“My dear Lizzy, where on earth have you been walking?”
Jane asked the moment Elizabeth came into the room. Everyone else asked her the same question when they sat down for dinner.
Elizabeth simply said that she and Darcy had wandered so far that she had lost track of where they were.
She blushed as she answered, but no one suspected the real reason.
The rest of the evening was quiet.
Jane and Bingley, whose relationship was now openly known, talked and laughed together.
Elizabeth and Darcy, whose engagement was still a secret, said very little.
Darcy was not a man who showed happiness through constant laughter and excitement. As for Elizabeth, she knew she was happy, but she was so nervous and confused that she could hardly enjoy the feeling.
There was also something else troubling her.
She kept thinking about how her family would react when they learned about the engagement.
Jane was the only one who truly liked Darcy. Elizabeth was afraid that her mother, Mary, and Kitty might strongly object to him, and she doubted even his wealth and social position would be enough to change their minds.
That night, Elizabeth finally told Jane everything.
Jane stared at her in complete disbelief.
“You must be joking, Lizzy. This cannot possibly be true. You and Mr. Darcy? Engaged? No, I don’t believe you. You cannot fool me like this.”
Elizabeth sighed.
“This is a terrible beginning. I was counting on you to believe me. If you don’t, I’m sure nobody else will. But I’m serious, Jane. I’m telling you the truth. He still loves me, and we are engaged.”
Jane looked at her with astonishment.
“But, Lizzy, how can that be? I know how much you disliked him.”
“You don’t know everything. You have to forget what I used to think of him. Perhaps I didn’t always love him as much as I do now. But I would rather forget those old feelings completely.”
Jane still looked shocked.
Elizabeth repeated more seriously that she was telling the truth.
“Good heavens! Is it really true?”
Jane finally cried.
“Then I have to believe you. My dear Lizzy, I am so happy for you. But tell me honestly—are you sure you can be happy with him?”
“There is no doubt about it. We’ve already agreed that we are going to be the happiest couple in the world.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“But what about you, Jane? Are you happy about having Mr. Darcy as a brother?”
“Very much! Nothing could make Bingley or me happier.”
Jane paused.
“But we always thought it was impossible. Tell me, Lizzy, do you really love him enough? Please, don’t marry anyone unless you truly love him. Are you certain you feel what you should?”
“Oh, yes. In fact, you’ll probably think I feel too much once I tell you everything.”
Jane looked curious.
“What do you mean?”
“I have to confess something. I think I love him even more than you love Bingley.”
Elizabeth smiled nervously.
“I hope you won’t be angry with me.”
“My dearest sister, stop joking and be serious. I want to know everything. Tell me honestly—when did you first fall in love with him?”
Elizabeth thought for a moment.
“It happened so gradually that I can’t say exactly when it began. But if I had to choose a moment, I would probably say when I first saw his beautiful home and grounds at Pemberley.”
Jane laughed softly.
“Lizzy, you really must be serious.”
This time Elizabeth was completely sincere.
She told Jane everything and assured her that her feelings for Darcy were real and deep.
Once Jane was convinced, she had nothing more to worry about.
“Now I’m completely happy,” Jane said.
“I always respected him. Even if he had never done anything except love you, I would have thought highly of him. But now that he is Bingley’s friend and your husband, there will be only Bingley and you whom I love more.”
Jane then shook her head playfully.
“But, Lizzy, you’ve been very secretive with me. You hardly told me anything about what happened at Pemberley or Lambton. I had to hear most of it from someone else.”
Elizabeth explained why she had kept everything secret.
She had been afraid to mention Bingley because she did not want to interfere with Jane’s feelings. And because she herself had been uncertain about Darcy for so long, she had avoided talking about him as well.
But now she was ready to tell Jane everything, including Darcy’s part in helping Lydia and Wickham.
The two sisters talked for hours, and it was almost morning before they finally went to sleep.
The next morning, Mrs. Bennet was standing at the window when she suddenly saw Bingley and Darcy arriving again.
“Good heavens! Is that disagreeable Mr. Darcy coming here again with our dear Bingley?”
She sounded annoyed.
“What can possibly make him come here so often? I thought he would go shooting or do something else instead of constantly disturbing us with his company.”
She turned to Elizabeth.
“What are we going to do with him? Lizzy, you should go walking with him again. That way he won’t get in Bingley’s way.”
Elizabeth could hardly keep from laughing at the suggestion.
But she was also annoyed that her mother continued to call Darcy “that disagreeable man.”
