The Bennet house awoke to uproar the next day, as Miss Bingley had somehow convinced some poor servant girl to walk to Longbourn to ostensibly return a forgotten pelisse that she claimed to be Elizabeth's. The disquiet began when Lydia and Kitty set eyes upon a pelisse so embellished that it could not possibly belong to any of the Bennet girls, not least Elizabeth with her simple tastes in fashion. And it certainly gained pace upon the discovery of a small note delivered at the same time and addressed to Mrs Fanny Bennet. Its contents was of such a delightful and yet unsettling surprise to Mrs Bennet that she was taken immediately to her bed upon the letter's receipt and opening. Her near constant stream of noise contributed greatly to the disquiet amongst the house's occupants. From her room, she requested Elizabeth's presence almost straight away after reaching the end of the missive.
"Elizabeth Bennett," she heard her mother say, drawing out all 6 syllables in a curious tone. Elizabeth could not place the mood behind it, but took a deep breath to settle herself in any case. Her mother was very effusive with any of her moods. "I knew you could not be so clever for naught."
Clever she indeed was, but it did not take an academic to understand what her mother was referring to. Undecided as to whether to admit to her news, she opted to hedge her bets - whatever her mother had read was certain to have been penned by Caroline Bingley and it was unclear what fabrication she would have made in her anger and upset.
"Thank you for the compliment, mother." She said quietly. "If I may, I have reason to believe that Miss Caroline Bingley is the author of your letter, and such a response it has raised in you has me dying with curiosity."
"Indeed it is from her. See, such a brilliant girl."
Lizzy made a noncommittal sound and bit back a smile at her mother's praise. Whilst she wished her own efforts and merits would garner the same such enthusiasm from her mother, she had half expected to be locked away for her wanton behaviour and quietly accepted the much lesser of two evils.
"Well," Lizzy pressed rather impatiently. "What does she say?"
"Oh, that you have used your manifold arts and allurements to snare her intended from behind her back." Lizzy giggled at the turn of phrase. "She requests my assistance in encouraging you to cease and desist with her Mr Darcy. For she writes that they have had a clandestine engagement since her brother met your friend's brother at Cambridge." At this, Lizzy rolled her eyes and snorted.
"Elizabeth, that is not very ladylike - how many times need I remind you?"
Lizzy stared her mother down for a full five seconds before apologising reluctantly. "A clandestine engagement - I do not believe it for a single second. Fitz-" Elizabeth winced, "Georgiana would have mentioned it."
"Well never you mind, my darling," Mrs Bennet said softly, her voice full of maternal pride. "If he has made you an offer and you have accepted, which this Miss Bingley so clearly believes to be the truth, then you need not worry about any understanding - fabricated or otherwise - that exists between him and any one else."
Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief and felt her face contort back from hurt and anger to calm at her mother's soothing words. She had not realised how devastated she would be at the idea of Mr Darcy having any other understanding with anyone else.
Her mother had seen all of the confirmation that she needed in her expressive daughter's face to set her next course of action. In Elizabeth's look of jealousy and subsequent relief, she understood that Elizabeth had somehow managed to gain the attention - and interest - of the gentleman in question. Happy was the realisation for Mrs Bennet that her daughter appeared to esteem this Mr Darcy a great deal. Fanny Bennet felt a lump form in her throat, and a tear rise to her eyes.
"You are not indifferent to him, then?" She asked pointedly. "That is to say, he has not set his cap upon an unwilling recipient?" She choked through the sudden swell of emotion.
"Not at all, mama. I love him. He truly is the best of men - kind, amusing, handsome, well-read, he takes ever so good care of his sister - and his estate - and he-"
"Yes, thank you, I understand well enough. You do not need to extol every one of his virtues. In light of the letter's contents, the less said about your admiration for that man before you are married, the better. I should very much like to move on."
