“No, there has not been time,” she replied.

“We had discussed the middle of June. It would give you enough time to prepare but still leave plenty of time for us to travel on a wedding trip.”

“June?”

“Do you object?”

She did, most strenuously, but if her father wished it, she saw no other way. She was not ready to openly defy him and run away. What better circumstances could she possibly hope to find through that method?

“It is a bit sudden, but I believe I could be prepared by then.”

He squeezed her hand in sympathy. “I know it is a great many changes at once, more so for you than for me. I shall live in the same house and have largely the same activities with the lovely addition of your presence. You will have a new home, a new role within that home, and only my presence to comfort you when you have long had a house full of family. Georgiana will eventually join us, but I understand that you do not know her as yet.”

She understood that he meant well, but his speech had the unwanted effect of making her want to burst into tears. How would she do it? Leave her sisters and her parents and her beloved Hertfordshire and go live with a man she hardly knew? She looked away and blinked rapidly, not wanting him to see her tears. They would do her no good now.

Darcy walked her back to the parsonage and stepped inside to have a word with her father while she joined her sisters Mary, Kitty, and Jane at breakfast. Thankfully, Mr. Collins had been called to the sickbed of an elderly parishioner early that morning, so the Bennet family was left in relative peace. Her mother was still preparing for the journey and she gratefully sat at the quiet table and ate, looking around her and glumly wondering how many more meals like this she would have. It was likely Jane would be married soon, too, hopefully to a man she esteemed and could love one day if she did not already. Jane had always been the lucky sister.

Before her mother came down, Elizabeth finished her meal and went to the parlor to meet with Mr. Darcy and her father. Mr. Bennet smiled when she came in and pressed her arm as he walked past her out of the room.

“You may have a few moments to say goodbye,” he said, and closed the door behind him.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the closed door and she turned back to Mr. Darcy, her shock still evident on her face.

“Your father seems to trust me a great deal,” he said, a bit bashfully she thought. But that must have been her imagination, for surely Mr. Darcy was never bashful or nervous.

“I’m sure he would not have given his consent if he did not,” she said noncommittally.