A/N: Here comes the transition to the end of the story. Other than Miss Darcy, there is one more major character who has not shown his face. Who will that be? Also Christmas is first mentioned here. The Bennets celebrate Christmas in style. Hope you will be able to dream up some holiday spirit to celebrate alongside them. Easter this coming Sunday may give you some inspiration.

Chapter 43: Miss Darcy Rejoiced

Before he went down to tea, he sought out his sister, Miss Georgiana Darcy, who was put in the suite of rooms in the family wing directly across from his. He decided to tell his sister about his betrothal before the rest of the guests learned about it, even though his sister would not be joining the party for tea as she was not yet out, having just turned sixteen years of age.

He knocked on the door to her sitting room and her maid opened the door. Miss Darcy stood up quickly to come to the door to take her brother's hand with both her own in a warm greeting.

"Brother, you have arrived! Did you have a good trip? I hope nothing untoward happened to cause the delay of your journey!" Miss Darcy said a little breathlessly.

"Georgiana, I am well. My journey was eventful but in an excellent way. Let us go inside and talk for a few moments." The maid left the two siblings alone to catch up.

Once they were seated, Darcy asked, "How do you fare? Have you met many of the young ladies at the party? Have they been pleasant company?"

Miss Darcy replied, "The young ladies have been very solicitous, too much so in fact. They have been most interested in befriending me in order to get close to you when you arrive." She raised her hand to cover her mouth and said, "Brother, forgive me. I have behaved most unkindly. I should not have assumed a base motive for their exceptionally pleasant and friendly manners toward me." She lowered her head and felt self-reproachful.

Darcy lifted her head by the chin and said, "Georgiana, you have had to deal with insincere friendships all your life, but it will change for the better very soon. I am to be married to a lovely lady who will be your true friend and sister…"

Miss Darcy grabbed her brother's hand once again and exclaimed, "Oh Brother, truly? You will be married, and I will have a sister? Do you think she will like me? Tell me all about her!"

Mr. Darcy smiled indulgently at his sister, and was very gratified that his sister showed such a heartfelt delight at his engagement. He went on to retell once again his whole acquaintance with Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn in Hertfordshire focusing on describing his betrothed and the female part of her family – her mother and sisters. He ended the account with the transformation of Miss Bingley.

Miss Darcy clasped her hands together and exclaimed, "Do you realize that you mentioned Miss Elizabeth Bennet in your letters to me several times? And I have been wondering about her since you had never mentioned any other ladies in letters to me. I cannot wait to meet her, but she sounds a bit formidable. Reforming Miss Bingley! I have been very scared by her ever since I met her two years ago, and Miss Elizabeth is not even a little bit afraid of her and even managed to turn her into a better person. I only hope that she will correct my shortcomings and reform me as well."

Mr. Darcy took one of her hands and said gently, "Miss Elizabeth is quite a few years older than you, and has always been self-assured, even when she was just a little girl of four or five years. She is very special and not at all intimidating. The two of you will become the best of friends, I am certain, and in time, you will learn to be as confident as she is. That is really all you need – confidence in yourself. You are already a sensible and well-educated young lady with many enviable accomplishments."

"Brother, you flatter me. I wish I had enough confidence this past summer…. I do not wish to think about that part of my life now when I am just so excited about our future. A sister! Pemberley will be a truly happy home when she comes to live with us, and soon after that, there will be little ones pitter-pattering about, and I cannot wait to spoil them!"

Mr. Darcy could not help but smiled a big smile with her. Imagining having Elizabeth at Pemberley and having their little ones filling the halls with laughter sounded like heaven to him. Both siblings talked about a felicitous future until it was time for Darcy to go to the lion den for tea.

The house party turned out to be much more tolerable than he had imagined. His uncle lost no time in letting it be known that Darcy was betrothed. He did so by talking to Lord Grosvenor quite loudly that Edward Gardiner, the fellow who built the townhouses that he so admired, was the uncle of Darcy's betrothed, and so Lord Grosvenor should make use of this connection to find out more about the building technology.

By the end of tea, all the ladies of the house party had had time to lament the loss of the most eligible gentleman and shifted their inquiries onto the second son and spare of Earl Fitzwilliam, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, who was kept from the house party by his duties in London. He had promised Darcy had he been able to come to Wentworth-Woodhouse, he would have vastly enjoyed watching Darcy squirm in the presence of all those female attentions. With the earl's lofty fortune, the second son would have quite an enviable inheritance – the estate of his maternal grandfather, which was worth seven thousand pounds a year. Nothing to Pemberley, but nothing to sneer at especially when the connections would still be excellent being the spare, and also when all the Earl's grandchildren were girls so far.

Anne de Bourgh, who was eyed with suspicion and wariness at the beginning of tea became quite the favourite when ladies young and old felt that the frail-looking lady was more disappointed than they were by Darcy's engagement to another and therefore deserved their compassion. They made Miss de Bourgh beg her mother to stay for the duration of the house party as she had made some friends among the fashionable set there. They seemed far more amiable than she had feared.

Lady Catherine, seeing her daughter coming out of her shell and enjoying herself, relented and allowed herself to be entertained; but everyone there noticed that her manners were much subdued and therefore much more pleasant. Many matrons wanted to pry her for information about Mr. Darcy's betrothed as it was soon known that she was acquainted indirectly with the favoured lady, but she would not let one word through her lips on this matter. Lady Catherine simply did not want to give this country upstart any consequence by speaking about her to these fine ladies.

Despite the rather congenial atmosphere of the house party, and no ladies with disappointed hopes made any scenes to spoil anybody's enjoyment - in fact, several tolerably brilliant matches among the ladies and the gentlemen who accompanied their families to the parties were to be announced later in the season thanks to the time spent at this house party - Darcy felt restless and impatient to go back to London to be with his Elizabeth as Mr. Bennet had written to tell him that the Bennet family would be spending Christmas at their London townhouse to accommodate Mr. Gardiner's busy schedule. He was also getting tired of fending off all the wild speculations from the young men in the party on why he would marry so far beneath him, and inquiries on the circumstances of the Bennet family.

He decided to take his leave a few days before Christmas using the excuse that he needed to go to Pemberley on urgent business. After thanking his Uncle and Aunt profusely, he left Georgiana with his Fitzwilliam relations who would go to town with her in the new year. He figured, if he hurried, he might be able to catch up with the Bennets and spend his first Christmas with his beloved.