A/N: So sorry for the wait! It's been hard trying to figure out the proposal. I don't own the characters of course. I hope you enjoy!


Lizzie couldn't believe it when Mr. Darcy walked into the room. This was the second time that he had called upon her with no one else around. It was almost as if…and it finally hit her. No man stares at a woman to find fault. If he did that, then Jane would not get so many stares when she entered a room, in fact, if a man only looked at women because they were unattractive Jane would never be looked at all.

So if Darcy was staring at her, then that meant along with his attention to her… That Charlotte had been right. Not that she would ever admit it to her. She smiled up at him, "Mr. Darcy, please do sit down." Lizzie hardly knew how she felt about the man, but he clearly liked her, and she had been at her worst towards him.

Perhaps, perhaps he wasn't quite so bad after all. Mr. Darcy sat down and then jumped back up and started pacing. "Mr. Darcy is there something wrong?" She asked concerned.

Mr. Darcy shook his head, "I'm merely," he cut himself off and started again, "I want to say this right."

Lizzie smiled at him, while mentally chiding herself. This was the man who she herself had called proud and disagreeable? Clearly, she had held Jane to a kinder standard than Darcy. For he seemed more nervous speaking to her then she had ever seen anyone. "Mr. Darcy might I suggest, you tell me the topic you wish to speak to me about? I may be able to further assist you if I know what it is you wish to talk about."

Mr. Darcy's face flushed, "I was wanting to ask… " Then his voice dropped and started quietly muttering to himself. She caught the words "idiot", "coward", and "ask her fool."

Lizzie sighed softly clearly she had been quite blind to miss this, "Mr. Darcy might I make a suggestion? It's something that I've done with Jane that has helped her tremendously."

Mr. Darcy nodded, looking quite embarrassed and sheepish. Lizzie smiled at him softly, "Jane's shy temperament means that at times she has difficulty in conveying her words. One trick that we've used is having her pretend she's talking to me instead of whoever it is that makes her nervous."

Mr. Darcy raised an eyebrow, "But who would I use? And I never would have guessed that Miss Bennett would ever have needed to use such a thing."

Lizzie laughed at that, "Mr. Darcy she used it on Mr. Bingley, almost the entirety of their acquaintance." Darcy's eyes opened widely at that, "As to who to imagine me as perhaps Miss Darcy might be easiest, you seem close to Mr. Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam but as this is your first try hearing a female voice respond might be a bit jarring."

Mr. Darcy nodded and closed his eyes, "Dear Georgiana," Lizzie quirked her eyebrow at the fact that he was going with letter format but acknowledged the fact of whatever worked for him.

"For many months now you have been writing to ask me if I have found you your sister yet. Even after the events of the past year when you were at your lowest and I worried about you while at Netherfield. You still would write at the end of each letter enquiring had I met your sister yet? No, don't worry dear one, Caroline Bingley nor Cousin Anne are it.

Your hopeful to be sister has captivated me since the first time I saw her at the Assembly Room," Lizzie gasped realizing for the first time, what was truly happening, "it was further confirmed when I first met her at a party. She refused to dance with me but not in some insulting manner or as if trying to play games. Merely someone who knew her mind and did not wish to dance. In the months since meeting her, I suspect I've made several blunders I'll only be made aware of if I either describe every encounter to you or she accepts me and puts me in my place.

I never expected her to pop up in my life but she snuck up on my heart in a most unexpected way. Her eyes are captivating, she loves to read, and takes long walks. She has four sisters so will surely be able to be of great comfort to you as well. I'm in love with her." Lizzie strangled gasp broke Darcy from his concentration and he looked up at her, "Did you not realize it Miss Elizabeth?"

She shook her head softly, "I thought you hated me. From your comment at the Assembly Room to you always staring at me, or you're challenging me in discussions. I thought you despised me and my family."

The look on Darcy's face was heartbreaking, "No, no, no I never hated you. I have no idea what I said that makes you think I did. But I do remember that night at the Assembly Hall I was so tired. I had just come from comforting Georgianna after something truly terrible had happened to her. She had been so cruelly misled by Mr. Wickham that I was standing in that ballroom wondering whether I was doing the right thing for my fifteen-year-old sister, I mean Colonel Fitzwilliam and I can provide but I don't know how to protect my little sister's heart! I just wanted Bingley to leave me alone, I'd told him I would be out of spirits if he insisted I go."

