Chapter 28

James frowned. His eyes swept once more around the half-empty stable, his dark eyebrows drawing closer together with every glance at the horses that pawed impatiently at the hay that lined their stalls.

He sighed in defeat and shook his head before looking over his shoulder at his companion.

"There's no way," he said wearily. "There is no possible way that we could pull this off without arousing suspicion."

Georgiana frowned as well, although the expression seemed less natural on her young features.

"Are you sure?" she said regretfully.

"Positive." James turned to face his cousin, his arms folded across his chest as he leaned back against one of the stall doors. "May I ask why you thought that it would have helped."

Georgiana shrugged her blue eyes wistful as she looked at an impatient white mare across from her.

"I just thought that it would give him some time," she sighed. "Being alone in a carriage with Elizabeth for a few hours before we stopped at an inn or something."

James snorted, his smile widening when Georgiana glared at him.

"And you actually thought that it would work?" he chortled. "Good Lord, you don't know your brother at all."

"I know Elizabeth," Georgiana shot back. "I've been watching her when she was around him during meals and in the parlor. I sincerely doubt that she would be able to sit in a carriage alone with him without cracking."

James nodded, seeing the sense of his cousin's plan.

"So who is the one proposing in your master plan, cousin?" he asked cheerfully. "Darcy or Miss Elizabeth?"

"Does it matter as long as someone says it and the other says yes?" Georgiana shot back.

James chuckled and cast another glance around the stable.

"You know, I think I do have an idea as to how this will work out," he said suddenly.

"We have a problem, Miss Elizabeth," James called brightly as he and Georgiana exited the stables.

Elizabeth turned away from her two sisters, a small frown appearing between her green eyes. Beside her, Bingley and Darcy exchanged surprised looks. Mary glanced once at her fiancé before looking up at the rapidly darkening sky. Although James had insisted that the day would be the perfect time for them to head back towards Hertfordshire, Mary was starting to have her doubts. Surely if James and Darcy rode on horseback like they had planned, they would get soaked to the skin. Though James swore that this would not be the first time he had gotten soaked, Mary couldn't help but wish that he was riding with her in the carriage.

"What is this problem, Mr. Fitz- James," Elizabeth asked warily, hastily using James's first name as his eyebrows rose. As their future brother, James was trying to convince Jane and Elizabeth to call him James to his face.

James's smile widened, causing Darcy's eyes to narrow with suspicion. What was James up to?

"I'm afraid, Miss Elizabeth, that Mary does not take pleasure in the idea of my riding on horseback during the journey. I am sure that it would make her much happier if I was in the carriage with her, your sister, and Bingley."

"I'm not sure that I see what your problem is, James," Elizabeth said slowly.

"There is only room for four in the carriage, Miss Elizabeth," James told her, his eyes sparkling with barely concealed amusement. "If I go in the carriage, where will you ride?"

"I could ride with Georgiana," Elizabeth suggested. "Wasn't she riding in a chaise?"

"Actually, Elizabeth, I was planning on riding one of the mares in James's stable," Georgiana interrupted brightly. "He just acquired her and I would love to try her out."

Elizabeth frowned, seeing their problem. James shot a warning look at Bingley as he opened his mouth to object to the arrangement. He shook his head marginally before turning back to Elizabeth.

"Can you ride a horse, Miss Elizabeth?" James asked casually.

Elizabeth nodded slowly as an idea occurred to her. She glanced at Georgiana, noted the wide smile on her friend's face, and nodded to James.

"What kind of horses do you have for me, James?" she asked firmly.

"Well?"

Georgiana reined in James's white mare beside the jolting window of the carriage, a smug smile playing across her face.

"I left them behind while we were going through the apple orchard," she reported cheerfully. "Although I think it will be a while before they notice my absence.

Jane and Mary exchanged sly smiles while Bingley and James tried unsuccessfully to smother their laughter.

"Have either of them…?" Jane began hopefully.

Georgiana's smile faded and she shook her head.

"Fitzwilliam is being stubborn, he won't do anything," she said with a trace of disappointment.

Jane frowned slightly, a peculiar expression going across her eyes. Bingley noticed and tightened his arms around her shoulders. Jane looked up at him and smiled.

"I think our Lizzie can handle herself," she said confidently.

"Did you happen to see where Georgiana went?" Darcy asked suddenly, not quite able to inject the right amount of concern into his tone. He kept his ice-blue eyes trained on the beaten road ahead of them, not quite able to meet Elizabeth's gaze.