Elizabeth had unwittingly increased her mother's cause for concern in one aspect of the picture that Miss Bingley had painted. Given the apparent mistruths of the rest of it, she had not taken seriously the lewd writings about how her dear Elizabeth had been set upon by the great man in question and her reputation thoroughly besmirched. Mrs Bennet thought very ill of Caroline Bingley for the nature of her writing, indeed this letter would not survive to be read by any of her daughters. She did not want them getting any ideas about anticipating their own nuptials as was described in detail on this page. It was truly scandalous. She wondered at just how disappointed Miss Bingley must have been to write something so graphic about a subject which an unmarried gentlewoman of her circle should not understand so intimately.
"I shall spare you the details of this rather unpleasant letter, Elizabeth. But I must know the truth on a certain aspect so I shall know how to act."
"That sounds all very serious mama."
"The accusations herein are indeed very severe. I need you to tell me the full nature of your connection to Mr Darcy, including and especially what may or may not have transpired yesterday afternoon."
Elizabeth had the good grace at least to blush.
"He became known to me at the end of my visit to Ramsgate, when an accidental friendship with his sister forged the connection between us. I believe he felt himself above my station at first, indeed our first meeting was anything but pleasant. But later, and at his sister's request, he invited me as a particular guest to their estate in Derbyshire." She recited the particulars of her stay, not leaving out how he had unwittingly compromised her on the cliffs of Eyam, but that given he was unconscious at the time and no one but their families had seen, the party had decided to not act upon it.
"To not act upon it? Really, Elizabeth. You could have saved us from the precarious entailment we find ourselves in by encouraging a forced marriage."
"Mother, I did not love him then."
Her mother gave her a weary smile. "Marriage is not always about love, my dear."
"Even so, I would like my husband to at least not directly resent me. In any case, he did indeed ask for my hand at the end of my stay, once he sensed that my feelings had caught up to his own. I was overjoyed to accept, and we came back to Hertfordshire so that he could do the proper thing and ask papa for his permission and his blessing."
"You mean to say that Mr Bennet has known about our good fortune since the beginning of the week? And you both kept it from me?" Her voice reached a new level of shrillness at the thought of being intentionally left out of such monumental news.
Lizzy cursed her lack of tact. "Yes, well papa wanted to get to know Mr Darcy before we made any announcements which could not be taken back."
"But you could have told me. " Lizzy gave her a challenging look. Of course this was the reason for her mother's upset. Not that her daughter had been compromised on more than one occasion, but that Lizzy hadn't told her about any of it.
"You see, you do so enjoy sharing happy news mama, which precludes the intention of keeping this a secret."
Mrs Bennet heard the truth in Elizabeth's words and for once did not have a comeback.
"But we digress, you asked about the events of yesterday. And allow me to preface that Miss Bingley has had her designs upon Mr Darcy for some years, it would seem. So she is likely to have embellished any perceived wrongdoing on my part by a great deal. However, I am too sensitive to my own shortcomings to not imagine there is a degree of truth in what Miss Bingley has written."
"Elizabeth," her mother cautioned, "you are prevaricating."
"Yesterday afternoon, my dear Georgiana suggested a game of sardines. You remember, we used to play it as children many a time. And during the round where I was chosen to hide, Mr Darcy managed to find me before the others. You can imagine, an engagement born from true affection and admiration on both sides, we were overjoyed to have some privacy. But the privacy did not overwhelm common sense, and so very little untoward happened. We did share some kisses, but nothing more. I suggested he should leave before we were found alone, which he saw the sense in. I stress again that we are engaged - happily so - and so no one was at risk of an unhappy marriage, or unfulfilled expectations and ruined reputations should we have been discovered. But we were not."
"My dear, brilliant girl," Mrs Bennet exclaimed. "I do not know how you have managed it, but to have captured such a rich and handsome gentleman and ensured he may not stray before your wedding. Your skills in the art of allurement are practically occult."
"I do worry for his reputation. I wish there were no cause for rumours. His name is very important to him."
