Where Love Resides
Sometimes, life throws you a curveball and how you act upon it may forever alter your life. There are no villains, yet circumstances may leave a trail of broken hearts. Whenever did an engagement period run smoothly? Enters canon by the time of the second proposal... Rated: Chaste
Note: All chapters will be uploaded momentarily. 68 pages, 25k
PS: This story was inspired by a song called Where Love Resides, the feel more than the lyrics as it is in most cases with me. There are more than one song with this title, if I have raised your curiosity, it is the version on YouTube, song written by Silya, sang by Christel Alsos.
https/youtu.be/0cBCA59Z8XE
Pinterest: https/pin.it/3yyF2AG
Chapter 1 When the Sky Falls Down.
Chapter 2 No Sound Within.
Chapter 3 Where Love Resides
Chapter 4 Black Rainbow.
Chapter 5 When It Hurts.
Chapter 6. Hellfire – Burning Heart
Chapter 7 Dive Into The Light.
Chapter 8. Be Still My Heart.
Chapter 9. Through to the Other Side.
Chapter 10 Soar In These Colours.
Chapter 11 Point of View.
Chapter 12 Epilogue.
Chapter 1 When The Sky Falls Down
Light snow was falling from the sky, erasing wrongdoings from summer and spring. The blackened rainbow should have alerted him, there is no such thing as erasing wrongdoings. He had never seen such colours, blue clouds and a black rainbow...
Not at all like the star that was shining brightly in his soul. He knew what he wanted. He would go as far as needed for as long as it took. He felt elated, there was still hope!
XxX
Elizabeth was tying the laces on her sturdy half-boots. Blushing at the moment her stocking-clad foot left her house slipper and delved quickly into her walking boot. He should not have looked, he was not a gentleman. A fact they had established months ago at the Hunsford parsonage.
She was taking her time, Charles and Miss Bennet had long since walked out of Longbourn's front door. Could she be stalling them on purpose to afford them some privacy? A fanciful notion but one was allowed to hope.
Finally, she was done and rose to take his arm and pulled him onwards. Away from the cacophony that pervaded the Bennet household, towards the tranquil lane.
They strolled out the door in the same moment the backs of Mr Bingley and Miss Bennet disappear around the bend at the end of Longbourn's driveway. They had set a brisk pace spurred from the excess of enthusiasm they both seemed to possess. All smiles but how much depth of feeling? He better not voice that thought out loud. Comments such as this had gotten him into trouble before, he must watch his tongue.
He smiled and looked down at her. She was a fierce being for such a lithe frame, had him on his toes for most of their interactions. He could not let his guard down, not yet, not until they were wed before God and the Meryton congregation. If he was so fortunate as to get her consent to the scheme.
He was jumping ahead of himself, his mind seemed intent on taking her acceptance for granted both in an awakened and in a slumbering state. Their previous dealings should have taught him otherwise but his heart was filled with hope after his aunt's revelations.
Lady Catherine had descended unannounced on Darcy House with the intent of being helpful and she had been but not in the sense she had hoped.
It had not appalled him that Miss Bennet had thought marriage to him would hold such advantages she would have no cause to repine the derision of society. His aunt had made her sound like a mercenary fortune hunter which he knew for certain she was not. When Miss Elizabeth had refused his aunt a promise of never entering into an engagement with him, he had been confident she had changed her mind about him. Miss Elizabeth Bennet of April would have given Lady Catherine the promise with some additions of her own. The last man in the world...
Her soft voice jolted him out of his reveries, she was thanking him. His mind reeled before he left her an answer that could not be misinterpreted. "For yourself alone..." he had sorted out the Bennets family troubles and bore the mortification with equanimity.
She glanced up at him, those dark eyes glittering in the morning sun that was drying up the slick path.
Her eyes returned to the ground, he had to speak, gain her attention, reverting her gaze at him.
"You are too good to trifle with me..."
He paused for too long, she jumped at his invitation and spoke.
"I am not the kind of female who would torment a respectable man which is why I release you from your obligation towards me."
