“We must leave now!” he declared. “Elizabeth will be livid if she discovers I am here when I practically swore I would never spy on her again.”
As William whirled Zeus around and urged him into a trot, Richard shouted after him. “Good Lord, Darcy! They have likely seen us already; the best course of action is to speak to them.”
His words fell on deaf ears, however, for William was already galloping towards the spot where they had entered the park. Turning back to see Elizabeth and her party coming in his direction, Richard sighed, pasted on a false smile and waited.
It appeared that all the children were eager to skate on the frozen pond, for the adults immediately began to help them don their blades. Whilst the others were occupied with that, Miss Elizabeth turned to look in his direction, timidly smiled and then waved. Taken aback, Richard slid off Titan, sat down on a nearby bench, and waited to see if she would approach. He did not have to wait long.
“Colonel Fitzwilliam,” Elizabeth said as she drew near. “You are just the man I wish to see.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. I was going to try and locate your office tomorrow, but since you are here, you have saved me the trouble.”
Richard looked perplexed. “Is there something I may do for you, Miss Elizabeth?”
“There certainly is. You see, I am satisfied that it was you who sent the gifts to our house to make our Christmas brighter. There are no words to properly express my gratitude for your benevolence . . . indeed, all of my family’s gratitude.”
“But . . . but, I did noth—”
“Pray do not be modest. You were very kind to think of us, and for that reason I cannot allow you to return the combs you purchased from Mr. Blaylock. Given your generosity, it would be too much to bear. I do not have the combs with me at present, but I shall return them to you tomorrow if you will tell me where to deliver them.”
Awkwardly, Richard waited until she had finished speaking. “Miss Elizabeth, when I say I did nothing, I am being truthful. I wish I had the means to send those gifts, but I do not.”
“Then who?” An immediate change in Elizabeth’s expression revealed she knew the answer. Her head dropped in shame. “I . . . I never credited Mr. Darcy with being that kind to me after what transpired between us.”
“If you really knew my cousin, you would know he is very tender-hearted. Your family is not the first, nor will they be the last recipient of his philanthropy.”
“But why would he help my family when we all treated him so cruelly?” Shaking her head as she recalled her disgraceful lapse in judgement, she added, “I thought surely he would hate me after . . .” She could not continue.
“After you refused him at Kent?”
Ebony eyes filled with regret met the colonel’s. “He told you?”
“He only confessed to me a few days ago. You see, my cousin is a very private man, and his feelings run deep. He does not share them easily, even with me. To look at him you would think him a very successful man, and in many ways, he is. But beyond the veneer is a lonely man who believes he has lost the only woman he will ever love.”
Elizabeth’s dark eyes grew wide.
“I think we both know who she is.”
DARCY HOUSE
By the time William reached the stable at Darcy House and dismounted, he was not only fuming about Richard but talking to himself. Even the groom who took Zeus’ reins heard his murmurings.
“Mr. Darcy, did you say something?”
Looking irate at being interrupted, William declared, “NO! Just see to Zeus!”
Puzzled, the groom rushed the stallion into the stable.
As William entered the back of the house, he met Mr. Barnes coming down the hall. “Barnes, where is my sister?”
“I believe Miss Darcy is still in the music room playing the pianoforte.”
“Excellent. I shall be in my study going over correspondence should she need me. Ask Cook to send a pot of coffee there as soon as possible.”
“Yes, sir.”
Barnes noticed that the master seemed upset, but he knew better than to ask why. As he hurried to the kitchen, he prayed that Colonel Fitzwilliam would return soon, for that man could always coax his employer into a better mood.
WILLIAM’S STUDY
William had barely begun answering the business letters piled on one corner of his desk when a knock on the door interrupted his concentration. Looking up, he watched as Richard entered.
“Barnes must be occupied elsewhere, so I thought I would show myself in.” He left the door ajar and was greeted by a frown and a heavy sigh “What is this? Are you angry with me?”
“I am. I expected you to follow me from the park. Now Miss Elizabeth has no reason to doubt I was there with you.”
Richard tried to refrain from smiling. “This is true.”
“Blast! Was she very angry?”
“No. In fact, she was the epitome of graciousness.”
“I imagine that is because she was speaking to you. She always preferred your company to mine.”
Enjoying his cousin’s jealousy, Richard replied, “There is no denying she and I became fast friends at Rosings.”
William dropped his head in his hands and began to rub his forehead. Then standing, he crossed to the bank of windows behind his desk. Clasping his hands behind his back, he pretended to stare into the gardens.
“When last we parted, I gave her the impression that I would never again follow her, which means another fault has been added to my list of offenses.”
Immediately, Richard regretted teasing him. Walking to the door, he reached for someone who was standing out of sight. Drawing Elizabeth into the room, he held a finger to his lips in a sign for her to keep silent.
“Why do you care what Elizabeth Bennet thinks of you? She has gone her way, and you have gone yours.”
“It—” William’s voice caught. “It is hurtful to know she hates me so profoundly.”
“Then why not tell her it was you who bought the combs and sent the gifts.”
William grasped the window frame and closed his eyes. “I do not want her gratitude.”
“Then what do you want, Darcy?”
William’s head dropped. “God help me, I want her to love me.”
