"I do not think that is likely to work, Mr. Bennet. I am quite determined."

"Oh, but you have not heard any of it. I shall think about it and tell you some stories, but now, we should rejoin the ladies."

The rest of the night went well and promises were made to see each other the next day.


22.

A day before Elizabeth's birthday, Fitzwilliam and his parents were reading letters from Pemberley for there were two letters from Mrs. Reynolds, one to her mistress and one to Fitzwilliam, and a letter from Mr. Nichols, their stewart, for both Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy.

Lady Anne looked up from her letter to see a smile on her son's face.

"What is it, Fitzwilliam?" she smiled back.

"Mrs. Reynolds sends her congratulations on my engagement and two pages filled with compliments to Elizabeth from her time at Pemberley. She says Elizabeth spent much more time than a gentlewoman usually would speaking with each servant she encountered and that she was extremely warm and sincere long before they had known her as an acquaintance."

"I am not surprised," Lady Anne said. "She knows every servant here at Netherfield and the servants at Longbourn seem to love her."

"She says that everyone is happy for they know both their current and future mistresses are kind and just. I think they are relieved I did not offer for Miss Bingley or someone like her."

Mr. Darcy chuckled. "My Lord, no."

"They must not know I would be as miserable in that situation as them," Fitzwilliam joked as he opened the next letter addressed to him, one he had not noticed before.

As he read, his parents saw his expression go darker and angrier with each word until he stood up, tore the letter to pieces and threw it to the fire.

"What was it, Fitzwilliam?" his father asked.

"A letter from Lady Catherine," his son replied as he sat down and opened Mr. Nichols' letter.

"What did she say?" Lady Anne asked.

Fitzwilliam seemed too angry to speak for a moment before he managed to calm down a little and said:

"She writes that Elizabeth is a... I cannot even repeat it." He stood up and started pacing. "But she implies that I must be forced to marry her out of duty and that I should want to marry quickly if I do not want... Elizabeth's... supposed condition to be obvious. You must imagine what Lady Catherine called her."

"She implies she is with child?" Lady Anne gasped.

"And worse!" Fitzwilliam kept pacing. "She says that she knows Elizabeth was at Pemberley in July and that must be why I must marry her. How dare she call Elizabeth's reputation and virtue into question! And to accuse me of... I cannot believe it even of her!"

"Fitzwilliam," his father tried to calm him down.

His son merely turned to the window and continued:

"My own aunt! Accusing me of seducing a gentlewoman! She thinks me no better than Wickham!"

"My love, many people will think horrible things," Lady Anne said.

"Yes, but I did not think my own blood would!"

"I am ashamed of Catherine, Son," his mother said. "But you must learn to deal with such malicious gossip."

"When Miss Bennet does not give birth to a child four months into your marriage, the gossip will die a natural death and all those with malicious tongues will have to admit they had been wrong," his father argued.

"So Elizabeth shall be abused for six months until proven right?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Much less than that," Lady Anne replied. "Fitzwilliam, if Miss Bennet had conceived in July, which I know she did not," she said before her son would interrupt," she would be five months along by the time you married. It would be hard to hide during the ceremony when all attention is on her and still harder to come up with an excuse when a child is born so soon after the marriage. She would have to marry now, not in eight weeks."

"The fact that they are even—"

"People will be malicious, Fitzwilliam," Mr. Darcy said. "Especially those who had been hoping to join their family to ours, like your aunt, sadly."

"I assume I shall be receiving a letter from her soon," Lady Anne commented.

"Mother, I have been extremely patient with Lady Catherine only out of respect to you. I have endured her abuse before and I have been ordered about as a child and I have withstood it. But I hope you know I cannot allow her to insult my wife."

"No, of course not," Lady Anne agreed. "She shall have to learn that she will either respect the future Mrs. Darcy or she will have to stay away from you and her."


