Elizabeth continued to live as "Miss Hayes" at Pemberley, but the illusion for the staff was now quite thin. An express was sent off immediately to Mr. Bennet, asking for his permission for them to marry, and Darcy acquired from the bishop in Derby a license to allow them to marry as soon as he received Mr. Bennet's permission, which was necessary as Elizabeth was still twenty.

The two of them really wanted to be married at this point.

It was impossible, entirely impossible, for an honorable gentleman, in his own home, to anticipate his wedding vows with a guest of his sister.

Elizabeth was not happy about that, but she agreed entirely that Georgiana did deserve a good example from them. And so they spent the entire following days while the waited for Mr. Bennet's reply looking longingly at each other while they read books in the library, went on long winter walks, worked on modifying Georgiana's dresses — well only Elizabeth did the last. Darcy sat in the room watching while pretending to write letters of business.

Georgiana was too eager to have the dress for Elizabeth to just stare longingly at Darcy, unfortunately.

They sat near enough to bump knees during every meal, and the house was decidedly off limits to visitors.

Those five days of waiting were as idyllic as any period of time that did not involve already actually being married and sharing a bed could be. Elizabeth even suspected that she would, in years to come, look back on this brief period of courtship with a great deal of nostalgia.

However at present her main emotion was a desire to explore those desires that Darcy's regular embraces and kisses woke and strengthened.

This delightful period was shattered when Mr. Bennet arrived at Pemberley five days after Darcy.

He'd taken the heavy Longbourn carriage, which looked far worse for the wear of being rushed up the roads to Derbyshire over just a few days. Papa's sideburns were ruffled, and it was clear from his appearance that he had not bathed or paused for three days.

When they went out to the front to meet him, he pointed his walking stick at Darcy. "You! Pretending to have no idea where Lizzy was!"

"Mr. Bennet, I am very glad to—"

"No! A thousand times no! Both of you. No. I'll never give my permission again to you to take my Lizzy. Elizabeth, you are coming home with me. Now!"

"Papa, I love Mr. Darcy, and—"

"Nonsense! This is just a mad passion like what I felt for your mother. Infatuation makes you stupid over his fine appearance, and tall form, like I swooned over your mother's… No! You'll not marry him. No. A thousand times. No. No ten thousand times, no!"

"I want to marry him. And—"

"You are yet my daughter. And you will remain my daughter. I don't think I will ever give you permission to marry anyone. You don't have the spirit for it."

Mr. Bennet's ranting voice echoed across the wide dale that Pemberley was set in. Darcy hurried up next to Mr. Bennet, keeping himself between Elizabeth and her father. "Please, sir. I have made many mistakes and—"

"You disgraceful man. Hiding my daughter on your estate! All the while pretending to search London for her and—"

"I had no notion she was here."

Georgiana hurried up, and anxiously said, "Mr. Bennet, please, I brought Lizzy here. And aren't you glad she was safe? But she and Fitzwilliam need to marry. Can't you see that they need to? They love each other. I saw him propose, this time, and it was so romantic, and—"

"Dash it, girl." Mr. Bennet growled. "You are no more sensible than my Lydia. No more."

Georgiana drew back with a decidedly offended expression on her face. "I am too."

"Not a whit. All girls are silly things that need to be protected from men, and never given a chance to run their way into trouble. Less sensible, the female sex. And, Lizzy, you are coming home now."

So saying, Mr. Bennet grabbed Elizabeth by the arm, who pulled her elbow away from her father.

Mr. Darcy harshly said, "I would ask you to not handle my wife in such a way."

"Your wife? No, she is not. This is England, and you cannot marry a girl of her age without her father's support. Will you come with me, Lizzy, or must I bring a magistrate to demand you from your kidnapper?"

Elizabeth looked between Papa and Darcy. "You'll wait for me? It is only another six months till I am of age."

"Ha, you plan to marry without my permission then?"

"Papa. I plan to live my entire life with Mr. Darcy."

"If you wanted to marry him, you should have married him a month ago and saved me the… the deuced pain of being scared you were dead, of missing you, of… of… no. Mr. Darcy has hurt you enough. And you are a sensible girl. Six months is enough time. You'll be past this… this destructive passion you have infatuated yourself with."

Mr. Bennet pointed at the carriage. "Now, Lizzy."

Darcy took her in his arms and passionately kissed her, before Mr. Bennet exclaimed, "Unhand my daughter, you ruffian!"

"I swear. I would wait until the end of times for you. And… it is not so very long. I will be there, the day of your birthday, I will be there for you."

Elizabeth tearfully nodded as Mr. Bennet pulled her up the drive and then pushed her onto the green cushions of their carriage.

"Papa, please." The first words Elizabeth said to Mr. Bennet, even before he ordered the coachman to take off with their hired horses back down the long drive.

"No." Mr. Bennet sat comfortably in the carriage with an almost pleased light in his eye. "But, Lizzy, I am delighted — you are here again. You scared me, dear. What were you thinking, running off like that?"

"I… I needed to be away."

