And Elizabeth Bennet had stood there, defiant as ever, when she said, “Yes, and I had heard it before. But what is that to me? If there is no other objection to my marrying your nephew, I shall certainly not be kept from it by knowing that his mother and aunt wished him to marry Miss De Bourgh.You both did as much as you could in planning the marriage; its completion depended on others. If Mr. Darcy is neither by honor nor inclination confined to his cousin, why is not he to make another choice? And if I am that choice, why not I accept him?”

“Oh, yes,” Lady Catherine thought, “the girl was quite capable of defying Darcy. And what better way to put a chink in their reported marital bliss?”

She’d done her best to align Anne with Darcy, but her daughter had always feigned illness rather than interact with Society. In the early days, she had fought her only child, but her efforts brought Anne such physical pain that after a while, she’d abandoned her efforts to bring Anne to heel and had concentrated her administrations on her sister’s only son, trying to reason with Darcy, to make him see the match’s advantage. However, her nephew foiled the best of Lady Catherine’s plans.

“Despite her poor connections, Mrs. Darcy holds social graces. She’ll extend her welcome to her husband’s family.”


Anne wanted to argue further, to convince her mother of how incogitant it was to impose themselves on the Darcys, especially at Christmastide, to speak of Her Ladyship’s own poor manners. But Anne could never find her voice when meeting her mother’s close inspection. She truly possessed her father’s personality, and as much as Anne missed him, missed the feeling of belonging that Sir Lewis had provided his only child, moments existed when she wished more for Mrs. Darcy’s ability to thwart Lady Catherine’s plans.

Although she desired her own home and family, Anne had understood that her marrying Darcy was never a reality. The man intimidated her. Even as a boy, Darcy had tormented her for her shyness, claiming it a weakness. Despite being more than a bit humiliated, Anne actually found that amusing. Better than anyone else, she recognized diffidence in both Darcy and Georgiana. She’d always thought Darcy amplified her faults in order to disguise his own.

“It’ll be agreeable to spend Christ’s birthday with family,” Anne observed. “To have Mr. Darcy’s good favor again. To know an end to this feud. I’ve truly missed Fitzwilliam and Georgiana.”

“Do not fool yourself, Child,” Lady Catherine warned. “Mr. Darcy’s forgiveness shall be late coming, and if you imagine that I’m of the persuasion to guard my usual frankness in reference to my nephew’s marital nearsightedness, you’ll be sadly disappointed. Only when Mr. Darcy admits his mistake shall I extend my forbearance.”

Silently, Anne groaned. She knew from private moments with Georgiana at Matlock that Mr. Darcy violently loved the former Elizabeth Bennet. When that fact was added to his reluctance to admit any weakness, it wasn’t likely that he would give Lady Catherine any satisfaction. They’d intrude on the Darcys’ Christmas, ruining the day for everyone.



“Do you suppose that Georgiana is safe?” Elizabeth asked as she and Darcy shared breakfast in the inn’s limited seating area.

“Georgiana is fine,” he assured. “She was to return to Pemberley two days prior, but even if my sister was delayed, my Uncle Matlock would see to her safety.”

Elizabeth looked longingly at the snowy landscape through the ice-laced windowpanes. “Might we take a short walk, Fitzwilliam?” she asked, lost in her own world.

Darcy recognized her need for daily exercise. Traveling for two days had left Elizabeth confined to his traveling coach. More often than he should, Darcy recalled how Charles Bingley’s sister, Caroline, had criticized Elizabeth for her preference in walking. “To walk three miles, or four miles, or five miles, or whatever it is, above her ankles in dirt, and alone, quite alone! What could she mean by it? It seems to me to show an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country-town indifference to decorum.”

Darcy smiled knowingly. “I would love some time outdoors,” he responded genuinely. “Especially with you.” He teasingly waggled his eyebrows.

His amusing attempt to ease her qualms spoke of Darcy’s love. Elizabeth drew in a deep, determined, definitive breath. “Why is it?” she whispered. “Why, after two years, do I still see you as I did on our wedding night?”

Darcy felt his groin tighten: She had that effect on him. And Elizabeth had just uttered the most provocative thought wrapped in a cloak of sentimentality, something she did with regularity. It kept him off balance — topsy-turvy. He would be going about his duties as Pemberley’s master, and his wife would say something inviting, and his thoughts were lost to her. It had been that way from the beginning: Elizabeth would challenge him with a pert curve turning up her mouth’s corner. Lord, help him! The woman had no idea how crazy she drove him!

“Because I love you. From the day I met you, I saw us — Us as the way life should be,” he murmured close to her ear.

He noted the memory of heated sensations in his wife’s eyes as his breath’s warmth caressed her neck. “I may return to my bed before the walk,” she seductively said.

Darcy warmed from the inside out. He stood slowly. “A man should see his wife to their chamber.” He held out his hand. Elizabeth placed her fingers into his palm, and his grasp closed tightly about them.



“Does everyone have a hat and gloves?” Bingley asked as he surveyed the group gathered in Pemberley’s main foyer. “Last evening held an icy mix. Watch your step and stay close together.”

“Do not forget the mistletoe,” Kitty taunted good-naturedly.

Georgiana motioned toward the house’s rear. “If we exit through the upper gardens we can reach the woods in half the time and distance.”

“Lead on, Miss Darcy,” Mr. Bennet proposed. “You know the best way.”



Elizabeth waited patiently as Darcy spoke to Mr.Washington about the area surrounding the inn. They had spent the last hour in bed, and now they would walk off the remainder of their “stranded” frustrations. Although the facilities were adequate, Elizabeth would prefer her own home at Christmas.With Mrs. Reynolds’s assistance, she’d planned the decorations. Her first Christmastide at Pemberley, she was still a bride, less than two months married, and Elizabeth had bowed to Pemberley’s long-time housekeeper’s wishes. Having celebrated her second wedding anniversary in November, this was to be her third Christmas as Pemberley’s mistress and her first at planning the Tenants’ celebration. She’d hate to leave final preparations to Georgiana.