Page 59 of Roses from Pemberley
“Will you not look at me?”
She turned to face him and was surprised by the intensity of his gaze.
“So, you think better of me, then?”
“Yes…I do. Of course I do.”
He nodded, and it appeared as if he were gathering his thoughts. “And so you no longer…dislikeme?”
“Oh no, not at all,” she hastened to say. “Not in the least.”
After another pause, he asked, “And do you think you could ever…care for me?”
“Care for you, but...” She blinked, feeling a little breathless. “I am not too late, then?”
“Too late…what do you mean?”
Elizabeth still could not believe her good fortune. “So you have not become engaged to Diana?”
“No! Why would you think it?”
“Because…she is beautiful, intelligent and kind. Not to mention that she is the daughter of an earl, and has a dowry of fifty thousand pounds. How could I ever compete with that? It seems to me that she is everything you could ever want in a wife.”
He chuckled and took her hand. “Elizabeth,” he said deliberately, “I would never become engaged to Diana. How could I when I am in love with you?”
She let out a long sigh, bewildered by the sudden turn of events.
“I love you,” he continued. “I have since last autumn. And I sincerely regret that I never bothered to explain myself to you…”
“No, it wasmyfault. For your insult at the assembly coloured all my subsequent interactions with you. I was driven by nothing more than prejudice and am heartily sorry for it.”
“Elizabeth, please do not say that. I insulted you and never should have done it, especially since it was a lie. I think that you are beautiful. Even more so than Diana.”
“But Diana…”
“Diana is like a sister. We are too much alike to fall in love. Too reserved, too proud. Too critical, and too mistrustful of others. You do see that, my love, do not?”
Elizabeth nodded and smiled inwardly at how he had addressed her. She was beginning to understand his point.
“So,” he said, “do you think youcouldever care for me?”
She responded quickly, not wishing for him to suffer another moment of doubt. “Yes, I could. I could - and do - care. I love you.”
She felt herself pulled suddenly against him and realised how cold she had been before. She closed her eyes against the warm dimness of his chest.
“You really do love me?” he asked.
“Yes, desperately.”
He laughed now, then placed a kiss upon her hair. “And will you allow me to court you?”
She was surprised that he would ask for a courtship instead of marriage.
“I wish to court you,” he said, answering her unasked question, “for you deserve to be courted. I wish to call on you and take walks with you. And tell you things about myself, and have you tell me things about yourself. I wish for us to be honest with one another, and for there to be no misunderstandings between us.”
She regarded him shyly. “I wish for the same thing…Darcy.”
He gave her a brilliant smile, then leaned in and touched his lips to hers. She felt a sudden jolt of longing, precipitated by his closeness. He kissed her again, with mouth slightly open this time, and she felt herself becoming giddy.
