Darcy & Elizabeth: A Season of Courtship (Darcy Saga Prequel Duo) by Sharon Lathan

vacillating emotions, then all is well. In general I am
sensing favorable currents between us, Elizabeth, but persistently addressing
me as Mr. Darcy is beginning to erode my peace.”
    Impulsively, as much to fulfill an
inner yearning as to express a concrete assurance of her sentiments, Lizzy leaned
in and pressed a closed-lip kiss to his mouth. She pulled back before he
managed to overcome his surprise at her bold initiative and respond to the
kiss. Then she withdrew her hands from his warm caress and walked away—she
had to or it would be her losing control!
    Best to instill additional
lightness to the topic and maintain some distance. With her back to him, she
pretended to examine the yellowing leaves of the elm. “Knowing your struggles, William, I am shocked you complacently agreed to my father’s demand to delay our wedding
indefinitely.”
    He did not reply immediately, and
when he did, his voice was strained. “I agreed to no such thing. If allowed, I
would marry you tomorrow, Elizabeth.” She heard his cleansing inhale and
exhale. “That being said, I cannot fault Mr. Bennet’s reluctance in parting
with his daughters, nor the understandable request for time to grow better
acquainted with me. He needs the weeks to trust my love for you.”
    “Did he say that?”
    “Not in those precise words, no.
The implication was clear and, as I said, I do not fault him. I am willing to
practice patience. Within reason, of course. Time, as painful as it is in one
respect, is beneficial for planning a proper wedding and for me to make the
necessary preparations for my bride.”
    “I see. It appears that my worrying
over what transpired while you and Mr. Bingley were with Papa was wasted effort
then. No climatic conclusion or dramatic confrontations to report. Pity.”
    “We did reach an agreement, and
there were moments of drama and confrontation. Shall I relate our exchange as
it happened, or would you prefer I embellish for greater entertainment?”
    The notion of staid Mr. Darcy
attempting to embellish made Lizzy laugh out loud. “A simple recounting will
suffice. Or even a synopsis, in the interest of time.”
    “As you wish. First, we discussed
the importance of reading…”
    Lizzy listened intently, as much to
enjoy the musical cadence of her lover’s voice as to learn what was said in her
father’s library. Portions were difficult to hear, such as her father bringing
up Darcy’s rude dismissal during the Meryton Assembly. She winced at that revelation and cringed over Darcy’s obviously feigned calm when informed of Mr.
Collins’s proposal. Otherwise, she delighted in his narrative, feelings of
amusement and respect outweighing the embarrassment. A couple times, she sensed
that he was omitting a comment or smoothly condensing, the prospect most
notable because he repeated the conversations precisely, as if reading from a
playwright’s script. Adding further to her amazement were his occasional slips
into a storyteller’s rhythm, random descriptions of a facial expression or
internal emotion, and twice an offhand mention of the scenery. The entire
performance was so entrancing, and enlightening, that she nearly missed it when
he revealed the date agreed upon for the joint Bennet daughters’ wedding.
    “November the twenty-eighth?”
    Darcy smiled brilliantly and nodded
at her stuttered repetition. “Truthfully, I believe Mr. Bennet randomly chose a
day as late in the season as he could without risking Bingley or me bursting
into another angry tirade. Fortunately, November twenty-eight is well before
winter sets in. It is long enough from now to prepare as befitting my bride,
yet not too long that I shall go mad with waiting. Does this please you,
Elizabeth?”
    “It pleases me to have a date
established. It pleases me to be married in a ceremony with Jane and Mr.
Bingley.” She paused for a long moment before continuing in a firm timbre, “It
pleases me, mostly, to be marrying you, Fitzwilliam