Author's Note: I hope this explains a bit more about the Gardiner's role in keeping Elizabeth and Darcy apart. I may need to revise chapter 1 to make it clearer that they were not to blame.

Chapter 4

The next month passed quickly. Darcy and Elizabeth still saw each other every day and Elizabeth continued to teach Georgiana what it meant to be the mistress of an estate. At times, Mrs. Reynolds had to help her learn how to scale what she did at Longbourn to fit the size of Pemberley.

However, in deference to their courting, Darcy and Elizabeth began to spend a bit more time on their own. They took walks in the garden or occasionally went riding without Georgiana. They discussed more personal matters when they were on their own and Elizabeth confessed more about her family. She was surprised that Mrs. Gardiner had already shared some of these details, though she soon appreciated that Darcy already knew and understood—and had not chosen to walk away as a result.

A week before Elizabeth was to depart, Darcy took her for a special ride. He had been planning this for the last week, and spoke to Mrs. Gardiner about his intentions. He was going to take her to a specific ridge where they would have the best view of Pemberley and he had a ring in his pocket he intended to give her after she accepted.

There was a small part of him that worried that, given her age, he was pushing her to decide too quickly. However, he brushed those thoughts aside, knowing he intended to offer her a long engagement and the two would correspond while they were apart. Besides, Elizabeth was quite mature for her age, and he believed she knew her mind.

Elizabeth noted he was quieter and appeared more solemn than typical and began to wonder if he was taking her on this ride to put an end to the courtship. She had not written home about it, and she knew he had not written to her father, so there was nothing official between them. Only the two of them, and Mrs. Gardiner and Georgiana knew of their relationship so neither would suffer from any harm to their reputation if he ended it. As he grew more solemn and silent, she became less cheerful, until she was nearly in tears when they dismounted.

"Elizabeth," he said nervously, "I hoped to speak to you about something important today."

Her eyes were fixed on the ground, and she did not raise her head to look at him. "I understand," she said quietly. "You do not need to explain anything to me. Can we return to Pemberley?"

"Elizabeth, are you well?" he asked, his anxiousness disappearing in light of her obvious upset. "Do you not even want to hear what I have to ask you?"

Elizabeth shook her head, tears beginning to course down her cheeks. Darcy moved toward her, lifting her chin with his finger. "Elizabeth, my darling, why are you crying?"

She stared at him. "Have you not brought me here to tell me that you no longer wish to court me?"

He looked at her in confusion. "No … well, yes, I no longer want to court you, but that is because I wish to marry you. Elizabeth, in these last two months, I have come to love you deeply. I know we cannot wed immediately, however much I might wish to, but I brought you here today to ask you to be my wife. I did not want you to leave before we were officially engaged."

Elizabeth's eyes flew to his, searching to ascertain if he was speaking the truth. "Truly?" she asked after a moment.

Darcy chuckled slightly and pulled her into his embrace. "Yes, my darling Elizabeth. Whatever gave you the idea that I would take you on a ride, just the two of us, to this spot, only to tell you I no longer wanted to see you? I love you, Elizabeth."

She squeezed his waist. "You were so quiet and solemn on the ride here. It was so unlike our usual rides that I became concerned."

"Forgive me, my darling. I … I confess … I was a bit nervous to ask you my question. We have come to know each other well, and while I was mostly convinced you would accept, there was a small part of me that worried you would say no. I worked myself into quite a state on the ride here, not thinking how you might be affected by my behaviour."

Feeling more secure of herself now, Elizabeth smiled at him mischievously. "But you have not asked me a question, William."

Darcy rolled his eyes before stepping back to take her hands in his. "My darling Elizabeth, I have come to know you well over the last two months and in that time, have fallen in love with you. You are intelligent and witty, and I believe you are my perfect partner. I look forward to the day that you are installed as not only the mistress of my estate, but also of my heart. Will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

She smiled brilliantly. "I would be delighted to marry you, William. I know we have spoken of waiting until I turn seventeen to wed, though I wish we did not need to wait so long. However, my father will likely not want me to marry sooner."