Miss Elizabeth resumed her steps, she gained several yards on him before he had the wherewithal to follow. He hastened his long strides to catch up.
Release him? He did not want to be released... He wanted to be bound to her for all eternity. Heart, mind, body and soul! She must still find him abhorrent, the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon to marry.
The blasted bonnet the genteel ladies were required to wear. He could not gauge her meaning when he could not read her expression.
Obligation, she had said. A duty, a chore, a burden... Had she thought of herself as a burden to him?
"My feelings and wishes have not changed since spring but I came here carrying some hope that yours might have altered. If not, do not utter another word. You can rely on my silence, the subject shall be closed forever."
"How can your sentiments not have altered? I am Mr Wickham's sister! How could you stomach being connected to the reprobate through family bonds?"
"I can tolerate Mr Wickham and suffer much worse to have you by my side. He could have become my brother last summer. It is not like I would have denounced my sister because she married a louse. I can never permit him to Pemberley in lieu of Georgiana's wishes but your sister would still be welcome with all your family.
You are correct, however, my feelings have altered. With time and understanding, I have come to respect and cherish you much more than I did at the parsonage in Hunsford... By you, I was properly humbled. Seeing myself through your eyes made me realise that I had become a man not even I would like to recognise. My parents would have been disappointed had they known what I had become..."
"I doubt that, Mr Darcy. How can any parents lament a son who looks after his sister and his legacy with such devotion."
"I cannot..."
Elizabeth halted and turned towards him, finally, he could gauge her reaction.
"I cannot release you because you are lodged in my heart, buried in my soul but I will remove myself from your company if that is what you want."
Her wide dark eyes flickered, her mouth was slightly agape. He was so close he could hear the rush of air that left her as she whispered:
"I do not want you to stay away..."
A crimson colour overtook her cheeks as she continued.
"I do not want you to leave. I harboured some hope your feelings had not changed because mine has. I thought you might have aided the recovery of Lydia because of some sense of exaggerated duty. My aunt mentioned something to that effect in her letters. That you thought yourself responsible for Mr Wickham's actions because you did not reveal his libertine ways when he entered the Meryton society. I assure you, Mr Darcy, that the louse must own to his faults and take full responsibility for his situation."
The elevation he felt would be impossible to put into words. Rapture and peace combined with a state of heightened senses where nothing escaped him. Elizabeth once again studied the ground, obviously embarrassed. She had a shyness that was nothing but endearing.
"Elizabeth," he whispered to gain her attention. "I am pleased beyond words. Would you do me the great honour of accepting my hand?"
She nodded, at a loss for words he, for once, did not suffer. Instead, he unburdened his heart of all the thoughts that had churned in his mind since that disastrous April day at the Hunsford parsonage where she so vehemently had rejected his suit. She made some admission of regrets she held but she needed not. She had uttered nothing he did not deserve...
The lovers walked far beyond their intended stroll. Expounding upon their lessons learned, sharing their innermost thoughts and deciding to keep their understanding private until the next day where Mr Darcy would ask Mr Bennet's permission to marry his favourite daughter.
Mr Darcy could only relish the thought of protecting their understanding. He was in no state to speak with any eloquence to Mr Bennet. Had he felt less, he might have been capable but as it was, he relished in the heightened state and clandestine knowledge.
XxX
Mr Bennet had little to interject towards Mr Darcy's suit, other than he wished to speak to his daughter before he gave his final consent.
Elizabeth was summoned to his study by a cautiously optimistic Mr Darcy.
After Elizabeth had extolled upon Mr Darcy's virtues, the service he had rendered their family, ending her tirade with a heartfelt declaration of love, Mr Bennet caved and offered both his consent and his felicitation.
Mrs Bennet was in raptures, the younger Bennet sisters were stunned speechless while Mr Darcy felt a state of contentment, never before experienced, descend upon his person.
Elizabeth was finally his!
A double wedding was quickly agreed upon. Even the ceremony, the two sisters wanted to share on their special day. Probably because neither wanted to be left behind at Longbourn by the other.
