“I do, I do!” she said, reassuring him. “I only worry for my father. You see,” she took a deep breath, and explained to him that when they were first acquainted, she had not kept his slight private. “You have my sincerest apologies that my tongue wagged as it did, but at the time, I was insulted and I’ve always battled such melancholy with laughter.”

“At my expense.”

“You had made your statement at my expense, for your comfort,” she reminded him and he grimaced.

“I believe that neither of us performed at our best in the past. There are actions neither of us can change by discussing them now,” he offered, and Elizabeth heartily nodded in agreement. “But may I ask, why are you so worried about this? Has your father expressed concern over you getting married?”

The pit of her stomach clenched with dread. How was she to explain that just a few days ago, after Mr. Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh  visited, her father had made fun of the very notion of her marrying Mr. Darcy? That a cautionary, but entirely misguided, letter from her cousin, Mr. Collins, arrived stating that such a marriage was beyond her family’s social reach? 

“Do you recall my cousin, Mr. Collins?” she winced as Mr. Darcy began to cough, covering up epithets that were most unbecoming, yet truthful, about her bombastic cousin that served as parson to his aunt. “Did you know he asked for my hand?”

Darcy stopped. Elizabeth stumbled a moment, then caught her balance. Poor Mr. Darcy’s face paled with embarrassment.

“His application was before mine.”

Elizabeth nodded.

“And you must have rejected him. . .”

“Immediately, without a moment’s consideration,” Elizabeth quickly answered.

Darcy slowly nodded. “And your father is aware you spurned the offer that . . .” He paused and thought for a moment, remembering that Mr. Collins was to inherit Longbourn. “Marrying Mr. Collins would have saved your entire family in the event of your father’s untimely passing!”

Elizabeth looked down, slightly ashamed by the reminder her family’s status rested wholly on the health of her father, as she had no brother. After she counted the moments of silence for a few seconds, she took a deep breath and prepared to expose herself to absolute ridicule. “Yes, I was selfish, rude, and a disloyal daughter if you ask my mother. However, in refusing him, I was able to visit Kent as his cousin, not his wife, and be presently available to become your wife once we set a date.  Hopefully you shall not think less of me for lacking mercenary aims.”

“On the contrary, I think better of you, my dear. I only regret the revelation that my proposal, my first proposal,” he corrected himself, and laughed nervously, “must have been on par with that buffoon’s, for you rejected me in a similarly efficient manner.”

“That’s not entirely—” Elizabeth began, but stopped, when Mr. Darcy began to laugh. She laughed, too, squeezing his upper arm in affection. 

She couldn’t truthfully state the rejection of both men had been so very different, but that the men were very different in her esteem, that she could defend. “Perhaps I am a creature of habit when I am proposed marriage without any expectation of the request, and to men I do not presently esteem. But where Mr. Collins could do nothing to improve his behavior in my estimation, part of my dislike for your behavior was based on misguided assumptions.”

Mr. Darcy laughed. “And equally based on the poor behavior I engaged in. You need not flatter my vanity, Madam, I have won the prize.” He turned to block her path and gazed into her eyes in a way she had seen before, but misjudged in the past to be him trying to find fault. Now, she recognized the fiery passion behind his expression, one of intense focus on the object he loved.

She smiled. Then sighed. “And I have been happily won. But even Jane could not accept my news last evening without many questions. I believe my family accepted me as the daughter who will never wed, so they may not readily believe I am marrying for the right reasons.”

He closed his eyes, and considered their predicament for a moment.

“Do you suspect your father will insist on a longer engagement?” He opened his eyes and resumed his position next to her that they might continue their progress towards Oakham Mount. 

Elizabeth’s voice cracked as such a possibility had never occurred to her. “Perhaps? I cannot say.” 

Suddenly, she held no desire to be parted from Mr. Darcy, now that she knew how much she cared for the man. The strength of her emotions shoved aside all reason and sensibility of a long engagement.

They walked in silence another quarter of a mile, neither feeling a need to fill the air with shallow conversation. Both merely thought of solutions, and while Elizabeth’s mind took a flight of fancy considering she was of age, and no longer needed her father’s approval, Mr. Darcy’s thoughts turned to satisfying Mr. Bennet’s concerns. He wished to earn the blessing of Elizabeth’s father, if for no other reason than that his intended loved her father very much. Being without living parents himself, he revered her good fortune to possess two.

The road began a steep grade as they neared the summit, and there was the first sign of Jane and Mr. Bingley ahead. Mr. Darcy received inspiration.

“What if I speak to Charles and ask for us to remain at Netherfield for some time after our nuptials?” he asked.

Elizabeth latched onto her betrothed’s idea, and added logical reasoning. “Yes, perhaps instead of a wedding trip, we remain together for a month or so and then to Pemberley for Christmas?” she asked, offering him a clear sign she did not wish to remain in Hertfordshire indefinitely, just time enough for her father to grow accustomed to her marriage.

“Will your family wish to travel with us?” Mr. Darcy asked, praying the Bennets held a long tradition of staying at Longbourn for Christmastime.

“Oh, I shouldn’t like to invite them,” Elizabeth said hastily, thinking of Lydia and Mr. Wickham trying to seek an invitation, and dealing with her mother advocating for family harmony. Then she felt a small amount of sadness at the thought of a Christmas without family, envisioning Pemberley, as large as the estate home was, to be quite lonely. “What of my Aunt and Uncle Gardiner? We do owe a great deal to them that we came to an understanding.”

“Two of the most sensible people I have ever met,” Mr. Darcy stated, giving high praise. Elizabeth breathed easily as Jane and Mr. Bingley turned around and waved at them. “I believe, Madam, we have settled many things.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth said with a laugh, as they hurried their pace to reach the peak. “But I believe there will be much more to negotiate!” And she wrinkled her nose, unhooked her arm from his, and began to run the rest of the way. 

Mr. Darcy watched in appreciation, before lifting his hat and joining Elizabeth in her folly. His Elizabeth.