"It will soon be your name too, Elizabeth." A wide grin faded onto the girl in question's cheeks at this reminder. "One final question, how did Miss Bingley come to find out about your attachment, if it was not as she has written here?"
"She noticed the coat that Mr Darcy had left to keep me warm," Elizabeth admitted. She gnawed her lip. "And that his tie had been rearranged when he left to go search the kitchens, where it was warm."
"Elizabeth!" Her mother's tone was caught halfway between admiration and reproach. "I do not believe for a single second it was the heat of the kitchen that caused him to remove his cravat."
"You have heard my sister's appraisal of him - and you yourself have seen him - I am sure you can sympathise that it is hard to retain composure when confronted with such handsomeness," Elizabeth spoke before her brain had a chance to catch up with her mouth. Her mother harrumphed unhappily.
"Composure you shall retain until you are married," she said, flatly. Their was no room for disagreement. "And soon."
"I am very amenable to a short engagement." What could have been a complete nightmare had in fact worked very well in Lizzy's favour. If it accelerated her journey to becoming Mrs Darcy, she was grateful for what had passed. Although there was the matter of what to do with Miss Bingley. She voiced her concern to her mother.
"Perhaps I will pen a rejoinder to Miss Bingley, reminding her that I now hold a document that would be frightful for her reputation, and damaging to her relations, were it to be circulated. Yes, that will work well for winning her silence on the matter."
"Mama, you are quite the schemer. Far be it for me to discourage any unpleasantness towards the lady in question. She has been frightful to me in the short time we have been acquainted."
"Yes well, whilst you are still under your father's protection, you are also under mine. And I will not have anyone threatening my daughters as Miss Bingley has so flagrantly done."
Elizabeth felt the warmth of the familial protectiveness settle in her gut, and she made her way to Mrs Bennet's open arms and melted into her comforting embrace. Her mother fussed her hair a little and then spoke in a wistful tone.
"I will miss you when you are gone all the way to Pemberley, my dear."
It was unusual for Elizabeth to receive her mother's open affection, so she felt a small lump rising in her throat. She held her mother a little tighter
"I will miss you too, mama." she was surprised at the truth she felt as she said it.
The quiet contemplation was shared by the two for a few minutes, before her mother had calmed her nerves.
"I suppose now is as good a time as any to warn you what to expect with regard to your marital duties-"
"Mama," Elizabeth squeaked. It was one thing skirting around the topic to remove her mother's cause for concern, but it was another entirely to talk directly and openly about marital relations with her embarrassing and overenthusiastic mother. "I am well-read, you do not have to concern yourself."
"Do not think you have escaped any reproach for your wanton behaviour, my dear. And just because you and Mr Darcy are so seemingly compatible when it comes to kissing, it does not necessarily follow that you are an expert in begetting heirs."
The thought of begetting heirs falling from her mother's lips stunned Lizzy into silence.
Mrs Bennet took advantage of her daughter's uncharacteristic silence to launch into the particulars of what Lizzy could expect on her wedding night. In short, she would be expected to submit to her new husband's wants and desires, and should expect no small amount of pain in so doing. It may or may not improve over time, but one sure fire way to delay a husband's advances was to fall pregnant and earn a nine month break.
Such a romantic sense of the whole affair, Lizzy thought, and to what end, birthing five girls?
"Thank you mama," Elizabeth muttered, a little traumatised. She resolved to write to her aunt and search for a particularly instructive book in her father's library that she had once found on the top shelf.
"My child, on the precipice of becoming a woman. Such joy and sorrow all parcelled together."
"Let us focus on the joy, which will be greatly accelerated by reading the banns. Perhaps we may even use Mr Bingley's hospitality to repurpose to an engagement ball at the end of the week? Having announced it so proudly, we may perhaps be married before the month is out."