Elizabeth frowned, her jaw clenched tightly as she navigated the young stallion around a fallen tree branch that had blocked her side of the road. The roan flanks of her horse came very close to the flanks of Darcy's own grey mount.

"I believe she passed us when we were going through the orchard a few miles back," she said with forced calm. Why can't he say what is really on his mind? She thought irritably.

"Ah," Darcy replied disinterestedly, internally cursing his sister for leaving him alone with Elizabeth. "Do you honestly think James was right about the weather?" he asked casually.

Elizabeth shrugged. Personally, she wouldn't have cared if the earth had started to quake and brimstone had fallen from the sky; she was too incensed by Darcy's silence.

"I wonder when Bingley will be able to go out into the sunlight again," Darcy thought aloud, searching desperately for a neutral subject.

Elizabeth's frown deepened. Bingley's continued discomfort in sunlight was one of the few side effects of his former vampirism, though Mary had assured a concerned Jane that the effects would wear off after a few weeks.

"Elizabeth-."

"Darcy, if you are about to start on another one of your 'neutral subjects', I swear I will go insane," Elizabeth snapped.

Darcy's eyebrows rose with surprise, although he made no move to continue with what he had been about to say.

"You are so irritating," Elizabeth continued furiously. "Why do you always insist on avoiding what really needs to be said? How can you be so stubborn?"

"And what, Miss Elizabeth, am I being stubborn about?" Darcy asked, unable to really hide his amusement.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed into slits.

"I think that you know exactly what you are being stubborn about," she said tightly.

"No, I don't really think that I do, Miss Elizabeth," Darcy replied cheerfully.

"Yes," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth. "You do."

"Do I?"

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Mr. Darcy!" Elizabeth burst out. "Do you really have no idea of how much I love you? Why can't you just ask me to marry you and get on with it?"

A wide smile broke across Darcy's face, the first he had had in a long time. A small chuckle escaped his lips, making Elizabeth glare at him.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?" she asked curtly.

Darcy bit back his laughter, although he didn't quite manage to erase the smile.

"Elizabeth," he said quietly. "Would you do me the honor of accepting my hand in marriage?"

Elizabeth smiled slightly and opened her mouth to reply just as the sky opened up and rain poured down on top of them. The two glanced up at the stormy sky, trying to shield their eyes against the sudden downpour. Darcy reached out and grabbed the side of Elizabeth's reins and steered her into the shelter of a small copse of trees. He glanced down at her, the breath flying out of him at the sight of her auburn hair, soaked and dripping with rain from the storm.

Elizabeth looked up at him, a small smile twisting her lips.

"Promise me that we won't let James pick the date for the wedding," she said brightly. "He seems to be a very poor judge of the weather."

Darcy chuckled and took Elizabeth's hand in his, his eyes soft.

"I wouldn't care if it rained, hailed, or snowed," he murmured. "Our wedding day will still be the happiest of my life."

"They're coming," Georgiana cried eagerly from her place by the window.

The others sighed with relief and went to join Georgiana as she watched the two horses approach. Though none of them dared to doubt Jane's visions, even Jane herself had started to worry about Elizabeth and Darcy's absence when the rain had started. James took one look at the couple's intertwined hands and grinned in triumph.

"Mission accomplished," he murmured.

"Good Lord- Mr. Bennet!"

Bennet looked up wearily from the novel he had been reading in his study, his large green eyes blinking rapidly beneath his spectacles. He frowned, slightly annoyed. He had been reading a good book… at least, as good as a romance novel could be. He made a mental note to look for any other books by this Jane Austen woman. She seemed to be quite the writer…

"Mr. Bennet!"

"What is it, my dear?" he called tiredly.

"Mr. Bennet, they're back! Jane, Lizzie, and Mary! And they have brought Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy with them! Oh, and someone else too, I think. What is his name again? The one with Mr. Darcy's eyes?"

"La, Mamma, how could you forget?" Lydia asked archly. "Do you not remember Mr. Fitzwilliam from his visits with Mr. Darcy's sister?"

"Oh, yes; yes of course! My dear Lydia, go and alert the housekeeper. I do hope that they will all stay for tea."

"I am sure they will my dear, if you serve them," Bennet called mischievously as he went to join the remainder of his family in the parlor. He wondered briefly if Darcy had considered his words, then banished the thought before it could show on his features. Despite her silliness, Mrs. Bennet could be quite insightful when she wanted to. Bennet didn't want to steal the pleasure that she would experience if his plans succeeded.

