Chapter 11

Mr. Darcy had asked Elizabeth to wait for him sitting on a bench outside the Inn where they would spend the night, while he arranged everything related to the wedding. The first thing he did was to go to the local jewelry store, where he sold a pocket watch that his aunt, the Countess, had given him. He did not like the watch very much, the one he usually used, was a present from his father, but at that moment it was being repaired. Like everything Lady Matlock bought, it was ostentatious, expensive, and not very tasteful. He managed to get a good price for it, with that he was able to buy a very simple ring for Elizabeth, but one that would serve for the ceremony. Later, he would arrange to buy a ring worthy of Mrs. Darcy. With the rest of the money, he would pay for the ceremony, the marriage certificate, and for the best room available at the Inn. He wanted to give Elizabeth the best he could on their wedding day.

For her part, Elizabeth waited impatiently sitting on the bench, thinking about everything that Mr. Darcy had told her, how he had confessed that he loved her, and especially the kiss. She was aware that she was going to marry a very rich, honorable, and handsome man, and she felt a little insecure. She would contribute so little to that union, she had no fortune and she knew little of the world in which he moved, the only thing she would bring to that marriage was her person. That was why she had set out to make him happy, and if he loved her as he claimed, she would make sure he knew that her attentions would always be well received. She thought how pleasant it had been to sleep in his arms, how captivating his kiss was, therefore she did not doubt that being his wife was going to be more pleasant than she had ever imagined. Just thinking about it, made her excited in a way that she couldn't explain, and she couldn't help but smile.

When Mr. Darcy returned to her side, he had everything arranged. He told her that the blacksmith would marry them, that he offered the full service with witnesses included. Before entering the smithy, she fixed her hair a little, and also tried to fix her dress a bit. Mr. Darcy was just as nervous as she was, and he just wanted everything to go as quickly as possible. The ceremony was short, after a few minutes they both signed the marriage certificate and were declared husband and wife. Mr. Darcy put the ring on Elizabeth's finger and she was very surprised, she knew they had limited funds, so she thought she would not have a ring on her wedding day.

When they arrived at the Inn, they had their room ready, it was the best available. It was a double room, with a door connecting both rooms. Elizabeth was able to take a hot bath as she had not done in a long time, for his part Mr. Darcy did the same in his room. Once they were both ready, dinner arrived and they ate in the room that Elizabeth occupied, as it was larger and had a table that allowed eating there. They were both very nervous, so they spoke very little and only about trivial things. When they had finished dinner, and the silence had made the atmosphere a bit tense, Mr. Darcy was the first to speak.

"Miss Bennet, I'd like to ask you…" he couldn't help but smile and corrected himself, "I'm sorry it's the custom, Mrs. Darcy, I'll go to my room to get ready for sleep, I imagine you want to do the same too. Tomorrow we will leave very early. If you… I don't want you… We can sleep separately, but also together like the other nights… You understand me… "

"In fifteen minutes, I will be ready Mr. Darcy, I will be waiting for you" said Elizabeth looking at the ground with her voice full of emotion.

Elizabeth immediately took off all the simple clothes she was wearing, and put on a clean petticoat that she carried in the small suitcase, covered herself with the shawl she had used to pretend to be pregnant, and sat on the bed to wait with a knot in her stomach. Mr. Darcy for his part had removed much of his clothing, he was only wearing pants and a loose shirt. Whenever they had slept together, they had been fully clothed. After calculating the fifteen minutes he knocked on the door and entered. When he saw Elizabeth sitting on the bed with her hair down and virtually no clothes on, he gasped for a few seconds. After the initial shock, he walked over and sat next to her.

"Well, Mr. Darcy, I think it's time for bed", Elizabeth said, not knowing much about what to do.

"Elizabeth, now I am your husband, I would like you to call me Fitzwilliam when we are alone", when he said that he took her hand and began to kiss her.

Elizabeth smiled at him and said, "Very good Fitzwilliam."

After that Elizabeth went to bed and he blew out the candles and lay down next to her. He kissed her lips tenderly, just as the first kiss had been. But then came more intense, and passionate kisses. While he hugged her, kissed her and caressed her, he swore eternal love and Elizabeth, without knowing how or why, responded to each kiss and each hug in the same way. Neither realized how, but after an hour of passionate kisses and caresses, their marriage had been consummated and neither of them had been disappointed in their first time.

