Page 185 of Near Pemberley

Darcy inclined his head. “Of course.” He looked at Elizabeth. “I shall leave you to your transformation.”

She reached for his hand before he could turn away.

He looked down at their joined hands.

“I am glad you are home.”

His fingers closed gently around hers. “So am I.”

For a moment neither moved.

Then Darcy bent his head and kissed her fingers. “Do not let them exhaust you.”

Elizabeth smiled.

“I shall endeavour to survive.”

“I have every confidence in you.”

He released her hand reluctantly and turned towards the door.

Then he paused.

“I shall see you in half an hour? Your mother gave me plenty to eat on the road, but I wanted to dine with you. Are the Gardiners joining us?”

“No, not tonight. It is just us four.”

“Will you sing for me?”

Lydia laughed. Georgiana smiled, and even the seamstresses struggled to conceal their amusement.

Elizabeth crimsoned but agreed.

Darcy gave Elizabeth one last look before leaving.

As he disappeared into the hall, Elizabeth watched him go, her fingers still warm from his touch.

She looked down at the gown surrounding her.

For the first time, the clothes no longer seemed like something being prepared for a role she had yet to understand. They were simply another sign that her life had changed.

And, rather astonishingly, she found that she did not wish it otherwise.

Chapter XXXV

Two days later, at eleven o’clock in the morning, Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet were married at Darcy House in the presence of Elizabeth’s family, Colonel Fitzwilliam, the Gardiners, Mr. Bingley and Miss Bingley, and two of Darcy’s oldest friends and their wives. The remainder of Darcy’s family received letters at Matlock in Derbyshire and at Rosings in Kent. Darcy left the letters upon the tray before they departed for Ramsgate.

There was no great display and no gathering of curious spectators. It was, as Darcy and Elizabeth had intended, a private occasion, quiet enough to preserve the peace which the family so urgently required. By the time society had any opportunity to concern itself with the matter, Miss Elizabeth Bennet had already become Mrs. Darcy. An announcement was sent to the papers for the wider acquaintances.

They travelled to the seaside, where they remained for several weeks, enjoying the luxury of having nothing to consider but themselves. After the strain and uncertainty of the months that had preceded their marriage, the peace of those days was almost astonishing. They walked along the shore when the weather allowed, drove into the surrounding country, explored the town, and spent long hours together with no need to account for their time to anyone. Elizabeth discovered that marriage brought a freedom she had scarcely understood while unmarried. She could take his arm whenever she pleased, lean against him when they were alone, or reach for his hand without the slightest concern that the gesture might be noticed and judged.

Elizabeth had, in fact, begun to wonder whether they kissed rather too often. She had lost count somewhere during the second week and had since decided that attempting to keep an accurate account would be both impossible and rather embarrassing. Was there a proper number of kisses expected of a newly married couple? She had never thought to enquire, and she was quite certain that no respectable book on marriage would have provided the information. If there was a suitable standard, they had almost certainly exceeded it.

The thought ought perhaps to have embarrassed her more than it did. Instead, whenever Darcy kissed her, she found herself smiling afterwards, and whenever he did not, she occasionally found herself wondering why.

Darcy seemed entirely unconcerned by the matter. He kissed her when they parted in the morning, when they met again at breakfast or luncheon, before and after an excursion, when she amused him, when he wished to thank her, and sometimes for no reason she could discover at all. Elizabeth had begun to suspect that the last category was his favourite.

She had no objection.