A/N-I have been looking forward to writing this chapter probably as much as I look forward to you reading it...it's what I would enjoy reading because I love Elizabeth and Darcy, so I hope you like it!

Chapter 11-Coming full circle

Elizabeth did not feel as if she had slept even one minute the night after her cousin confessed to being the murderer of Mrs. DeBourgh. It was not only thoughts about that turn of events that kept sleep at bay; it was everything she had learned about Mr. Darcy's character over the course of six days; and her changing regard for the man. She knew that he must retain some of his good will towards her or he would not have put his own life on the line for her the previous evening. But what she could not comprehend was if he had done it because he still loved her (most ardently) or if his actions were because he felt responsible for the event that lead to all the ones that followed after.

She was most anxious the following morning to see him; she told herself that it was only because she did not want to him to leave without her thanking him for his most chivalrous act. Deep down, she knew the truth was that she did not want him to leave at all. She hoped that perhaps he would speak to Mr. Bingley and that perchance a wedding between his closest friend and her sister would put them in each others sphere once again, but as there was no guarantee of any of that occurring; it made her sad to think she might never cross paths with Mr. Darcy again.

To her further disappointment, when Colonel Fitzwilliam was announced at the parsonage that morning, he had come alone. Mrs. Collins welcomed him and offered to ring for refreshments, but he said he could not stay long as they were to leave in one and a half hours. Looking over at Lizzy, he saw what he thought to be in tears in her eyes, so he got down to the true business for which he had come.

"Miss Bennet, I believe my cousin had felt that since you had been forced to endure his company for so many days, that he did not wish to intrude on you any further." Richard himself had attempted to persuade his cousin to come along for the visit; but Fitzwilliam was certain that his presence would not be wanted.

Lizzy shook her head, "It would not have been an intrusion; I had wished to speak with him."

Richard smiled at her, warmly, "In that case, he left the house earlier and I believe, knowing him as I do, that I can take you where he has gone if you wish"

"Yes, I would very much like to go there, if you are certain that it would not be an imposition?" Lizzy looked over at Charlotte for a moment, whose smile encouraged her. "You are certain you know where he is?" she asked, turning back to the Colonel.

"It is a favorite place of his, always has been since his mother used to bring him there. He does a lot of thinking, reading and probably daydreaming at that very spot every time we come to Rosings." Richard told her as the left the cottage.

The path he led her on was very familiar and she realized with a start that they were making their way to the building where Mr. Darcy had offered her his hand, almost a week before. A thought made it's way to her mind that quite possibly his coming upon her then had been an accident, that he had not followed her there, as she had assumed, but had only wished to be alone to think.

Darcy leaned against a building (the same building that Lizzy had rested against nearly a week before), his eyes stared straight ahead to the meadow in front of him; the sun was getting warm and was on his face. He too, had not slept well; not because of the business with his Aunt's murderer or even because of the revelation that Richard loved Anne (of which he'd had no idea); no he could not sleep for thinking about what his future might hold. It seemed rather bleak. He did not want to leave Rosings and the company of Miss Bennet as he had no idea when or if he might see her again. He felt for the front of his jacket pocket, where he knew (because he had put them there) were two sealed letters; one for her and one for Mr. Bingley. He had used his sleepless night to write a missive to Miss Bennet about Wickham and tried to explain why he had separated Charles from her sister Jane. The letter to Mr. Bingley, he hoped would right the wrong he had inadvertantly caused; he could only pray that Charles would eventually forgive him for his part in it.

He shut his eyes against the rays of the sun and might have stayed that way a while longer had not the noise of someone clearing their throat startled him and his eyes flew open to see two people standing a few feet in front of him. He had to shield his eyes against the sun rays to see that it was his cousin Richard and Miss Bennet. The Colonel, having completed his mission, stepped away staying close enough to remain in the duty of a chaperone, but not quite near enough to hear whatever words might be spoken between the two.

Mr. Darcy looked at Elizabeth; he noticed that her eyes were red, though whether from lack of sleep or the shedding of tears, he could not tell.

"You were planning to leave and not say goodbye?" she asked him, clearly agitated.

"I was sure you had your fill of me." he said, looking away from her and and back towards the meadow; as he attempted to keep his emotions in check. He was sure that if she were able to look in his eyes she would be able to tell that his feelings for her were as ardent as ever.

"I wanted to thank you for yesterday." she told him, her voice full of emotion.

"I appreciate your gratitude, it was the least I could do considering it was my arrogance that had started everything to begin with." he replied, his voice dropping almost to a whisper. He was finding it increasingly difficult not to look at her, every thought inside his mind fairly shouted at him to do so.

Knowing that there was not a lot of time before he had to depart, Lizzy realized that she must be bolder than she presently felt. She could not let time run out and not say what she felt in her heart.

"Mr. Darcy, I have a confession to make." she admitted.

Darcy, still looking ahead could not tell by her tone, if she were teasing him. "Miss Bennet, I believe the time for confessions has passed," he answered, trying to sound non-chalant in case that she was.

"It is not a confession for that, sir." If her words did not turn his eyes in her direction, as she had hoped, her next sentence most certainly did, "I overheard a conversation that you and the Colonel had one day in the library."

She watched as Darcy's face registered recognition of which conversation she must have overheard. He looked at her more fully then, aghast at what she must have heard, specifically about Georgiana and Wickham.