"I would have kept Mr. Darcy from bothering you further — which he would not want to do, and—"

"Papa, please let me go back. Give us permission. Be there when I marry."

"No."

The carriage rolled down the well-maintained road on Pemberley's lands, and then along the rutted and cramped road once they left the edge of Darcy's territory. Grey sticklike trees, not yet sprouting with spring. Cold brown fields. Hills and woods.

It would be so long. So long. She had waited for Darcy so long.

Mr. Bennet smiled at her, almost nervously when they had gone a half hour without a single word. "You aren't really unhappy — you had decided you did not want to marry him. I never should have allowed this to go forward at first. I have been full with guilt since. It will be a quite funny thing, when you come home."

"Has the scandal been terribly great?" Elizabeth flushed. "I would much rather visit as Mr. Darcy's wife. And Mama would be happy — I'll tell her that you are not allowing me to marry Mr. Darcy, and—"

"I can control your mother in a case where it really matters. I will not permit you to make a marriage that will be destructive of your future happiness just to keep from being bothered by her nerves. Lizzy, I care for you too deeply to do that. I was indolent, and I took the easiest course, the one that would keep me from facing society's disapproval, and that would keep your mother happy. But no more, when I saw your letters… when I realized what choices you had faced, and faced alone, without trusting me to guide you, because I would pick the choice easiest for myself, not best for you—"

"Papa."

"Not again. I'll not do it again."

"Oh, Papa."

"Perhaps I shall not always succeed, but I am determined to no longer be so indolent, to no longer allow myself to be moved to and fro by the urges of the moment and the question of what is easiest."

"As a general matter, Papa, I approve," Elizabeth began hopefully. If he really wanted to make her happy and do what was best for her, perhaps she could convince him that he should let her go back to Darcy. "I am happy, and Lydia, Kitty and Mary — and my mother — will benefit greatly from this choice. But I will marry Mr. Darcy."

"He hurt you. Hurt you so bad your only choice was to flee."

"I do not think that was really my only choice. I could have managed matters better… I wanted to be alone. I was hurt and…"

Mr. Bennet patted Elizabeth's hand. "But now everything will be happy and well again. And I have bought several new books you will want to read, and—"

"Why are you so convinced it would be a mistake for me to marry Mr. Darcy?"

Mr. Bennet rolled his eyes. "The two of you have too much animal passions betwixt you for things to be rational."

"We were apart for a full month, and he has replied and responded to every concern I had about his desire for our—"

"Only because he was desperate to know you!"

Elizabeth eyed her father who sat, wild haired and stiff.

"He knew me already, unless you mean…"

"Ha! A more desperate cur sniffing after a woman has never existed — once you are married, and the first months of passions pass, then he would regret the marriage. And you too, he is too serious, and too—"

"Mr. Darcy can control his impulses for the sake of honor. We have not… ah, well…"

"Lizzy, I know what it is like to be a man."

"You do not know what it is like to be Mr. Darcy. He doesn't… do such wild things. Not usually, and—"

BANG.

Elizabeth shrieked and shivered.

A horseman had got in front of the carriage. He shot a pistol into the air, and now he shouted at the coachman, "Stand ho! Stand ho! Stand and let me enter."

The coachman did stand down, and stop their carriage, intimidated by the guns the man carried.

Of course it was Darcy.

Elizabeth jumped from the carriage, before Mr. Bennet could grab to stop her from doing so, and Darcy leapt from his horse, and picked her up in his arms, and kissed her tightly as he swung her round and round.

"I cannot wait. I tried. For twenty minutes I tried, but I cannot wait. We must marry immediately. Waiting until your birthday. I do not want to. I want you, now."

"Oh, Fitzwilliam!" Elizabeth happily embraced him and smiled at him.

"Unhand my daughter! You true ruffian. Coming at us like a highwayman!"

"I am a highwayman, for I have stopped you to steal your greatest treasure. Elizabeth, will you marry me, though your father disapproves? We will be the happiest and most passionate couple in the world."

"Of course I will marry you."

"Well you can't! Not without my consent. You know that."

"Fitzwilliam, will you elope with me?" Elizabeth grinned at him, knowing that was his plan the instant she saw him on the back of his big brown stallion.

"It would be a scandal," Darcy replied with a dry tone. "Shouldn't we do anything to avoid a scandal?"

Elizabeth smiled brilliantly at him.

"My horse can carry both of us. We'll ride the whole way to Scotland."

"You are even less respectable than I thought — and I thought you were entirely unrespectable."

Darcy shrugged. "I am far too happy to be bothered by that anymore. I cannot even remember why I ever cared about scandals."

"My Lady." Darcy smiled at Elizabeth and lifted her up onto his saddle with his delightfully strong arms. It took him a moment of whispering to Marcus before the stallion became used to Elizabeth's presence. He used his powerful shoulders to lift his weight up and onto the saddle behind her. He settled himself with her quite in his lap, pressing her pert behind against his hips. He put his arms around Elizabeth and smelled the scent of her hair.

She smiled back at him and they kissed.

Then keeping her body squeezed against his, Darcy squeezed his knees and set his horse off towards Gretna Green.