William chuckled, “I had never been so motivated to awaken in the morning to meet you here, my love. I arise and run out of my rooms after getting dressed and I have my valet shave me after I return home after our time together, only to run back to you to break my fast at Longbourn. Your parents have been kind to feed me every meal of the day since I refuse to leave you.”
“But I enjoy having you with me and I cannot wait until we are married so we do not have to separate. Only three more weeks to go, Will, but it feels like eternity, I am so eager.” Lizzy smiled. “I am glad Richard and Laura are to arrive soon. We have been engaged all of one week and are as blissfully happy as they. I like our tree to be our own place, where we enjoy our privacy here together without anyone else to bother us, even if we have an occasional trespasser, to whom you might think I am betrothed!” She teased.
“And I will never run away again but fight the man to the death for your affections!” He laughed as he kissed her temple. “I have a surprise for you, Lizzy,” William sat up with a glint in his eye. “I read your completed book and it is good. I know I must sound biased, but The Odyssey of Will & Liam was humorous and exciting and I could not put it down. I truly enjoyed it and I have already written to a friend of mine from Cambridge to see about getting it published. You would finally become an authoress, my love. Does that please you? Will you still mention me on the dedication page?” He smiled.
Lizzy nodded, “Of course! I cannot believe it, Will! I will have my book published? Are you certain it is good enough? What if no one else likes it?” She began to fret.
William laughed as he kissed her forehead. “It is good and your father likes it and I have asked my father and mother to read it as well. I am proud of you, Lizzy. You have done a wonderful job and there will always be critics who will look for faults but do not worry about them and enjoy your success. I will stand by you no matter what and I promise to be as candid as possible, even if I might be blinded by love and dare not anger you. Look at you, Elizabeth Bennet, authoress and the most accomplished woman of my acquaintance.”
Lizzy shook her head. “No, Will.”
William raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean, Lizzy?”
Lizzy laughed, “Not Elizabeth Bennet, but Elizabeth Darcy, Mrs. Darcy first then authoress second. I finally understand what your mama said about her enjoying being a wife and mother above her status as a daughter of an earl. I am excited to have my book published but I am infinitely more eager to be married to you.”
William kissed her lips affectionately and smiled. “And I am infinitely eager to marry you as well.” He beamed broadly, “Would your name be printed as ‘Elizabeth Bennet Darcy’ or ‘Elizabeth A. Darcy’?” He laughed to see her surprised face. “Your mother let it slip that your middle name began with ‘A’ but that was all I could get out of her.”
Lizzy laughed, “And your papa told me that your middle name began with ‘P’ but that was all I could get out of him! What ridiculousness that we had to sneak around to learn the other’s middle names. Since we are getting married, perhaps we should tell each other our deepest secret now.”
“But what if you find my name awful and refuse to marry me?” William challenged in jest. “If you do not marry me because of my middle name, I will jump into the pond and refuse to come out. I will live there in shame and become a hideous creature who will never set foot on dry land again.”
Lizzy reached up and kissed his lips as tenderly as possible. “I fear the same but I fear my life without you even more, Will. I will love you until the end of my days. Pray, do not laugh at my name or else I will go into the pond first. It is Andromeda. Elizabeth Andromeda Bennet. Is that not the most ridiculous name you have ever heard?”
William wrapped his arms around her and kissed her ardently. “It is the most beautiful name in the world, my love. I believe it is fate, love. Do you know the Greek mythology? Did your father name you Andromeda because of her beauty and eternal life in the stars as a constellation?”
She nodded. “As soon as I learned that I was named after a weak woman who got herself helplessly tied to a rock to be forced into marriage, I hated the name and wished to never marry and become a boy so I could be the rescuer and fight off the evil gods.”
William smiled and stroked her cheek softly with his hand, “I am understanding your childhood much better now, Lizzy. It makes sense that you wish to be the hero but I hope you will give me this one allowance, my love. I say we are fated to be together because my middle name is Perseus.” She gasped and he laughed. “I thought it a ridiculous name but father had been reading too many books on Greek mythology at the time and my mother said she lost a bet so she had to honour it. You do realise that we are fated to have seven sons and two daughters together, do you not?” He paused for a moment, “Do you wish to have children, Lizzy? If you do not, it is acceptable to me. I would never
