He was greatly relieved when Charles and he received an invitation to dine with the Bennets that evening. Hopefully, he would have an opportunity to talk to her in private because he wished to begin a courtship in earnest with the intention of taking her to the altar.
During supper, although civil, Elizabeth had little to say to him, addressing most of her comments to Mr. Bingley. After dinner, instead of sitting next to him on the sofa, she sat on a chair facing him, and a puzzled Mary took her place.
Mr. Bennet, who was always on the lookout for amusing situations, found the one before him to be delightful. Mr. Darcy, the scion of an old family of the landed gentry and someone who moved in the highest circles of London society, was in love with his Lizzy, the daughter of a gentleman farmer. Although these things were definitely rare, they did happen. And was there any greater evidence that these two young people were attracted to each other than Lizzy deliberately ignoring Mr. Darcy’s questions and his reaction to her behavior? Was not general incivility the very essence of love?
After moving to the parlor, Darcy tried to engage Elizabeth in a discussion of some of the political news from London, but her only response to his attempts at conversation was to place her black lace fan on her left ear.
You have changed, Lizzy had signaled him.
“No, I haven’t,” he answered aloud.
“Excuse me, Mr. Darcy, you haven’t what? I do not recall asking you a question.” Mary said.
Oh, this is getting better and better, Mr. Bennet thought.
“No, sorry. I was thinking out loud,” Darcy answered, and after Lizzy dropped her fan, indicating he was being cruel to her, he shook his head vigorously and found everyone looking at him with confused expressions, especially Jane, who offered to get him a glass of wine.
Lizzy then smiled at Mr. Darcy and transferred the fan to her right hand: You are too willing. And it was then that Darcy realized the signals had been Elizabeth’s way of punishing him for exposing her, and he nodded his head in acknowledgment of her having won the day.
When they had an opportunity to speak, Darcy explained that he had thought it necessary to respond to her eavesdropping on his conversation with Bingley. “You had crept into the room, which was why you did not have your shoes on, and you watched and listened as I taught Bingley the language of the fan. I was just having a little fun at your expense.”
“Is that what you think?” Lizzy asked aghast. Mr. Darcy believed her presence in the library was intentional and that she had, by design, listened in on a private conversation. “Oh, you have a very low opinion of me, sir.”
“I have a very high opinion of you,” Darcy answered confused. “In fact, I have the highest opinion of you. I want you to be my wife.”
“What did he say?” Lydia asked.
“Mr. Darcy said that he wanted Lizzy to be his wife,” Kitty answered.
“No, that can’t be right,” Mary said. “They are not even courting—well officially, they are not courting. This whole thing is very odd.”
“Yes, yes,” Darcy said loudly, and turned to everyone in the room. “You did hear correctly. I have asked Elizabeth to marry me,” and his eyes sought hers, pleading for an answer.
A flummoxed Elizabeth responded. “I was sleeping.”
“No, Elizabeth, this is not a dream. I truly am asking you to accept my hand in marriage.”
“No.”
“What?” Mr. Darcy asked, all of the color draining from his face.
“Yes! Elizabeth meant to say ‘yes,’” Mrs. Bennet said, jumping to her feet. “She may possibly have a fever or caught the same ailment Jane had. Mr. Darcy, I can assure you Elizabeth is not refusing an offer from so worthy a gentleman,” she said, her eyes boring into her daughter.
“Mr. Darcy, on that day when you and Mr. Bingley came into the library at Netherfield, I was asleep on the bearskin rug. It was only when you started speaking that I awakened. I was trying to sneak out when you started talking about Jane and Mr. Bingley, and I wanted to hear what you had to say about my sister. When you started to talk about me, well, I was determined to stay because I thought you did not like me. But then you said the sweetest things, and I did not want to leave. I was having a bit of fun with you during charades by using the fan,” but then her tone changed to one of annoyance, “but being someone who must win at all costs, you decided you had to respond to my response.”
“Which prompted your response,” Darcy reminded her.
“Yes, I will admit it,” Lizzy said with the beginning of a smile. “I was determined to win, if not every battle, at least the war.”
“But you have won the war,” Darcy said, and he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “With your beauty, you disarmed me. With your wit and intelligence, you brought me to my knees, and with your love, you captured my heart.”
Lizzy felt tears trickling down her cheeks. “Mr. Darcy, I find I have no wish to be a conqueror. All I want is for you to love me as much as I love you.”
“Then your wish is granted.”
And Lizzy placed the handle of her fan to her lips, and Darcy responded with a kiss.
THE END
All tombstone inscriptions are taken from actual grave markers in England and the United States.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mary Lydon Simonsen combines her love of history and the novels of Jane Austen in writing re-imaginings of Miss Austen’s work. She is the author of Searching for Pemberley, The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy, A Wife for Mr. Darcy, as well as Mr. Darcy’s Bite published by Sourcebooks and available on-line and in bookstores. Also available, exclusively on-line, are:
Becoming Elizabeth Darcy (Pride and Prejudice – Time Travel Novel)
For All the Wrong Reasons (Pride and Prejudice - novella)
Mr. Darcy’s Angel of Mercy (Pride and Prejudice - novella)
A Walk in the Meadows at Rosings Park (Pride and Prejudice – novella and bonus short story)
Darcy on the Hudson (Pride and Prejudice - novel)
Darcy and Elizabeth: The Language of the Fan (Pride and Prejudice - short story)
Anne Elliot, A New Beginning (Persuasion parody - novel)
Elinor and Edward’s Plans for Lucy Steele (Sense and Sensibility - parody - short story)
The Second Date, Love Italian-American Style (a modern novel)
The author lives in Arizona.
This story was previously published on fan fiction websites and my blog. However, many changes have been made since it first appeared in 2010, and it is no longer available on-line.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and is not intended by the author.
Printed in the United States of America
Published by Quail Creek Publishing, LLC
[email protected]
www.marysimonsenfanfiction.blogspot.com
©2011 Quail Creek Publishing LLC
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