Elizabeth’s spirits soon returned to their usual playful mood.
She looked at Darcy with a teasing smile.
“Tell me something. How did you ever fall in love with me?”
Darcy looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“I can understand how you continued to love me once you had started. But how did it begin? What made you fall for me in the first place?”
“I can’t tell you exactly when it happened,” Darcy replied. “I don’t remember the exact day, place, look, or words that started it. It happened so gradually that I was already in love before I realized it.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“You certainly didn’t fall for my beauty at first. And my behavior toward you was hardly charming. I was often rude to you, and sometimes I deliberately said things just to annoy you.”
She leaned closer.
“Be honest. Did you actually admire me because I was so impertinent?”
“I admired your lively mind.”
“You might as well call it impertinence.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“The truth is, you were tired of polite women who were always trying to please you. They watched everything you said, thought about everything you might like, and behaved only to win your approval.”
“I was completely different from them, so I caught your attention.”
“If you hadn’t been a good man underneath all that seriousness, you probably would have hated me.”
“But despite all your efforts to hide your feelings, I could see that you were actually fair and generous. Deep down, you had little respect for the people who constantly tried to flatter you.”
She smiled triumphantly.
“There. I’ve explained it for you. And when I think about it, I suppose falling in love with me wasn’t completely unreasonable.”
“Although, of course, you didn’t really know what was good about me at the time. But apparently nobody thinks about that when they fall in love.”
Darcy smiled.
“Wasn’t there at least something good about you when Jane was sick at Netherfield?”
Elizabeth looked amused.
“My poor Jane! Who could have done anything less for her?”
“But if you want to turn that into one of my virtues, go ahead.”
She laughed.
“All my good qualities are now your responsibility. You can make them sound as impressive as you like.”
“And in return, I suppose I have the right to tease you and argue with you whenever I please.”
Darcy smiled.
“I’ll begin right now. Why did you take so long to realize what you wanted?”
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.
“Why were you so nervous around me when you first came here?”
“And why did you look so indifferent to me that first time?”
“Because you were so serious and quiet,” Darcy answered. “You gave me no reason to think you were interested in me.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“So was I.”
“You could have talked to me more when you came to dinner.”
“A man who felt less strongly might have found it easier to talk.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“How unfortunate that you always have a reasonable answer.”
“And how unfortunate that I am reasonable enough to admit when you’re right.”
She paused.
“But I still wonder how long you would have waited if I hadn’t done anything.”
“When would you have finally told me how you felt if I hadn’t asked you?”
“My decision to thank you for what you had done for Lydia certainly helped.”
“Perhaps it helped too much.”
She smiled.
“After all, I wasn’t supposed to know about it. If our happiness came from my breaking that promise, what lesson are we supposed to learn from that?”
“That doesn’t matter,” Darcy said.
“The lesson will still be perfectly clear. Lady Catherine’s attempt to separate us was what finally removed all my doubts.”
“I don’t owe my happiness to your attempt to thank me.”
“I wasn’t willing to sit around waiting for you to give me an opportunity.”
“My aunt had already given me hope, and I had decided that I needed to know the truth.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“Lady Catherine has been incredibly useful to us.”
“She should be delighted. She loves interfering in people’s lives and making herself important.”
Then Elizabeth looked at Darcy curiously.
“But tell me, why did you really come to Netherfield?”
“Was it simply because you wanted to ride over to Longbourn and make yourself uncomfortable?”
“Or did you have something more serious in mind?”
Darcy smiled.
“My real reason was to see you.”
“I wanted to know whether there was any possibility that you might ever love me.”
“My official reason—or at least the reason I gave myself—was to find out whether your sister still cared for Bingley.”
“If she did, I intended to tell Bingley what I had already told him later.”
Elizabeth smiled.
“And do you think you’ll ever have the courage to tell Lady Catherine what has happened?”
“I may need more time than courage,” Darcy replied.
“But it has to be done. If you give me some paper, I’ll write to her immediately.”
Elizabeth laughed.
“If I didn’t have a letter of my own to write, I could sit here and admire your beautiful handwriting, just as another young lady once did.”
“But I have an aunt who has been waiting long enough for a reply.”
Elizabeth went to write to Mrs. Gardiner.
She had avoided answering her aunt’s long letter because she had not wanted to admit how much Mrs. Gardiner had misunderstood about her relationship with Darcy.
