the kind Mary recalled girls used to wear at dances. It was lovely and had another gardenia at its center, flanked by yellow rosebuds that were just the right color to go with her dress. Mary opened up the box and then held out her left wrist. Richard obligingly slipped the corsage on her wrist. Mary enjoyed feeling his fingers on her wrist. When the corsage was in place, he held her hand, brought it up to his lips, and placed a light kiss on the back of her hand.

Richard held her hand to his lips just a bit too long, enjoying the smile that graced her face and the slight inhale she made at this kiss. He liked that Mary was unspoiled. She could find delight in things that others might find pedestrian or unremarkable.

Mary exited the door, pausing while Richard picked up another florist box from the ground. "For Lacey," he explained. "Shall we?" He held out his arm, which Mary grasped. It seemed so formal, but also so delightful. "Lacey should already be in the ballroom."

When they reached the ballroom, they found Lacey talking with Jane. They were both wearing Disney princess costumes. There were a couple of boys running around as Batman and Spiderman.

"Daddy, Mary!" Lacey could not help but keeping looking at them in astonishment. Mary really did look like a princess, so Lacey told her so. "Mary, you look just like a princess, like Belle. Daddy is like when the Beast turned into Adam."

Richard held out the florist box, "Here, Lacey."

"For me? Those are pretty flowers, Daddy, but where is the vase?"

"These are a corsage, Lacey, like Mary has. You wear them on your wrist." He opened the box and said, "Hold out your hand." He then slipped the flowers over her wrist and immediately exclaimed, "Oops, it looks like the florist messed up a little, they were supposed to make the wrist band a lot smaller for you, so it would fit you."

"It is okay, Daddy." Lacey exclaimed, pushing the corsage up until it rested above her elbow. "It fits okay up here."

"Do you really want to wear it up there?" Mary asked. "I have some needle and thread in my room if you want me to make the strap smaller so it will fit your wrist."

Lacey appreciated how Mary was letting her choose, rather than deciding for her. "No, thank you, Mary. I want to dance with Daddy when the music starts."

Mary looked around and noticed that it looked like everyone was present now, Georgiana and her husband having just slipped in while they were getting the corsage sorted out with Lacey. She noticed there was what looked to be a jazz band waiting to perform. Lady Catherine said some opening words and then Mary watched as Richard danced with Lacey. They were quite cute together.

After two songs she heard Lacey say, "That's enough, Daddy. I am tired of being Belle and Mary has been waiting to dance and it is her turn now."

And dance they did. At times Richard's glance was so intense that Mary would almost forget to breath. It felt wonderful to be in his arms and she had eyes only for him, too. Mary had only a vague sense of what was going on around them: the children chasing each other around in superhero costumes; Jane dancing with her father; Lady Catherine dancing with their cousin Will Collins; the temporary chaos of a spilled and broken cup of punch. But she took no more note of these things than someone might of a the traces of floating dust visible when the sun was just right, or bird song vaguely heard while still abed. Mary could not have told you what anyone else was wearing, or about the particular songs they were dancing to, she only knew that she was supremely happy and was exactly where she wanted to be.

Mary was finally forced to take a break when the musicians stopped for an interval and Richard escorted her off the dance floor and to the punch bowl. It seemed almost quaint that there was a punch bowl at all (and that they were drinking from the actual punch cups). After he had filled two cups, Richard walked them to a table for two and it was only after Mary sat down that she realized how sore her feet were. She sat and sipped, finally looking around her a bit.

It was only when Richard excused himself for a moment and disappeared from view, that the world around Mary snapped into more clarity. She recalled that the children were supposed to be excused from the dance now and taken to watch a movie. She saw Lacey arguing with one of Elizabeth's boys. Her words carried as there was no music playing.

"I am too Superman," Lacey insisted. Mary noticed Lacey had traded in her Belle costume for a Superman one.

"No you aren't. You are Supergirl, 'cause you're a girl." Mary noticed the boy arguing with Lacey was Elizabeth's youngest, Cole. He was wearing an Optimus Prime costume, which oddly enough had padded muscles rather than the stiff straight parts of a robot alien who had transformed from being a truck. Mary knew all about transformers. She was old enough to have seen the original cartoons in the 80s and she remembered wanting a transformer toy. Additionally, she had enough nephews that she was quite familiar with the movies and had sympathized with her sister Jane about how they really should have edited the movies to not be PG-13 when the only people who really wanted to see them were younger kids and nostalgic men.

"No, dummy. I am wearing the Superman costume, with the muscles and everything. That means I am Superman." Lacey looked rather put out. She had her hands on her hips and wore a pouty expression formed with stiff lips.

Elizabeth's daughter Jane came up right next to Lacey. Jane was still wearing her Cinderella costume. In her best big-sister tone she said, "Lacey is right Cole, she is Superman; her costume has muscles and pants, not a skirt."

