Thank you to everyone who joined me on this journey. If you enjoyed the story and haven't yet reviewed, I hope you will take a moment to review now. As I might at some point add an outtake or revision, it is not too late to follow or favorite it. And if you would like to read more of my stories, follow or favorite me. And now, what has to be the longest epilogue ever, which is so long I decided it should be split into three parts. As I posted chapter 37 just a day and a half ago (which covers the conclusion of the Bennet-Bingley wedding reception), make sure you read it before you get to this. The other parts of the epilogue will probably be posted one each on Friday and Saturday.
XVIII
Epilogue: Four Weddings and a Funeral
Part One
One Saturday in April, after Darcy and Elizabeth had been dating for a little less than two months, Elizabeth and Darcy were taking a hiking in a national forest. It was a hike they had taken when they were first dating and the trees had hardly any leaves, but now the forest was verdant with new growth, leaves having sprung forth as if by magic in the vivid shades of green that only exist in spring.
Elizabeth had been quiet for a while as they walked and Darcy was just enjoying their companionable silence, basking in simply being in her presence, as a kitten basks in a sunny spot by a window on a cold day. Elizabeth then asked, seemingly randomly, "Don't you think we know each other a lot better than most people who have been dating longer than us?"
"Uh-huh," Darcy responded, not sure where she was going with this.
"I mean, we spend part of almost every day together, and when we aren't together, we still in contact with texting, talking on the phone or video chatting. We know each other's work schedules and school schedules perfectly, know when we can talk and do."
"That's true," he affirmed.
"Well, given that is the case," Elizabeth responded, "it seems to me that certain minimum deadlines might be shortened, because cumulatively, we've spent so much more time together than most couples."
Darcy had to be sure what Elizabeth was getting at, so he asked, "Am I getting a waiver of the moratorium you set on asking a certain question?"
"Maybe," Elizabeth told him, suddenly shy. Whereas before they had been walking side by side, she hurried to walk ahead of him.
"How much of a waiver?" Darcy inquired, interpreting her maybe as a probable "yes." He quickly caught up with her, given the advantage of his long, fit legs; Elizabeth had to almost jog to stay a bit ahead of him.
"I don't know," Elizabeth was a bit breathless, from the fast speed or what they were talking about, Darcy wasn't sure. "I'm not saying today, but two and a half months, or around ten weeks ought to be more or less respectable, right?"
"You mean . . . ?"
"Don't make me say it Darcy, it is just that I want to be surprised, that is if you haven't thought the better of it or anything." Elizabeth broke out into a jog then, keeping her eyes focused on the ground ahead as she did not want to trip over a stone.
"Okay, then," Darcy responded. He kept pace with her, but a few steps back.
If Elizabeth could have seen his face then, she would have seen that a look of heart-felt delight that belied his simple, neutral response. It was writ large upon every feature of Darcy's face, from his softened eyes, to his upturned lips. He didn't say anything else, instead dwelling in thoughts of proposing and being accepted.
As such lovely thoughts were his focus, Darcy was fortunate that the immediate path ahead was relatively clear of obstacles, because he might have tripped due to his lack of attention. After another mile or so, Elizabeth finally slowed to a more regular walking pace. By then, she was certain Darcy would not ask for further clarification from her and the deep blush of her embarrassment from having to spell certain things out had finally faded from her face, leaving just the flush of color from exercise.
That evening, when Darcy returned to Pemberley after having spent the whole day with Elizabeth, he went back through his written calendar planner and carefully counted up ten weeks, circling that day as he had previously circled the three-month date.
The next weekend, Georgiana was home from college. Darcy was just finishing up a bit of work in his office when she walked in to wait for him. Being a bit bored, she wandered around, picking up the new picture Darcy now had on his desk (it was of Darcy and Elizabeth at the wedding, when Cher had captured him whispering in Elizabeth's ear). She made no comment as she didn't wish to disturb him, but reveled in the thought that her brother was so clearly in love. After Georgiana set the picture down, she spotted the open planner on his desk and couldn't resist asking, "What does the circled date next week mean?"
