Mr and Miss Darcy visited early the next day. Miss Darcy took Elizabeth's hand and burst out, "Oh, I am so happy," by way of greeting.
Elizabeth laughed and looked over to find Mr Darcy watching them happily.
The weather had improved and they were on the verge of walking out when Jane Bingley arrived. She greeted them all then turned to Mr Darcy and said, "Charles went in search of you this morning. He will be most disappointed he did not come with me." She hesitated, noticing something was different but not knowing what.
Elizabeth saw that the window in which she might inform her dearest sister of her engagement herself was closing. "We were just going for a walk, Jane. You must join us."
She had been on the verge of taking Mr Darcy's arm, but now took her sister's and they led the way to a nearby park. The rest of the party followed and soon heard Jane's cry of "Oh, Lizzy!" She turned and hugged her sister in the middle of the street, abandoning their walk and rushing back to the others.
Elizabeth followed slowly, watching the scene unfold. Jane congratulated Mr Darcy and exclaimed again how disappointed her husband would be to have missed this visit.
"And we shall be sister's." Jane took Miss Darcy's arm as Elizabeth reached them. She marvelled at the easy arrangement as Mr Darcy offered his arm and they began walking again, most agreeably paired off.
"I wish I could be certain of such a reception from the rest of my family." Elizabeth confessed, once they had walked ahead a little.
"Will they be displeased?"
"Surprised, most likely. My mother will... oh, you can imagine. I apologise in advance."
"You needn't do so. I have my own concerns."
She looked up at him, waiting for an explanation.
"Lady Catherine." He said simply.
"Oh dear."
"Do not think on it, Elizabeth."
She nodded in agreement, basking in the sound of her name on his lips.
"May I ask, will your father approve?"
"He will, though I must warn he will tease you more cruelly than I."
"He too will be surprised, I take it."
She was mortified at the truth of it. Her family's opinion of her intended was embarassingly inaccurate. "Yes, but he will see your worth. Any trouble he gives you will be in part revenge – for taking me so far away. An invitation to Pemberley and a glimpse of a library will bring him around."
"I can utterly understand how he might dread losing you. I know my... comments about your family, when we spoke last easter, were disparaging, but please know they will always be welcome in our home."
"Thank you. Your words upset me, in part, because they were accurate."
"No. I was entirely wrong to speak so. Will you believe I did not even think of my own relatives behaviour? And I certainly did not consider my own behaviour at all."
"I misinterpretted yours, so prejudiced was I against you. You had insulted my vanity, and from that point on I was determined to dislike you."
"I hardly made the task a difficult one."
"I was never so confused in my life. Reading your letter upended my understanding of my very self."
"I hope you have destroyed it. At the time of writing I thought myself calm and cool, but since then I have come to realise how bitter my words must have been. Your rejection, to take your turn of phrase, upended my very understanding of myself."
"I am ashamed to think of what I said then. Please know how I have long regretted it. The letter, I have kept, but it shall be burnt if you believe it necessary for the preservation of my regard. I suppose we both have reason to believe my opinions not entirely unalterable, but they are not, I hope, so easily changed as that implies."
"I do not imagine the change of your opinions easy, except by comparison to the change you affected in me. You were not incorrect in your opinion of me then and I can only assume you give me too much credit now. I was selfish and conceited, and you were a very efficient teacher. I only hope I learned the lesson, as I'm not sure I'd survive it again."
He was so very dear to her and she knew not how to express it, but felt she must try. "I cannot promise to never hurt you again, much as I would wish it. I can only say that I love you too dearly to wish for, let alone attempt, any change."
He would have reitterated his earlier sentiment, that she gave him too much credit, but he was too affected by her profession to speak.
When he did not reply she looked up at him and was arrested by the strength of emotion in his expression.
He took hold of the hand she rested on his arm, pressed his thumb against the back and his fingertips into her palm. She closed her hand around his fingers.
"You cannot know what that means to me." He found his voice.
