The Road to Pemberley (64 page)

Elizabeth, feeling all the more than common awkwardness and anxiety of his situation, now forced herself to speak; and immediately, though not very fluently, gave him to understand that her sentiments had undergone so material a change, since the period to which he alluded, as to make her receive with gratitude and pleasure his present assurances.

Pride and Prejudice, chapter 58

“My dear Lizzy, where can you have been walking to?” was a question which Elizabeth received from Jane as soon as she entered the room, and from all the others when they sat down to table. She had only to say in reply that they had wandered about till she was beyond her own knowledge. She colored as she spoke; but neither that, nor anything else, awakened a suspicion of the truth.

Pride and Prejudice, chapter 59

A suspicion of the truth was not awakened in anyone—except Mr. Bennet, who was determined to learn the cause of that blush. He looked sternly at Elizabeth. He finally caught her eye, but she turned away with a laugh.

Throughout dinner, Mr. Bennet kept a close eye on Elizabeth and her co-conspirator, Mr. Darcy. It seemed to him that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy were exchanging frequent glances. Though never truly staring at each other, when their eyes did meet, it was plain that they were engaged in unspoken communication.

Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth never spoke, but sat so close that their shoulders frequently brushed against each other. For some reason, Mr. Bennet observed, Mr. Darcy ate only with his left hand and Elizabeth with her right. Their other hands remained out of sight, hidden by the tablecloth. He would bet the whole of Longbourn estate that those hands were touching.

Mr. Bennet knew his second daughter well. Ever since she could walk, she had wandered the countryside around Longbourn and Meryton. The older she grew, the farther she went. He knew that she had left late that morning in the company of Mr. Bingley, Mr. Darcy, Jane, and Kitty. He was also aware that Mr. Bingley and Jane had returned alone in the early afternoon, and Kitty not long thereafter. However, it was not until many hours later that Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy had come back.

Although they had been gone for a substantial period of time, Mr. Bennet was convinced that this was not because Elizabeth had gone beyond her own knowledge. That possibility was not a consideration. Something else had either held their attention or prevented their timely return. Either way, his daughter had been alone with Mr. Darcy, out in the countryside, for the majority of the day.

Mr. Bennet did not want to suspect his daughter of any…
what could he say
…misconduct…but her behavior at dinner with Mr. Darcy provoked questions he never would have imagined asking Elizabeth. It had been true of Lydia, though, and he would not dare venture an opinion of Kitty's…situation—but Elizabeth?

Determined to know what had happened, he excused himself from company and retired to the library. He knew it would be some time before the gentlemen left. Once they were gone, he would have a private conversation with Elizabeth.

Tea had been served and it was time for the gentlemen to leave. The acknowledged lovers exchanged handclasps and tender words. The unacknowledged lovers parted in silence, with longing in their eyes the only communication between them.

Mr. Bennet was out of his library the moment he heard the door close. Walking with as much ease as his agitated mind would allow, he crossed the hall to the drawing room. He found Elizabeth tidying up her needlework.

“Lizzy, will you come to my library? I would like to speak with you,” said Mr. Bennet.

Elizabeth thought nothing of this request, as it was not unusual for father and daughter to spend hours reading together or in conversation.

Mr. Bennet followed Elizabeth into the room and invited her to take a seat in front of his desk. He sat in the chair next to hers. After looking into her eyes for a moment with a glance she readily returned, he cleared his throat and began what he hoped would not be a distressing interview.

“Lizzy, did anything happen today about which I should know?” asked Mr. Bennet.

Elizabeth shifted in her seat. Mr. Bennet noticed her discomfiture with raised eyebrows.

“Happen?” she repeated.

“Yes, between you and Mr. Darcy.”

“Well, we did all walk out today…” began Elizabeth. She could not continue. She could not meet her father's eyes.

“I am aware of that, Lizzy, but it occurred to me that you and Mr. Darcy were gone much longer than the others, and I was
wondering…Lizzy, did you really walk so far that you did not know where you were?”

“As you know, Father, I do walk many places, and…well…” She hesitated.

“Well?” quizzed Mr. Bennet, urging her to continue.

“I confess, sir,” said Elizabeth meekly, looking down at her clenched hands in her lap, “that we were not beyond my knowledge. I was not completely truthful. I hoped no one would notice. I should have known that you would. I am sorry.”

“Dissembling is not a feature of your character, Lizzy. You do not do it well at all,” said Mr. Bennet mildly.