Darcy blushed the reddest that Georgiana had ever seen, stammered, and she was just on the verge of wishing she hadn't asked, if it was causing him such embarrassment, when he finally said, "That is the earliest date that Elizabeth Bennet says I may ask for her hand."
"So are you going to then?" Georgiana asked.
Darcy nodded and then buried his face in his hands.
"Do you need any help?" she asked.
"I think that might be cheating," he said from behind his hands. "I mean, if I am old enough to ask, shouldn't I also do the planning myself?"
"What is your plan, then?" Georgiana asked.
"I was thinking, I would fix Lizzy dinner here and then pop the question and have a ring waiting. I've bought the ring already."
"No, absolutely not!" Gigi exclaimed. "You've got to romance her, build the moment up. She's going to remember this occasion her whole life. She will probably tell your kids and grand kids about it some day, so it's got to be a good story."
"That's a lot of pressure. So what do you suggest?" Darcy asked.
Georgiana and Darcy discussed various options, but ultimately Darcy decided that he would rent a hot air balloon and as it was drifting through the sky, he would ask her. It wasn't easy to rent a hot air balloon on short notice and get it transported to Pemberley, but Darcy didn't mind paying a premium price if he could truly make the day special for Elizabeth.
When the day arrived (technically it had been ten weeks for a couple of days, but with their schedules a Saturday had seemed like the best option for the perfect proposal date), Darcy asked Elizabeth to go outside with him. She stood dumbfounded as she stared at the giant rainbow colored balloon and basket, which was currently tied down, the operator standing beside it.
"Surprise!" Darcy told her, "We are going on a hot air balloon ride today."
Rather than getting an excited smile in return, Elizabeth began backing away, while shaking her head in negation.
"What's wrong?" Darcy asked. He didn't understand how the ideal proposal date he had come up with was going so badly before it had even begun.
"I'm not going up in there in that. I'm scared of heights."
"But you've been on plane rides, you told me how much you enjoyed going to that revolving restaurant with the good view when you went to Seattle with your aunt and uncle as a kid."
"Yes, the Space Needle," she clarified.
"Yes, that's the one. So, how can you be scared of heights?" Darcy wasn't trying to reason Elizabeth out of her fear, but rather to understand.
"Those are different. With a plane, I pretend it is really like a big car and let someone else have the window seat. With the Space Needle, well that one was hard for me, but it was still connected to the ground and enclosed in glass on the sides, and it went slowly around. Thank goodness that when I visited it that they had not yet put in the glass floor. The worst part was taking the elevator up. That balloon won't be connected to anything and it is open to the air."
Darcy nodded understandingly. While it didn't make a lot of logical sense to him, he wasn't going to try to talk Elizabeth into something she was clearly scared to do. "Okay, we won't do it." He went to talk to the man whose services and balloon he had spent so much money to hire and explained that they were not going to go.
Of all things, the man tried to argue him into going, even though Darcy made it clear that he wasn't trying to get him money back and that his girlfriend was too scared to go. "Then you should take the trip yourself," the man said. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you just want to waste it?"
"I don't want that experience by myself," Darcy explained. But then an idea occurred to him. "But I might be able to get someone else to go." While Mrs. Reynolds had retired, she still lived nearby.
While Darcy was anxious to return to Elizabeth, he called up Mrs. Reynolds and asked, "Are you busy right now? I've got a hot air balloon at Pemberley ready to go, but my girlfriend just told me that she's scared of heights. Would you and your husband and," he paused and asked the operator, "how many people can you take up?"
"Eight passengers," the man said.
"Your grand kids or whomever, up to eight people total, want to go in the next few minutes?" Darcy and the man were both delighted when she agreed.
Darcy hurried back inside, Elizabeth was waiting just inside the doors. Darcy took her hand and led her to the couch. Once they were both seated, she snuggled against him for several minutes before she said anything.
"I'm sorry," she told him. "I didn't mean to ruin your plans, but I don't understand why you told me we were going to hang out rather than just telling me you planned to take me up in a hot air balloon."
Then, while Darcy watched, it was as if he could see in every shift in her face as she slowly realized just why he might have planned this surprise for her. "You weren't going to . . . up there. Were you? You were!"
"Well, it is ten weeks as of two days ago, and this is the first day we had any real time. Surely you knew."
