A/N:
KELLYO! it's the penultimate chaptero!
we didn't write this in pen...
lols I know! i'm just trying out my GRE vocabs :D
fanccccccccccyo I wonder if ye old english is on the exam?
mmm, maybe. And I kinna hope so because we tots got some epic practice with this here fic!
defo... i bet SMeyer's stuff woulda been better if written in old english
prolly. Lemons mighta been appropriate enough for her :P
well, i could understand the lack of smut with the characters she created, if she wrote it in elizabethan english
yeah, I could see that...but I still like our fic more better :D
you're totally gonna ace the grammar section :P
duhhhh :P
oh wait! but we can't forget about the awesomeness that is YOU READERS!
YES YOU! and the only way to increase your awesomeness? by leaving a review to become...A REVIEWER!
OUIWAY!
BPOV
The rest of the week dragged. My mother had been curious when she had seen Mr. Cullen dropping me off on Tuesday, but I brushed it aside by bringing up how Jessica and I had seen him in town a few weeks prior.
It was really not cause for elation nor concern on her part. At least, not yet.
I was anxiously awaiting news, all of Friday and Saturday as to the outcome of Mr. Cullen's talk with Lady de Bourgh.
Perhaps that is why the boisterous knocking at 2am Sunday morning did not wake me; I hadn't been able to sleep.
My father in his night clothes with a candle in hand led the pack of us to the main door to see who it could be. Certainly Edward hadn't been literal that he would come the second the issue had been resolved with his aunt.
Or had he been?
My breath hitched as my father creaked open the door. On the other side was no other than Lady de Bourgh herself.
Oh heavens.
"Mr. Swan," she huffed as if she were the one being inconvenienced by being woken up before dawn. "I desire a word with your daughter."
My father stood to the side, allowing the vile woman in. "Of course Lady de Bourgh. Welcome to our home at the ungodly hour of middle of the night." He replied snidely.
"When one's reputation is at stake, one does what one must." She snapped, twisting her head almost as if possessed to look at him. "Privacy, please."
My father nodded. "Of course, I appreciate the extreme concern you have for my children. However, as I have fourdaughters currently living at home please let me know which you would like to speak with so urgently. Unless of course it is my eldest who has married and now lives in Netherfield; if that is the case I'm sure you can arrive before dawn and wake their household as well."
I wanted to laugh and my father's bluntness but I held back in fear of further retaliation.
"Father, I believe she is here to see me." I announced, stepping forward. "Is that correct Lady de Bourgh?"
She was practically smoking like a chimney as she sneered. "Your rudeness knows no bounds, I notice."
"Neither do your manners. Perhaps it is you who was born into the improper ranking in life." I spat, walking into my father's study.
She huffed once more and I wondered if she was having trouble breathing with all of her unnecessary panting. "Miss Swan, as you well know my nephew, Mr. Cullen, is betrothed to my daughter, Jane."
I shut the door behind her and nodded. "Yes, I am aware."
"Then tell me why he should come to my home this afternoon, to break such an engagement?" She asked, as if I were the holder of all of the town's secrets. Her lips were flat-lined and nearly white with how tightly they were being held together.
"I cannot speak for him. Did you inquire as to his reasoning?" I retorted, holding steadfast.
"He would not say. He only said that he should follow his heart, instead of a 'mindless obligation'." She answered as if it were obvious. Her eyes shriveled and the glare she gave combined with her now pursed lips was frightening but only in the sense that a ghoul was. "Have you any idea why he might think this?"
"Again, this is a question for him. I do not speak on behalf of Mr. Cullen; I am not his speechwriter, however flattered I am that you think so."
She took a step closer, her voice dropping and for a moment due to the darkness, all I could see was the whiteness of her eyes. If she was attempting to come off as the most frightening creature to ever step foot in this study she needn't go further; the recognition was hers. "Miss Swan, it is the rumor about town that my nephew has been courting you. What do you say to this?"
"I say that a woman of your ranking should be too busy to be party to town gossip."
"Miss Swan, I will not ask you again and I demand you answer." She pushed, pausing only to wait for a response from me (from what I ascertained). When I did not speak, she continued to prod, this time asking outright. "Has my nephew been pursuing you and have you or have you not accepted a proposal of marriage from him."
"Of what business is this of yours Lady de Bourgh? Mr. Cullen is grown and you are neither his mother nor guardian. He nor I report to you or anyone in your cluster. The events of Mr. Cullen's life are none of your concern or consequence."
She snarled and sniffed the air as if a predator sniffed out prey. "Young lady, I am the only family he has left; the only person in this world he can turn to. With the passing of my dear brother I have come to love that boy more than you could fathom, and I will not have you marginalize that!" She bellowed, sucking in a breath at the admittance of actual emotion; of who it shocked more, her or I, I could not be certain. "Can you say that my nephew has proposed marriage."
"If that were true Lady de Bourgh, would he not have spoken to my father prior to the alleged proposal? He would have, and yet, he has not." I seethed.
"So you have no intention to marry my nephew?"
"I have no intention to marry anyone without my father's approval."
"Fine." She nodded, finally stepping back and moving towards the door. "Then I am satisfied."