Just then, Richard approached the children. She heard him say, "Lacey can be Superman if she wants to be. After all, you are being an alien truck man and you aren't really the Autobot Optimus Prime, now are you?"

"See! My daddy knows everything." Lacey stuck her tongue out at Cole. Mary was pretty sure that Richard didn't see her do it.

Then the temporary nannies converged and the children were escorted out of the ballroom, Lacey and the boy still arguing over who she was. Richard came back to Mary and sat back down. "Well that was pretty silly, wasn't it."

Whatever spell Mary had been under earlier was fully broken. Her mind was busy thinking about Lacey being Superman.

"Yes, but I get where Lacey is coming from," Mary told Richard. "Everyone knows that Superman is better than Supergirl, even if they technically have all the same powers as Superman is the famous one, who has been around forever. And she is a girl, not a woman. And anyway, why does she have to wear a skirt? It hardly seems practical for flying. It must be like those skirts the female tennis players wear. Do you know they have special thick underwear they put on under those skirts which have little netting pouches for holding their tennis balls?"

Mary noticed that Richard wasn't saying anything, just listening to her mini-tirade, an admiring grin on his face. It instantly made him handsome and desirable. Mary began to lose her train of thought. Why was she arguing the merits of Superman versus Supergirl? What did it really matter?

"You are amazing, do you know that? Cole is your nephew, but you are all on my daughter's side."

Mary responded with a little grin of her own. "Girls need to stand up for each other when boys try to put them in their place."

"So you are a girl, now, are you? I thought it was demeaning that Supergirl isn't Superwoman."

Mary tried to explain, "It isn't when she is truly a girl, but once she is an adult she really should be called Superwoman. And anyway, don't you know that women get to refer to themselves as girls as long as they want to, but men don't get to use the term, especially not in a limiting or demeaning way?"

"So is is okay that you are my girlfriend and not my woman-friend?" Richard had a glint in his eyes and a bit of a smirk.

"Yes, because woman-friend sounds like someone who you have an arrangement with, rather than a relationship. And you're my boyfriend, aren't you? Rather than my man-friend?"

"Yes, Mary, but I want to be far more than that." When the words left Richard's lips, he wondered what on earth he was doing. He felt a momentary panic. He didn't want to start off his proposal in this way.

"What do you mean?" Mary had a vague sense that maybe he was saying he wanted to move their relationship further along in the physical plane. They regularly kissed, held each other tight and sometimes caressed each other through their clothes, and when they were alone on one or another of their couches, Mary often had her legs across Richard's lap and he idly stroked her legs, but Richard had not tried to initiate anything further.

She wondered if seeing her all dressed up had made him more aware of her womanly form. She felt a vague disappointment that he might want more just because of how she looked this evening.

Richard forced himself to backtrack from immediately proposing. This was not the setting he had planned, or the manner. He did not even have the ring on him, had worried he might somehow lose it in the interval. "I mean I want a future with you, Mary. I thought you knew that, when I introduced you to Lacey. That was a big deal. I have dated other people since Caroline, but you are the first one I wanted her to get to know and you are terrific with her. I can really see you being in our lives for good. I hope you want that, too!"

"Oh, I do, Richard, of course I do." Mary felt reassured. Maybe Elizabeth had been right after all.

When the musicians began to play again, Mary resumed dancing with Richard. It was delightful and she enjoyed herself well enough, but she found herself distracted.

What kind of future did Richard see for them? Mary wondered. She was perhaps on the verge of all she had ever wanted, but how many months and years was it to be denied to her? She wished she were younger, that she could wait until Richard knew she was truly the one for him. Mary for all her talk of Lacey being Superman if she wanted to be, did not want to be the one to propose. Mary, while wanting to be seen as an equal, had a strong traditional streak; she was not the sort of woman who would propose to her boyfriend. She wanted him to be ready, him to make that move. She feared though, that being naturally gun-shy after how wrong everything had gone with Caroline that her chance of ever having children on her own might be well and truly gone by the time he was ready to propose.

After the dance concluded (many of the other couple had left before the last song), Richard walked Mary to her room door. Before opening the door, Mary turned back to him and Richard was reminded of their first date in which he was not sure if she would turn back to him or just walk into her home. With that memory in mind, Richard leaned in for a hug. They hugged for a long time before they released each other.

"Do you remember our first date?" Richard asked. Mary nodded. "When I took you home I wasn't sure that you wouldn't just unlock your door, walk inside and slam the door in my face," Richard confessed.

"Do you really think I would have been as mean as that?" Mary couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"Well, I didn't know you well and as I recall I spent most of our date complaining about Caroline."

"Maybe it wasn't your finest moment, but I appreciated you trusting me with that," Mary confided.

"The hug was great," Richard responded, "but what I really wanted to do was to take you into my arms and do this . . ." As he said the words "take you into my arms" he was doing just that, and then he was leaning into her and kissing her. The kiss started out tender and sweet, but quickly turned passionate. When they broke for air, they were both breathing hard.

