Everything Will Change, page 29
The steady rise and fall of her chest surely evidenced the arousing effect this man had on all her sensibilities. She swallowed. “You, sir, are incorrigible.”
At length, Darcy’s arm fell from the back of the seat and rested behind Elizabeth’s body, his fingers about her waist. His lingering touch set every inch of her being tingling inside.
She settled herself a little closer, laid her head on his chest, and the two clasped opposite hands—their fingers intertwined. Closing her eyes, Elizabeth reminded herself to breathe. She had not a single care that Miss Greene might awaken. Enjoying a tender moment like this with the man who had long ago captured her heart was something she would not have traded for anything in the world.
Soon after Darcy and Elizabeth arrived at Longbourn, he requested a private audience with Mr. Bennet, and the two of them withdrew to the library. This gave rise to a modicum of agitation on Elizabeth’s part. Not that she feared her father’s opposition, but she did not like the idea of his being made unhappy over her approaching removal to Derbyshire.
Mr. Darcy’s absence did not immediately concern Mrs. Bennet, and, for that, Elizabeth was grateful for it allowed her time to converse intimately with her dearest Jane.
Speaking softly, Jane said, “First, Mr. Darcy escorted you to Longbourn from London, and then he immediately sought a private audience with Papa. Pray tell me this means exactly what I think it means, dearest Lizzy.”
Elizabeth could not hide her joy. “Indeed, Jane, I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justification, I am sure.”
“It is just as I always knew it would be. I contend that you and Mr. Darcy were fashioned for each other. I do not know that I have ever seen you as happy as you are when he and you are in mutual accord.”
“Indeed. There was a time when we were all together in London when I was given to believe that this moment would never come.”
“Oh, Lizzy, let us not dwell on misery when we had much better embrace your philosophy to think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”
Jane would receive no argument from Elizabeth on that score and soon they began to talk about the events of the past few days leading to that particular moment. When Mr. Darcy appeared again, Elizabeth, a little relieved by his smile, took Jane’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. In a few minutes, he approached the table where she and Jane sat. “Go to your father,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “He waits for you in the library.” She was gone directly.
Mr. Bennet was standing at the window, looking out at the garden when Elizabeth entered the room.
“Mr. Darcy said you wished to speak with me, Papa.”
“Yes, come closer, my dear Lizzy,” said her father, turning to greet her. “I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse anything for which he condescended to ask. I now give it to you, although I contend that no one can be truly worthy of you. Nevertheless, if I have to part with you, it ought to be with him. You will pardon my saying this, but I had hoped this day would have come much later. To own the truth, the instant I watched you step down from the carriage the past autumn, I knew our time with you was not meant to last.”
“Papa, you speak as though you’re losing me, when nothing could be further from the truth.”
“In all the ways that matter, I am losing you. Say what you will, but you are a young bride. I imagine your entire focus will be on building a life with your husband, as it ought to be.”
“Perhaps you should not think of this as losing a daughter, but rather as gaining a son.”
Mr. Bennet spoke of what a fine son-in-law Mr. Darcy would be. To complete her papa’s favorable impression, Elizabeth then told him what Mr. Darcy had voluntarily done for Lydia.
Having listened to his daughter with astonishment, Mr. Bennet said, “This is a day of wonders, indeed! And so Darcy did everything: made up the match, gave the money, paid the fellow’s debts, and got him his commission in the north of England! I had supposed it had been your uncle’s doing, in which case I would have insisted on paying him. I suppose I ought to extend the same consideration to your Mr. Darcy.”
She held up her hand. “No, Papa. He would not want you to.”
“The truth is that, even if I lived on for another two hundred years, I scarcely doubt I would ever be able to truly repay him for all he has done on behalf of our family, but in this case I think I shall offer to pay him all the same. No doubt he will rant and storm about his love for you, and that will be an end of the matter.”
“Oh, Papa,” cried Elizabeth lovingly. She threw her arms around him. “I shall miss you exceedingly. Promise me you will come to Pemberley.”
“I shall ponder the matter, my Lizzy.”
“Indeed, you must and should you need any greater inducement than your affection for me, I beg you to take into account that the library at Pemberley, being the work of many generations, is splendid.”
Chapter 30 ~ Incandescently Happy
Happy for all their maternal feelings was the day on which both Mrs. Bennet and Lady Sophia Montlake watched Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy exchange wedding vows.