Elizabeth's continuing faint look of fear had now turned to a look of horror. "I didn't think you would ask today. You were so casual about our plans, I thought you would give me some little hint in advance."
"But Lizzy," Darcy reasoned, "You said you wanted to be surprised."
"I did, didn't I! Oh, I am sorry, I ruined everything, didn't I?"
"No you didn't," Darcy held Elizabeth even tighter. "It is just that Georgiana said I needed to plan something big, so this is what I came up with."
"So you had a plan before?"
"Yes, a nice home cooked meal and then . . ."
"And then . . . " Elizabeth repeated.
"Exactly, but I can't do that now that you know."
"Why not?" Elizabeth asked. "I'll pretend to be surprised, really I will."
"But I didn't even buy the ingredients (the balloon package included a picnic lunch) and it is only ten in the morning."
"So, we'll go shopping together and maybe it can be lunch instead of dinner."
At 10:10, Darcy found himself at the grocery store with Elizabeth shopping for steaks, potatoes and the ingredients for salad. As Darcy pondered which of the tomatoes looked the ripest, Elizabeth suggested, "We can just buy a salad in a bag." When they got to the meat department and he ordered one inch thick t-bone from the butcher, she nodded approvingly. When they went to the baking aisle and Darcy pondered over cake mixes, Elizabeth noted, "The bakery cakes are good."
"Maybe you can buy some milk and some ice cream and then wait in the car," Darcy suggested as a sudden inspiration struck him, handing Elizabeth a twenty dollar bill and his car keys. Elizabeth shrugged and chuckled a little, but did as he asked.
When Elizabeth was safely out of earshot, Darcy talked to the woman behind the bakery counter about what he wanted written on the deluxe dark chocolate cake. He then visited the floral department.
When Darcy arrived back at the car, Elizabeth did her best to ignore the floating grocery bag that Darcy quickly stuffed in the trunk and tried to avoid puzzling out what was in the other sacks.
Later, Elizabeth watched as Darcy fried the steaks up in a pan (while the potatoes were cooking in the microwave). They had a nice lunch and then when the dishes were in the sink, Darcy asked Elizabeth to close her eyes while he got everything ready.
When Elizabeth opened her eyes, she found heart-shaped foil helium balloons, a giant floral arrangement of red roses, a chocolate cake and Darcy by her side, one knee on the ground. "Read the cake," he entreated.
Elizabeth read: "Will you marry me?" She saw that to the right of the cake with the handwritten question, propped on a China saucer and surrounded by a small ring of flowers, was an open ring box with a square cut diamond in a platinum band. It was the very ring she had admired so many times in one of Jane's wedding magazines, but for having an even bigger diamond.
"I thought you would never ask," Darcy joked, before taking up Elizabeth's hand, looking deeply into her eyes and saying, "Well, will you? I love you so much, Lizzy, that I didn't want to have to wait a second longer to ask you than I had to, but I also wanted to do things right and make things extra special for you. If this isn't enough, I will plan something bigger, something romantic and perfect, but something that is safely on the ground."
Elizabeth slipped out of her chair and into his waiting arms. "I don't need perfect," she told him, "I just need you. But really, this was perfect in its own way."
"So you will?"
"Of course," she murmured. They hugged and laughed and it was some minutes before Darcy remembered about the ring, plucked it off its perch and slid it on her finger.
A month later, on the 4th of July, Henry Long took Mary to a lake late in the afternoon. He insisted that he be the one to pack and bring their picnic dinner. He had previously arranged to rent a small speed boat, which was a big extravagance for him, and they planned to watch the city's fireworks display from the water.
As she normally did, Mary did her best to enjoy the nice weather, ignoring the fact that her floaters were more obvious when she looked into the clear blue sky. They would always be there and she had accepted it, but at least the really large one that resembled a clumpy mascara coated eyelash was gone. Now what she saw was closer to the dust bunnies under a bed, fluffy and grey, and little freckles that swirled around.
As the sun was setting, their sandwiches, strawberries and chips having been consumed and the waste collected, they remained seated side by side in the two backwards facing chairs in the middle of the small boat to enjoy the sunset before the fireworks would commence. The sky put on a lovely pink show, and it was peaceful drifting on the softly undulating water.