The day finally came when Elizabeth woke up one and twenty. Mrs. Bennet was nervous and anxious from the very first hour even though the assembly was in the evening. So Elizabeth found herself running away from the house for a very early morning walk. She walked to the place she usually went for walks with Fitzwilliam and was surprised to see him standing there, seemingly waiting for her.

"Good morning, Fitzwilliam," she smiled.

"Good morning," he beamed at her. "And happy birthday."

"Do I get a birthday kiss?"

"I would never deny the birthday girl," he smiled at leaned down to kiss her.

He cupped her jaw and caressed her cheek with his thumb as he pressed his lips against hers. He was still keeping their kisses close mouthed and innocent enough, and she seemed to be unaware that there were other kind of kisses. Still, these kisses, as innocent as they were, still had the ability to rob him of coherent thought and he always needed a minute to regain composure. He wonder how would it be between them once they truly kissed. No, better yet, once they consummated their marriage. He shivered and cursed himself for always reaching that thought as he kissed his love. One thing was for sure: they would not lack passion. His Elizabeth was a spark of fire and would need very little to be ignited.

He finally pulled his lips from hers and to his surprise, she merely rested her head on his chest and turned it to the side as her arms went around his waist. He froze in surprise for a second before his own arms encircled her and pulled her to him. They stood silently for a minute before Elizabeth spoke:

"We have barely had a minute to ourselves these last few days."

"I know. With your birthday approaching and my family here, it has been very busy."

They had been together, but they had not been alone since the day his family had arrived. Georgiana had been often at Longbourn with all the Bennets sisters and already felt she loved them all. And so Fitzwilliam had always come accompanied and Mrs. Bennet could rarely spare Elizabeth as her birthday approached.

"Things will calm down after today," he told her.

"Yes, and then they shall become crazy again with our trip to London."

"And then with our wedding," he smiled.

She pulled away to look at his face and said:

"Yes."

He could not help himself when she was this very close and smiling up to him, so he kissed her again. Oh, he could not get enough! And he realised that in London in would be impossible to be alone with her.

"How long will we stay in London?" he asked as he pulled away.

This time, Elizabeth, perhaps having noticed the danger of staying so close for so long, moved a step away. He felt the absence immediately, but held himself back from complaining.

"A fortnight, I believe. It is not just the dress, there are things a bride must buy and your mother warned me that winters in Derbyshire are colder, so I have to prepare for that, too."

"I would also like you to meet my own aunt and uncle when we are there."

"Of course, that can be arranged. And Aunt and Uncle Gardiner will want to see you, too."

He chuckled. "We shall have a very large family because of you, Elizabeth."

"Did I not tell you that Mama is a firm advocate of 'the more, the merrier'?"

"I think you might have mentioned it," he smiled. "I have something for you."

He pulled a black box from his jacket and handed it to her.

"You needn't have bought me something."

"I did not. My grandmother Fitzwilliam gave it to me to offer to my wife when I married. I asked my parents to bring it with them. I thought it would match your ring."

She opened the box and saw six beautiful emeralds, each surrounded by diamonds, in a beautiful necklace.

"Oh, I cannot. Fitzwilliam, it is too much!"

"Elizabeth, you shall have to learn to accept presents for I plan to give them for as long as I live," he smiled. "Would you wear it on our wedding day? You do not have to, if you already have something else in mind."

Elizabeth laughed. "Nothing that can compare to this!"

"Will you wear it, then?"

She smiled. "Of course."

He cupped her jaw and caressed her cheek again.

"Happy birthday, my love."

She felt herself about to cry, touched by his gift, his love, and his endearment. But he saved her from crying with another kiss.

"I love you," he whispered against her lips.

"I love you, too," she replied and then smiled mischievously. "I should warn you, Mama's delight will be heard even at Netherfield when she sees this necklace."

Fitzwilliam laughed and held her to him again. Propriety be damned!


The Darcys arrived punctually that evening to a very crowded ballroom at Longbourn. It was a lot smaller than Netherfield's, but very elegantly decorated and full of people.

