He knew that he had lost her forever now with her betrothal to another man, a man of a lesser consequence, with whom she would not have to be concerned about being a hospitable mistress or forced to flaunt those impractical accomplishments expected of a lady of the ton. William understood that she would be happier with a man who likely proposed to her without asking her to change, and he felt his tears roll down. He pulled out his handkerchief to wipe his face when he saw the squiggles of the embroidery, which looked more like a serpent than a ‘W’. It was the one he carried most often and had always brought a smile to his face but today, it brought only misery.
William thought of Lizzy’s shining eyes and the sounds of her laughter, and knowing that a captain of the militia was still paid very little, he knew he could not leave without seeing to her future. He loved her and he would leave England as soon as arrangements could be made, but he had to see her one more time to properly say his farewells and give her his final gift.
He walked to his personal safe and pulled out the important papers to inspect it once more. Seeing that all was in order as he had requested his solicitor, he placed the document in his pocket to hand it to Lizzy before he left her once again. The other precious item he had always carried in his pocket was secured safely there and he could not bear to take it out yet, as he felt that if he chose to remove it from his pocket, then it would mean that all hope was lost. But he still held on to it with the possibility that until Lizzy was wed, he still had a chance to be close to her, whether as a friend or a husband, it mattered not.
He closed the safe and called for his stallion again, which he had purchased only a week ago, and travelled to Longbourn one last time.
~*~
“Welcome, William!” Mr. Bennet greeted the young man while he was working out of doors with the steward. “It has been too long since you last called on us, even if we saw each other in town several times.”
William nervously shifted his feet, “I apologise, sir. I would like to speak with Lizzy before I depart to Pemberley. I had only arrived this morning but urgent business calls me away.”
“Oh?” Mr. Bennet raised his brows, “You have not seen her then? She asked when you were returning to Hertfordshire and I had told her what you had written to me, that you were expected today. I thought she had gone to see you, William. She left on her horse again and it was only moments ago. I had been convincing her to try to speak with you again these past few days in order to make peace. I hope she will tell you the good news herself when she sees you next.”
William’s heart dropped. “I am... I have already been made aware of it, Mr. Bennet, and that is why I had wished to call on her. I will go and see if I can find her. Perhaps we missed each other on different routes.”
Mr. Bennet smiled broadly and William left Longbourn quickly to search for the ever-evasive Elizabeth Bennet.
Chapter 15
William rode his horse again to Oakham Mount to their tree and saw no one there. He sat atop his large stallion and casted his eyes on the horizon to see if there were any traces of the young lady and after a minute of searching, he saw the familiar horse running from the direction of Longbourn to a pond located near Lucas Lodge.
He kicked his horse to ride towards the pond and as he neared closer to her, his life flashed before his eyes, as Lizzy was attempting to place something on the pond but fell in head first instead.
William’s heart began to race faster as he rode harder to the pond, and he jumped off his horse to dive in after her, when he saw Lizzy’s head pop up and he heard her laughing. Lizzy began to pull herself up and out of the water and William ran to assist her.
“What on earth were you doing, Lizzy?!” William shouted as he grabbed under her arms and pulled her up. “You could have been killed!”
Lizzy continued her bursts of laughter as she lay flat on the grassy ground, sodden to the bone but uninjured from the accident. “The pond is only three-feet deep, Will! I can easily stand on it. I had only wished to see if the miniature model of Lord Nelson’s HMSBadger would float but it seems I sank instead. I am fine. I am not hurt.”
William helped her to sit up and angrily retorted, “You could have been killed and I would have drowned myself right after you, Lizzy! Have you no compassion on my nerves?!” He took off his great coat and wrapped it around the young woman who began to shiver as she stood. He continued his chastisement while wiping her wet face with his