Elizabeth smiled demurely and Mrs Bennet let out a squeal of delight at the prospect. A daughter so well married, and with that the prospect of so many more eligible gentlemen for her other daughters. The fates had been very kind to them indeed.
"Now, I must speak to your father," Mrs Bennet said, thrusting the letter from Caroline Bingley into the folds of her dress for safekeeping. Elizabeth released a small mou of disappointment as she understood that her curiosity was not to be satisfied in so far as the contents of the letter were concerned. "And then you must aid me in dressing to visit Mrs Phillips - oh to see her face! You - engaged to a Netherfield guest!"
Lizzy let out all of the pent-up anxiousness into a carefree laugh, and rushed downstairs to send a note to Georgiana and ask for her brother's presence at Longbourn with all due haste.
~.~
She needn't have sent a letter, it transpired, for Mr Darcy had set out for Longbourn to call on her - and he was impolitely early again. He had good reason to want to avoid Caroline, so he and Georgiana had awoken early and rushed their breakfast. Mr Bingley had once again proven himself to be an early riser, and asked if he may accompany his friend to Longbourn. He could not remember the last time he had passed a day so enjoyable as the previous, even if it had ended somewhat uncomfortably. Besides, he felt the need to apologise to the Misses Bennet for the behaviour of his sister.
Mrs Hill apologised to the men at the threshold for the uproar they arrived to. Both sheepishly began to apologise for the early hour of their arrival in way of forgiving the chaos behind the door. Elizabeth came to their rescue and invited them into the parlour where they met the eldest Miss Bennet.
Mr Darcy let out an audible sigh of relief upon seeing Elizabeth's welcoming smile. He had spent most of the night before in fits of wakefulness worrying whether he had been too forward with his desires, and whether she would still have him after his missteps. The rest of the night had been spent dreaming somewhat explicitly about the forbidden course of events he wished had transpired during their seclusion under the stairs. Suffice to say, he was not feeling his most rested and cheerful on their way to Longbourn. But one look from Elizabeth allayed his fears and concerns, and he cheerfully strode to her side when she asked the other members of the party to excuse them both, for they had matters to discuss.
"I think it best if you remain in the same room as us, after yesterday," came a challenge from Georgiana of all people. It was met with mirrored blushes from the couple.
Mr Darcy grumbled his acceptance and they both found some small privacy by a plant in the corner. Georgiana, Jane and Mr Bingley started an animated conversation about the card game that Jane had taught the Hursts when they had all been otherwise occupied. It wasn't long before they were actively learning the game.
Mr Darcy and Elizabeth both began to speak at the same time.
"Fitzwilliam I must apologise-"
"Lizzy, I am so overwrought with guilt-"
They chuckled softly and tried again.
"You have nothing to apologise for. I am ashamed of my wanton behaviour. Upon reflection I played the part of a siren, what with how I lured you into my lair."
"You are indeed uniquely designed to appeal to me in every way."
She felt warm. He was definitely flirting with her now. She tried to remember that there were others in the room who could overhear the conversation, and relayed her pleasure at his compliment with a flirtatious smile.
"Did you receive my letter?" She asked. He shook his head. Elizabeth grunted softly, unable to contain her frustration. She paraphrased the contents of Caroline's letter to Mrs Bennet. Mr Darcy veritably growled at the news of Caroline's interference. Elizabeth placed a calming hand on his chest to remind him that they were not alone. She felt his heartbeat slow back to normal, and he felt his stomach drop with the pleasurable reminder of her touch. When she continued to mention the subsequent acceleration of her parent's actions, she did so in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. He could hear and see her wide grin, and correctly deduced her excitement for the rest of their connections to know the happy truth.
"I should go to your father," he said softly. "There are many items I need to see to before we start planning our happiness. The settlement, for one - I should go to my lawyer in Town tomorrow to finalise the drafts I made whilst you were in York. I should like all of the steps to be completed in the proper order."
She blushed at his presumptuous behaviour in getting a settlement together before they had come to an understanding. "But we were not then engaged."