Her ladyship could rightfully say that she always knew it would be this way. She had known even before Elizabeth did that the latter was destined to marry the handsome Mr. Darcy. But, then again, she supposed, a mother always has a way of knowing such things.
Avery had been overjoyed to delay his honeymoon journey for the sake of seeing his sister and one of his closest friends united in matrimony. To Elizabeth’s surprise, Avery was quite happy to play the role of the dutiful, protective older brother, and he insisted that Mr. Bennet do the honors of negotiating Elizabeth’s marriage settlement. Her fifty-thousand-pound dowry aside, Avery contended that the older gentleman was her father after all, a status that trumped everything, even the prerogative of a duke.
Although Elizabeth and Miss Darcy had spent little time together during the past, they would soon make up for it. Indeed, Darcy and Elizabeth decided that Georgiana would be removed from her London establishment to reside with them at Pemberley. Having grown accustomed to the idea of having sisters, Elizabeth liked this scheme very much.
As for Darcy’s other relatives, Lord Matlock did indeed send his daughter away, but not to Bedlam as he had suggested. He surmised she was cunning and clever, not stark raving mad. A year in Scotland with her mother’s distant relations was to be her penance.
Lady Catherine was extremely indignant over the marriage of her nephew. Giving way to all the genuine frankness of her character, of which she so often boasted, she replied as one might have expected to the letter Darcy sent announcing his engagement. Her language was so very abusive, especially of Elizabeth and her relatives, and she decried with equal venom the degradation of the shades of Pemberley being thus polluted, that he pronounced her ladyship would be considered a stranger to him.
Being ever the loyal friend, Bingley returned to Netherfield for the wedding, which was indeed a very good thing. His declaration that he planned to stay for the remainder of the year was truly a cause for joy. Moreover, in spite of Jane’s insistence that she and the gentleman were no more than indifferent acquaintances, her mother’s renewed hopes and effusive affirmations that her eldest daughter was to be the next mistress of Netherfield did not meet with Jane’s displeasure.
Later that day, when all the wedding breakfast guests were gone, Mrs. Bennet said to her husband, “Two daughters married and with hardly any trouble to myself. I do not need to tell you how much easier this makes the rest of my job. Soon I shall have nothing left to wish for.”
“How do you suppose that, my dear?”
“Why, surely you know that Lizzy’s marriage alone shall put the other girls in the path of many rich gentlemen. It is already happening to our Jane as it has been the means of Mr. Bingley’s return. I have it on good authority that he means to do right by her this time. Oh, what a happy day this is!”
Dunsmore Estate, some weeks later
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How different it was walking along the pristine lane leading to the Dunsmore burial place now than when she first went that way during that mournful day when the former Duke of Dunsmore was laid to rest. The feelings she now suffered were in no way akin to those she had felt then. The last time she had traveled that path, she felt sorrow, pain, and loss. Now she did not know exactly how she felt. All Elizabeth knew was that she needed to be there.
When she arrived at His Grace’s tomb, she was silent and reverent. At length, she spoke. “I came here to tell you that I do not hate you, Your Grace. Nor do I forgive you.” Elizabeth swallowed back her tears. “From the moment you abducted me from the streets of Lambton and in so doing forever altered the course of my life until the day I sat by your bedside and watched you take your final breath, I never knew you at all. You were a stranger to me.” Here, she paused again for a bit of quiet reflection.
“More than once, of late, I have been reminded of my own philosophy to think only of the past as its remembrance brings me pleasure. As I can think of no more fitting occasion to embrace that sentiment, I must hereby vow to think of you no more.”
Elizabeth exhaled deeply when she came from the cemetery and saw Darcy standing there by the gate waiting for her. Each closing the distance between them, they soon stood face-to-face.
Darcy rested his forehead against hers. “Are you ready to leave, my love?”
“I am indeed. Please take me home … to Pemberley.”
He kissed her and then they joined hands. Walking hand in hand with her husband, Elizabeth was overcome with a sense of knowing. With him was where she belonged. Forever more there would be no doubt as to who she was. Not Lady Elizabeth Montlake. Not Miss Elizabeth Bennet.
I am Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy, the mistress of Pemberley and the incandescently happy wife of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, whom I shall forever regard as the best man in the world.
