"He's here!" She exclaimed, "Mummy, mummy, he's back again!"
Kitty drew back excitedly from the window,
face flushed and unable to stay still.
We hurriedly recomposed ourselves and tidied up any stray hair
and sat demurely with grace in the living room.
I sat near Jane and heard her inhale sharply
as his footsteps echoed across the wooden hallway.
Mr. Bingley looked nervous but composed as he always did.
We exchanged polite greetings- a head bow followed by several curtsies.
Mr. Bingley warmly acknowledged the entire family
but he clearly only had eyes for my beloved sister.
He requested to speak to 'Miss Bennet and Miss Bennet alone'
and I swore I saw my mother's face lit up in silent glee
as she kissed my sister before departing to the kitchen,
shooing my younger sisters in her wake.
I glanced at Jane and smiled knowingly,
hoping for the best for what was about to come.
She returned a nervous smile
and I closed the door behind me.
***
Mother and Kitty plastered themselves to the door, ear first,
and I sought refuge against the banister.
The moments inched by in slow silence
and somehow I could just bare it no longer.
I ran out of the house before their cheerful eruptions
could reach my ears.
I thought about many things as I
sat myself down by the old ancient tree
that came with our estate.
About Jane and her soon to be maiden name,
about her sadness when she first received Mr. Bingley's letter,
about the radiance that spread across her beautiful face when Mr.Bingley graced the room,
and about me and my feelings-
Oh! Dare I admit it to myself-
my feelings I presume I might have- just possibly, if such a thing were possible-
for Mr. Darcy.
Lydia has already eloped with the terrible scoundrel Mr.Wickham-
something us Bennets have learn to accept.
And now there is Mr.Bingley,
who is soon to become part of the family,
and who, I know, will make Jane
so terribly elated.
Somehow I know I wish to inform Mr. Darcy
of my misjudgments and proud thinking.
But something on the inside stops me.
Be it pride, or dignity,
I couldn't really tell.
But I knew I love Mr. Darcy,
and I would tell him so if,
the chance ever came by.
I notice a distant figure approaching the meadows
and clear my head straightaway.
As fate may have it,
Mr. Darcy strode into the clearing.
Before I could say anything,
he silenced me and said:
"My affections and wishes have not changed,
but one word from you will silence me forever.
If, however, your feelings have changed,
I will have to tell you:
you have bewitched me, body and soul,
and I love, I love, I love you.
I never wish to be parted from you from this day on."
And the rest, as they say, is history.