"Our coming together happened more rapidly than I expected, but I knew long before then that I wanted you and you alone to be my wife, Elizabeth. I wanted to be prepared for any outcome."
"And then there is the matter of writing to my family - and yours - to inform them ahead of the papers. It would not do for it to come as a surprise. My family have expectations regarding some of my cousins and distant connections who they had in mind for me."
"Yes, I believe all of mine will hear from my mother before the day is out. Fortunately I have already dispatched of the one cousin who was bold enough to state his intent."
Mr Darcy's colour rose, as did his volume.
"You have been proposed to before?" His tone was accusatory. The others turned round and gazed curiously at the pair. Elizabeth described the ordeal of her first proposal to the rapt and amused attention of her captive audience.
"But you should be thankful for him, Mr Darcy," she teased. "For had I not been in need of an escape in the aftermath, I would never have travelled to Ramsgate with my Aunt and Uncle, and we may never have met."
"We would have met through Charles," he replied urgently, mostly in reassurance to himself. "And I would have found you just as captivating then as I do now." The last was said with a press to her hand.
"If you had managed to keep your pride from getting in the way," interjected Georgiana. "A condition of whose satisfaction I am not convinced, given the shape of your conversation when you first met Lizzy in Cliffsend."
"An act for which I will forever repent, no doubt."
"Was my friend terribly rude, Miss Darcy?" Bingley enquired, enjoying being able to unsettle his usually staid friend.
"Oh Mr Bingley. He managed to offend Elizabeth twice and he was not in her presence for above fifteen minutes."
"How dreadful-" he began. However, the teasing of her beloved raised a great protectiveness in Elizabeth's bosom.
"Let us not rake dear Mr Darcy over the coals for prior behaviour that was stimulated by a great deal of unpleasantness and not at all reflective of his character. For all's well that ends well," Elizabeth quoted. Mr Darcy was overcome, to be so loved and so cared for. He could hardly speak, but Elizabeth filled the space between his words.
"In any case, I am delighted to have met dear Georgie in the wash of Mr Collins' unwanted proposal." She turned to her friend before continuing. "For you recovered me from myself almost immediately upon our meeting."
"If I had done you such a service, I am certain you have more than repaid it to me, Lizzy."
The Darcys and Elizabeth shared a collective moment of reflection, for none of them knew what would have become of Georgiana had Elizabeth not been there to protect her from Mr Wickham.
"In any case, I am grateful for all of the events of the past year, for they have led me to this juncture." She looked at Mr Darcy wistfully, contemplating their future happiness. He raised an eyebrow and she coloured to realise she had forgotten one event she wished had not happened. He saw the dawning of realisation in her eyes and decided to toy with her.
"All of them, Miss Elizabeth? Are you quite sure?"
"Excuse me, Mr Darcy. Your accident and the malaise it gave us all in the aftermath is most certainly the exception to the rule." She gave him a nervous and heart-wrenching smile.
"I am quite satisfied, thank you ma'am." Her resulting smile was anything but timid. The air seemed to warm around them by a small amount, such was teh heat in their affectionate gaze.
Noticing the lull in the conversation, Jane pulled the other two back to their game.
"I want to reassure you that you need not feel unsettled by my cousin, Fitzwilliam. He could not touch me as you do, even were he to try," Elizabeth stated. "In fact, I do think my father referred to him at the time as a pitiful imbecile."
"You are too kind to me. My jealousy is petty and it will not linger for long."
"Let us focus instead on the happiness that is due to us next weekend. For I believe Mama would like to repurpose Mr Bingley's soirée as an engagement ball, and I am inclined to agree with her in this matter. So I would very much appreciate your swift resolution of the outstanding barriers to our public happiness."
"Would that I could remove them all today, and that we could be husband and wife tomorrow."
"Nothing would bring me more joy." His answering press to her hand communicated his deep happiness more clearly than his words ever could.