Elizabeth was mostly recovered from her fatigue by the time she woke the next morning. When they woke the afternoon before, Fitzwilliam had squeezed her arms and pushed her into the bed with all his weight, and they had made love hard and fast as they desperately sought to reassure themselves they were alive and well.

During their conversation after dinner, Lord Matlock decided that he would let Georgiana stay with them for at least half the year, and she would not need to return to that horrid school. But he'd brooded, and Elizabeth also felt bad. But Elizabeth firmly believed it was better for Georgiana to be with her and Fitzwilliam than for her to make a brilliant splash when she came out.

Georgiana irrepressibly chattered during the heavy breakfast of the finest hams, eggs, and pastries which the inn had provided for its noble guests. Since they were no longer her inveterate enemies, Georgiana talked sweetly with her uncle, when she did not have Elizabeth or Fitzwilliam's attention.

The post was brought by one of the inn's footmen during the middle of breakfast, and Elizabeth received a rather surprising letter that had been forwarded from Pemberley. After recognizing the direction and hand, she stopped eating to open it and read through it several times before Darcy laid a hand on her arm and asked softly, "What does it say?"

"My sister Kitty is to marry Sir Clement. Also, my cousin Mr. Collins is dead."

Georgiana clapped. "He is! That is such good news."

Though the thought was unchristian, Elizabeth felt the same. She remembered the old man watching the maid clean out her room while rubbing his hands gleefully every time she spoke to him.

Lord Matlock wrinkled his eyebrows. "Was not Sir Clement the man Darcy killed in that duel?"

Elizabeth handed the letter to Fitzwilliam, so that he could read it. "His son."

"The son of the man your husband killed plans to marry your sister? Singular."

"It is not so odd — he despised his father."

"It is an improper way to treat the memory." Matlock washed down a bite of food with his coffee.

Darcy folded the letter and handed it back to Elizabeth. "So Kitty wishes us to be at her wedding."

"She and Lydia were kind to me. They didn't think it was right for me to be forced to marry. For her sake I would wish to go, but…" Elizabeth smiled weakly at Darcy. "You know I do not want to return to the environs of Longbourn."

Darcy took her hand and squeezed it comfortingly. She sometimes woke with nightmares about being locked in a lightless room.

Matlock finished the last bite of his ham and pushed his plate away. The footman standing on the edge of the room hurried to remove it from the table. "Is this only your sister's wish? Are you certain that Sir Clement approves?"

"Entirely," Elizabeth replied, "he wrote half the letter. We were friends, because his mother and I became close as she was dying."

"Then you must go, Mrs. Darcy."

"Must?" Fitzwilliam's voice was sharp, and Elizabeth smiled at how he wished to defend her from any overbearing imposition. "It is Lizzy's choice."

Elizabeth tapped her knee against Fitzwilliam's and said to Lord Matlock, "You believe it would be good for my reputation if I am on friendly terms with Sir Clement's son?"

"Especially if he will introduce you to his connections in London. After Mr. Allen's speech, many in London would feel obligated to refuse the acquaintance if I and my wife tried to push it on them. However, if the new Sir Clement introduced you, it would no longer be possible to refuse the acquaintance out of respect for his father's memory. Besides all of the gossips would like to know you. Curiosity."

"Lizzy, if you don't wish to go, we do not need to." Darcy touched her reassuringly. "We can send letters and gifts and beg to spend time with your sister and her husband during their honeymoon, away from Meryton."

Elizabeth shook her head. "I think… I want to go. Maybe even see the house again. I was happy there for a long time."

"If we are to go, we must have Kitty promise that she will keep your mother away from you."

Elizabeth looked at Darcy's compassionate gaze. "Do not worry about me. Besides, even if she speaks to me, I won't speak to her."

Despite Darcy's comforting presence, Elizabeth felt so nervous the day they left a weak later to go to Netherfield for a stay before the wedding that she actually threw up in the morning, and she could not eat anything but the rolls out of what the inn offered for breakfast. However oddly she felt much better an hour into the carriage ride. She was a little tired even though she'd slept well the previous night.

Matlock and Richard returned to London when they set off, but Georgiana traveled with them, given into their care by Lord Matlock. The presence of a third person in their carriage meant certain travel activities were no longer possible, but Elizabeth was so delighted to have her sister back that she didn't care.

Through correspondence the plan was established for them to stay at Netherfield for three weeks. Fitzwilliam had written what Elizabeth suspected was a delightfully rude letter to Mama, but the result was that she'd agreed to never approach Elizabeth, and Elizabeth and Darcy would take Lydia with them to Pemberley for a visit of at least eight weeks.

