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She looked at him curiously.

"And I will do my best to be a good wife to you, Mr Darcy."

"I think perhaps if we are to marry, we should dispense with the formalities, do you not?" Darcy said. "My given name is Fitzwilliam. Or you could just call me Darcy. Perhaps I could call you Elizabeth?"

He had heard her being called both Eliza and Lizzy by her friends and family, but he thought that perhaps some time would need to pass for them to get to know one another before such nicknames would come naturally.

She nodded. "Fitzwilliam," she said, seeming to try it out, and he liked the sound of his name upon her lips.

"Elizabeth," he said.

The sound of footsteps on the path behind them made them jump apart.

Although, of course, Fitzwilliam thought with a laugh, they were engaged now. The rules were not so strict.

Chapter Sixteen

Mr and Mrs Collins approached them together on the path which led to the parsonage.

Mrs Collins was adjusting her gloves and Mr Collins was talking about something to do with chimney pieces when they suddenly seemed to notice Darcy and Elizabeth before them and both stopped abruptly.

Mrs Collins raised her eyebrows. Mr Collins bowed obsequiously.

"Mr Darcy, what a pleasure. We have just been visiting your aunt at Rosings. She said you were out of the house. We had no idea that you would bestow such an honour as to come in the direction of our humble home and—"

"What can we help you with, Mr Darcy?" Mrs Collins cut across him.

And Darcy was grateful, because he thought that Collins’s speech might have gone on for a lot longer had he not been interrupted.

"I came to see Miss Bennet," he said, glancing at her.

She looked pale and she was avoiding eye contact. Was she embarrassed about the situation?

He thought it better that everyone knew straight away of their engagement, so that his being alone with her would not be misconstrued.

"Oh," Mrs Collins said.

"I am very pleased to inform you that Miss Bennet has just consented to be my wife."

Both Mr and Mrs Collins looked dumbstruck. Mrs Collins’s jaw actually dropped and her eyes widened, and she looked between him and Elizabeth before she regained her wits and said, "Congratulations."

Mr Collins, however, looked decidedly awkward.

"I see. That is to say… Well, of course. My solicitations. However, I do wonder whether your aunt might feel that—"

"Pray do not concern yourself with my aunt’s opinion on this matter, Mr Collins," Darcy interrupted, "for it is only my own that matters. Well, mine and Miss Bennet’s, of course."

Collins looked shocked at that. His eyes widened, he took a step backwards, and he seemed not to know whether he ought to run in the direction of Rosings to tell Lady Catherine immediately, or get on the right side of Mr Darcy by praising the match.

In the end, Darcy did not give him a choice.

"If you’ll excuse me, I believe I need to deliver the good tidings to my aunt. Mr and Mrs Collins," he said with a nod.

And then he turned back to Elizabeth. He wished he could take her hands again. He wished he could speak more freely, but alas, he could not, both because of the audience they had, but also because he did not find such situations easy, and he feared it would take him some time to find the right words to say.

"Miss Bennet," he said. "Elizabeth. I will see you again soon."

And then, with one final nod, he swept up the path, off to the less than enviable task ahead of him of informing his aunt that he had made a match that he was entirely sure she would disapprove of.