Elizabeth said, “I don’t think Caroline Bingley is easily humiliated when in pursuit of an objective, but if you are determined to believe that Bingley’s disappointment at the loss of a closer alliance outweighs the inconvenience of being married to his sister, I shall certainly not attempt to disabuse you. You cannot be accused of deceiving either of them, there was never any doubt about your feelings. And as for the change in your manner towards me, you must remember that I was learning to know you and was falling in love. Perhaps I believed you had changed because I needed to believe with all my heart. And if I was guided by instinct rather than by rational thought, haven’t I been proved right?”

“Oh my dear love, so very right.”

Elizabeth continued, “I have as much to regret as have you, and your letter had one advantage, it made me think for the first time that I could have been wrong about George Wickham; how unlikely it was that the gentleman whom Mr Bingley chose as his best friend would have behaved in the way Mr Wickham described, would have been so false to his father’s wishes and so activated by malice. The letter which you so deplore did at least some good.”

Darcy said, “Those passages about Wickham were the only honest words in the whole letter. It is strange, is it not, that I should write so much deliberately designed to hurt and humiliate you and yet could not bear the thought that, parted as we would be, you would always see me as the man Wickham described to you.”

She moved closer to him and for a moment they sat in silence. She said, “We are neither of us the people we were then. Let us look on the past only as it gives us pleasure, and to the future with confidence and hope.”

Darcy said, “I have been pondering about the future. I know that it is difficult to prise me from Pemberley but would it not be a delight to return to Italy and revisit places where we spent our wedding journey. We could travel in November and avoid the English winter. We need not spend long abroad if you dislike leaving the boys.”

Elizabeth smiled. “The boys would be safe in the care of Jane, you know how she loves looking after them. To return to Italy would be a joy but it is one which we must postpone. I was about to tell you my plan for November. Early that month, my love, I hope to be holding our daughter in my arms.”

He could not speak but the joy which brought a tear to his eyes suffused his face and the strong grip of his hand was enough. When he could find a voice he said, “But are you well? Surely you should have a shawl. Would it be better to go back to the house and then you can rest. Ought you to be sitting here?”

Elizabeth laughed. “I am perfectly well; am I not always? And this is the best of places in which to break the news. Remember, this is the bench where Lady Anne rested when she was expecting you. I cannot, of course, promise a daughter. I have a feeling that I am intended to be the mother of sons, but if it is a boy we shall make a place for him.”

“We shall, my love, in the nursery and in our hearts.”

It was in the silence that followed that they saw Georgiana and Alveston coming down the steps from Pemberley to the greensward beside the river. Darcy said with mock severity, “What is this I see, Mrs Darcy? Our sister and Mr Alveston walking hand in hand and in full view of Pemberley windows? Is this not shocking? What can it mean?”

“I leave that to you to determine, Mr Darcy.”

“I can only conclude that Mr Alveston has something of importance to communicate, something he wants to ask of me, perhaps.”

“Not to ask, my love. We must remember that Georgiana is no longer subject to guardianship. All will have been settled between them and they come together not to ask but to tell. But there is one thing they need and hope for, your blessing.”

“They shall have it with all my heart. I can think of no other man whom I would be better pleased to call my brother. And I shall talk with Georgiana this evening. There shall be no more silence between us.”

Together they got up from the bench and stood watching while Georgiana and Alveston, their happy laughter rising above the constant music of the stream, their hands still linked, came running to them across the shining grass.