Elizabeth wondered what Jane would say. And Charlotte. Charlotte probably would not even try to talk to her. Charlotte was not forgivable, and Elizabeth would cut her if she was approached. Hopefully Charlotte would not. According to Kitty she was still unmarried and now twenty-seven.

Elizabeth was glad that rather than pleasure at the news of Charlotte's continued spinsterhood, she only felt mild interest.

As they pulled up to the drive of Netherfield, Fitzwilliam gripped her hand tightly. Elizabeth closed her eyes when they pulled to a stop, refusing to look outside to see everyone gathered, and then she kissed her dear husband's cheek, and knew that since he would be with her the entire time, it would all be wonderful.

Jane was there, standing next to her husband. But fortunately, Mama had not tried to impose herself on them. Fitzwilliam would have ordered the carriage to drive on if she had been there.

Kitty and Lydia ran up to her, looking much older and completely grown up, and they embraced. Then Georgiana was prettily reintroduced to them. Mary looked hesitant, but Elizabeth decided to have nothing to do with that and embraced her as well. All of the sisters smiled at each other, except Elizabeth ignored Jane.

Sir Clement looked a little like his father, but Elizabeth was not bothered by the resemblance, and he greeted her heartily, and then to Fitzwilliam's bemusement thanked and praised her husband for all of the good he had done.

Jane then said with her soft voice, "Will you not embrace me as well, Lizzy?"

Elizabeth saw Fitzwilliam's grimace. She shook Jane's hand briefly, and then Mr. Collins. "Cousin, I am glad to see you looking so well. My condolences on the death of your father."

"I am glad to see you as well again, Elizabeth. At first I believed my duty meant that I ought not greet you, as my estimable father thought ill of you and your husband, but Miss Mary suggested that ending quarrels amongst families was a matter of greater duty, and as Sir Clement bears you no ill will, it is not my place to do so either. I am willing to bury all past matters and think nothing about them. After all the Holy Book says, Let the dead bury the dead."

Elizabeth smiled. His manners had not been improved by being raised to the mastery of Longbourn. "I assure you, Cousin, I am willing to treat you on the greatest of good terms." She knew she was intentionally not speaking to Jane, but her resentment made it impossible to treat Jane kindly unless she begged for forgiveness first.

How could Jane have asked to be embraced like a real sister? Elizabeth glanced for an instant towards Jane, and she saw that while her outward expression was completely complacent and smiling, there was that little tightness on the edge of her eyes that showed Jane was hurt.

Good.

Elizabeth took Fitzwilliam's arm as Sir Clement led them into the house and then into his drawing room. He said to Fitzwilliam, "Since you asked, I wrote to all of my relatives and my school friends how delighted I am that such a dear friend as your wife will be here for the wedding. I do swear I will do everything I can to help. I had not realized how poorly Miss Bennet was received by the ton, I mean Mrs. Darcy—"

"Call me Lizzy. We are to be family."

"I shall. I am glad you are willing to forgive me for the horrible, horrible way my father treated you. He deserved to die, and I only wish he had suffered the way my mother did. She was comforted by your friendship and would be delighted to know you will be my sister."

"And I am delighted to be your sister. Your father was a poor fellow." Elizabeth smiled enchantingly, not looking towards Jane. "I have relatives I do not like at all, so judging you based on him would be quite hypocritical."

Kitty exclaimed, "No more of that. This shall be a happy time. But, Lizzy, do you really want us to visit you at Pemberley during our honeymoon, I remember you saying how beautiful it was."

"I remember speaking mainly of the library, and unless your habits have changed, it will be you who does us the favor. But I shall be very eager to see you again. It has been too long."

"Nonsense." Kitty smiled at her. "You spoke just as much about that park, and it will be early in the hunting season, and we shall have a grand time. But thank you very much for your goodness in offering."

Elizabeth glanced back at Jane, and she had a confused crease between her eyes. With a shock Elizabeth realized Jane had no idea that she had behaved so wrongly by pushing her to marry Sir Clement in the way she did.

Well, Elizabeth would not enlighten her.

Lydia was still boisterous, and Kitty was almost as bouncy. Sir Clement was a very young man and rather inclined to join them in their enthusiasms. He was still one and twenty, and Elizabeth gained a sense that while he was infatuated with Kitty, one motive for the marriage was to spite his uncle, the Mr. Allen who had attacked Elizabeth's reputation during the trial.