When Bingley came inside, he looked at Elizabeth with such an obvious smile and shook her hand so warmly that she immediately knew he had heard the news.
A moment later, he teased Mrs. Bennet.
“Mrs. Bennet, don’t you have any more lanes around here where Lizzy can get lost today?”
Mrs. Bennet immediately had another idea.
“I think Mr. Darcy, Lizzy, and Kitty should walk to Oakham Mount this morning. It’s a lovely long walk, and Mr. Darcy has never seen the view.”
Bingley shook his head.
“That sounds fine for the others, but I think it will be too much for Kitty. Don’t you agree, Kitty?”
Kitty quickly agreed that she would rather stay home.
Darcy said he would be very interested to see the view from the Mount.
Elizabeth silently agreed to go with him.
As Elizabeth went upstairs to get ready, her mother followed her.
“I feel sorry for you, Lizzy. You have to spend all that time alone with that disagreeable man.”
Mrs. Bennet lowered her voice.
“But don’t worry about it. You’re doing it for Jane’s sake, after all. You don’t have to talk to him very much. Just make things pleasant and don’t make yourself uncomfortable.”
During their walk, Elizabeth and Darcy decided that they would ask Mr. Bennet for his permission that evening.
Elizabeth would speak to her mother herself.
She had no idea how Mrs. Bennet would react.
Perhaps Darcy’s wealth and importance would finally make her mother like him.
Or perhaps her hatred of him would remain stronger than all his money.
Either way, Elizabeth was certain her mother’s reaction would be embarrassing.
She could not bear the thought of Darcy hearing her mother’s wild excitement.
But she also could not bear for him to hear her mother’s angry objections.
That evening, shortly after Mr. Bennet went into the library, Elizabeth noticed Darcy get up and follow him.
Her heart began beating wildly.
She was not afraid that her father would refuse his permission.
What frightened her was the thought that her father might become unhappy because of her decision.
She was his favorite daughter, and she hated the idea that her marriage could cause him worry or regret.
Elizabeth sat anxiously until Darcy returned.
When she saw his reassuring smile, she felt slightly calmer.
A few minutes later, Darcy came over to the table where Elizabeth was sitting with Kitty.
Pretending to admire the work in her hands, he quietly whispered,
“Go to your father. He wants to see you in the library.”
Elizabeth immediately went.
Her father was walking around the room with a serious and worried expression.
“Lizzy, what are you doing?”
He stopped and looked at her.
“Have you completely lost your senses? Are you really going to marry this man? Haven’t you always hated him?”
Elizabeth wished desperately that she had been more careful with her old opinions.
If she had not spoken so strongly against Darcy in the past, she would not now have to explain herself.
But there was no avoiding it.
She nervously told her father that she truly loved Darcy.
Mr. Bennet raised his eyebrows.
“So, in other words, you’ve made up your mind to marry him.”
He smiled slightly.
“He is certainly rich. You’ll probably have finer clothes and better carriages than Jane. But do you really think those things will make you happy?”
Elizabeth shook her head.
“Do you have any objection to him other than believing that I don’t care for him?”
“None at all.”
Her father was honest.
“We all know that he can be proud and unpleasant. But none of that matters if you genuinely love him.”
“I do love him.”
Elizabeth’s eyes filled with tears.
“I love him very much. And he isn’t really proud in the way you think. He’s kind and generous. You don’t know what he is truly like, so please don’t speak about him as though he were a bad man.”
Mr. Bennet looked at her for a long moment.
“Lizzy, I have already given him my consent.”
Elizabeth looked surprised.
“Honestly, he’s the sort of man I would hardly dare refuse if he asked me for something.”
He smiled.
“So I will give you my consent too, if you are truly determined to marry him.”
Then his expression became serious again.
“But I want you to think carefully. I know you, Lizzy. You could never be happy with a husband you did not respect. You need to admire the man you marry.”
He continued,
“Your intelligence and lively nature could make an unequal marriage very difficult. If you don’t truly respect him, you could end up unhappy and lose the respect of others as well.”
He looked at her tenderly.
“My child, I don’t want to see you trapped in a marriage where you cannot respect your own husband. Are you absolutely certain about what you’re doing?”
Elizabeth was deeply moved.
She spoke with complete sincerity.
She explained how her feelings for Darcy had changed slowly over time.
She told her father that Darcy’s love had clearly lasted for many months and was not some sudden emotion.
