Page 29 of Till Death Us Do Part
Darcy looked startled, and Anne quickly continued, “I do not mean I will make her miserable. On the contrary, we are not shipping her off to the colonies, the dower house, or anywhere unpleasant. We are simply wresting control of the estate. She will keep her old room, and her favourite sycophants… ah… servants, and spend much of her time as she did before. I just will not allow her to bankrupt my birthright, nor interfere in the neighbours’ affairs.”
“It is a wonder I did not see it before, but it seems you two are happy, and surprisingly affectionate. How did that come about?”
“What were we to do, Fitzwilliam? Dance at an assembly, then have Charles call for tea, and take walks in the garden and so forth for three months before he worked up his nerve?”
“It sounds impossible. Is it a practical match?”
Darcy had no objection to a practical match if that was what they had decided. Such things were done all the time, and he just wished he had the sense to make one himself, but he had been ridiculously holding out for love and affection—more the fool, him.
Anne gave her new husband a look that belied the entire idea of practicality. “There is just alittleof that, but there is more than enough affection to go around, and it grows every day. I can only hope you pull your head out of your arse long enough to find it before it is too late.”
Darcy gasped at the language but then laughed. It had beenyearssince he laughed with his cousin, and he never knew how much he missed it. His aunt had a lot to answer for.
Bingley said, “I must admit something, Darcy. Anne and I are in love. Would you not agree, my wife?”
Anne surprised Darcy by leaning to the edge of the chair, pulling her husband over, and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
Bingley continued, “I must admit I came to Rosings with a bitter and cynical spirit. I really thought the eldest Bennet sister was true, and I gave up on love altogether.”
“Understandable enough. I can sympathise.”
Bingley smiled wistfully. “By pure good fortune, I saw my favourite uncle in town. He seldom leaves Scarborough, but there he was, right when I needed him.”
Darcy felt just a bit jealous that Bingleyhada favourite uncle. The Earl was someone he could go to for practical advice, but nobody had ever called him a favourite by any stretch of the imagination, and half of his advice was terrible.
Bingley continued, “He sat me down and set me straight. I will never forget his advice.”
Darcy waited patiently.
Bingley continued, “He told me, ‘Love is not something that we find, or something that we have, or something that we are—it is something that we do.’ He said all of us young bucks are hopelessly confused. We experience infatuation, affection, excitement, lust—”
He blushed and glanced at Anne, who surprised both men. “Do not discount the value of lust, husband.”
Darcy wanted to find a rock and crawl under it, but Anne just laughed and told Bingley to continue.
Her husband chuckled. “I can assure you that I did not discussthatsubject with my uncle in any depth. He is into his eightieth summer.”
“And?”
“He said love is what youdo, day after day, week after week, month after month. You show and experience love with a hundred good and bad things you and your spouse do. All the songs, and books, and rumours deal with a couple of months out of a fifty-year journey. He said so long as you do not start outtoobadly, that if two people are of good character, and hold a bit of kindness in their hearts, love will come along naturally—as long as you do not strangle it at birth.”
Darcy stared at his friend, wondering if life could possibly be that simple.
Anne said, “It is notthatsimple, Fitzwilliam. Charles and I have already had a couple of vicious rows—”
Darcy looked at his amiable friend in complete surprise, but Anne continued.
“—but we made up, and we have quite decided that we will just be in love.”
Darcy asked, “Is it that simple?”
“No, it is not. As our uncle said, it is a lengthy process that plays out over years. Charles and I are in the first few weeks, when it has yet to be really tested.”
Darcy nodded a few times.
“My uncle said he has seen everything from couples who could barely stand each other to couples that could not bear to sleep a night apart after forty years. Unfortunately, there are more of the former than the latter.”
“Do you think that applies in my situation?”
