“You should know that her dowry is only a thousand pounds when her mother passes.”

“That is not a concern, sir. Please, distribute her portion among your other daughters.”

Mr. Bennet nodded. “Very well. I give you my permission and my blessing. Take good care of my girl.”

Darcy smiled the widest smile Mr. Bennet had ever seen him don and shook the older man’s hand vigorously. “Thank you, sir. I’ll take excellent care of her and will treasure her always. You have my word.”

“One more thing, Mr. Darcy.”

The younger man looked at him expectantly.

“Allow me to talk to Elizabeth first. I will speak with her tonight, and you may speak with her in the morning before we depart. I assume you would want to correspond while we are in Margate?”

“Yes, of course. Do I have your permission to write to her, then?” asked Darcy.

“Yes, yes, of course. Have you thought about a wedding date?”

“I have, but I was unsure of your family’s plans.”

“If I may make a suggestion?”

Darcy nodded.

“I would like to see her wed before the summer ends. Not so soon that she has no time to prepare, but not so far out that you despair of the day ever coming,” said Mr. Bennet.

“Why do we not marry in London? It would be an easy distance from Margate and your family could stay in my home,” suggested Darcy.

“We will have been in Margate long enough to have the banns read there, if you’d rather. London will be frightfully hot in midsummer. Or you could purchase a special license and residency would not apply,” supplied Mr. Bennet.

Darcy did not want to tell him why he wished to avoid the Bennet family and Margate, where he had no control over anything that was happening and would be forced into unpleasant company, but it was becoming more difficult not to say something of the matter. “I will be very busy in town, making sure everything is ready for Miss Elizabeth’s arrival and getting my affairs in order so that I may be at leisure after we are wed.”

Mr. Bennet nodded. “Very well. I will plan on London in midsummer. Shall we say the first of July? A little more than two months’ time?”

“I was hoping for closer to six weeks, sir. I wanted to take Miss Elizabeth on a wedding trip and it would be best to travel in summer,” said Darcy.

“Where did you have in mind?”

“I had thought The Lakes. She mentioned once that she hoped to see them one day and I thought it would be an ideal destination. We could easily go to Pemberley afterward and stay through the autumn and winter if we did not want to return to town for the little season.”

“Would one of her sisters accompany her, or would you prefer your sister do the job?”