Then she described his kindness, generosity, intelligence, and many other qualities.
At last, her father understood that she had made her choice carefully and that she truly loved Darcy.
“Well, my dear,” he said when she finished, “I have nothing more to say.”
He smiled.
“If this is really how you feel, then Darcy deserves you.”
“I could not have given my Lizzy to a man who was less worthy.”
Elizabeth then told him what Darcy had secretly done to help Lydia.
Mr. Bennet stared at her in amazement.
“This really is an evening full of surprises!”
“So Darcy did everything?”
He began counting the things with amusement.
“He arranged the marriage, provided the money, paid Wickham’s debts, and even got him his military commission?”
Mr. Bennet laughed.
“Well, that’s excellent. It saves me a great deal of trouble and expense.”
“If your uncle had done all this, I would have had to pay him back.”
“But these young people who are so desperately in love seem determined to manage everything themselves.”
He laughed again.
“I’ll offer to repay Darcy tomorrow. He’ll probably make a great speech about loving you and refuse the money, and that will be the end of it.”
Then Mr. Bennet remembered something.
He recalled how embarrassed Elizabeth had been a few days earlier when he read Mr. Collins’s letter.
He laughed at her about it for some time before finally allowing her to leave.
As she reached the door, he called after her,
“If any young men come to see Mary or Kitty, send them in. I have plenty of free time.”
Elizabeth finally felt a great weight lift from her heart.
She returned to her room and spent half an hour quietly thinking about everything.
When she went back downstairs, she was much calmer.
The family was not yet ready for celebration, but at least there was no longer anything serious to fear.
With time, she knew, everyone would become comfortable with the idea.
Later that night, when Mrs. Bennet went upstairs to her dressing room, Elizabeth followed her.
She finally gave her mother the news.
Mrs. Bennet went completely silent.
For several minutes, she could not say a word.
She simply stared at Elizabeth as if she had heard something impossible.
Then, little by little, the meaning of the news began to sink in.
She shifted around in her chair.
She stood up.
Then she sat down again.
Finally, she began to speak.
“Good heavens!”
“Lord bless me!”
“Mr. Darcy?”
“Who would ever have imagined it?”
She looked at Elizabeth excitedly.
“Is it really true?”
Then her face suddenly lit up.
“Oh, my sweetest Lizzy! How rich and important you will be!”
“Think of all the money you’ll have for yourself. The jewelry! The carriages!”
“Jane’s marriage will be nothing compared with yours!”
She could hardly contain her excitement.
“I am so happy!”
“Mr. Darcy is such a charming man! And so handsome! So tall!”
Then she suddenly remembered her former opinion of him.
“Oh, Lizzy, you must forgive me for disliking him so much before.”
“I hope he won’t hold it against me.”
She became more excited with every thought.
“You’ll have a house in London!”
“Everything will be wonderful!”
“Three of my daughters will be married!”
“Ten thousand pounds a year!”
“Oh, Lord! What will become of me? I shall go completely mad!”
Elizabeth knew immediately that her mother’s approval was certain.
She was also extremely relieved that she was the only person who had heard this extraordinary speech.
She left the room.
But she had barely been in her own room for three minutes when her mother followed her.
“My dearest child, I can’t think about anything else!”
“Ten thousand pounds a year—and probably even more!”
“That’s almost like marrying a lord!”
“And you must have a special marriage license. You absolutely must!”
Then Mrs. Bennet suddenly thought of something else.
“But tell me, Lizzy, what food does Mr. Darcy like best?”
“I must have it prepared for him tomorrow!”
Elizabeth could not help feeling worried.
Her mother’s reaction was certainly proof that she approved of the marriage, but it also gave Elizabeth a frightening idea of how her mother might behave around Darcy.
Even though Elizabeth now knew that Darcy loved her deeply, and even though her whole family had accepted the marriage, she still felt that something was missing.
She wanted her mother to behave with some dignity toward him.
Fortunately, the next day went much better than Elizabeth expected.
Mrs. Bennet was so nervous around her future son-in-law, and so impressed by his wealth and position, that she barely dared speak to him unless she was offering him something or showing how much she respected his opinion.
Elizabeth was especially pleased to see her father making a real effort to know Darcy better.
By the end of the day, Mr. Bennet was already beginning to admire him.
“I must say, I like all three of my sons-in-law very much.”
He smiled.
“Wickham may still be my favorite.”
Then he looked at Elizabeth.
“But I think I’ll like your husband just as much as Jane’s.”