Mr. Bennet laughed. “Enough, Lizzy. I promise that the colonel will be there as planned. You have two dances with Mr. Darcy, and he has also secured dances with your other sisters so I am sure that the man will be enjoying the dancing.” He glanced around and pulled his daughter to one side. “Lizzy, have a care with his heart. I believe that he is on his way to finding himself in love with you.”
Elizabeth audibly exhaled. “That would be a wish come true for me, Papa.”
Mr. Bennet raised an eyebrow, “Really, why is that?”
Elizabeth laughed. “In trying to help Mr. Darcy through his grieving and find joy in life again, I found a kind, intelligent man who is willing to help others for no other reason than they showed him kindness. How could I not love a man like that?”
Mr. Bennet kissed his beloved daughter on the cheek. “Let us be off. I will pray that all our wishes come true tonight, dearest.”
OVER THE COURSE OF the night, Darcy and Elizabeth spent as much time together as they could. They danced together and with various other partners as well. They had just finished dinner when Elizabeth spotted the colonel. Elizabeth checked and saw that Darcy was not looking at her. She shook her head at the colonel, who quickly moved into the shadows.
Elizabeth queried, “I find myself wondering what you thought of the gift you were to receive today.”
Darcy gave a small grin, “Well, Miss Bennet, I can tell you that today’s gift has told me the identity of the source of all these gifts as well and the joy you brought a sad man.”
Elizabeth smirked. “And how do you know that I had anything to do with it?”
Darcy rumbled with laughter. “Miss Bennet, I know of no other lady who would put a frog in a gentleman’s chair at her mother’s breakfast table. The small figurine of a cute green frog does not fit the festive season the way your other gifts did. This one was more personal. Thank you for making these final difficult days more bearable.”
Elizabeth acknowledged. “I was glad to be able to do so.” She turned away and motioned to her father and the room fell silent. Elizabeth turned back to him, “Sir, we have one final gift for you. While it is not something that we made or delivered, we wanted you to know that you have many friends here in Meryton and we hope that you will come back and visit us often.”
Darcy requested, “Before you reveal your final gift, I have something that I wish to say to you.” He glanced around the room and saw that they were the center of attention. “You must allow me to tell you ardently I admire and love you,” He murmured softly. “I know that you do not know me well, but if you would allow me to do so, I would wish to call on you so that you may know me better.”
Elizabeth shook her head and responded, equally quietly, “Sir, it may be wrong of me to think as I did but I have felt that you have already been calling on me. I may not know everything there is to know about you, but I know the essentials and the sad mourning man is one that for a time seemed to lose his way, but he is a proud caring man – and one that I love – very much.”
“You love me? Truly?!” Seeing her nod her head, her cheeks rosy in embarrassment, he had to speak what was in his heart, “Will you marry me, Elizabeth? The lost soul who found love with the lady that taught me to live again! Will you be my helpmate and help me regrow the Darcy family and let me become a part of your family in truth? I have spoken to your father and he has given his consent. Although at the time I spoke to your father, I did not think I would be proposing so soon.”
“Yes, I will marry you,” Elizabeth answered, “but first, I truly need to present to you your final Christmas gift and one that I hope brings you the most joy.” Elizabeth signaled and turned Darcy around.
Darcy gasped in surprise. “Geoffrey! How is this possible? I knew that you had returned of course, but how do you come to be here? I thought for sure that if you returned home in time for the festive season, that you would join your parents at Matlock.”
Geoffrey was amused at his cousin’s confusion, “Darcy, I received a letter not long ago conspiring to be your Christmas surprise. Miss Bennet here along with her father have been the principal parties in asking me to be here to represent your family. Happy Christmas, Cousin.”
Darcy hugged his cousin and hoarsely whispered, “Thank you for being here. Happy Christmas. There is someone I would like for you to meet.” He turned his cousin to face Elizabeth, “Cousin, I would like you to meet Elizabeth Bennet, soon to be Darcy. She has just agreed to become my wife.”
The room in general offered the congratulations to the newly engaged couple. After several minutes, the party slowly began to wind down. Darcy pulled Elizabeth to one side. “Elizabeth, I cannot find the words to express myself, but there was one thing that I wanted to correct you on. You wanted me to have the most joy in having my cousin here and it truly means a great deal that he is here, but the greatest gift I received this year was your love. I shall treasure it all the days of our lives.”
Elizabeth gazed up into his intense gaze. “As shall I. May they be blessed.”
Epilogue
CHRISTMAS – ONE YEAR later
Darcy leaned over and kissed Elizabeth lightly on the lips. “How different our Christmas is this year as opposed to last year?”
Elizabeth gazed at her husband. “How so, Fitzwilliam? By Christmas, you had found your joy again. Although, I am happy to see what a beautiful smile you possess, along with those dimples.”
Darcy grinned showing off the dimples his wife loved. “You have brought me so much happiness, dearest. You even helped grow my little family just as I requested of you. However, I never knew that I would be doubly blessed.” He gazed at the two babies his wife held lovingly in her arms.
Elizabeth giggled, “Yes, I think we were both a bit surprised by that. I am convinced that little Geoffrey Thomas is a miniature version of his father, right down to the adorable dimples in his cheeks.”
Darcy lifted a bundle from his wife’s arm and bestowed a kiss to the babe’s head, “And while this little girl is named for her dear aunt, she is definitely your daughter. Georgiana Rose is a whirlwind just like her Mama.”
There was a knock at the door and Adams entered when bidden. “You called for me, sir?”
“Yes,” Darcy sternly glared at his valet. “I wanted to ask you something that came up in conversation recently when the Bennets visited after the twins were born.”
Adams swallowed nervously. “Yes, sir?”
Darcy’s face relaxed into contentment. “I wanted to know if the smile you see on my face is the one you were hoping Mrs. Darcy would one day place on my face.”
Adams shook his head. “No, sir, it is not. It is even brighter.”
Author’s Note
THIS PRIDE & PREJUDICE novella is inspired by a Christmas advent calendar. Darcy is grieving the death of his sister, Georgiana. I wanted to show friendship, compassion and love offered to Darcy and how the people of Meryton made an impact on his life in his final days of mourning using the advent calendar.
This novella is out of character and I would also like to point out that any major characters first names that I have changed, did not have first names in the original. In fan fiction, many other authors use the same first names over and over again and are mistaken as being the characters actual first names.
Thank you.
Acknowledgements
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK Sheena Austin for inviting me to participate in this wonderful anthology and being part of something so unique.
I would also like to thank my editor, Rebekah Dodson, for all her help in making this novella the best it could be. I would like to thank my beta readers Phyllis Vandermolen and Linda Woitas for reading through the rough rough drafts of this novella. I couldn’t have done it without you.
Special thanks to fellow anthology author, Deborah E Pearson, who read through this novella several times and helped me find little mistakes that could have hidden meanings. Apparently, I’m good at double meanings and I do
n’t even realize I’m doing it....
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