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♥♥♥
Featured Book Excerpt
If you enjoyed reading Everything Will Change, you’ll enjoy Irrevocably Gone too. Here’s a sneak peek!
A Generous Gesture
(Chapter 6 Excerpt)
His hand behind his back, Darcy waited for Elizabeth as she headed toward him in the lane.
“Thank you for agreeing to meet me like this, Miss Elizabeth.” He said once they were united, bowing slightly. “I realize it was not a trivial thing that I asked of you, but what else could I do? I believe I miss you, even more, knowing we are residing under the same roof, albeit temporarily, and yet unable to see each other – to spend time away from the others – so often as I would like. Owe it to my being a selfish man.”
“I am sorry if it seems I have been neglecting you, sir.”
“You are here now, and I intend to make the most of our time together, for who is to say how long it will last?”
“What is it that you have behind your back, sir, if you do not mind my asking?”
“Oh, this,” he said, revealing his hand—in it an arrangement of freshly picked flowers secured by ribbons: one scarlet colored and one white.
Accepting the proffered bouquet, Elizabeth said, “How lovely, sir. Are these for me?”
“Yes,” he said, nodding. “I picked them myself.”
Reading in her expression a modicum of disbelief, he asked, “Do you doubt me?”
“It is just that I find it somewhat hard to believe you would go to so much trouble—what with rows of servants at your feet to attend such tasks. To what do I owe the honor of such a generous gesture?”
“It has not escaped my notice how attentive you have been toward your sister, and I began to ask myself who is taking care of you.”
“You are very kind to think of me, sir. To say nothing of your talents. This arrangement is stunning.”
“There is also the matter of my feeling rather guilty in desiring so much of your attention. I am inclined to think it would be much better for all concerned if I simply returned to town, at least until your sister no longer relies on you so much as she does.”
“No—do not do that! Please, whatever you do—do not leave. Why, I—”
Exercising a bit of liberty and seeing as it was just the two of them with not another soul in sight, Darcy placed a finger on Elizabeth’s lips. “Hush,” he said softly. “I speak only in jest. I have no wish to be parted from you—not now.” Remembering himself, he tucked both hands behind his back.
“So, you were teasing me, Mr. Darcy?”
“Are you not to be teased, Miss Elizabeth?”
Her spirits rising to playfulness, Elizabeth said, “Oh, no! On the contrary, for I dearly love to laugh. I must warn you, however, that I give as good as I get. Now that you have been warned, what say you to that?”
“I say only this. While I am a serious man—one who does not easily forget the follies and vices of others so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against me, any ensuing resentment is not so implacable as to render me wholly incapable of forgiveness, particularly toward those who mean the most to me.”
“Oh my, you are a serious man indeed. I should like to think I am safely among the latter.”
“Indeed. More than you know,” Darcy said.
“Do you mean to suggest that I am on the same level as Miss Bingley?”
He shook his head. “No—not at all. Miss Bingley, try as she might, has no effect on me at all.” He spoke nothing but the truth, for that young woman was always taunting him in one way or another in her attempts to get him to dislike Elizabeth. Always in vain.
“Tease me, taunt me, challenge me at will. You are in no danger of losing my good opinion. I am forever your humble servant,” he professed.
* * *
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About the Author
P. O. Dixon is a writer as well as an entertainer. Historical England and its days of yore fascinate her. She, in particular, loves the Regency period with its strict mores and oh so proper decorum. Her ardent appreciation of Jane Austen’s timeless works set her on the writer’s journey.
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Only a Heartbeat Away
As Good as a Lord
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Everything Will Change Series
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So Far Away
Dearest, Loveliest Elizabeth Series
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Loveliest Elizabeth
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A Lasting Love Affair
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Acknowledgments
I offer heartfelt thanks to Betty, Regina, and Ken: the former two for being such wonderful first readers and the latter for such helpful editorial support.
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My deepest gratitude to Miss Jane Austen for her timeless classic, Pride and Prejudice. Weaving Miss Austen’s words throughout my what-if stories is always fun. I hope readers, when coming across them, will smile fondly.
Everything Will Change: Pride and Prejudice
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Copyright © 2018 P. O. Dixon
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All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, in whole or in part, in any form whatsoever.
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This book is a work of fiction. The characters depicted in this book are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