"Yes I can. I have spent weeks trying to keep from hoping, convinced you could never renew your addresses. Whenever we met, you were kind and amiable, in hindsight I suppose you were courting me, but at the time I felt it to be exquisite torture, to truly appreciate you only when it was too late."
"Oh Elizabeth, I could not give you up, even when you declared I was the last man in the world you could be prevailed upon to marry."
"Oh, do not repeat what I said then."
"The memory is less painful every moment."
"I suppose it helps that you are in fact the only man in the world I could be prevailed upon to marry."
"Prevailed upon?"
"No," she laughed, "Quite the opposite. No amount of prevailing could convince me otherwise."
"I have no question of your constancy but I must admit to enjoying your reassurances, having so long doubted the possibility of your affection."
"And I enjoy the happy task of convincing you of the depth of my regard."
"By all means. In such a public setting I do not trust myself to attempt to convey the depth of mine."
"I look forward to another accidental meeting in Mr Bingley's library." She was amazed to hear the words come from her mouth and looked at him expecting shock.
He only looked pleased, if not inspired to mischief. "Perhaps when we're less likely to be interrupted."
Elizabeth laughed. "We could simply make the excuse that we couldn't find anything worth reading."
"Being in love themselves, they would have to forgive us."
"Or at least improve their library. Either way, only good can come of it."
"Indeed."
She could barely believe that they'd all but arranged a tryst. She was no less surprised when it actually occurred two days later. Jane was entertaining visitors when Elizabeth arrived, and she had no desire to interrupt, so she waited in the Library. She was amazed to find a book that interested her on the sparse shelves. Assuming she would be quite alone until Jane arrived, she kicked off her slippers and put her feet up on the sofa beside her. The fire was well stocked, courtesy of the servant who had shown her in, and it blazed now, making her warm and sleepy.
The book was interesting enough for her to take it from the shelf, but it couldn't keep her head from lolling onto the cushions.
Hearing something, she sat up and saw that Mr Darcy was quite happily sitting opposite, smiling at the sight of her dozing on the couch.
"I'm sorry," She righted her skirts and slipped her feet into her shoes.
"Don't apologise Elizabeth. If I were an artist I'd paint such a scene. As it is I suppose I'd not want to share the scene with another, no matter how talented a painter."
She laughed. "If you take the time to practise, Fitzwilliam..." She stood, brushed at her skirts to straighten them.
He stood up. "I've a lifetime to do so, after all." He took her hand, holding it with both his own, and kissed it. "These past two days have seemed interminably long."
She nodded in agreement. "Nieces and nephews and shops and sight-seeing; it's all poor competition," she inhaled sharply when he grazed the back of his fingers against her cheek.
"No competition at all." His voice was hoarse.
"No." She agreed, wanting to touch him but suddenly bashful. She raised her hand and held his hand against her cheek, turning just enough to touch her lips to his thumb.
He swallowed and she saw the muscles work in his neck and jaw. She reached out and touched her fingertips to his jaw.
He leaned into her touch, inhaling as if it would bring her closer. "Elizabeth."
She felt his breath against her face.
"I know your family call you Lizzy but it seems too small a name." He lifted his other hand to her other cheek.
"I don't mind. But don't take to Eliza."
"To say I have taken to to her would be an understatement, but I think I can refrain from using the name."
He was so close. Any moment he must kiss her, but she was too nervous to wait or initiate the contact herself. "You tease better and better Fitz."
He shook his head, smiling through his indignance, eyes warning.
"William?"
He looked uncertain, thinking.
"Fitzwilliam is my favourite." She whispered shamelessly.
"To hear you say it," he inclined his head, unable to express the effect, especially while she was so close, intoxicating him by every sense. He stroked her cheek adoringly. "How I love you, Elizabeth." He looked at her mouth but hesitated and she was relieved to discover that he was as nervous as she. "May I?" He asked.
She nodded only enough for him to discern it.
He kissed her tentatively, holding her face reverently, as if she were some sacred object.
