Collins drew himself up. “Lady Catherine will not look kindly on the match!” he thundered.
“This is a heavy burden indeed, but I can bear it.”
Her cousin stalked around the table toward her. “Mr. Darcy is to marry Lady Anne!” His tone was so piercing that Elizabeth feared the loss of her hearing.
“How odd, since neither William nor Anne wish it.”
Collins stood only a foot away from her, but Elizabeth refused to yield ground. “I will not allow such a thing to happen under my roof!” he bellowed.
“Of course not,” Elizabeth retorted. “It will happen in the church.” Jane stifled a laugh.
His face grew redder. “I forbid it!”
Elizabeth gave Mary a sidelong look. “Some men really do believe they control everything.” Her sister laughed.
Charlotte stood quietly behind her husband. “My dear, I do not believe Lizzy’s marital plans are within your purview. You are not her keeper.”
“But I am her closest male relative and her-her spiritual advisor—” He ignored Mary’s snort of laughter. “I have the right— I should be consulted—”
“Mr. Collins,” Elizabeth said, “you are naught but my landlord, and as such, I do not believe you are entitled to a say in who I marry.”
Collins’s eyes swept the room as he sought someone he could cow into submission, but he received no sympathetic looks in return.
“If Lady Catherine were here—she would not permit this!” he bellowed, shaking his fist before storming out of the room.
Jane collapsed into a chair as if she had been drained of all energy. Mary smirked, but Charlotte looked close to tears now that her moment of defying her husband had passed. Elizabeth was experiencing all their reactions at the same time.
Kitty appeared in the doorway. “Mama is ready. We should leave for the church.
”
William had sent his carriage to prevent Elizabeth from walking to the church in her lovely gown. The carriage would make two trips, enough to bring everyone from Longbourn—even Wilkes, Hill, and Polly.
The groom was waiting, with Bingley standing beside him, as the carriage pulled up in front of the church. His face glowed as he helped Elizabeth alight. “You are beautiful, my darling.”
“You have exquisite taste in gowns,” she said with a smile.
“And even better taste in fiancées,” he murmured.
He was, of course, a very handsome man, but his formal dark suit and immaculately arranged cravat lent him an even more dashing air. Elizabeth experienced a dizzying moment of unreality that this man would really tie his life to hers. But if his passion for me is half of what I feel for him, he cannot do otherwise. At moments like these, it was a mystery how her body could even contain the overflowing love she felt for him.
William seemed unable to tear his eyes from her. He pulled her closer, lowered his head, and captured her lips in a quick kiss that promised greater passion to come.
Several of the onlookers tittered, but one cleared his throat rather pointedly. When they turned to look, the owner of the throat proved to be Mr. Thomas, who had no sense of humor and an inflated sense of propriety. A confirmed bachelor, the man was tall and lean, with thinning gray hair barely covering the dome of his head.
“Mr. Darcy, perhaps you should save that for…later?” The disdain in his tone would have been appropriate if he had found William stripping her naked in front of the church.
“My apologies,” William said, sounding not a bit contrite. “Perhaps it is best if you marry us immediately before something untoward occurs.”
Elizabeth giggled, but Mr. Thomas gave them a disapproving glare, spun on his heel, and marched into the church.
“William, do not bait the man,” she admonished. “We do not want him to have an attack of apoplexy before the service.
He chuckled and offered her his arm. They sobered as they entered the church side by side, prepared to greet their future.
***
It was a simple service. Lingering until the guests were seated, Darcy and Elizabeth then proceeded up the aisle accompanied by the wheezing of the church’s organ.