Now, however, she finally had news that would make her aunt extremely happy.
Elizabeth felt almost guilty when she realized that her aunt and uncle had already spent three days without knowing the truth.
So she immediately wrote.
My dear Aunt,
I should have thanked you much sooner for your long and thoughtful letter, but to tell you the truth, I was too annoyed to write.
You guessed that there was much more going on between Mr. Darcy and me than there really was at the time.
But now you may imagine as much as you like. Let your imagination run completely wild. Unless you believe I am already married, you won’t be imagining anything too outrageous.
You must write to me again very soon, and this time you must praise Mr. Darcy much more than you did in your last letter.
And thank you again and again for deciding not to go to the Lakes. I don’t know how I could ever have wished you to go away.
Your idea about the ponies is wonderful. We shall ride around the park every day.
I am the happiest woman in the world. Other people may have said the same thing before, but nobody could have said it more honestly.
I am even happier than Jane. She only smiles, while I laugh.
Mr. Darcy sends you all the affection he can spare from me.
You must all come to Pemberley for Christmas.
Yours affectionately,
Elizabeth
Darcy’s letter to Lady Catherine was written in a very different style.
Mr. Bennet’s letter to Mr. Collins was different from both.
He wrote:
Dear Sir,
I must trouble you once again to congratulate me.
Elizabeth will soon be Mrs. Darcy.
Please do your best to comfort Lady Catherine.
If I were you, however, I would support your nephew. He has much more to offer.
Yours sincerely,
Mr. Bennet
Miss Bingley also sent her brother a letter of congratulations.
It was full of affectionate words, but Elizabeth would probably have found them completely insincere.
Miss Bingley even wrote to Jane, claiming to be delighted about the marriage and repeating all the warm feelings she had expressed before.
Jane was not fooled.
She knew perfectly well that Miss Bingley was not sincere.
Still, Jane was touched by the letter and replied much more kindly than Miss Bingley deserved.
Georgiana Darcy’s reaction was completely different.
When she heard that her brother and Elizabeth were engaged, her happiness was genuine.
She wrote four full pages and still seemed to have more to say.
She was thrilled about the marriage and desperately wanted Elizabeth to love her as a sister.
Before Mr. Collins could reply to Mr. Bennet, and before Charlotte could send Elizabeth her own congratulations, the Bennet family heard some surprising news.
The Collinses had arrived at Lucas Lodge.
The reason soon became clear.
Lady Catherine had been furious when she received Darcy’s letter.
Charlotte, who was genuinely delighted about Elizabeth and Darcy’s engagement, thought it would be wiser to leave Rosings until Lady Catherine’s anger had cooled down.
Elizabeth was genuinely happy to see her friend.
Charlotte’s arrival gave her someone with whom she could share her happiness.
But Elizabeth sometimes wondered whether the pleasure was worth the price.
Mr. Collins treated Darcy with an almost ridiculous amount of respect.
Sir William Lucas was no better.
He was delighted by the engagement and praised Darcy endlessly.
“My dear Mr. Darcy,” Sir William said, “you have certainly carried away the finest jewel in the whole country.”
He then began talking excitedly about the future.
“I hope we shall all have the pleasure of seeing you often in London, especially at St. James’s.”
Darcy listened with remarkable patience.
He remained calm and polite throughout the entire conversation.
Only after Sir William had walked away did Darcy finally allow himself a small shrug.
Mrs. Philips was another challenge altogether.
Her manners were much less refined, and her conversation was often embarrassingly vulgar.
She was too nervous around Darcy to speak to him with the easy familiarity she showed Bingley.
But whenever she did speak, she somehow managed to sound vulgar anyway.
Her respect for Darcy made her quieter, but it certainly did not make her more elegant.
Elizabeth did everything she could to protect Darcy from unnecessary attention.
Whenever possible, she kept him close to herself or with the members of her family who could speak to him comfortably.
The awkward behavior of some of her relatives took away much of the pleasure of their courtship.
Yet Elizabeth could not help looking forward to the future.
Soon, she and Darcy would leave all this behind.
They would be at Pemberley, surrounded by the peace, comfort, and elegance of their own home.
And there, at last, they would be able to enjoy each other’s company without having to endure people who made them uncomfortable.