Elizabeth smiled and looked up, grateful that her father was not truly angry with her. There would, however, be no escape from acknowledging the truth of her situation with Mr. Darcy.

“Sir, something did happen today, though it is not with me that you should speak.”

“Oh, and with whom should I speak?”

Elizabeth paused under her father's unyielding stare. “With Mr. Darcy, sir,” she said with a smile that seemed to Mr. Bennet to be directed inwardly rather than at himself.

“Will you tell me?” asked Mr. Bennet.

“I know you will not let me leave until I do,” she said and laughed. “Very well. Today, Mr. Darcy asked me to marry him, and I accepted. We spoke of everything. It was not until we turned westward and the sun was low on the horizon that Mr. Darcy checked his pocket watch and realized that we had been gone far too long. But there had been so much to say. Oh, Father, I love him!”

“You
love
Mr. Darcy? I thought you hated him!” Mr. Bennet could not retain his seat. He stood and paced about the room. “Are you out of your senses to be accepting that man?

Elizabeth smiled tenderly at her father. “I know that in the beginning I did not always speak favorably of Mr. Darcy.”

“Lizzy, is that what you call it? ‘Favorably'? My dear, you taught half of Meryton to hate the man!” cried her father.

“I was wrong, so very wrong!” she protested. “I came to know him better when I was at Hunsford. He was staying with his aunt at Rosings Park, and we were with each other daily, and I saw him again in Derbyshire when I traveled there with my aunt and uncle, and I liked him so very much.”

Mr. Bennet noticed a faraway look in her eyes.

“Lizzy, I know very little about what you did at Hunsford and nothing at all about Derbyshire,” said Mr. Bennet.

“Mr. Darcy proposed marriage to me at Hunsford.”

Mr. Bennet could not hide his surprise. “But—”

“I refused him,” she answered, “because I did not know him then. Everything changed when I saw him and fell in love with him in Derbyshire. I loved him, and only news of Lydia's elopement could have taken me away from him.”

“What do you mean, ‘taken you away'?” Mr. Bennet was incredulous.

“I love him, Father,” said Elizabeth unabashedly. “If he had asked me to stay with him at Pemberley, I would have, but we left before I had the chance to see him again.”

Mr. Bennet asked the question that had been on his mind all afternoon.

“Have you…has he…I mean, have you been…” he cleared his throat. “Has he made any…advances toward you. I mean, have you been…
compromised
…in any way? Is there any reason—”

Elizabeth interrupted him with a gasp. “
No
, that has not happened.”

Mr. Bennet took out a handkerchief and wiped the perspiration off his brow.

“You obviously feel a great deal for him, Lizzy,” admitted Mr. Bennet, “but is he a good man?”

“He is the best man I know, Papa. He has the good opinion of all his servants and tenants at Pemberley. My Aunt Gardiner inquired of all her acquaintance in Lambton and the surrounding neighborhood, and he is held in high esteem. He is raising his younger sister, Miss Darcy, and you would never meet a more well-mannered, considerate young lady. She is a joy to be around, and I look forward with great anticipation to being her sister.”

Her father frowned slightly.

“I know I did not speak well of him and that I accused him of pride, but, Father, he has no pride at all. The problem was me and the prejudices I had nurtured from the very beginning of our acquaintance.”

“That is all well and good, Lizzy,” said Mr. Bennet, “and I will give him credit for being a good brother, master, landlord, and neighbor, but that may mean nothing. Does he truly love you?”

“He does, Father. And you will love him nearly as much as I do when you get to know him. He is Mr. Bingley's closest friend, and I know your good opinion of Mr. Bingley,” said Elizabeth.

“Why has he not sought my consent?” demanded Mr. Bennet.

“He wanted to approach you tonight, but I begged him to wait just one day until I could speak with you. I knew that you would be…surprised by the alteration in my feelings for him.”

“Very well. Lizzy.” Mr. Bennet pondered for a moment and determined to test her commitment. “I do not know if I trust your Mr. Darcy. What if I withhold my consent?”

Elizabeth was shocked and tears formed in her eyes.

“Papa, please do not put me in that situation! I love you both and you will love him, too. Please, Father! Please give us your blessing!”

Elizabeth buried her face in her hands and began to cry. Mr. Bennet watched her for a moment, regretting that he had provoked her. It had not been his intent to make her unhappy.