Page 171 of Near Pemberley

She smiled. “I fear so.”

“I dislike the necessity exceedingly.”

“I shall see you tomorrow if you want.”

He stood looking at her for a moment before a sudden thought occurred to him. “One moment.”

He rang the bell.

Mrs. Barnes appeared almost immediately.

“Mrs. Barnes, would you be so good as to send a note to Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner? If they have no other engagement, I should be honoured if they, together with Miss Elizabeth and Miss Lydia, would dine with us this evening. Nothing elaborate, if you please. I believe Cook has already been informed that I am an injured man.”

Mrs. Barnes’s eyes rested for the briefest moment upon Elizabeth before she inclined her head. “Very good, sir.”

When she had withdrawn, Elizabeth looked at him with amused resignation. “You are determined not to let me escape.”

“I have only just found you. It would be unreasonable to lose you again so soon.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I begin to suspect you are accustomed to getting your own way.”

“I am an invalid after all.”

“You are not an invalid for me.”

“No? Then what am I?”

Elizabeth smiled. “You are my Fitzwilliam. All right. I suppose I shall remain for dinner.”

***

The Gardiners accepted with pleasure, and what had begun as an afternoon of anxiety became one of quiet happiness.

Darcy himself related the events of the day, beginning with his extraordinary dream. Everyone listened with bated breath, though they already knew how the story ended. Mr. Gardiner listened with growing admiration, while Mrs. Gardiner more than once reached across the table to squeeze Elizabeth’s hand, her eyes glistening with happiness.

Mr. Gardiner smiled across the table. “Well, Mr. Darcy, I once told my wife that I believed you a man worth knowing. I did not expect you to become part of the family. That said,” Mr. Gardiner warmly added, “I can think of no man to whom I would more willingly entrust my niece.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gardiner. Please call me Darcy or Fitzwilliam.”

Before the evening ended, their engagement was formally acknowledged by those whose good opinion mattered most. Plans were quietly discussed, practical difficulties considered, and every proposal seemed to strengthen rather than diminish the joy that filled the house.

For the first time in many months, Darcy found himself looking towards the future without the shadow of uncertainty.

And Elizabeth, watching him across the dinner table, thought she had never seen him smile so often.

***

As the evening drew to a close, the conversation gradually turned from emotions to practicalities.

Special licences, travelling arrangements, Ramsgate, and Pemberley were all discussed in turn until Mrs. Gardiner, who had remained unusually thoughtful, suddenly smiled.

“I believe we have overlooked one rather important matter.”

Elizabeth looked up.

“What have we forgotten?”

Mrs. Gardiner looked at her niece with affectionate amusement.