Lizzie cocked her head, "Is that why you hate Mr. Wickham? He did something to Georgianna?"

Darcy nodded his head, "He tried to elope with her for her money. The stories that I heard being spread about me in Meryton weren't true at all, but there was little point in worrying about that. I was more worried about my sister until I started to get to know you and then opinion did matter. But I still seemed to mess up. You really didn't know?"

Lizzie sighed, "Charlotte suspected but I didn't believe her. I knew or at least I thought I did what your opinion of myself and my family."

Darcy sighed, "I will freely concede that Miss Lydia, Miss Kitty, Miss Mary, nor Mrs. Bennett are my favorite people at times. But neither is my Aunt Catherine and yet I still visit her on a yearly basis. Your family is very similar to mine, mine just have more titles with their names."

Lizzie laughed slightly at that, "That is an interesting point. So perhaps the better term is you prefer them in limited doses?"

Darcy winced, "Will I be in trouble with you if I say yes?"

Lizzie shrugged, "Why should my opinion matter so? Though if it truly does, then I will concede the fact that I myself sometimes wish for smaller doses of them."

Darcy seemed relieved, "Miss Bennett, I believe you missed a key point, I love you. I was trying to get up the courage to ask if you would be willing to…" And he seemed to lose courage again.

Lizzie smiled at him, "I can't understand how you could love me. I behaved awfully to you at times. Then you left taking an entire household with you. Perhaps if you explained, I might have a better idea on how to answer your unfinished question."

Mr. Darcy suddenly became a rambling fountain of knowledge"How could I not love you? You saw me as an equal and treated me as such. You didn't flatter me or try to agree with me on everything. You made me look at things from new angles new sides. Your eyes would just sparkle. In you, I found the woman that I have been searching for to be my helpmate. I left for Town because of business. I suspect your question about that being why did Bingley leave Miss Bennet. But I did not return because I could not. There was no reason for me to be in the area except to see you and unfortunately my business concerns required London to be where I was. Bingley left for business with Caroline and Louisa leaving because as I'm sure you suspected they disliked the match. In Town, Bingley asked for my opinion on the matter and I admitted that I wasn't sure they were both equally interested. Your sister appeared equally content no matter what was going on and Bingley has gone for several pretty faces before…"

Lizzie nodded slightly, "You doubted his consistency?"

Darcy shrugged slightly, "Yes, and there was the fact that I could not say for a fact that Miss Bennett was interested I truly hadn't paid much attention to the subject and Caroline insisted that she was not. I had no idea and was hardly eager to encourage Bingley the other way if Caroline was indeed right. But instead of standing on his own two feet and deciding to ask Miss Bennet… Bingley has been sitting in his townhouse basically in a temper over it since" Darcy rolled his eyes, "He's been slightly melodramatic about the whole matter acting as if there were armored guards separating them. Though if he would just get up and about he might have even seen Miss Bennet's visit!"

Lizzie snickered slightly at the frustrated visage Mr. Darcy put on, "I wasn't aware you had to deal with a frustrating friend as well as an upset sister. I might have been more sympathetic when I first met you."

Darcy smiled at her seeming quite happy at him making her laugh, "Miss Elizabeth, this conversation I will freely admit has not gone as I expected, but will you marry me?"

Lizzie froze, she kept forgetting about their little side topics that Mr. Darcy was there to propose. She didn't know how she felt about the man. But she did know that he took good care of his people and lands, unlike her father. He was respectable and admired her spirit and her knowledge. She didn't love him, not yet at least. But she could definitely respect him.

"Mr. Darcy, I will freely admit to not realize that you were interested in me until today. And while I may not be in love with you yet, you have every other characteristic I ever dreamed of for my future husband. So if you're willing to have a bride whose working on falling in love with, yes I'll marry you, Mr. Darcy."

The smile that lit up Mr. Darcy's face honestly made Lizzie start to fall in love with him a bit already. He strode across the room and reached for her hands softly. "Thank you, dear Elizabeth. You have made me the happiest man in the world today."

Lizzie had no idea what was next but she did know that her life would be an adventure with this man and she was perfectly content with that.