"If you aren't too tired . . . "

"I am not tired at all," Mary told him, though her legs ached and she was tired.

"Maybe I can come back in a few minutes. I want to change out of this tux and take you for a drive outside. The stars are really spectacular out so far away from everything and I have a surprise for you."

"I wouldn't mind getting out of this dress and taking down my hair. Mary admitted." She stifled a yawn as she did not want Richard to rescind his offer. "It should just take me a few minutes. I will text you when I am ready."

Mary took off her dress, wiped her makeup off (noting that Richard had smeared her lipstick and likely had some on his own lips after that kiss) and changed into jeans, a t-shirt. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a little fleece jacket, anticipating nothing more than a little romantic interlude under the stars. They had never had a late date as Richard always had to pick up Lacey, but with the whole staff of nannies, they could be out as late as they wanted to be.

Richard met her with a picnic basket on his arm and a quilt. Mary decided that a midnight picnic was the surprise Richard had mentioned. They drove in mostly silence and ended up parked off a country road near a large empty field. Mary wanted to hold Richard's hand but in one hand he carried the picnic basket and his other hand was holding a flashlight. Mary grabbed his flashlight holding arm at the elbow.

Richard walked perhaps fifty feet from the road before he stopped, spread out a quilt and beckoned for Mary to sit as he laid out picnic supplies. "I am not sure how much you had to eat at dinner with Aunt Catherine grilling you like that, and also, dancing makes me hungry."

They ate sandwiches on proper plates, drank orange soda (Mary's favorite) from champagne flutes and fed each other grapes. It was very romantic eating in the mostly dark, but for the flashlight Richard had cast haphazardly on the quilt. When they were finished, Richard packed up the basket, placed it to one side and then said, "Now for the real show." They lay back on the quilt and Richard turned off the flashlight. It was magnificent and Mary knew she had never known before how gorgeous the sky was when far away from any lights.

They stared and stared at the stars, holding hands and just enjoying staring off into space together. Mary knew she had never had such a romantic date. How wonderful to be sharing this with Richard. Mary did not want the date to end and told Richard just that.

"I don't want it to end either," Richard told her as he pulled up he into a sitting position, "but it is getting late." He fumbled around in his pocket, produced the flashlight and turned it on. "But before we go, I want to talk to you."

Richard turned a bit until they were facing each other, the flashlight casting a streak of light between them. Mary could barely tell it was Richard in the dim light, but for the way the little bit of light caught his crooked nose. Mary had long ago memorized that imperfection that made Richard, Richard.

"Mary, I am not always so good at words. I am always trying to lighten the mood, get people to laugh, keep serious thoughts at bay. Those qualities really helped me keep my men from focusing too much on the worst that could happen when we were in Afghanistan and Iraq. But right now I don't want to make a joke or have you think I am saying anything lightly or in jest. Mary," he paused speaking for a moment to tuck a bit of loose hair behind her ear, the sweep of his fingers lingering on her cheek, "Mary, I am completely in love with you, so much so that it scares me at times. We've known each other for less than a year but you are most important person to me save Lacey. I want forever with you."

Mary saw the movement when he dug into his other pocket and felt around. She couldn't quite tell what he was reaching for until he had it out. He held it out over the flashlight and Mary saw that he held something dark and cube-like. She heard it open, knew it was a box with a hinge but had not had time to make sense of what it might contain until he pulled the ring free and she caught a little flash of it reflecting the flashlight's light.

Then Richard was holding her left hand in his left hand, while the thumb and pointer finger of his right hand held the ring. "Mary, you are everything to me. Please darling, marry me?"

Mary was shocked, happy but shocked.

"Will you?" Richard entreated.

Mary then realized she had as of yet made no answer.

"Oh yes," she said the words while nodding. "I love you, too, and spending the rest of my life with you is all that I want, too."

He slipped the ring on her finger and the sensation felt strange to Mary, good but strange. She wasn't really the type of person who wore rings often, but she knew that this ring was staying right in this spot.

They embraced each other then, both delighted, both happy, both amazed at the mysterious alignment of the stars or maybe God's plan, that had brought them together. After long moments of hugging the other, Mary remarked, "Now that was a proper proposal and this spot shall forever be very special to me, but how will we ever find it again? And even if we do, maybe next time it will all be plowed up and growing crops."

"Mary, this spot, well it belongs to me. It is some land my parents gave me after my divorce went through. They wanted me to have something that was all my own, so that I might retire and put down roots. I know it is hardly a practical location for a house. You have your students in Meryton and much of our family is over there. Maybe this isn't the spot for our house, but we could put up a cabin and spend weekends out here with Lacey."

"I like that idea," Mary told him, imagining a snug little cabin off in the distance as they lay on a blanket and stared up at the stars again. In her imagining, it was not just Lacey sleeping in the cabin, but a younger child too, one that was hers and Richard's. The dream was most lovely, but Mary resolved to be content if it was never more than the three of them.