"Good, I am glad that this incredibly unnecessary and rude display from such a highly regarded woman of your ranking was not wasted."
She let out a breath, throwing her hands up in frustration and made her leave without so much as a farewell. Well, so much for propriety and polite good-byes of the upper crust of society.
I sighed, glancing to my family who were all lined up on the staircase staring at me wide eyed.
"What was all that nonsense about?" My mother asked quickly. I let out an exaggerated breath and manuvered myself around the bodies on the stairs, making my way up to bed.
"Sometimes mother, one's private life is just that... private."
I shut the door of my room, knowing full well Jessica would be in momentarily, filling my ears with questions I would neither answer nor acknowledge. I shut my eyes, feigning sleep as I heard her creep into the room.
"Bella... are you awake?" I heard her whisper sweetly.
Instead of responding, I turned over and let out an exaggerated snore.
I had not been successful in falling asleep, despite having shut my eyes for hours. The sky was just turning from black to dark blue when I decided rest was a wasted effort. I rolled out of bed, wrapping myself in my robe and sliding on a pair of shoes before exiting the house without a single sound.
I needed my Alice. I needed her to tell me how to proceed and remind me that not all had been lost.
Because that is what I feared the most.
EPOV
A simple meeting with my aunt did not go as planned.
Would it ever?
She was rude and critical, going straight to my affections for Miss Swan, which I couldn't deny.
I would never deny anything for Bella.
I paced up and down the halls of Pemberley for hours, trying to think of the appropriate thing to say to Mr. Swan. I needed her to be mine; I needed to not wait any longer. Around dawn I decided I needed to ask Jasper; he would know the way to handle the man and how to make him agree.
But when I went across the field that morning, I saw the most lovely vision. Miss Swan, I was sure, a coat wrapped tight around her body as she moved toward me.
After quiet and calculated steps, I found myself face to face with her in the early morning sun. "Good Morning." I whispered, not sure this wasn't a dream.
"Mr. Cullen." She said softly, her voice belying some surprise at finding me in a field shortly after dawn.
I was a bit take aback by her formal tone and bowed slightly. "Hello." What was it about this woman that made me incapable of speech? "What brings you out this morning?"
"I could not sleep." She said, taking a small pause before she turned the question on me. "And you?"
I nodded. "The same." There was another heavy pause. "I spoke to my aunt."
"As have I." She lamented, her eyes falling to the grass, then trailing back up to meet mine. "She paid an early morning visit to my family and I."
Oh no. She'd changed her mind because of the old bag. "I am terribly sorry for any agony she's caused." I couldn't lose her; not when we were this close to having everything.
"She didn't, aside from my mother's incessant nosyness." She whispered, smiling a bit up at me. "She herself seemed in more agony than any of us felt." She mused, "Did you know there is a rumor around town that you, sir, are trying to court me?" Her smile turned into a wicked grin and I knew that I had been wrong.
A lazy grin spread across my face and suddenly things were right in my world. "Am I?" I asked, reaching for her hands.
"According to your aunt, it's a done deal." Her fingers threaded delicately with mine, and she squeezed.
I lifted her hands up to wrap around my neck. "Because everyone knows that you're mine."
"Is that so?"
I leaned down, brushing my lips lightly to hers. "So long as that is what you wish."
"I wish... for a better kiss than that. It has been far too long." She grinned, her small and nimble fingers lacing themselves through my hair.
I leaned down and kissed her fully, my lips pushing forcefully to hers as I released the stress of our situation. All of it flowed out of me and out of us in just this simple joining of our lips. She made me whole, she kept me alive and she was always going to be my love. Always.
"I love you forever." I whispered, resting my forehead to hers.
"As will I... if that is your wish." She told me.
I nodded, kissing her slowly again and losing myself in her touch. "I wish to have you by my side until the moment I die."
"A visit to my father is in order, in that case." She exclaimed sounding excited as she beamed up at me.
"Yes, it is." I whispered, resting my forehead to hers. "But first I must ask someone else."
Her eyebrows came together and her nose wrinkled. "Oh?"
I nodded, kissing her perfect nose. "Isabella, I've been completely, utterly and madly in love with you from the first moment I saw you at Netherfield. The months between then and now have done nothing to damper my affections; instead increasing them to the point where it would be unbearable to go any longer without you. Please, my Bella, will you be my wife?"
"Yes." She whispered, her smile beginning anew. "A million times, yes."
"Then, love, it doesn't matter what your father says. I will marry you, I promise." I kissed her gently, reveling in the thought of kissing these very lips whenever I liked forever. "Although, I can't imagine he would say no."
She shook her head in agreement. "Once he sees how elated you make me he will be offering to give me away." She laughed, "I assure you."
I kissed her again. "Then I am not worried."
"Though," Bella looked down, her voice smaller than I'd heard it in a very long time. "There is not much dowry alloted for my father to give you as there are four of us left to be married."
I curled my fingers under her chin, lifting her chocolate eyes to mine. "I have no need for a dowry, so long as I have you."
Her eyes searched mine, happiness pooling in them and her deep crimson blush rose to her cheeks. "I love you." Her lips pressed against mine gentle and I reveled in the serenity that gathered around us. "My Edward."
"Forever, my darling." I whispered. "Forever."