“I see,” Lizzy said with a smile. “You wished me to reject him for the correct reasons.”
“You knew she would refuse me,” Mr. Darcy said dully.
“Jane knew,” Bingley explained.
There was a long silence as Mr. Darcy rubbed his jaw and stared at the floor. Finally, he heaved a deep sigh. “I appreciate your concern, my friend, but I fear my offer was doomed under any circumstance.” His expression was heartbreaking, and Lizzy seemed quite affected as she watched him.
“No! Not necessarily.” Charles had so much energy he nearly bounced as he paced the room. “I—We”—he gestured to himself and Jane—“believe you might suit each other admirably, if you could get past your misunderstandings…overcome your prejudice against each other.”
Mr. Darcy’s head shot up. “Prejudice?” Lizzy echoed in surprise.
“And your pride,” Aunt Gardiner chimed in with a pointed look at Mr. Darcy.
There followed a long pause as both Lizzy and Mr. Darcy appeared to be swallowing some particularly unappetizing foods. Finally, Lizzy turned to Jane and spoke slowly as if each word were forced from her unwillingly. “You…believe I should…consider Mr. Darcy’s offer?”
Jane carefully measured her response. “I believe you should defer your answer to his proposal until you have taken the time to improve your understanding of Mr. Darcy.”
Lizzy’s chin stuck out stubbornly. “But he—”
Fearing what her sister might say, Jane dared to interrupt her. “Mr. Darcy had the very good taste to select you as the companion of his future life. He is neither a simpleton nor deluded. You might grant him a week of your time to discover if you concur with his judgment.”
Lizzy’s jaw dropped. Jane did not believe she had ever spoken to her sister so forcefully; she braced herself for an onslaught of Lizzy’s contradictory opinions.
However, her sister blinked a few times and finally spoke in a subdued voice. “I-I suppose I might take time to consider it…” Lizzy turned her gaze to Mr. Darcy, examining him as if seeing him for the first time.
“Prejudice and pride?” he murmured, almost to himself. “Indeed, these are faults to be avoided at all costs.”
“Darcy.” Bingley drew his friend’s attention. “Do you believe you might grant Miss Elizabeth a week to become properly acquainted?”
Darcy blinked. “A week? Of course! I will give Elizabeth whatever she needs. A month. Two months. Even a year…although I would prefer not to wait that long.” He glanced shyly at Lizzy, who appeared a little dazed at his words.
“I do not believe I will require a year,” she said slowly. Mr. Darcy’s expression grew more guardedly hopeful.
Aunt Gardiner grabbed Charles and Jane by their elbows and dragged them toward the door. “We will leave this for you to sort out,” she said loudly to the others.
Neither Mr. Darcy nor Lizzy even glanced their way—or indeed appeared to notice them. They only had eyes for each other as the intruders backed out of the room and closed the door behind them.
Epilogue
“A toast to a future of wedded bliss!” Jane’s father surreptitiously wiped away a tear as he raised his glass of champagne. Everyone at the wedding breakfast followed suit. “To Mr. and Mrs. Bingley!” he said before taking a sip and waiting as everyone followed his example. Then he raised it again. “To Mr. and Mrs. Darcy!” Again, the attendees echoed his sentiments and downed their champagne.
Maggie hurried about, unobtrusively refilling glasses, but she flashed a wide smile when Jane caught her eye. The maid and Charles’s valet had been married the weekend before. At first, Maggie had been hesitant to accept Joseph Harvey’s proposal for fear of losing her place at the Gardiners’ house. However, Jane had promptly offered her the position of lady’s maid to the new Mrs. Bingley—where Maggie could live in the same household as her new husband—and she had accepted gratefully. Jane knew that Mr. and Mrs. Harvey would provide invaluable assistance in establishing the Bingleys’ new household.
Soon the guests had returned to talking and laughing, although Jane noticed her father wiping away a few more tears. Their mother was in her element, hurrying around to various guests to point out the elegance of the furnishings at Darcy House or “let slip” the cost of the lace on Jane’s gown.
Lizzy, resplendent in her white silk wedding gown, drifted to the table where Jane poured tea. “I thought I might regret not holding the wedding at Longbourn, but I believe the entire population of Meryton came to Darcy House!”
Surveying the crowd, Jane realized her sister was not merely joking. The Lucas family, Mr. and Mrs. Long, Mary King…there were more than a dozen Hertfordshire denizens who had made the journey to London for the occasion. “I imagine Mama has been touting the grandeur of Darcy House.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “No doubt. At least Pemberley is far enough away that we need not fear a visit from the entire town.”
“Yes, but not too far from me.” Jane looped her arm through her sister’s. Recently Charles had let go of the lease on Netherfield and purchased a home near Pemberley. “We will need each other.”
“Well, I shall need you. Whether you need me is another matter.”
“Oh, Lizzy.” Tears welled up in Jane’s eyes. “I will always need you.”
Mr. Darcy—Jane still had difficulty thinking of him as Fitzwilliam—passed by, and Lizzy watched him with undisguised adoration on her face. “Jane, do you ever wonder what would have happened if you and Charles had not arrived at Hunsford the day he proposed?”