"Thank you, my love, for being so generous and letting me love you. I swear to you that I will do everything to make you happy, I love you so much my Elizabeth, so much…" as he said that he kissed her tenderly on the forehead.

Elizabeth couldn't help but shed tears and hug him tightly as she replied, "I'm already immensely happy Fitzwilliam, thank you for loving me so much."

And so, hugging and vowing eternal love, they both fell asleep exhausted and dreaming of a future together.

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Georgiana had been very sad since she came to the Gardiners' house. Playing with the children had helped her distract herself a bit, but she couldn't feel at peace. Everything her cousin had told her was more than a fragile child, like her, could really bear. After dining with the family, and as she was getting ready to sleep in one of the guest rooms, Jane knocked on her door, and she invited her in.

"Miss Darcy, as you know I am the oldest of five sisters. Every time one of them was upset or sad, they had always come to my room and slept next to me. For whatever reason, that always made them feel better. If you wish, we can share my bed. It is big enough to accommodate both of us", Jane offered Georgiana sincerely.

Georgiana's face lit up and she said happily, "I would love to, I don't want to be alone and think about everything terrible that has happened in recent days."

"Then I'm going to ask for a tray of tea to be brought to us, we will talk for a while about anything but our problems, while I brush your hair and braid it. What do you think of my plan? " Jane asked with a smile.

"Sounds perfect Miss Bennet, thank you very much for being so good to me" Georgiana couldn't put into words how happy she was.

"Then let's go to my room, but I want to ask you please to call me Jane"

"Only if you call me Georgiana or Georgie"

After having tea, combing her hair, and hearing stories about her future sister Lizzie, Georgiana fell asleep hugging Jane, happily feeling safe and secure.

The next day she was much more relaxed and when she sat down to breakfast with the entire Gardiner family and Jane, she was grateful to think that all these kind people would soon be part of her new family.

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"Charles, you can't be serious. How do you think you're going to visit Jane Bennet, didn't you realize the last time we were at her aunt's house that she practically didn't speak to you?", asked Caroline to his brother.

Charles Bingley didn't know what to say. It was true that Miss Bennet had hardly spoken to him on the day of that visit, but he was not surprised by that. He knew that he hadn't been kind to her by leaving Netherfield and not returning without even sending a note to apologize for his absence. "I don't blame her, Caroline. We left Hertfordshire abruptly, she may have thought we weren't interested in her. That is why I want to visit her, so she can see that we do care, that we consider her a friend of the family", explained Charles to a stunned Caroline. The thing she least wanted was to be friends with a Bennet chit.

"You have thought what Mr. Darcy is going to say when he finds out that you are again chasing that woman from such an inappropriate family, and that she would only marry you for your money?" Caroline said with a triumphant face.

"I don't think he will say anything, because if he has eloped with a Bennet, it would be very ironic if he said something to me because I am courting another Bennet." Charles was not a confident man and he was very easy to persuade, that is why he tried to make an argument difficult to refute.

"That is a lie, you heard that Miss Eliza's aunt said that she was visiting a friend. I believe that if Mr. Darcy finds out that you have again begun to create expectations that you cannot fulfill, he will be very disappointed in you". Caroline was convinced that she could dissuade her brother.

Charles after thinking a bit changed his mind, and said that he would leave the visit to Miss Bennet for another day. He really liked Miss Bennet, she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever met, and that was the main attribute in a woman according to Charles Bingley. But he really wasn't sure about starting a relationship with her, she was poor and her family was not well connected. If being with Jane meant problems with his family and with his friend Darcy, he should think better and take some time to reflect before deciding what to do. Caroline was happy with her little triumph, but she knew very well that she had to be alert, and not allow her brother to get close to that woman.

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The storm had started in the middle of the night, neither Elizabeth nor Mr. Darcy had woken up, they had had a very long day, and had fallen asleep very late after sharing their first night together as husband and wife. But when a lightning was heard early in the morning, they both woke up immediately.

"Good morning Mrs. Darcy, it seems that we will not have good weather today" said Mr. Darcy to his wife, while he hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

"Good morning Fitzwilliam" Elizabeth responded, also kissing his cheek. "Do you think this could affect our plans for today's trip?"