"Lizzy!" Georgiana almost ran to her friend.

Elizabeth smiled when she spotted her and walked to the Darcys. Elizabeth was wearing a white elegant gown with small grey dots, a grey ribbon underneath her breasts and a grey little bow in between them. The gown had short, almost transparent sleeves which she had combined with long gloves. Her hair was elegantly tied on the back of her head with plaits and small white flowers. Her décolleté was low and displayed her creamy bosom where her usual cross rested as it hang from her neck. Fitzwilliam thought she had never looked lovelier than ever and stood quite speechless—and a little breathless—for some time.

"Happy birthday, my dear!" Lady Anne embraced her future daughter.

"Thank you, Your Ladyship," Elizabeth smiled.

"Happy birthday, Miss Elizabeth," Mr. Darcy said.

"Thank you. And thank you for being here."

Mr. Darcy looked at his son, who was staring at Elizabeth with the look of a hungry man on his face, and realised they might need a minute alone.

"Come, Georgiana," he said, taking his wife also, who knew what he was up to, "let us greet the rest of the Bennets."

"You look... Elizabeth, you look..." he tried.

"I look Elizabeth?" she teased. "That is a relief, sir, for I would not wish for you to mistake me for someone else and for her to receive the kiss that is rightfully mine!"

"Elizabeth, do not speak of kissing when you look as you do now and when it is so very impossible for me to kiss you."

"If you are good, I might let you steal me away into the garden for a few minutes tonight."

"Elizabeth," he warned, with a look of both pain and desire in his face.

She laughed and led him to the rest of their family.

"You look absolutely stunning. That is what I meant to say, but I was too stunned to say."

"Well, thank you, Mr. Darcy, you look quite dashing yourself."

"I admit I did not know it would be such an elegant affair," he said.

"It was not to be. It was supposed to be an informal assembly, but Mama has transformed it in something close to a ball."

"Will there be dancing?" he asked.

She chuckled, thinking he wanting to escape it.

"I am afraid there will be."

"Then, may I have your first and your last?" he asked.

"Of course."

"And the supper dance?"

"Mr. Darcy, do you wish to keep me all to yourself?" she teased.

"For the rest of my life, yes," he smiled.

The assembly-turned-ball went very well. Unsurprisingly, Elizabeth danced every dance merrily and spent the rest of her time with Georgiana trying to make her feel at ease. Surprisingly, Fitzwilliam also danced every dance. He opened the ball with Elizabeth and then danced with Georgiana, Jane, Mary, Kitty, his mother, Mrs. Bennet—to everyone's surprise, even the lady's—and then moved to Elizabeth's friends and neighbours. He did his best to stay amiable and charming during the evening to compensate for his terrible previous behaviour and he was filled with love and pride during his dances with Elizabeth.

During the dances with his soon-to-be sisters, he did his best to engage them all in conversation and to find something—anything!—they had in common. He was surprised to find that Mary was actually very insecure and shy underneath her moralistic façade, and it occurred to him that perhaps, if she was given the attention she clearly sought, she might read something apart from Fordyce's Sermons and grow to be more confident. She was actually similar to his own sister in a way. Kitty surprised him even more, for after she realised he should not be feared, she smiled and chatted and even tilted her head in a way reminiscent to Elizabeth. He was surprised that he had never noticed that they were indeed very similar! Kitty was still very young; she still had many years to become the woman she could grow up to be. With the worst influence—Mrs. Wickham—now far away, he saw the incredible potential inside her that he never would have seen before. Maybe Elizabeth had grown to be so different because she followed Jane and Mrs. Gardiner's example, while Kitty followed Lydia's. If she could be provided with a better example to follow, he believed she would become a truly admirable woman. He determined that he would invite both young women to Pemberley after his marriage. Maybe some time with Georgiana and Elizabeth only would help them. And Jane, he had always admired, for she was a true lady, while remaining sweet, kind, and loving.

