Chapter 26: February 1816
"How did you like your first ball Georgiana?" asked Lizzy as they were sitting down to breakfast the following morning.
"My feet are very sore today," Georgiana said with a little laugh.
"So are mine," said Kitty. "But come Georgiana, there must have been someone that you liked more than anyone else," she teased.
"I do not think there was," Georgiana said seriously. "Many of them were charming companions and a few of them dull ones, but I found nothing of particular note in any of them. I enjoyed myself very much and that is all."
Lizzy glared at her husband who was smiling triumphantly.
"Not even the gentleman who you danced with twice? What was his name?" asked Kitty mischievously.
"Not even him. I can't remember his name either and if you go on so Kitty I shall have to say something about you and Richard," returned Georgiana, half teasing half in earnest.
Kitty dropped her fork and bent to retrieve it.
Elizabeth looked at Darcy again, but his face was expressionless this time.
"Do not feel you must be hurried into or held back from anything by us Georgiana," she said, turning back to the girl. "You know we will always be very sorry to lose your constant society but that we will willingly," stressing the word ever so slightly for Darcy's benefit, "let you go when you find that one person who steals away your heart."
"Thank you Lizzy," Georgiana said, touching her hand lightly. "I don't want to leave home yet. You may rest assured brother," with a smile at him.
After breakfast, when the two younger ladies had gone to their separate employments, Elizabeth turned to her husband.
"You know that Richard is courting Kitty, do you not?"
"Yes, he showed me a letter from your father last night."
"And… do you approve?" a little hesitantly.
"I do as a matter of fact. Their temperaments suit very well. Richard needs a steadying hand and although Kitty is still very young, I think she can give him that. In any case, he is his own man and can make his own choice without my help."
"Since when was that your approach to your friend's affairs?" she asked teasingly, glad that he did not oppose the match.
"Since you taught me it was dangerous to do otherwise my love."
She tilted her head on one side and looked at him quizzically. "I never knew anyone who could take a correction as well as you. I think most men would have shrugged off my accusations as a woman's notions. What makes you so different?"
"My reaction to criticism depends on who it comes from and what it consists of. Nothing you said of my temperament was not the truth and every word you said was burned into my head and heart, never to be erased; so much did I feel and still feel for you."
She smiled tenderly at him. Then, more briskly, "Well, I must learn to watch my tongue better I suppose, or you may take some ill advice from me someday."
"I do not think that is necessary," taking her hand and holding it to him.
"Why ever not?"
"Because I love you just the way you are."
"That is no way to encourage me in my efforts to improve myself."
"I don't think you need improving," with a smile and a kiss.
Richard and Kitty were walking together in the conservatory of Darcy house. They preferred staying inside, where they were allowed to be relatively alone, to walking about the streets of London, where the rules of society would require a third person. They had been to see Cathy together and were now strolling about, talking quietly.
"You know I first saw you in the conservatory at Pemberley," Richard said.
"Yes, I remember it well. Your red coat was what first struck me. When I was seventeen nothing was more fascinating to me than a red coat. As I then thought was unfortunate and now am very thankful for, none of the soldiers I met took me seriously."
"I am grateful for that too."
She smiled at his emphatic tone.
"May I ask how old you are now?"
"Nineteen. And you?"
"Thirty-one. Yes, I have been a confirmed bachelor for some time. But soldiers and sailors often take longer to settle down than other men."
"I think you look much younger than that. I am glad you are giving up your commission to devote your time to Rosings. I think I could not bear to see you leave again. When you came home from Waterloo I understood clearly for the first time that there was far more to a soldier's life than marching and smart uniforms. You have risked so much for your country Richard, and although I would stand by you come what may, I cannot help but be glad it will never be asked of me."
"I hoped you would not think it cowardly of me. It was partly for your sake. Being a soldier's wife is very hard sometimes."
"You have proven your courage and your willingness to die for England quite as much as any man could, I think."
He looked at her gratefully and they walked on a little in quiet thought on both sides.
Kitty knew what she wanted to say, but it felt so very forward that she struggled to form the words.
"Richard?"
"Yes."
She spoke in a rush. "I don't want to wait until the end of the season. I wish for nothing more than for you and me and Cathy to be a family as soon as possible."
His surprised look changed to one of ecstatic joy. "Really, Kitty?"
"Yes, really."
He took her hands in his and looked into her blue eyes. "Well then... Catherine Bennet, my darling Kitty, will you marry me?"
"Yes," her lashes sparkling with joyous tears.
He held out his arms and she threw herself into them, laughing while the tears ran down her cheeks. He released her to cup her face in his hands. He looked at her questioningly and she lifted her face unashamedly to meet his lips in a long, loving kiss.
"Can it be true?" he asked. "You are really mine?"
"Heart and soul," she whispered. "Yours."
The wedding of Richard Fitzwilliam and Catherine Bennet was a simple but lovely affair, in the Longbourn church where her older sisters had been married, and their parents before them.
Mary's face had reddened as she introduced the new minister, Mr. Danber, to her sisters and Kitty had realized that Mary might have finally found her other half in the serious young man before her.
When she told Elizabeth of her suspicions Lizzy had said, "I fear for Mama. The fluttering had and spasms of joy at having all her daughter's married might prove too much for her."
They had laughed together, truly happy that their studious sister had found someone she cared for.
Kitty looked into Richard's eyes and pronounced her vows clearly in her sweet voice. His own vows were spoken in a low, quiet tone, the intensity in his eyes saying what his words could not.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were there, Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth and Darcy, Mary, Georgiana, and the friends and neighbors who had come to see the happy couple and admire the wealthy Mrs. Darcy's jewels. They were disappointed, for Lizzy wore none, and her dress was no finer than any of her sister's. This was Kitty's day and Lizzy would not draw attention away from her. Kitty was radiant, and Richard's eyes followed her everywhere she went.
That night Elizabeth prepared for bed in her old room at Longbourn. She looked out the window at the familiar yet strange view and thought of how many things had happened since last she stood there.
Darcy came in quietly and she went to him and put her arms around his neck. He returned the embrace.
"I was remembering our wedding earlier. I think everyone must, when they attend someone else's," he said.
"I was wondering what made your face so serious. You must regret your choice," she said teasingly.
His answer was not in words.
After a moment he said, "I think they shall be very happy."
"So do I." She paused. "But I think that you shall be happier still when I tell you a secret that I have been keeping for some weeks now."
He looked at her quizzically.
"Fitzwilliam?" Lizzy's voice was tentative. "Sometime next summer, William is going to have a sibling."
His response can be easily guessed. Let it suffice to say that it was well after midnight when Elizabeth and Darcy went to sleep.
The next day the various groups returned to London, except for Jane and Bingley who were to stay a week at Longbourn. Richard had purchased a modest house in Town, whither he removed with his wife and adopted daughter until spring, when he would fully take over the management of Rosings.
The Darcy and Fitzwilliam families met often and Lizzy saw with satisfaction how naturally Kitty blossomed into her new role of wife and mother.