"Good question, I don't know. Stay here and I will go find out, I will be back as soon as possible". Mr. Darcy got up and went to his room in search of his clothes. Elizabeth couldn't help staring at him as he walked nearly naked to his room in search of his clothing. Just thinking about all that they had done together last night made her blushed, but her husband was undoubtedly a very attractive man, and she could not avoid looking at him.

After half an hour, Mr. Darcy returned and explained to Elizabeth that due to the storm the coach service had been suspended until the other day, that it was not possible to travel in this weather. As he explained that to his, he took off her clothes and went back to bed next to her.

"It is very cold Mrs. Darcy, so we will stay in bed late today. I have arranged everything, so we will have this room until tomorrow". As he said that, he hugged his wife tightly to warm himself.

"Do not think husband, I do not realize that you are trying to use me to warm you" said Elizabeth with that playful tone that he liked so much.

"Let me remind you Elizabeth that you have done the same with me on more than one occasion. The least I deserve is that you return the favor". Mr. Darcy silenced Elizabeth's protests and laughter with a kiss and Elizabeth responded with another. Once again, they were carried away by passion and it was not until very late that they got up and had breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent locked in their room, talking, laughing, and remembering each of their discussions in the past. He confessed to her that from a very young age he had been shy, and that he had a hard time expressing his feelings when they were as deep as those he felt for her. Elizabeth on her part, confessed her fears and her hopes for the future. For both of them it was a day they would never forget.

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Caroline and Louisa arrived at the Thompson house on time. Rebecca received them cautiously, she had always hoped to be friends with them and through them, to get to know Mr. Bingley better because she had admired him for some time. But after a while of trying to be friends with Mr. Bingley's sisters, she had realized that the interest was only on her part.

"Welcome Miss Bingley, Mrs. Hurst, thank you for coming. Hasn't your brother accompanied you today?". Rebecca asked.

"No, today he had some business to resolve, but he was very sorry that he couldn't come". Caroline explained, the truth was that she hadn't said anything to her brother. She had other plans for him, the Thompsons were certainly a very wealthy family but they were not up to the Bingleys in Caroline's opinion.

After a few minutes of inconsequential conversation, Lady Matlock had finally arrived and Caroline would have a chance to speak with her.

For her part, Anastasia was annoyed at having to make calls like this. The Thompsons were the main owners of a bank, and she was forced to socialize with them in order to keep lines of credit open for her family. On the other hand, she was seriously angry with her husband, who was practically not giving her any money because the family was almost bankrupt. All this capped off with the disappearance of silly Georgiana, and that stupid bastard Richard who had left without telling anything to anyone.

As Lady Anastasia chatted with Rebecca and her mother, Miss Bingley came over to be introduced. Caroline told the Countess that her brother, and all his family were close friends of Mr. Darcy, and they customarily had the privilege of visiting him at the Darcy House and at Pemberley. Once Mrs. Thompson went to greet arriving guests, Caroline took the opportunity to tell the Countess what she had been waiting for.

"My dear Lady Anastasia, the other day I visited my dear friend Miss Darcy, and I had the unpleasant surprise of finding her with people who are not appropriate for a young woman like her" the countess was not paying attention to what Caroline was saying because she was more interested in chatting with Rebecca, until she heard the following. "I tried to explain to your son, Colonel Fitzwilliam, that these people were not a good influence on your niece, but he would not listen to me."

The countess sensed that those people referred to by this unpleasant social climber might have something to do with Georgiana's disappearance, and decided to obtain more information.

"You don't know how much I appreciate you worrying about my niece, my son is a very irresponsible man, who loves to socialize with people of lower classes, but as a family we will not allow him to involve Georgiana in this. If you can give me more information on who these people are, I will greatly appreciate it", concluded the Countess, eager to obtain as much information as possible.

Caroline did not keep anything to herself, and told her everything she knew, while Louisa looked at her with some reserve. She also tried to find out about Eliza Bennet but the Countess was rather evasive in her answers. After the meeting at the Thompsons' house was over, the Countess went straight home and a few hours later, shared everything she knew with her husband and George Wickham.

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That same afternoon someone knocked on the Gardiners' door and in a forceful voice said to the butler, "I need to speak to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner right now, and please warn them not to keep me waiting."

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