Jane and Mary came in first, their expressions ranging from shyness to wariness, followed closely by James Fitzwilliam and Bingley, whose expressions were a mix of apprehension and amusement. Last of all came Elizabeth and Darcy; Bennet caught a glimpse of their intertwined hands before they hastily stepped away from each other the moment they entered the room. Bennet turned away to hide his smile, feeling suddenly triumphant. He was always right. His three daughters didn't share his feelings of pleasure.

"Lizzie, Jane, how do we tell mother?" Mary muttered.

"Forget about Mamma, I'm more worried about Lydia and Kitty," Elizabeth hissed.

Jane kept silent, her brown eyes following Bingley as he followed James and Darcy into Bennet's library.

"Why don't we all break the news to her at once," Elizabeth suggested quietly.

"Oh no," Mary objected hastily. "I wanted to tell her last, that way she might get so excited by your news and faint before she could rejoice in mine."

"That isn't very fair, Mary," Jane whispered, breaking her silence as she broke away from Kitty's hug.

"What isn't very fair?" Mrs. Bennet broke in as she bustled into the room with a tea tray.

"That Mary won't tell you that she is getting married to Mr. Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth said quickly, already looking for a place to duck.

There was complete and total silence for a long moment. Then:

"What? My dear, Mary! Why on earth did you not tell me?" Mrs. Bennet demanded, her voice rising hysterically.

Mary winced and avoided the suddenly venomous stares of Lydia and Kitty.

"You?" Lydia demanded, so surprised that it was almost an insult. "Why you?"

"Next time you three go on a trip, you must take me along," Kitty whined.

"Why did you not tell me the moment you came in?" Mrs. Bennet asked again.

"I was merely waiting for Lizzie to tell you about her own engagement to Mr. Darcy," Mary said sweetly, shooting an evil glance at Elizabeth. Elizabeth winced.

"Lizzie! How could you keep me in the dark for so long?"

"Oh come on! Did all of you get husbands?" Lydia cried out exasperatedly.

"How unfair! Why did you not take me with you?" Kitty whimpered.

"Jane, why don't you tell Mamma about you and Mr. Bingley?" Elizabeth cried hastily, her eyes apologetic as she turned the attention onto her sister.

Jane winced as the volume in the room rose dramatically. Her gaze followed Elizabeth's and Mary's as they looked longingly towards the door through which their fiancés had disappeared.

"Well," Bennet said jovially as the voices of his wife and youngest daughters echoed through the heavy wood of the door to the library. "It seems that my daughters have told my wife the good news."

James turned away to hide his smile while Darcy and Bingley winced at the hysterical tone of Mrs. Bennet's voice.

"When do you think it will be… appropriate for us to join them?" Bingley asked delicately.

Bennet shrugged.

"You can leave whenever you want to, boys," he said cheerfully. "Especially Mr. Darcy, since my wife is slightly intimidated by his presence."

James snorted quietly before casting a not-so-apologetic look at Bennet. Bennet winked at him and looked appraisingly at Bingley.

"So, you seem to be doing well, Bingley," he noted.

"Miss Mary was very helpful with her knowledge of the cure," Bingley said sincerely. "I am very thankful for the presence of her and her sisters."

James's smile softened at the mention of his fiancée.

"Mary is a very special woman," he murmured.

Bennet turned his eyes towards Darcy and smiled.

"I don't think I have to ask you about your feelings, Darcy," he said quietly. "Tell me, who convinced you to use my advice?"

"Elizabeth did, actually," Darcy said unashamedly.

Bennet chuckled and cocked his head.

"I think you can risk my wife's attentions now," he mused. "You will have to get used to it before the wedding."

Bingley and James nodded and got up to join their fiancées. Darcy moved to follow them but was held back by a gesture from Bennet.

"Wait just a moment, Darcy," he said, his eyes already travelling back to the novel he had been pulled from. "I wanted to ask you about your library…"

The End

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters! All of the credit belongs to amazing Jane Austen! Special thanks to all of the people who reviewed! Your comments and support were very much appreciated!

In case anyone wants to read any more of my writing (and is not a hater of twilight) I will be working on a twilight fan fiction starting tomorrow.

Thanks again to all of the people who reviewed! You guys rock!

-Luxio Nyx