Much anticipated:
Elizabeth smiled at Darcy, who sat across her in the dinning room. She was grateful for all he had done for her in the past weeks.
They were not alone. Mrs Bennet and her sisters happily chatted along with Georgiana and Emma. When Mr Bingley returned to Pemberley, he had brought along Mrs Bennet and her daughters.
Elizabeth and Jane were elated to see them. Elizabeth looked at her husband with a raised eyebrow.
He feigned ignorance about the surprise.
But she knew that unless he had written to Bingley inviting them, they would not come uninvited.
She was back on her feet and resumed her routine around the house. Jane and Darcy had been her pillar of support in her recovery. Jane was extremely happy when she saw how different the couple were, compared to her previous visit.
Darcy knew she missed her family, as she had not seen her mother and sisters for many months. He wrote to Mrs Bennet inviting them to stay at Pemberley. Bingley had agreed to the plan.
The days in Pemberley were so different with Elizabeth's family. Darcy was quite surprised to see Georgiana build a friendship with Mary. Their love for music brought them very close.
But he was growing tired of not seeing his wife enough during the day. She was with her sisters or Emma most of the time.
They established the same routine as before, sleeping in different rooms, after spending time together talking.
There were a few stolen kisses during the day, and Darcy was getting impatient for more. She did not know whether Elizabeth was ready to consummate the marriage. He knew she was still healing from the traumatic events of the past.
But as for Elizabeth, she did not have any inhibitions about spending the night with him anymore. She wanted to be his in every way and did not know how to communicate her feelings.
After a fortnight, Elizabeth's family left for Hertfordshire along with Jane and Mr Bingley. Jane hugged Elizabeth tightly.
"I hope you can forget everything, Lizzy. You deserve all the happiness in this world. And I can see your husband wants the same for you. Do not think about people who don't deserve your kindness."
The sisters had discussed a lot about Miss Bingley. Elizabeth was surprised how Jane had no mercy for her. She realised that Darcy was not the only person who felt so strongly about the issue.
Miss Bingley was sent to the Australian colonies after her trial ended. It was very tough for Mr Bingley and Mrs Hurst to accept the verdict. But they knew it could have been worse.
As they left, Darcy held Elizabeth's hand.
"Do not be sad, my dear. We can visit Hertfordshire soon if you like."
"Really? I did not realise that my mother has impressed you so much that you want to spend more time with her."
"You minx! Your mother speaks a lot, but she is not equal to my aunt. I used to get severe headaches in Rosings every year."
Elizabeth laughed.
Georgiana and Emma had enjoyed the company of Jane and her sisters, they were sad about their departure as well.
A couple of days passed, and Darcy took Elizabeth to the treehouse. It was a beautiful morning. Elizabeth enjoyed the breeze.
"Do you ever think about her Fitzwilliam?" She asked.
"About who?"
"Miss Bingley?"
"Why on earth would I think about her?" He asked in an irritated tone.
"I cannot stop thinking about her sometimes. I could see a lot of sadness in Mr Bingley's eyes. I cannot help but feel guilty."
"Look at me. You did nothing wrong. Maybe I should have told her openly that I had no intentions of marrying her. I always knew that she was trying to impress me, but it was not uncommon for me. I just chose to ignore her. She deserves no pity from you, Elizabeth. You may even look past the compromise, but you cannot forgive the evil schemes she planned with Wickham. Even today, if I do not know where you are in the house, it makes me so nervous."
Elizabeth was silent.
"There is one thing to thank her for."
"Thank her? Goodness for what?"
"For our union. I don't think how we could have married each other if not for the compromise."
It was Darcy's turn to be silent.
"Did I offend you in some way?"
"No! No! Elizabeth, you must understand that if not for you, I would never have married anyone else. Maybe after Bingley married your sister, we would have been in each other's company more often. I would have fallen in love with you."
He paused.
"I think I was already in love with you before the compromise. That must be the reason why I got so angry when I thought that your character was flawed. From the earliest moments of our acquaintance, I felt something for you, and the compromise changed everything. I was angry at myself for holding you in high esteem. It never occurred to me that it was love. But I know for sure that if I had proposed you would have rejected me. You did not have a good opinion of me. Did you?"
Elizabeth laughed.
"Good opinion, no. I think you hurt my vanity at the ball. It would have been easy for me to reject your offer of marriage. You always had a mask on, Fitzwilliam. I could not see beyond it as I do now."
"I sincerely apologise for that comment. I was in a foul mood when I came to that ball. Georgiana's episode at Ramsgate was tormenting me. I was dazzled by your beauty the very next day on Oakham mount. I did not even realise that day that you walked away from me in anger. I never remembered that comment till you mentioned it on our wedding night. You do not know how ashamed I was after that."
"I remember."
"I have changed a lot after you came into my life. You made me a better person in every way. My parents would have been so proud of the woman I have married, had they been alive." He said with emotion and pulled her into his embrace.
That night as a usual routine, Darcy and Elizabeth sat in her room for their tête-à-tête.
Their conversation involved a lot of topics. Elizabeth admired how intelligent he was and loved having arguments with him.
Darcy spotted a couple of swords made out of sticks on the table.
"Good God! What are these?"
"Oh! Please do not spoil our fun. We use them to play our pirate game. Emma and Georgiana love these."
"They look well made. You seem to have many talents, my dear. Now tell me, who wins in your game?"
"We let Emma win most of the time."
"Would you dare to play with me?" Darcy asked, picking one of the swords up.
"I will let you win as well." He said in a teasing tone.
"Oh! You do not have to be lenient with me." Elizabeth said. She took another sword and struck him. Darcy defended, admiring her strike.
Within a few seconds, they were circling the room, fighting and defending each other's strikes. Darcy could not help but smile at the picture of his beautiful wife. Her hair had opened up. Her curls were swaying in the air as she moved along the room.
"Easy, my dear. If your appearance was not so enchanting, I could fight better." He said, defending her strike.
"Do not distract me." Elizabeth said with resolve. She loved playing such games with the neighbourhood boys in her childhood and got reprimanded for it by her mother.
Elizabeth stood on one of the chairs, trying to match his height. Darcy laughed.
"You are making this night very interesting."
She continued to strike him. Engrossed in the act, she lost balance and fell off the chair.
Darcy immediately caught her, and they both landed on the bed.
Suddenly, she realised how funny the whole episode was and started laughing. She looked at her sword broken in half.
"Oh! God! Fitzwilliam, look at my sword. It looks like a ladle." She said, laughing. "I took this so seriously."
Darcy was lying right on top of her. He still had his hand wrapped around her waist.
The shawl she had worn lay on the floor. Darcy found her completely enchanting in her nightgown.
He touched her cheek gently.
"Elizabeth, you are so beautiful. I cannot begin to describe how you make me feel." He caressed her cheek. Elizabeth shivered at the intensity of his piercing eyes.
He captured her lips hungrily, and she felt it was very different from the previous kisses they shared. It was a kiss of longing and passion, and by the time they separated, both were panting for air.
He looked deep into her eyes.
"I am a man of self-control. But you test that whenever you are around me. It is going to take everything in me to leave you now. But I will do it if you want me to. Just tell me. Do you want me to leave?"
Elizabeth could not believe that he chose to ask her. She did not want him to doubt her feelings anymore.
Without a second thought, she pulled him back into another kiss.
Darcy did not need any other assurance from her.
As he had said, their night became a lot more interesting.