CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

…five years later

"But why does Aunt Georgiana have to get married?" said little Gracie Darcy, stamping her foot and making her dark ringlets bounce adorably.

Not that Elizabeth would allow herself to express how adorable she thought her daughter was in her anger. That would not go over well. Indeed, it would likely cause Grace distress, and she found she wanted to avoid a tantrum just then. Gracie was nearly four, and Elizabeth was increasing again, several months along now. She would love to have another little sweet daughter like Grace, but she also thought it would be quite nice to have a boy, to have one of each. And there was the business of an heir, of course, but that was secondary to Elizabeth. All she wanted was for this next child to be healthy, in truth.

"Well, it's not as if it's a chore," said Mr. Darcy, who had knelt down to be eye-level with his daughter. "Aunt Georgiana rather wants to get married."

"But that's preposterous," said Gracie, folding her arms over her chest and wrinkling up her face.

Both Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy burst into laughter. Neither could help themselves.

"Where did you learn that word, dearest?" said Elizabeth.

"I don't know," said Grace, raising her chin. "But it is. Preposterous. Why would she want to get married? Then she has to move away and leave home and I won't see her every day." Grace stuck out her lower lip.

"Oh," said Mr. Darcy, taking Grace's hand. "So, that is what this is about. You will miss your aunt."

Gracie nodded, and her big brown eyes filled with tears.

Darcy embraced Grace. "Well, we shall write to her every day, shall we not? And we will tell her of all the things that you have done that day, and she will write back."

"It's not the same," said Grace, her voice now full of tears.

"No, it's not," said Elizabeth. "It will be hard, but you will see Aunt Georgiana again."

"No," said Grace, pushing out of her father's arms. "Because now she'll have her own babies, and she'll never, ever pay attention to me again."

"She will pay attention to you, love," said Elizabeth.

"And besides," said Mr. Darcy, "when your cousins are bigger, you can play with them, and that will be lovely."

Grace considered this. "Well, maybe."

Mr. Darcy patted her head. "Maybe, hmm?"

Grace squared her shoulders and sniffed. "I should like a playmate, I suppose. That would be at least one silver lining to this dark cloud."

And then Elizabeth and Darcy were both laughing again.

He turned to her. "Do you teach our daughter to speak thus?"

"I, sir?" she said, touching her chest. "Why, Mr. Darcy, you know our daughter has a mind of her own."

"And an imaginative streak a mile long, Mrs. Darcy," said Mr. Darcy, moving to put his arm around her.

"I am never going to get married," said Grace. "Never, ever."

"That will be just fine with me," said Mr. Darcy. "You can stay with your old papa forever."

"But of course," said Gracie, beaming up at him.

He scooped her up into his arms. "You think you can go and say goodbye to Aunt Georgiana now?"

Previously, Gracie had run out of the room in a temper.

Grace nodded. "I suppose so. If I truly must." She sighed.

"You must," said Mr. Darcy, laughing softly. He winked at Elizabeth.

She smiled at him.

Sometimes, she thought of that first night in the carriage, when Wickham had thrown her across to sit next to him, and she'd felt the length of Mr. Darcy's body against hers for the first time. She had never expected then that they would be so happy together now, a picture of domestic bliss.

But they were. He was a doting husband and father, and she was so very, very happy.

Mr. Darcy shifted Gracie in his arms so as to have a hand free, and he held it out to his wife.

She placed her fingers in his and gazed at him. How she loved him. How she loved what they had built together.

"Shall we go and see the bride, then?" said Darcy.

"Yes," said Elizabeth.

"I suppose," sighed Gracie.

And they were off, laughing together at their precocious little girl.

And that's that. Thanks all for reading along and for your comments and reviews! I have gone through and read them and been pleasantly surprised that there was way, way less hate on this story than the last one. Maybe I've improved, or maybe all the people who hate me have decided not to waste their time on my stories, who knows, but hooray! I've been pleased. (Still a delicate tulip, though, all told. *sighs and dramatically puts hand to forehead* Glad I wasn't reading and responding like last time. It was a good call to wait.)

If you have time to kill, you could hunt the book up on Amazon and leave me a review if you liked it. That would be freaking awesome.

Thank you again for your time in reading the story and for your thoughtful replies. You guys are the best, the very best. Thanks again. Cheers!