Page 112 of Shields and Roses

"I am so very delighted to be here, Mrs. Bennet," she said enthusiastically. "Richard has often told me of your kindness to him and how he feels you are simply a part of his family. You cannot imagine how often I have longed to be here and spend time with you and all of your daughters."

"Oh, my dear Mrs. Hanson," Mrs. Bennet replied. "I have already told Georgiana to think of this as a second home and asked her to call me Aunt Fanny as my nieces and nephews do. You and your young man are welcome to do the same. Just consider yourself family as much as Richard does."

Darcy broke in before the discussion went any further. He decided it was time to get back to tradition for the remainder of those his cousin did not know and next introduced Lord and Lady Sheldon, the Damasks, the Cathcarts and finally all the Bennet daughters. That sparked a good bit more welcoming conversation, so it was some time before he got to Bingley who, as the son of a tradesman, really was at the bottom of the social ladder in the room.

While all the introductions were going on, Bingley had used the welcoming chit chat as a cover to finally make his escape from the matronly side of the room. He slowly worked his way over to stand beside Sir Phillip. It was probably for the best that he had.

When Darcy finally presented Anne and Martin to Bingley, the first words out of his cousin's mouth were, "Mr. Bingley! I am so delighted to finally make your acquaintance. I want to congratulate you on your courtship with Mary! I hope the two of you will soon decide to wed and that you will be as happy together as Martin and I are!"

"Courtship! With Mary! Our Mary?" Mrs. Bennet screeched. "Mr. Bingley and our Mary!"

She fanned herself energetically with her handkerchief as she looked at Mr. Bingley for confirmation. Mrs. de Bourgh and Lady Sheldon tried to calm her as she continued, "What does she mean, Mr. Bingley? Why did you not say something?"

Bingley had turned red to the tips of his ears. He tried to speak, but nothing came out, not that he would have been heard over Mrs. Bennet's exclamations. Anne, however, had no problem cutting through the din, much to Darcy's surprise. She apparently had more of her mother in her than he had thought.

"Mrs. Bennet! Mr. Bingley! I am so very sorry! Both Will and Richard spoke of the courtship as an established fact and I did not even think that it might not have been publicly announced yet. I was just so happy to finally meet Mr. Bingley that my congratulations slipped right out."

Mrs. Bennet stopped talking, although she continued to flap her handkerchief. Bingley tried again to speak, and this time he managed it.

"I had no idea of keeping secrets from you, Mrs. Bennet," he said. "Nor did I wish to cause you such distress. It is true that I am officially courting Miss Mary, and Mr. Bennet has given permission, but she had asked that we wait to announce the courtship until her arrival tomorrow. Miss Mary wanted to be here with you when you learned the news and celebrated it."

"More like she wanted to protect her young man from being the prime focus of the celebration," Darcy heard Bennet mutter from somewhere behind him.

"Oh, my dear Mr. Bingley! I am so delighted!" Mrs. Bennet squealed even as Anne tried once more to apologize and the other ladies began to congratulate the Bennet matron.

Darcy heard Georgiana quietly ask Kitty and Lydia if they had known. They were still too interested in the packages to do more than confirm that they had. All three turned to look at Darcy, but there was still too much noise for them to ask again about the chessboards.

As he turned away from them, he spotted Bennet looking at him with a clear challenge in his expression. Lizzy also caught her father's look. She stepped a little closer to Darcy and whispered, "Shall we?"

With another glance around the room, Darcy made his decision. He doubted the noise could get any louder, so why not get it over with and reap the benefits of having the betrothal known. Clearing his throat loudly again, he drew the attention of the room.

"In the interests of full disclosure," he said into the suddenly silent room, "I also have an announcement to make. We had intended to share the news at the same time as Bingley and Miss Mary, so I may as well tell you now. Miss Elizabeth and I are happy to inform you that we have agreed to marry, and Mr. Bennet has approved our betrothal."

Mrs. Bennet proved him wrong. "Betrothal?" she shrieked at an even louder volume than when she had questioned Bingley's courtship. "You and Lizzy- betrothed?" She stopped fanning herself. Her hands dropped to her sides as her eyes rolled up and she slumped down before slowly sliding off the sofa on which she had been sitting and falling into a heap on the floor.

"She has fainted," Mrs. de Bourgh declared to the room.

She knelt and attempted to revive her hostess. Mrs. Damask and Lady Sheldon joined her as the other women began to crowd around as well. Most of the attention in the room was now fixed firmly on Mrs. Bennet. Even Kitty and Lydia ran over to see that their mother was well, and Lizzy joined them. Darcy was surprised to feel a large hand come to rest heavily on his left shoulder.

"Congratulations and well done," his uncle said just loudly enough for Darcy to hear him over the commotion surrounding Mrs. Bennet. "I suppose you did not tell me earlier as a bit of payback for my not telling you what I knew of Miss Rose."

"You suppose correctly, sir," Darcy said with a smirk.

"Well, that also explains why Bennet has been looking so smug. I knew he was keeping a secret but had not been able to figure it out yet."

"Oh, we have all manner of secrets going on here – relationships, rank and more," Darcy said.

"Hmm. Yes, well, all will come out eventually," said his uncle a little sheepishly.

The two stood together and watched as Anne apologized to Bingley once more and the group of women succeeded in reviving Mrs. Bennet. Lydia and Lizzy provided the strong arms the older woman needed to stand and return to her seat. She reached for the handkerchief she had dropped when she fainted. It was too much of a stretch, so Kitty picked it up for her. Almost as soon as the square of lace-trimmed fabric was in her hand, she found her voice again.

"Oh, my, my, my!" she exclaimed. "Is it true? Can it be true? Our Mary in a courtship and Lizzy betrothed? Oh, tell me I am not dreaming?"

Lizzy patted her mother's arm reassuringly. "It is true, Mama, every bit of it. Mary and Mr. Bingley met in London, and he leased Netherfield Park so he could be near her and continue the courtship once she returned to Longbourn.

"Oh, how romantic," Mrs. Bennet sighed, fluttering her handkerchief vigorously in front of her chest. "And such a handsome, cheerful young man he is too. But what about you and Mr. Darcy. How did that come about?"

Lizzy patted her mother's arm again as she explained, "We have had plenty of time to talk while he visited here and have overcome our differences as we got to know one another better. Yesterday morning he asked if I would marry him and I said yes. Papa gave his blessing then, but we wanted to wait and share our news after you learned about Mary because we thought her courtship was important as well."