"I will write a letter for you to take with you to your father so I will have permission to write to you while we are apart. Until he gives his permission, I hope you will write to Georgiana and include a few words for me. I cannot travel to Hertfordshire until after the harvest is fully complete, so it will be after Michaelmas before I will see you again. Will your father likely approve my suit in a letter, or will he wait to see me in person?"

Elizabeth frowned. "My father is not the best correspondent, so I imagine it will take him several weeks to reply if he bothers to do so at all. This is the first time a suitor has requested the hand of one of his daughters, so I do not know if that will make him more or less inclined to reply. I have always been his favourite, so that might make him less inclined to reply quickly."

Darcy smiled fondly at her. "I can understand his reluctance to give you up, my darling girl." He paused for a moment and pulled her into his embrace again. "Elizabeth, seeing as I have just proposed marriage, and you have accepted, might I … will it be acceptable if I seal our agreement in the usual way?"

Again, her eyes sparkled up at him. "What is the usual way, my darling William? I have never been engaged before and am uncertain as to the protocol?"

He leaned down until their noses almost touched. "I believe the accepted protocol is to seal a proposal with a kiss, my darling. Will you allow me the liberty?"

His closeness made her nearly unable to speak. She merely nodded instead. As soon as his lips met hers she felt like she were melting into him. Her knees grew weak and her body seemed to meld with his. Everywhere their bodies touched, she felt inflamed.

Too soon, he lifted his lips from hers and took a step back, releasing her. "My darling girl, what do you do to me?"

She sighed, trying to regain her composure. "I do not know, nor do I know what you do to me. That was … exceptional. I believe it will be difficult to wait a full year before we do that again, William."

He laughed. "You have no idea, Elizabeth. Perhaps it is fortunate we will conduct much of our engagement via the post. I believe it would be difficult to wait for you if we were in closer contact."

The two spoke for a short time longer before they decided they needed to return. Though their hands remained clasped while they spoke, they kept some distance between them to avoid repeating the kiss. They both desired it, but knew it would be too difficult to wait if they continued to engage in such passionate exchanges when they would have to wait so long to wed.

Soon, they decided to return to Pemberley and share their news with their relations. Georgiana would be thrilled, as would Mrs. Gardiner. Elizabeth was a little concerned with how the news would be received once she arrived at Longbourn, though she was certain her father would agree once he understood she wished it.

When Elizabeth departed a week later, she left a large part of her heart in Derbyshire. While there, she had worn the ring he gave her openly, but had a chain that plunged into her neckline to hide the ring from view until she could wear it openly to announce her engagement.

At each stop, she added a little to letters to both Darcy and Georgiana. At the last stop before she arrived at Longbourn, she posted them both. Since her engagement was not official yet, she included Darcy's letter inside Georgiana's, hoping he would not mind in this instance.

Likewise, Darcy had sent a messenger ahead to her last post stop, assuring her of his love. He wanted her to have a letter from him before she arrived at home and had arranged to have it waiting for her as a reminder. Neither expected any difficulties with her father, but since it was uncertain how quickly her father would agree, he wanted her to have something from him before she reached home. There were several letters included in the packet and he had them marked for her to read over several specific days between receiving and the time he would next see her.

She smiled at his thoughtfulness and spent most of the night doing something similar. The messenger was still at the inn, having been told to wait on a response, and she did not disappoint. She handed the messenger a packet of letters with similar markings, confessing her love to him in each one and confessing that she was counting down the days until she could see him again.

Darcy relished these letters, reading them over and over again, especially as no additional letters arrived—neither for him nor for Georgiana. This was a little troubling to him, but he wondered if her father insisted she wait until things were more official between them. Georgiana had written several letters to his friend, and he almost always included a line in these, but no response had come.