Still he was impressed by Fitzwilliam and willing to agree with and follow his advice. Elizabeth rather hoped that by giving him a solid older friend, the connection might help Sir Clement as much as it promised to help Fitzwilliam and her.

Jane entered the conversation a few times, but Elizabeth never replied directly to anything she said, and if she said something directly to Elizabeth, Fitzwilliam inevitably responded for her.

It was petty behavior on their part, but Elizabeth was delighted by her husband's wonderful willingness to support her in anything, even pettiness. He really was wonderful.

Over the next three weeks Elizabeth visited many of her old haunts again. She never did go near Longbourn, with her mother and the room they'd trapped her in, but she walked and visited everywhere else. All of her old friends claimed, and Elizabeth believed them, that they'd always known all along she had not wanted to marry Sir Clement, and they thought it a good thing she had married Darcy instead of the baronet. Those who had heard the story Mr. Allen told said they had never heard anything so ridiculous — everyone knew she despised Sir Clement. The general belief in the neighborhood was that by noticing Kitty and Sir Clement, Elizabeth did them a kind favor. Though no one mentioned it, everyone saw that Elizabeth did not notice her mother, oldest sister, or Charlotte Lucas.

Charlotte had been wise enough to not approach her, and before the wedding she only saw Mama one time. Her mother had been in fine spirits on the other side of the room, chattering loudly to Lady Lucas about how delighted she was to see so many of her daughters well settled. Elizabeth had gone to the opposite side of Mr. Gould's house immediately and sat in a chair with a frown. Then Fitzwilliam came and teased her into a good mood.

The wedding was held on a bright hot summer day, with insects lazily buzzing and warm smells filling the stagnant air. After the reception at Longbourn they would take the carriage to London to stay for two weeks to shop and visit a few attractions before heading north to Pemberley.

She and Fitzwilliam sat together in one of the front pews, with Georgie on her other side. Elizabeth held Fitzwilliam's hand and remembered. She had stood right where Kitty did when she married, and if the day as a whole had been awful, she had been happy at that moment.

The way Fitzwilliam smiled and laced their fingers together showed he had the same memories in mind. Helplessly Elizabeth dabbed at her eyes as the parson performed the ceremony.

That night when they were safely back in their London house, Elizabeth snuggled against Darcy. "Thank you for looking over all the rooms at Longbourn with me during the reception."

"I do fondly remember how your father made me take a glass of port with him every evening in the study during the two weeks when Georgiana and I visited you."

"I'm so glad you offered to buy all of Father's books from Cousin William."

"And I am so glad you are glad."

She kissed Fitzwilliam's smile and then his hair. "We didn't look at the stables, but we should have. Do you remember how you found me there kissing a cat?"

"Lucky creature. I ought to find him and challenge him to a duel for kissing you."

Elizabeth giggled. "She was a girl cat."

"Oh." Fitzwilliam laughed and tickled her side. "I suppose it was all right then. I do remember. That was when you made me promise to write you. Quite improper to beg me so, Miss Elizabeth."

"You were just as improper when you agreed to write me." Elizabeth pinched him.

"I was, wasn't I. I suppose it shows that we do belong together. Since both of us are completely lost to notions of good breeding."

"No, no. That is only me. You suggested we shouldn't. You are only partly lost to good breeding. But I have always been able to wind you around my finger whenever I wanted something from you. A capability I have happily abused many times."

"Yes. My inability to resist your ill-bred notions also proves we belong together."

"Everything proves we belong together. Especially how handsome of a picture we make standing together."

"Is that your method of suggesting we should sit for a joint portrait, because I find sitting for a picture a tedious business." Fitzwilliam grinned at her.

Elizabeth pouted. "I am the one who finds it a tedious business, as you know full well."

"You did write something of the sort in your letters." He kissed her nose. "Maybe it wouldn't be so dull if we sat together."

"We'd do something to make each other laugh, and since you would insist on hiring some temperamental, expensive painter—"

"Nothing but the best for you, my love."

"— he would become terribly annoyed at the interruption and throw his brush at the work he'd already done, and then stalk out and we would end with nothing but the lost time."

"Now, Lizzy, do be reasonable, if we make each other laugh, clearly the time wasn't completely wasted."

"Fine. If you insist, we will sit for a portrait together. But only since you insisted on it."

"I am pleased it was so easy to persuade you to do something which I was not trying to persuade you to do."

"I like the idea of having a portrait."

"So I am pleased you persuaded yourself to it, since I like the idea too."

Elizabeth pinched him again, and he tickled her side in retaliation. Elizabeth squeaked and wriggled away. "We'll ask about tomorrow to find who is the best person to do it."

