The Drawing Room Remembrance

The next morning, Elizabeth and Darcy shared breakfast with the Collins' and Lucases. Mr. Darcy made many pleasant comments about the woodland and inquired after the shelves in the closets which Mr. Collins happily gave a speech. After breakfast, Mr. Darcy was all set to leave, but noticed Elizabeth more radiant here talking to her friend Charlotte, than alone back at Pemberley.

Not wanting to deprive her of time to talk with another woman her age, Mr. Darcy decided to accept their offer and stay a little longer. Of course, Mr. Collins' speeches were not nearly as entertaining as watching Elizabeth converse with Charlotte across the room. In order to free his mind of her, he hastily turned to talk to Mr. Lucas who Darcy began to find was quite an agreeable man.

Their afternoon, however, was interrupted when Mr. Collins announced it would do everyone well to take a good long walk in the gardens and was delighted that Mr. Lucas wanted to join him. Knowing Mr. Darcy wanted time alone with his wife, Mrs. Collins and Maria Lucas decided to join them for a long and comfortable walk. Because Pemberley was quite a few miles from Rosings, Mr. and Mrs. Collins decided to insist upon Elizabeth and Darcy staying for a week or two. Elizabeth was very pleased with this notion, for it meant she would have more time to talk to Charlotte. And Mr. Darcy had a letter written back to Pemberley so that one of his servants may bring more clothes.

When Lady Catherine heard of this, she was not very pleased but still wanted to include them with a few more visits to Rosings.

After the Collins' and Lucases had left for their walk, Darcy and Elizabeth found themselves alone in the house.

Would you mind, William, if I stole a book from Mr. Collins' library to read?" Lizzy asked politely. Mr. Darcy smiled.

"Not at all, in fact, I believe I will steal one as well," he smiled and within a couple of minutes the couple could be found in the small drawing room both enjoying their books…or at least, Elizabeth was. Mr. Darcy, on the other hand, was captivated with his wife. She was sitting at the small table near the window while the sun shown in and illuminated her features. He sat on the couch, trying to read a very dull proverb book and keep his eyes from staring across the room toward his beloved Elizabeth who was extensively absorbed in her book.

At last, he set down his book, silently cursing himself for having no self control as to where his eyes decided to wander. Instead, he stood up and looked around the room. Elizabeth noticed her husband's restlessness from the corner of her eye and slowly put down her book.

"Fitzwilliam, I haven't seen you this restless since the day you proposed to me all those months ago," she chuckled, noticing that it was the same room he had proposed to her in and openly stated how much he admired and loved her.

"This room does bring back many memories does it not?" he whispered slowly while moving toward the mantel of the fireplace. Elizabeth smiled as she watched him clutch the mantel.

"Indeed it does, bad memories, but memories indeed." Mr. Darcy turned toward his wife and smiled, showing all his teeth.

"Can you believe that here we are so many months later, sitting in the same room as husband and wife?"

"I daresay it is a lot to take in," she grinned back, staring into his handsome face.

"And can you believe that now I may cross the room in quick stride, envelop you in my arms and kiss you, whereas before I could only hold my tongue and stare at your beautiful form painfully?"

"I do believe it," Elizabeth laughed. "But can you believe that I can say I love you?" Mr. Darcy smiled wider before moving toward her. Elizabeth slowly stood up as her husband placed his hands tenderly on her cheeks.

"Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth," he breathed before bending down and brushing his lips over hers. Elizabeth caught her breath as he kissed her softly before gently pulling away.

"Mr. Darcy you still have no idea how much that affects me," she chuckled. Mr. Darcy laughed and gently kissed her again.

"May I propose a walk on the old trail you and I once ran into each other during your stay here so many months ago?" he inquired, holding out his arm. Elizabeth smiled.

"My pleasure."

They spent the rest of the day, reminiscing over their past experiences and laughing with each other as they explored the gardens of Hunsford. The week at Rosings slipped by lazily. Elizabeth was finally able to play and sing during one of their many gatherings there and Darcy had unending pleasure of hearing her. He sat, still as a board, and stared into the excess room off to the side of the drawing room where Elizabeth sat and played, with a dreamy smile upon his face.

Elizabeth was also given more time to interact with her friends, and it pleased Darcy very much. At last the day came when Darcy and Elizabeth were to leave for home. They thanked the Collins immensely and gave their regards to Lady Catherine

Elizabeth agreed and reluctantly said goodbye to Charlotte and the others. Mr. Darcy was very gentleman like toward them as well as they stepped into the carriage and were off. During the ride home, Mr. Darcy couldn't help but notice Elizabeth hardly said a word. She simply gazed out the window sadly at the retreating parsonage. Indeed, she had come to love the company of her friend and she only hoped Jane and Mr. Bingly would soon be joining them at Pemberley. How she missed her family!

Mr. Darcy's hand gently found hers on the seat as she turned to look at him. Both of them said nothing as Darcy gently pulled his wife close and wrapped his arms around her while she closed her eyes and rested against him for the remainder of the journey.

While Elizabeth slept, Darcy stared out at the icy blue skies, hoping that the letter he had sent out the other day would be read quickly and a reply would be sent back as soon as possible. He only wanted the best for his wife, and he hoped his demands wouldn't be too much.

A/N: And I finally got this baby up! (phew!) I hope all of you enjoyed this chapter and I took into consideration all of your constructive reviews and edited it up a bit :) So yup, here is the next chapter, I really hope I did good with it, and once again…if anything seems off, please be sure to remind me :)

Anyway! Reviewer thanks:

October Skye: You are very right with the, "this doesn't make much sense" thing I didn't even think about that until you brought it up so I sort of changed it up a bit thanks for the review and I'm glad you liked it :)

Avanell: Thanks for another comment! Haha and once again, I am glad you enjoyed it :)

Courtney CS: Thanks for the comment! It always makes me feel good when people comment hehe :)

Early Blessings: Thank you so very very much! I'm glad you really liked it and thought I caught some of the Austen feeling hehe. It is kind of hard to write about Jane Austen time when you live in the 21st century! But thanks again :) and I will try not to use the same word twice right next to each other.

angelique 444: I sort of base my story on the 1995 version and the book, but I haven't finished the book quite yet, even though I'm close to finishing it :) I'm happy you thought I caught the Austen essence thanks so much! And thank you for telling me I spelled Pemberley wrong. I didn't even know. But thanks again for the comment and I'm glad you liked it :)

vhawk730: Thanks for the comment, and I'll try to post quickly but I'm writing a ton of other stories for people so I'm not sure how fast these chapters will be pumped out hehe but I'll try and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Once again, to everyone who is favoriting this story or adding it to their story alerts thanks so much! I really appreciate it!