With this in mind in mid-October, he presented himself at Longbourn, requesting an audience with the master of the house. Though he hoped to catch a glimpse of Elizabeth before meeting her father, he was shown into Mr. Bennet's study. He was nervous, as any man would be when meeting the father of the woman he loved for the first time, but mostly he was anxious to see his Elizabeth again. It has been more than six weeks since she left him at Pemberley and he missed her dreadfully. Her letters had been treasured and read many times over, but they were no substitute for her physical presence.

Instead of the joy at his suit being accepted and seeing his beloved finally, Darcy was stunned and upset when Mr. Bennet informed him that his suit was summarily being denied. Demanding an explanation, Darcy was further surprised when Mr. Bennet informed him that Elizabeth was pledged to another. Knowing that Elizabeth would not have accepted him had she known of this previous engagement, he attempted to argue his case, but to no avail.

Mr. Bennet was terse in his responses and refused to explain further. Nor would he agree to Darcy's request to see Elizabeth, to hear directly from her that their engagement was broken. It was a brief interview, and Darcy left Longbourn disappointed and unsatisfied. He went into Meryton to see if there was any news there, but everyone seemed unwilling to speak to an outsider especially regarding one of their own.

When he arrived in London, he sought out the Gardiners and learned little more than what he already knew. The Gardiners had been informed of the supposed engagement, though they knew nothing more than he did. Though Bennet had said nothing when Mrs. Gardiner informed him of Darcy's request, he had said little in reply to her information. However, since Mrs. Gardiner returned to London, Mr. Bennet had cut off all contact with them. Letters were returned unopened and even Gardiner's other sister and brother who lived in Meryton would say little.

Not only that, but his brother Phillips had written to him stating that Bennet forbade him from sending letters to London on behalf of any member of the Bennet family. Phillips reluctantly agreed, not wanting to be at odds with his wife's family living nearby.

This information was included in a letter from Mr. Phillips to Mr. Gardiner about some business matters, and while he thought the request odd, he had agreed. He asked Gardiner about the reason for the break, but since Gardiner himself did not understand it, he could offer no additional information.

A little over a year later, Darcy stopped at Longbourn again. He had kept in touch with the Gardiners during this time, mostly exchanging the occasional letter, but they had no new information about Elizabeth or the Bennet family. Mr. Bennet had not relented and the break between the Bennet and Gardiner families appeared permanent.

On this second visit, he met once again with Mr. Bennet. However, he was given the additional information that Elizabeth was now wed and on her wedding trip. Mr. Bennet felt the need to inform Darcy that his daughter had forgotten all about him, and she was very much in love with her new husband. Though he looked, he saw no other members of the household, despite lingering nearby hoping to see any of them and wishing to hear from Elizabeth herself that she preferred this other man to him. He could not understand what had happened.

Once again, Darcy left Hertfordshire, this time with his heart shattered in pieces. Other than looking about for Elizabeth, he did not attempt to remain behind in Hertfordshire longer than the time it took for Mr. Bennet to tell him this news. A part of him thought to seek out the rector and learn Elizabeth's married name, but he thought better of it, not ready to know the name of the man who had won the lady he loved.

Almost three years later, Bingley invited Darcy to join him at his leased estate in Hertfordshire. As soon as he heard that it was near Meryton, Darcy thought to decline, but there was a small part of him that wanted to see Elizabeth again. He hoped she was happy, though her happiness came at the price of his own heart. After the trouble of this past summer with Georgiana, he knew he needed to marry, but before he could do so, he needed to see Elizabeth one more time. He needed to speak to her, to tell her goodbye, once and for all.

That night, He entered the assembly room with a heavy heart, bracing himself for the sight of Elizabeth, likely with her husband by her side. She had been married for nearly three years—perhaps she even had a child. He wasn't sure how he would handle seeing her again.

The encounter with Mrs. Bennet had been shocking, but the greatest surprise was discovering that Elizabeth was not only present but unwed, never having married, nor even aware of any engagement. In that moment, the pieces of his broken heart began to mend.

Now, he just needed to speak to her.