Page 69 of Fortuitous Encounters

“I suppose not, but you prevented your sister’s disgrace. She knows better now, so that episode is in her past. Based on what you say, she made an innocent and ignorant mistake, while Lydia will ruin us deliberately without a single thought for the consequences. That is a problem for the future.”

He thought a minute, and asked, “What prevents your parents from correcting her?”

“My mother believes we all need to catch husbands, which is at least somewhat true, since the estate is entailed and we will be homeless when our father dies. Nobody has said so explicitly, but I also believe she used similar methods to catch my father. She does not know her own actions make her success less likely, but the fact that at least one of us needs to marry well is perfectly obvious. If Lydia goes to her ruin, it will be with my mother’s encouragement.”

Darcy cringed. “And your father?”

“He is indolent at a level a conscientious man like you cannot comprehend.”

“Would he accept sending them to school at my instigation and expense?”

“You would do that?” she gasped.

He reached over and took her hands. “Elizabeth, understand this. I am a very deliberate man. I would never ask to court you unless I thought it would lead to a proposal and marriage. A man of my status must be incredibly careful about such things because it would be easy to destroy your reputation. If we are to be married, I would do anything to ensure our happiness and the protection of our family. To be honest, the expense of a school is trivial in the grand scheme of things. The same can be said for setting aside a sum for your mother’s comfort on your father’s passing, which might do wonders for her nervousness. I could even buy her a cottage in Meryton, both to relieve her anxiety and ensure she never gets it into her head to live with us.”

She just stared at him in wonder. Here was a man who would do anything, while her father would not even bother to spend thirty pounds a year to hire a governess.

She asked with some trepidation, “If you are so certain a courtship will lead to a proposal, why ask to court me?”

“To give you time to know me and be sure of my character. There are no more consequential decisions for a woman than her husband, and we have time.”

“And yet, you had to be sure of my character before you even asked.”

“It is the difference between how men and women are treated by society. Bingley can show his open admiration for your sister within reason for weeks, but for her to do the same would bring censure. It is incumbent upon me to be careful with the power I wield. Power should be accompanied by responsibility, though it is obviously far from universal among my sex.”

She thought about it a minute, and finally said, “If you are certain, then my answer is ‘yes’ to whatever question you are prepared to ask. I have had the same time to study you as you have with me. I cannot imagine a better man and would frankly rather not experience the dubious pleasure of courting in the Longbourn parlour under my mother’s supervision while anxiously awaiting a proposal.”

“You would agree to marry me right now?” he stuttered nervously.

“I would if you asked,” she replied with a nervous smile. “But I would also happily accept a courtship, providing it is not protracted.”

He took a knee in front of her chair and took her hands in his.

“Miss Elizabeth Bennet. You must allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you. I would be the happiest man alive if you should consent to marry me.”

“I return your feelings with equal fervour, and it would be my greatest honour and pleasure to agree.”

The moment was tender and sweet, and he very politely asked permission before sharing their first kiss.

That was similarly sweet, loving, and about half-full of passion.

It may well have gone on the rest of the day, had it not been interrupted by a scream that would wake the dead, and the rather incongruous sound of a loud thump, followed by the unappealing sight of Miss Caroline Bingley fainted dead-away on the floor in the corridor. That part was definitely suboptimal.

The Engagement

The return to Longbourn was advanced from Sunday to Saturday for obvious reasons, but delayed by the need for Mr Bingley to get his house in order. Needless to say, the engagement of one Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy to Miss Elizabeth Bennet was not well-received by some among the populace. Jane said she was well-enough to return to Longbourn and could well have days earlier if push came to shove.

Once Miss Bingley had been sufficiently dealt with, using a combination of Jane and Mr Bingley’s kindness, coupled with Elizabeth and Darcy’s complete indifference to her plight, they called for the carriage.

As it turned out, in the midst of all that, Mr Bingley and Jane decided that they had spent as much time conversing as the happy couple, so the proven idea of just getting on with it had much to recommend it. He proposed, she accepted, and the return to Longbourn was delayed yet again whilst the two gentlemen worked out the specifics of the fait accompli they would present to Mr Bennet. Elizabeth and Jane assured them that anything that required little effort or expense would be acceptable.

The engaged couples also decided a double wedding would be just the thing, and it was obviously more efficient to do it quickly, what with the Gardiners being so conveniently available for Christmas. No great cogitation was required to assert that Mr Darcy was urgently required somewhere else, so a protracted engagement was just not practical.

Mr Collins appeared the day after their return as engaged women, and his esteemed patroness appeared right on schedule a week later. She was dispatched easily, and never quite worked out how Mary Bennet ended up living at Rosings three months later.

Lady Catherine eventually decided the easiest way to manage her later years was to get her daughter married, which as one might expect, was about as easy as any sensible person would surmise given her status of the heir to Rosings. Mary and Charlotte were similarly disposed in marriage in good time. The grand lady eventually found herself bored, so she took on Kitty and Lydia as well, and when that proved insufficiently challenging (they were, after all, sisters of Pemberley), she even took up the yoke with a nearly on the shelf Caroline Bingley. Her later years were spent in far better humour than her earlier, surrounded by happy grandchildren who all believed to the depths of their soul that their parents’ descriptions of an earlier Lady Catherine were like the bogeyman—entirely made up to scare naughty children.

As to the two couples, the Bingleys did exactly as any sensible person would, so their families spent their years happily close to each other, and equally advantageously far away from their more troublesome relations.