"I did not mean to, sir. I was in the the smaller room when you entered, I did not wish to bother you." she said, apologetically. She felt her face get hot with embarrassment and knew that tears were threatening to fall.

"But I overheard it all the same," she continued, "I know all about what Wickham has done and your motives concerning Mr. Bingley. You are not arrogant."

He was staring at her now, his eyes wide at the words she was using in relation to him, starting to feel in all ways hopeful.

As for Lizzy, she allowed her eyes to search his face as she spoke to him, noting to herself how very handsome he was. "You are not conceited; and most of all as you proved last night...you do not have selfish disdain for the feelings of others, you are in every way a gentleman of the best kind." Her tears fell freely and she did nothing to stop them. "I have so woefully misunderstood you and I am deeply ashamed."

Normally she might have looked away after such an admission; but she found herself unable to tear her gaze from his face. She knew she must look a fright; surely her face was all wet from crying, what must he think, she wondered?

She could not know that at that exact moment, he found himself wishing that he could cradle her face with his hands and kiss her tears away; but instead he produced a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed her cheeks with it. Lizzy closed her eyes to his touch and when she re-opened them, he was staring at her with such love; she could not help but smile in return. Feeling encouraged, he closed the gap between their faces and brushed her lips softly with his own. Breaking away a lot sooner than either might have wanted, he took her hands into his and held them, feeling her fingers curl around his tightly, as if she never wished to let go.

"Miss Elizabeth," he asked, swallowing hard, "When Mr. Bingley and I return to Hertfordshire, I would very much like to come to Longbourn with the express purpose of calling on you, if that would be agreeable."

She smiled at him again; "You may."

Darcy glanced over to where his cousin Richard stood pretending to survey a rose bush (that no doubt Mr. Mason had planted). Turning back to Elizabeth, he pulled her into his arms, pressed his lips to her forehead and held her. Feeling a joy she had never known, she found that her arms instinctively wrapped themselves around his waist. Of course, because he was every bit the gentleman that she had only just told him that he was, he let go of her after a few minutes. Lizzy felt the absence of his arms around her immediately.

"Mr. Darcy," she asked him, in a decidedly playful manner, "how soon do you think that you and Mr. Bingley might return to Hertfordshire?"

"As soon as we possibly can, Miss Bennet." He answered, smiling sweetly at her, wondering how he would ever be able to tear himself away long enough to call on Mr. Bingley, much less see Collins to the courthouse in London.

Taking her hand back in his, he led her over to where Richard stood (trying to pretend he wasn't aware of all that was transpiring), and the three of them headed back to Rosings, and to the rest of their lives.

An Epilogue of Sorts-

The rest of the story would follow along mostly as we know it; Charles and Jane would be reunited and would marry in a double ceremony with Elizabeth and Darcy.

As for the everyone else—When Lady Catherine's will was read, it came as no surprise that she left all to her only daughter Anne with the stipulation that she would receive it upon her marriage to her cousin-what was a shock was that she had not specified which cousin. It appeared as if Mrs. DeBourgh had been so certain that Darcy shared her wishes, she did not bother to name him outright. Whatever the case, it enabled Richard to propose to Anne, which she accepted. She continued to improve both in health and disposition until no one could quite remember what it was that had kept her so weak and delicate in the first place.

One of her first duties as mistress of Rosings, was to let Mr. Mason go; she did not like his sneaky ways and did not wish to retain his services. However, Miss Anne had insisted that Charlotte stay on at the estate and gave her a private wing entirely for her own use; she very much liked the lady's friendship and felt an even stronger tie to her since Mrs. Collins had confessed to the crime thereby negating Miss DeBourgh's confession. Charlotte, not wanting to be a burden to her family, and genuinely appreciative of Miss Anne's offer, accepted it heartily. She would eventually become something of a great aunt to the Fitzwilliam children.

Collins was found guilty and sent to the America's where no one heard from him again.

Mr. Bennet was warned about that rogue Mr. Wickham and kept his younger daughters away from him , despite complaints from Lydia.

Wickham met his end when his dueling pistol was slower than the one held by a furious father of an underage lass that George had compromised.

Georgiana was thrilled to attain so many sisters when her brother married Elizabeth, with Lizzy being her favorite of all. She and Kitty formed a fast friendship and eventually they married two brothers, in a double ceremony just as Jane and Elizabeth had done. Lydia married a military officer and settled down as much as was possible for her. As for Mary, she did not marry and did not think less of herself for it. She stayed with the Darcy's during the winter months and with the Bingley's during the summer; she quite enjoyed being around her nieces and nephews but never felt the desire for any children of her own.

And coming back full circle to Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, they enjoyed a few years of marital bliss all to themselves; until the children came along-two boys and a girl-all apples of their father's eyes (especially the girl, who was the spitting image of her mother). One might say it is only in fairy tales that two people can live happily ever after and perhaps it is true, but our Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy-they sure came pretty close!

The End.

Although, as we know in Fanfic land, there really is no end, the adventures go on and on.

Maybe it says something that I liked this chapter so much I even read it a few times after I wrote it and smiled at it myself! LOL

I have had a ball writing this for you and I have enjoyed every review I have had the pleasure to read. I loved your comments and I looked forward to them after every chapter (I'm going to miss that). I hadn't written a P & P story in three years and I was a bit worried that I'd lost my touch...thanks for your kind words, they really brought my confidence back up.