Conversation subsided, and Elizabeth leaned sleepily against his chest.

Fitzwilliam said, "I do like Clement and I will be happy to have Kitty and Lydia visit."

"But you don't expect to ever be very close to them."

"Maybe not. It is disconcerting the way Clement listens to me. He is like a puppy."

"Poor Fitzwilliam, impressing a gentleman too much. If you were a lady, I'd be terribly jealous of Clement."

"If I were a lady, you'd think nothing of the sort."

Elizabeth snorted and grinned happily at the way he tickled her again.

Fitzwilliam added, "I do find it difficult to become close to people. With you here, and Georgie now — I confess I felt a little awkward with her at first, and with how close you two were—"

"Did you feel left out and abandoned because your sister likes me better?"

"Quite the reverse I assure you."

Elizabeth giggled. "I knew you felt a little jealousy of Georgie at first. Which was delightfully silly, but natural. It had been just us two for so long, and until she marries, Georgie will be near us often. But however much I talk to her, it isn't her who I fall asleep with."

"I am completely happy with her company now, after how she vacated the room tonight right when I silently begged her to do so because I'd decided I needed to kiss you." So saying, Fitzwilliam kissed her again.

Elizabeth replied, "I talked with her and gave her a set of signals to let her know when to leave us alone."

"Oh." He blushed. Then he said, "I am very glad she has you to talk to. And with our example, hopefully she will know what to look for in a good marriage. Clearly she'd had too much romantic nonsense filling her head if she ever thought Wickham was suitable."

"I do hope so. Wickham turned out to be useful in the end, since she received a shock that should encourage her to listen to us without assuming she knows best next time she feels an infatuation."

"Wickham has been endlessly useful. Which makes a terrible moral, and he would hate it if he knew, since he despises being of use."

"That he would hate it is sufficient compensation for the poor moral."

"Quite right." Fitzwilliam kissed her again. Then he said holding her tight against her, "I am glad we shall be able to visit London and society next season."

"But…" Elizabeth smiled at her husband.

"But for my own part, I confess I do not wish a bigger family circle."

"Oh! That is very bad!" Elizabeth made her worst fake frown. That statement provided the perfect opportunity for her announcement.

"Why is that so very bad?"

"Well, I had news which I thought would please you. But if you do not want more family…"

Fitzwilliam stared at her wide eyed as she grinned impishly back at him.

"You mean you are…"

"It seems the reason I have been sick in the morning of late was neither nerves nor something I ate."

He grabbed her face and kissed her passionately.

Elizabeth kissed him back and said, "I am afraid you will have to add a very small child to the family circle early next year."

"I might not mind quite so much as I suggested."

A Request:

This, once more, is the part of the book where I beg you to donate to Doctors Without Borders.

I am not going to tell one of those heartrending stories about extreme poverty you have heard before. Instead I will tell you why it is extremely important to me to interrupt your book, a book you paid for, with a fundraising appeal.

Last summer my brother graduated from college. For the ceremony they sat a thousand relatives of the happy escapees into the real world on folding chairs in the beating sun and made them wait. And wait.

While we waited for the long march of engineering students to begin, so we could start to listen to speeches about life in the future, a projector cycled through photos of the graduating class. Each photo had a sentence where the student said what they wanted to do now that they had graduated. Make money appeared once or twice. Make Mom and Dad proud was far more common. Find a job was occasional.

By far the most common response, however, what around a third of the students said, was some variant of, "I want to make the world a better place."

Do you?

I do; I hope you do too.

I, like most of you, improve the world directly through my work. My best guess is that you collectively have spent at least a hundred times as many hours reading my first books as I spent writing them. I have changed literally years of lived human experience. That is a great reward for an author. Perhaps the rewards you receive from your job are different, but most likely someone's life is better because of what you do.

But we all can do more. I want to do more. I would not be able to pretend to myself that I am a good person if I ignored an obvious opportunity to help other people.

Donations save lives. We can literally do what superheroes do. So help me make the world a better place by supporting Doctors Without Borders, and make yourself a little bit more like superman.

You are at least vaguely aware of the statistics about preventable death. You have heard touching stories that end with the child living because of a lifesaving donation. You don't need to be told why you should donate to Doctors Without Borders or another organization that alleviates suffering. You already know.

So if you care about these matters, just do it.

Please, please, please. Be the change you want to see in the world. Do something which will make your children proud. Make the world a better place. Donate something: one percent of your income; ten dollars a month; something. Create a world where everyone has access to basic medical care.