"What a perfect day," Mary told him.
"I think I know one thing that could make it better," Henry replied.
Henry had a whole speech prepared for Mary, including detailed notes, but realized when he searched for the folded up piece of paper in his pockets, that he must have ended up leaving the paper in his car. So instead, he went with plan b and just took up Mary's hand as they sat and sent up a quick prayer, Please let me say the right words and not embarrass myself!
Henry squeezed Mary's hand and told her, "Mary, before you came back into my life, it was like everything was in black and white. I was part of the world and living in it, but not enjoying it in all its God-given glory because I had no one to share it with. But then you came along, with your poor injured eye, and made my world bright and beautiful, as it was always meant to be. I want to spend my whole life with you. I don't have a ring, although I started saving for it almost as soon as we started dating, just in case. I tried going ring shopping for you, but there were so many choices that I had no idea what to pick and I was sure I would pick the wrong thing, but please, won't you marry me?" Without waiting for a response, he nervously babbled, "If you say yes, Saturday we can go pick out a ring together."
Mary replied, "Yes, of course I want to marry you."
Although Henry had been almost certain that this would be her response, them having exchanged words of love in June, he launched himself at Mary, and his lips and hands confirmed again how he felt. They made out so long that they were startled when they first boom from fireworks sounded.
Henry took that as his cue to get back in his seat, but he remained holding Mary's hand and gently rubbing it. He did watch the fireworks some, but he also watched the play of light upon her face, hues of pinks, greens, oranges and blues, before the darkness swallowed her up again. He wanted to memorize this moment and how he was feeling.
Mary mostly watched the fireworks, but she could not have told you much about them afterwards. Her happiness filled her up, like a carbonated bottle that had been shaken, she felt ready to burst.
When the last firework went off and the darkness finally settled around them, Mary told Henry, her blushing covered by the darkness. "You've done a good job of not crossing that line we agreed on, but it is going to get harder and harder now that we are engaged."
"You don't need to tell me," he replied.
"So I don't want to stay engaged for very long. I've always dreamed of having a simple ceremony on a beach somewhere. I don't want a lot of fuss, I just want to be married. I'm ready for our life together to begin as soon as we can get all the details worked out."
That night when Mary returned to the apartment, Elizabeth saw the quiet joy radiating from Mary's face and said, "I have a guess as to what happened to make you so happy, but I want to hear it from you."
"Well," Mary was unprepared to tell anyone, had thought to wait until she had the ring on her finger, "Henry proposed, I accepted and we are going ring shopping on Saturday."
"Oh Mary, I am so excited for you. Having the two of us engaged to great guys at the same time, when we weren't even with them last year, who would have thought? But I need details, lots of details."
Mary haltingly told her sister bits and pieces, but she saved the best bits for herself, to savor in private. She concluded with, "I hope you don't mind, but as we are planning on a destination wedding, I think it is pretty likely we will get married before you and Darcy."
"Oh wow," Elizabeth responded. "No, I don't mind. Frankly, I think I am a bit envious that you will escape so much of the tediousness of wedding planning."
Mary ended up with an engagement and wedding ring set where the main stone was a sapphire, which was something that Henry would indeed never have known to select. Almost immediately after the rest of her family knew, Mary and Henry started looking online for the ideal spot and ended up arranging a wedding package on an all inclusive resort in the Caribbean. Mary's father was happy enough to pay the bill for the resort and tickets for the immediate family, rather than have to deal with all the stress of wedding planning.
The wedding took place on a beach at sunset as Mary had always wanted. In attendance were only their immediate family, although the event was live streamed by invitation to people like Mary's dear church friend Nancy, and Georgiana (who had helped Mary find just the right off the rack dress for a beach wedding). There were very few pictures and the happy couple went straight to honeymooning. They returned tan and relaxed, just two days before Elizabeth's and Darcy's garden wedding.
Although upon their return, her mother pressed Mary for details as to how everything had gone on the honeymoon, she had to settle for Mary telling her about learning to scuba dive and enjoying dining at the varied resort restaurants.