Despite a few moments of awkwardness, he realised he enjoyed all of his dances quite well, and definitely more than he would have in town where he would have been seen as a possible husband. Here, now that he was marrying Elizabeth, he was one of them, and he found the notion strangely comforting.

He could not help to exude pride and joy when Mr. Bennet stood up during dinner to make the following announcement:

"I know that by now, all of you, who are friends, family, and neighbours know what I am about to say, but I still felt I should make an official announcement. It is an honour to announce that my Jane is engaged to be married to Mr. Charles Bingley, and that my Lizzy is engaged to be married to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy."

Congratulations that had already been given were given again and the ball continued until late that night. Fitzwilliam managed to steal his fiancée outside for a few minutes and there, he kissed her again and again until they feared they would be missed. When they returned, the Bennets and the Darcys pretended not to know what had happened while the couple was missing for a whole quarter of an hour.

"Mr. Darcy," Elizabeth said to her future father-in-law as the Darcys were about to leave. "Would it be too much to ask if Georgiana may stay the night here?"

"Is it your wish, Georgiana?" he asked his daughter.

"Yes, Father. Lizzy tells me I can borrow one of her nightgowns, but you might send a morning dress for me tomorrow."

At hearing this, Fitzwilliam could not help but wish he would be the one staying the night and seeing Elizabeth's nightgown, but he shook such ungentlemanly thought from his head and, once his father had given his consent, he said:

"I will send a servant for you, Georgie."

"Thank you, Fitzwilliam! Goodnight!"

Georgiana came back to Netherfield the next day after breakfast, claiming she had not wanted to intrude while the family prepared for their journey to London the next day. She seemed happier and in a better mood she had been since almost eloping with Wickham.

"What happened last night, my dear, that made you so happy?" her father asked as they all took lunch together.

"Oh, nothing too out of the common way, I suppose," she tried to understate. "I think I was given a glimpse of what it is like to grow with many sisters."

Lady Anne chuckled. "And what it is like, my love? I only had one and not a very close one at that."

"More noisy and lively, for one," Georgiana chuckled. "But all the Bennet sisters meet in one bedchamber before retiring—in their nightgowns, no less!—and they brush each other's hair and plait it and then they sit on a circle in the bed and speak until they are almost falling over from sleepiness. Then, they retire."

Both Fitzwilliam and Bingley felt that they treacherous bodies were delighting too much with the image this retelling created of their beloveds and so were thankful when Georgiana stopped. Fitzwilliam envisioned a nightgown cad Elizabeth with her chestnut curls flowing down her back and suspected Bingley was thinking the same about Jane.

"I was terribly embarrassed at first, but none of them seemed to be perturbed at all, and so I started relaxing. Can you imagine, Mama, to have so many sisters you have to squeeze to fit all in one bed together? I could not believe it."

"You did not sleep all together, I imagine!" Lady Anne said, not realising the way the men gone silent.

"No, of course not. We would not fit. Lizzy told me that when they were little girls, they sometimes threw all the bed sheets into the floor and slept there together, especially during storms. But they have grown too big for that," Georgiana chuckled. "No, I was given the choice of sleeping in a guest chamber or with Lizzy."

"And what did you choose?" Lady Anne asked.

"Lizzy, of course! I did not spend fifteen years of my life without a sister to reject one now," Georgiana smiled.

Although Mr. Darcy was unaffected by this conversation, he was very much aware that his host and his son were not. He remembered what it felt like to be an engaged man and so he intervened:

"I am glad you got to experience having sisters, Georgiana. Have you prepared everything for our trip tomorrow?"

"Oh, no, I shall have to speak to my maid."

And so the subject was changed, much to the younger gentlemen's relief. Fitzwilliam retired to his chamber for some time, and reminded himself that in 7 weeks, he would be the one sharing Elizabeth's bed.


"I do not know how you manage, Mrs. Bennet, to host a dinner between Elizabeth's birthday and our trip to London, but I am glad you did," Fitzwilliam said to his future mother politely.

