Page 85 of Stuck

“So much it’s probably you who should run.”

I returned his promise. “Never going to happen.”

He seemed to like this answer. I didn’t see any other parts of the house except his bedroom until well after sunrise the next day.

Pemberley was incredible, in the truest sense of the word: hard to believe. I hadn’t googled it before I came, because I hadn’t wanted to ruin the surprise for myself, but from what Bingley had told me, I’d known it was big. Well, “big” didn’t really cover a house with eighty-four rooms. The wing Darcy and his sister lived in was, relatively speaking, smaller, but you could still have fitted Mum’s flat into it at least ten times over. The whole mansion was like something out of the movies. Literally. Without realising it, I’d seen various parts of it in no fewer than three blockbusters and two TV shows.

I tried not to be too nerdy about it at first, but once I realised that Darcy wanted me to like it, once I saw the pride he took in the house, the grounds, and all the laudable work he was doing with the Pemberley Group, then I allowed myself to fully geek out.

We were currently in a space he informed me was known as “the great hall.” It was cavernous, with a vaulted ceiling painted like something out of the Sistine Chapel. A stone fireplace the size of a small car took up one wall, a wide wooden staircase the other. The stairs split halfway up, each branch leading to two separate balconies running along either side of the space on the first floor. There were all the usual accoutrements of old country estates from tapestries to statuary, but it wasn’t gaudy like some houses I’d visited. The decor was elegant and tasteful, the furniture all suiting the size and age of the property.

“I can’t believe you own this,” I said, turning in a circle as I stared up at the ceiling. Darcy took hold of my elbow when I got dizzy, a tender look on his face as he waited for my inner ears to recalibrate.

“Sometimes, neither can I,” he replied. “It’s very special. I’ll tell you some of the stories my dad passed to me some day. The people, the parties, the scandals these walls have seen are quite something.”

“I’d love that.”

“So would I,” Georgiana said.

She’d come with us on the tour after having joined us at breakfast and had been taking in the interior with as much reverence as I was. I supposed a person could easily become inured to grandeur if they grew up surrounded by it. Perhaps my wonder had prompted her to look at it through new eyes.

I was finding her almost as fascinating as Pemberley itself. She looked remarkably like her brother, with the same dark hair, penetrating eyes, and full lips. She was tall like him too—a good three inches taller than me—and with much bigger boobs. There really were some seriously good genes in this family. She and Darcy had an easy rapport that had him smiling more freely than usual. It was obvious how close they were—and lovely to see. And to my vast relief, she couldn’t have been more welcoming towards me.

“Hasn’t he told you any?” I asked, feigning outrage with a hand to my chest.

“I’ve told her many,” Darcy said wryly. “But Georgiana spent most of her younger years trying not to listen to anything I said.”

If I’d accused Lydia of something like that, she’d have had a conniption, but Georgiana shrugged gracefully and admitted, “That’s probably true.”

It was funny; I’d tried to imagine which of my sisters she’d be most like—and having four to choose from, there were a plethora of characteristics in the offing. But of course, she was like none of them. Not one of the Bennet sisters, myself included, carried herself with the sort of elegance Georgiana Darcy effortlessly exuded. She was somehow both a typical modern-day teenager and yet still completely at home in this centuries-old house. I’d never met anyone like her. I liked her. A lot.

The notion that popped uninvited into my head—that I’d love to add her to my wonderfully eclectic pack of sisters—had me blushing. It was crazy enough that Darcy and I had voiced the L-word already; I definitely shouldn’t be thinking about gaining in-laws.

We went on like this through the whole house, eventually splitting up when Darcy announced that he was going to show me the grounds and Georgiana opted to park herself in front of the TV and catch up on last night’s episode of The Traitors.

The grounds proved to be even more impressive than the house. We walked through a huge kitchen garden and two rose gardens and past a box-hedge maze and a bridge that led over a stream and off into a whole-arse wood before we set out across open parkland behind the house. After another ten minutes or so, we crested a small rise, and my mouth dropped open.

“Oh wow, you weren’t joking. You really do have your own lake.”

Now Darcy’s grin was not subdued in the least. In fact, it was positively feral. “Fancy a dip?”

I glanced right, towards the end of the lake, where the house stood in plain sight.

“If it weren’t for the fear of getting caught by the three gardeners we passed on the way here; Sam, who I know is in the house somewhere; the dozens of security cameras; and your sister, I’d be seriously tempted to say yes to what you’re hinting at. Ask me again when I’ve got my swimming costume and goggles with me, though, and I will be the first in the water for an actual swim. Darcy, this is amazing!”

He stepped behind me and wound his arms around my middle. “I meant swimming. It’s your mind that’s in the gutter.”

“Liar.”

His chest jumped against my back with a soft laugh. “Okay, I admit, I’ve been dreaming about getting you naked in this lake since you first told me you liked wild swimming.” He nuzzled his face into my neck, kissing me tenderly behind my ear. “Do you like it?”

“Who wouldn’t? The lake, the grounds, the house—it’s all beautiful.”

He made a contented noise, a cross between a hum and a sigh. “I’m glad you think so.”

He didn’t say any more, but I got the impression he wanted to, and judging by the way he paused there, with us facing Pemberley, holding each other on the cusp of our new beginning, I was fairly certain what he was holding back. It gave me the courage to give him some reassurance. Nothing major; just enough to let him know I shared his hopes that this precious thing we’d found would last.

“You know, if this was my house, I’d definitely get a tattoo of it to match the one of Longbourn. On my other hip.”