With that confession, Richard gently patted Elizabeth’s hand and silently exited the room.
“I . . . I do love you, Fitzwilliam. Very much.”
William whirled around and immediately froze, unable to reply. When Elizabeth realised he could not speak, she began to walk slowly towards him.
“I had barely left Kent when I realised I never really knew myself. Searching my heart, it became clear that I fell in love with you at the assembly, though I was too confused by your behaviour to admit it.”
“You . . . you love me?”
Elizabeth reached to cup his cheek. “Most ardently.”
Instantly swept into an embrace by arms akin to steel, Elizabeth was not prepared for her first kiss to be so fervent. At first shy, before long she began to return his kiss just as fiercely.
When at last William came to his senses, he clasped her to his chest and began to place light kisses all over the top of her head.
“Forgive me,” he breathed into her lavender scented curls.
“I shall not,” she replied, making him pull back to study her. “Not unless you kiss me again.”
His perfect lips lifted into a relieved smile. “I shall never again do anything to make you cross with me.”
Their next kiss lasted so long that Richard, who had been eavesdropping in the hall, poked his head into the room to see why it had grown so quiet. Witnessing their ardour, he said, “For heaven’s sake, ask her to marry you, Darcy!”
After glowering at his cousin, William went down on one knee. “Dearest, loveliest Elizabeth, you are the love of my life. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”
“Yes! I shall marry you, Fitzwilliam Darcy,” she said breathlessly. “And t
he sooner the better.”
William picked her up and twirled her in a circle before placing her back on her feet. Removing his signet ring, he slid it on her ring finger. “This will have to do until I can replace it with something more appropriate.”
“I am content just to have your heart.”
With this declaration, William swept her into his arms for another searing kiss.
“Miss Bennet, I am not teasing,” Richard warned. “We had best return you and the carriage to your uncle’s residence before he begins to worry. Darcy, may I assume you will join us in order to speak with that gentleman?”
Beaming, William could not take his eyes from the woman he loved. “Of course I will. I want to ask his permission to marry Elizabeth as soon as possible.”
“Good! I shall send a footman to tell your valet to prepare suitable clothes. After all, you cannot call on Mr. Gardiner in your riding attire.”
Seeing that the couple only had eyes for one another, Richard called over his shoulder as he exited the room, “You can thank me later, Cousin.”
At William’s chuckle, Elizabeth framed his face with her hands. “We do owe the colonel a debt of gratitude for this happiness. Had he not insisted I come here today, we would not be in each others’ arms.”
“If we name our second son after Richard, would that suffice to show our gratitude?”
Elizabeth ebony eyes twinkled like the stars. “Our second son? I have heard it said that a man’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from friendship to love, from love to matrimony and from matrimony to an heir in just a moment. Now I believe that is true.”
“Forgive me if I jumped too far ahead. I have dreamed of you as the mother of my children so often t it seemed natural to speak of it.”
“I was only teasing, Fitzwilliam. I am looking forward to being your wife and the mother of your children.”
Needless to say, it was even longer before Elizabeth joined Richard in the library to wait whilst William changed his clothes. If he noticed that her hair was dishevelled and her face flushed when she entered the room, Richard was too much of a gentleman to mention it outright.
Instead, he said, “Miss Elizabeth, might I suggest you don your bonnet before we arrive at your uncle’s house. A few of your curls have escaped their pins, and we would not want his imagination to run wild today.”
Elizabeth blushed as her hand flew to her hair. “Thank you for calling it to my attention, sir. I certainly would not want my uncle to imagine the worst at a time like this.”
Thus, when their party of three finally arrived at the Gardiners’ Gracechurch Street abode, all was in order, and permission to marry was granted straightaway. In the time it took to secure a special license, and not a day longer, Elizabeth Bennet secured the only title she had ever coveted, that of being Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.
JUST AS THE SPIRIT of Christmas brought hope to legions of families that year, Elizabeth’s marriage restored her family’s hopes for the future. Jane’s cough, aggravated by the dampness, dirt and dust of London, ceased completely once she moved to the county of Essex as Charles Bingley’s bride. And, when it was determined that surgery would restore most of the function of Susan’s foot, said surgery was carried out under the watchful eye of Mr. Graham not six months later. It was a great success. Her daughter’s transformation, at the expense of her new brother, affected Lydia and she became a more responsible parent, though she often acted as spoiled as ever with regards to other matters.
Thanks to the kindness of her new sons, Mrs. Bennet, Mary, Lydia and Kitty were installed in a small estate just outside Town, which was well within access to all London had to offer young women in need of husbands. Eventually, each of the Bennet sisters met and married respectable gentlemen and not long after Kitty married, Mrs. Bennet accepted an offer from the owner of a small neighbouring estate. Fortuitously, this kept her from interfering very much in her daughters’ lives.
In the years that followed, Elizabeth and William often contemplated what he referred to as the ‘twist of fate’ that saw him accompany Richard to a small shop on Gracechurch Street—one he would never have frequented on his own— at the very day and hour she was there. They had come to believe that nothing short of Providence could have arranged the events of Christmas 1814 in such a manner as to give them both another chance for happiness. And for that they were deeply grateful for the rest of their lives.
~Finis~
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A Twist of Fate Page 4