"Oh, it is the duty of a good mistress, sir, and I assure you, Lizzy has been well trained," she replied, blushing.

"I know she has, Madam. It is my belief that she lacks nothing."

"Oh, Fitzwilliam! Just the man I wished to see to-day," Mr. Bennet said. "Come, sit by me."

Fitzwilliam was extremely curious and happy that his future father—whom Elizabeth loved so much—was truly making an effort to get to know each other better, and so, he walked towards him and sat down without hesitation. After a few minutes conversation, Mrs. Bennet went to speak to the cook, and Mr. Bennet said, loud enough for the remaining Bennets, Bingley, and Darcys to hear:

"Yes, we have some good meat for to-night's dinner, though, do not be distressed, Lizzy, it shall not be our hens."

"Our hens?" Elizabeth chuckled. "Why would I think we were to eat our hens, Papa?"

"Oh, do you not remember, my love?"

"Remember what?"

"I see you do not," he smiled and turned to his future son. "Do you know, Fitzwilliam, that when Elizabeth was a child, she discovered that the animals we kept were meant to be eaten..."

"Oh, no, Papa!" Elizabeth interrupted him.

"I am merely letting your future husband know what might befall him if you have a daughter like you."

"Papa!"

By now, the whole room was curious and amused.

"Oh, I think I would like to hear it, Mr. Bennet," Fitzwilliam smiled at his frustrated intended.

"So, Little Lizzy woke up one day," her father continued, "and decided it was not fair for her dear animal friends to be slaughtered and eaten. She was particularly fond of the hens since she sometimes fed them herself and she did not know that, although we did eat some of our animals, we kept the layer hens for the eggs."

Elizabeth blushed and looked away as she smiled and shook her head at her father.

"So, she decided to save her friends herself and walked right into the hen house and in a few trips up and down the stairs, she hid all of the hens in her own bedchambers."

When everyone stopped laughing, Lady Anne asked:

"And did no one see her doing so?"

"I, to this day, do not know how she did it, but no, no one saw her. Do you have a confession, Lizzy?"

"I was a smart child, and no, I shall not confess. I will keep my secrets in case I need to rescue more animals in the future," she replied smiling.

"How old were you?" Fitzwilliam asked.

"Four or five, a fact Papa forgets to retell."

"It is of no consequence to my aim, my dear."

"Which is to convince my fiancé to abandon me for he might find himself in some years with a daughter like me?" Elizabeth chuckled.

"Indeed, and I might be able to keep you."

"I am afraid it is not working, Mr. Bennet," Fitzwilliam smiled.

If anything, he thought Elizabeth more adorable.

"Well, it is worth trying," Mr. Bennet shrug.

"And so you shall embarrass me from now until my marriage?" Elizabeth asked.

"I do not have any other option, my dear. And it was you who decided to bring those hens to your chamber, not me."

Everyone was laughing by the time Mrs. Bennet came back and announced dinner was ready.


Author's Note:

Hi, guys! Thank you for staying even after the engagement! This chapter is shorter, I know, but I had to cut it here before they go to London. But, I hope you enjoyed it, especially Mr. Bennet's first story (there will be more coming!) I enjoyed coming up with many innocent, but mischievous things a little girl in Regency England might have done. Some of them are silly, but I sure had a lot of fun writing it!

Oh, idk if Longbourn would have a ballroom. I know it's considered a small estate, but I thought it might have a much smaller one.

Next chapter: London, the Matlocks, and more fluff for ODC!

Stay safe and healthy!

Jen


I do not own any Pride and Prejudice properties, nor do I make any money from the writing of this story.

Characters and situations, created by Jane Austen, are taken from Pride and Prejudice and from the Pride and Prejudice (1995) adaptation created by Simon Langton and distributed by BBC.

This story is released under the GPL/CC BY: verbatim copying and distribution of this entire work are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided attribution is preserved.