AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here is the last chapter of this story.

Their month in London was rapidly nearing its end and they had to begin to think of returning to Longbourn. All the Bennets were sad to think of this, except for Mr. Bennet. He had forced himself to attend all the events that required his attendance, even though he would much rather have stayed immersed in Darcy's library. One of their last events was another night at the opera, which they had all attended. Again, even though many of the people there knew who the Darcys' guests were, their box was still besieged with people trying to secure introductions to these attractive ladies who were not well known in town.

When they arrived back at Darcy House, they soon went up as it was late. Even though it was late, Lizzy could not sleep with her mixed emotions about Darcy. She knew she was developing very deep feelings for him, but she could not decide just how deep his feelings were for her. Sometimes he was tender and considerate; other times he seemed to revert to his former remote and haughty self, especially when they were out in public. They had only two more days here, and she had hoped that they might come to some decision about their future as he had suggested, but nothing had happened yet. She thought that if she read, that might take her mind off him. She donned a robe and went down to the library. Just as she came to the library door, it opened and Darcy stepped out, nearly bumping into her. She saw that he had removed his coat and waistcoat and was only in his shirtsleeves. She just stood there, right in front of him. He was obviously very startled and had not expected to see her there.

"Elizabeth!" was all he said, but then he raised his hand and touched her cheek. She closed her eyes with his touch and began to breathe faster, but she was not able to say anything. He moved his fingers and lifted her chin. She automatically lifted her head up to face him and opened her eyes to see him staring intently at her. The next thing she felt was his lips on hers, very lightly. She could not help herself, but put her arms around his neck and pulled him down tighter to her. She felt his arms go around her and he pulled her close to him. Their kiss lengthened and became more passionate. When he pulled back slightly, she moaned and pulled him down to her again. When he managed to pull away again, she let him, and put her head against his chest, but did not let go of his neck. They both remembered the last time she was pressed against him; it was when she had set his broken leg and she hugged him to keep him warm. This time, he could easily feel her breasts against his chest as they both wore fewer layers than before. He knew that he wanted more, much more.

"Fitzwilliam, you must think me wanton, but I have wanted you to do that for so long. Will you kiss me again?" He did not need further encouragement but kissed her more urgently. Without thinking, he put one arm behind her knees and picked her up in his arms without breaking their kiss. He turned to the staircase, ready to take her up to his room.

"Ahem!" A very loud clearing of a throat made them pull apart. It was her father, standing in the hall, obviously watching them. "Mr. Darcy, might I ask your intentions toward my daughter? Are you betrothed?"

Both Darcy and Lizzy were red with embarrassment, but he did not set her down. "No, sir. I assure you that this was the very first time I have ever taken such liberties with your daughter. I can only say that my intentions are strictly honourable."

"Darcy, from what I see, even though you are a gentleman, I am not sure that your statement is completely accurate. Do you intend to ask for her hand?

"Yes, sir."

"Well, what are you waiting for? Do it."

"Right here? Right now? With you watching?"

"Why not? That will assure me that your intentions are indeed honourable. I believe that you owe me that much."

Darcy had not intended to ask for her hand yet, but he knew that now he had no choice but to do it right now. He was not pleased to have her father witness this, but he stood her upright, went down on one knee in front of her, and took her hand. "Elizabeth, I love you. You are the most remarkable woman I have ever met. I cannot live without you and want nothing more than to have you by my side forever. Will you marry me?" He looked up at her with pleading eyes.

"Yes, yes! A thousand times, yes! Fitzwilliam, I love you and also cannot imagine my life without you. Father, will you give us your consent and blessing?"

"Yes, I will. I truly believe that you two will be very happy. Darcy, that was a very nice little speech. How could any woman refuse such a heart-warming approach? I believe I will expect you in the morning to discuss the details? Now, Lizzy, I am certainly not going to leave you two alone after what I saw. Come, I will escort you to your room. I will turn my back on you two for one-half of a minute, and then we are going up." He did as he said and turned around.

Darcy needed no further encouragement but immediately pulled Lizzy into another loving embrace. This time their kisses were not so frantic, but were even more enjoyable. Only with reluctance did they pull apart when her father cleared his throat again to warn them that he was about to turn around. As her father led her up the stairs, he said, "Lizzy, I know you will be very happy. I hate to lose you, but I have known for months this was going to happen. Now my biggest concerns are not to let you two be alone again until you are safely married, and to decide when to tell your mother." He thought that if he woke her now to tell her, she might be quite obliging to him as she would be so happy. Just watching such loving kisses made him remember his first attraction to her mother and their own loving enthusiasm. 'Yes,' he decided, 'I believe I will wake her and see what happens.'

"Father, are you suggesting that you do not trust us to be alone?"

"From what I saw, how can I? If I had not come along when I did, where do you think he would have taken you? Tell me now; could you have refused him anything? Anything at all?"

She did not answer this question and realized that her father was right. From what she had felt when she was in his arms, she could not have said no to anything he wanted. As they came to the door of Lizzy's room, he kissed her on the forehead and could not resist saying, "Lizzy, I am glad that I came along when I did or I would have had to rush you two to the altar tomorrow."

"Papa! How can you say that?"

"Lizzy, my dear, you are my daughter after my own heart, Now, tell me true, you did not answer the first time I asked this question—could you have refused him anything then?" She did not answer again, but only blushed. "Exactly. Now good-night. I am sure you will have very nice dreams tonight." He saw her in and turned to see Mr. Darcy standing at the top of the stairs, watching them. Mr. Bennet stood in front of Elizabeth's door with his arms crossed. "Darcy, do I have your word as a gentleman that you will not do anything inappropriate with my daughter until you are safely wed? Well?" When Darcy agreed to this demand, most reluctantly, he waited until Darcy turned and went to his own room, with disappointment obvious in his whole body. Mr. Bennet then went off to his wife's room with a smile on his face, thinking, 'He reminds me so much of myself when I was his age. Too bad Fanny's father had not been there to stop us.'

The next morning at breakfast, he announced that he had given his approval and blessing to Darcy's request for Lizzy's hand. This resulted in her sisters and Georgiana rushing to her to offer their congratulations. While Mrs. Bennet had several reasons to smile, she worried how she would be able to plan a second wedding in a short time, as her husband had warned her to expect an early date for it as he expected that they might not be able to wait very long.

All in all, it was a very happy group that rode Darcy's carriage back to Longbourn as he had promised to invite them all up to Pemberley in the summer and back to Darcy House for the next season. He also said that they would talk about the timing of when the youngest ladies would officially come out and that he would help them in any way that he could when they did.

So they all had happy dreams of the future. Mr. Bennet dreamt of the prospect of being in the Pemberley library; Mrs. Bennet dreamt of planning two weddings; Jane and Elizabeth dreamt of being in their husbands' arms; and Kitty and Lydia dreamt of dancing with handsome red-coated partners.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you enjoyed my story, the fifth that I have published on this site. I have received many Reviews and welcome them all as I am trying to improve my writing of fiction. If you like my writing, I will soon be publishing a sixth story, titled "Charlotte and the Colonel." Roni

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