by Sophia Grey
“If I were Mrs. Darcy I could make all of Jane’s sadness disappear,” she said quietly as she straightened again. “If I were Mrs. Darcy I would make Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hearst apologize for their cruelty. And if I were Mrs. Darcy they could not argue with me, or speak to me as though I was not worthy of their company.” Elizabeth rubbed her fingertip gently over the velvet petal of the red rose and leaned close to enjoy its perfume once more.
“If you were Mrs. Darcy you would not have to listen to anyone who would speak to you in such a manner.”
Elizabeth let out a thin shriek as she turned. She had not expected to be anything but alone here, and now she had been discovered playing a silly game, talking to herself, and trespassing on Mr. Darcy’s estate. An explanation sprang to her lips, but as she began to speak, the words died in her throat as she met a pair of familiarly dark eyes framed by long lashes. His curling dark hair lay damp against the open collar of his linen shirt, and droplets of water glistened along his exposed collar bone.
Elizabeth swallowed thickly and averted her eyes for just a moment before allowing them to slide slowly back to his.
“If you were Mrs. Darcy, I could give you all of these things and more,” he said softly.
“Mr. Darcy,” Elizabeth choked out. “I was… I was just… it is nothing. Just a silly game I play with my sisters. You must not take my words seriously.” Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized that for the first time it was not a silly game that she had been playing. Every words had been serious. But if he knew—
“I am afraid that I have taken all of your words very seriously, Miss Elizabeth Bennet,” he said with a small smile. “I beg you, now that you are here, that you would listen to what I have to say. I tried, several times you will remember, to speak to you at Hunsford, but you would not see me.”
Elizabeth swallowed thickly and tried to control her whirling thoughts, but she could not stop herself from speaking as plainly as she had that day beside Hunsford’s stone wall. “There was nothing you could have said to me at Hunsford that I would have wanted to hear,” she said boldly. “I had no wish to be scolded or lectured for my honesty, nor did I have any wish to apologize or express any regret.”
“And now?”
Elizabeth blinked at him. “I do not regret anything that I have said, so if you are come in search of an apology, you will not find one here.” She straightened her shoulders as Mr. Darcy nodded gravely.
“I see,” he said. “Then is it a far better thing, for me, that I come to speak with you about something entirely different. As I said, I have taken your words very seriously… so seriously in fact that they have caused me nothing but sleepless nights these past few months.”
Sleepless nights? Whatever could he mean?
“Your harshness was warranted,” he admitted. “I was cruel to turn Mr. Bingley away from your sister, and he has told me so himself.”
“Mr. Bingley… you have spoken to him?” Elizabeth blurted out.
“Indeed I have. It seems that he received a letter that was written in a most... persuasive style that made him reconsider everything that he had been told since his decision to depart Netherfield Park.”
“I see,” Elizabeth said. She had signed the letter with her own name, but if Mr. Bingley had kept the source of the letter a secret, she would not give herself away. “And what was his thought on the matter?”
“That he had been grossly misled to believe that Miss Jane Bennet held no affection for him… and I did not disagree with him.”
“You did— you did not?”
“No, in fact I encouraged him to return to Hertfordshire and seek out your sister’s forgiveness.”
Elizabeth’s shout of joy burst from her lips before she could stop herself and Mr. Darcy laughed in surprise at her reaction. “Does this please you, Miss Bennet?”
Elizabeth wiped at her eyes as sudden tears pricked at her lashes. “It does, indeed,” she gasped. “I must write to her at once… or shall it be a surprise? A wonderful surprise.”
Mr. Darcy nodded and his smile filled her heart with something more than happiness—something that she had never felt before. Could it be? Could it be that she had broken through the hard carapace that concealed the true nature of the master of Pemberley? Could she really be in love with the most disagreeable gentleman of her acquaintance?
“Elizabeth,” he said softly, ”my thoughts and wishes remain unchanged. If you would be Mrs. Darcy, all of these dreams, these beautiful dreams you have spoken of in these gardens can all be yours…”
“And my family?” she asked.
“Will be my family as well,” he replied without hesitation. “And they are welcome here with my warmest invitation.”
Elizabeth thought carefully for a moment, considering everything that had passed between them. “When you came to speak to me at Hunsford,” Elizabeth said, “perhaps it was not the right time. I was angry with you—so very angry for how you had treated someone I believed was a friend, for how my sister had been abandoned… but I can see everything so much more clearly now.”
“Have you made a decision?” he asked softly.
Elizabeth lifted her chin and looked bravely into his eyes. “I have.”
Mr. Darcy reached out his hand and Elizabeth slipped her fingers into it. He held her hand lightly and the smile that crossed his lips made Elizabeth’s heart leap in her chest.
“Will you be Mrs. Darcy?” he asked.
“I will, Mr. Darcy,” she replied. And with the desperate hope that all would be well, Elizabeth closed her eyes and stepped into Mr. Darcy’s embrace. His lips were gentle on hers and carried not only the promise that she had made the right decision, but that they would walk together through life as equals bound only by the very deepest love.
THE END
Also from Blue Flowers Press
* * *
Elizabeth’s Deception
Elizabeth Abroad: India
Angel of Waterloo: Jane Bennet, War Nurse
Kitty’s Lucky Charm
Darcy’s Adventures in Egypt
The Shadow of Anubis
By Hathor’s Hand