Inadvertantly, she leaned into him, lifting her hands to take hold of his arms, to keep her balance, though the world seemed to spin and fade away when she felt his tongue against her lip. She opened her mouth to his as he slid his fingers back into her hair and pulled her head closer. The space between them felt as if it evapourated. She tipped her head and his arms slid down and around her body; she lifted hers to encircle his shoulders. Her hands pressed against his back and not half a thought was spared for propriety; the heat of his body, his breath, his touch, drawing her in.
"I'm sorry." He pulled away, though kept his hold on her.
She shook her head, running her hands up his back, his neck, cupping his face. "Really?"
He exhaled and rested his forehead against hers. "No. But I should be."
"Why?"
He took a deep breath, taking a stray curl between his finger and thumb. "Because time is going to move very slowly in the next few weeks and the last two days felt like ten. Now that I've tasted you," he shook his head, "I am undone."
"I am..." she nodded, a little dizzy, "I'm not an expert, but that seems to bode rather well for our marriage."
"Yes, but it's getting to that point I'm worried about."
She nodded, trying to slow her breathing. She put a hand against his chest to steady herself and felt his heart thumping beneath. "Your heart is racing almost as fast as mine."
"Almost?" He gave in and kissed her again, trapping her hands against his chest as he pulled her close again. This time he broke the kiss much sooner, and let loose his hold on her.
"Just as fast, then." She stepped away so that only her hand on his chest connected them. "I have always thought swooning a ridiculous show but I'm beginning to understand," she laughed at herself and let her hand drop to her side.
He looked away from her, letting his breathing slow down, "The imminent threat of interruption serves us well, I think. Though, I suppose, if we were to be discovered and made to marry immediately, I would soon get over it."
She laughed and sat back on the sofa.
He turned away.
"What's wrong?" She watched him, admiration tempered slightly by concern.
He turned back and sighed. "If I am not very careful I will merit you reproof for ungentlemanlike behaviour. Again."
She restrained a smile. "You are too gentlemanlike to accuse me of being unladylike."
He shook his head. "I would not wish you to feel any less for me. I could never regret affecting you."
"But you imagine I would wish you to feel less, to be less affected?"
"You don't know how much I am restraining myself." He sat in the chair opposite her. "Tell me, if I had asked for your hand weeks ago in Hertfordshire, what would you have said?"
"I don't know, except that it would not have been very fluent." She smiled. "I would have accepted you. I have loved you since... but it does not reflect well on me. What will you think?"
He moved to sit beside her. "Whatever I think will be a welcome relief from the realization that we could be man and wife by now."
"Since we met at Pemberley."
"Why would that concern me?" His expression showed how it pleased him – all his efforts to improve her opinion had worked.
"It seems, it sounds, so mercenary."
"Elizabeth," he waited till he turned to face him. "That morning in Lambton... I was only awaiting a sign from you, any reason to hope, and I would have asked you again right then."
It took a moment for her to register this. She smiled at the irony. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"What gave you that impression?"
"You said, I must have long desired your absence. I thought you were being polite."
"Surely you know me better than that."
She had to see the slight smirk on his face before she believed he was teasing – and self-depricating. He was too close to resist. She took hold of his cheek and kissed him, breathing in as if inhaling could bring him closer.
Though they parted, they hovered tantalisingly close to one another, just looking at eachother, trying to believe their good fortune to have found oneanother after all. So close to temptation, there was no resisting.
Bingley bowled in a moment before their lips met. "Darcy, I am so sorry to keep you waiting – ah, I see you didn't mind at all." He laughed and went to his desk. "Jane was entertaining the Whiteleighs and I didn't want to leave her to the lions."
"The Whiteleighs?" Elizabeth asked.
"It will be your turn in a few months."
"Timing is everything, Bingley." Darcy said. "Marrying at the end of the season has its perks. We can hide away at Pemberley for months without offending anyone."
Jane followed him in. "I'm so sorry I kept you waiting, Lizzy. Oh, Mr Darcy." Jane looked guilty and amused at once. "You will stay for tea?"
"Of course."