A Long-Awaited Proposal

In honour of Valentine's Day, I've written a short story that I wanted to include in my recent series, but couldn't really fit in without turning it into a LOTR-style Endless Epilogue

So, I'm including them as short stories, instead...

At the age of fifteen, Lydia Bennet had fallen in love.

How could she have resisted? She had been raised on her mother's tales of handsome officers in red coats, and Jasper Fitzwillaim - Baron Netherfield, now, and just as she had finally become used to calling him 'Mr Fitzwilliam' instead of 'Colonel Fitzwilliam'! - had fit every ideal she could have dreamed. As they grew more acquainted, she discovered him to be kind, honourable, steadfast and intelligent.

Perhaps he was not the most handsome man Lydia had ever seen - that honour that still belonged to Orpheus, one of the Continental Warriors against the Dark - but his charming good nature made up for it, and his looks were greatly improved by smiling. Thus, Lydia endeavoured to make him smile as often as possible. There was a warm feeling in her chest whenever she had to opportunity to watch his eyes brighten and his worn face soften, to see his military bearing relax in laughter.

Even if it did result in increased competition from the other hopeful young Hertfordshire ladies, the result was worth the effort.

Lydia fancied that she knew Lord Netherfield as well as anyone not directly related to him might. Before she was halfway to her seventeenth birthday, she had fought at his side against all manner of foes, and they had gone on an undercover mission posing as a married couple. Thank heaven that had been on the Continent, where they knew almost no-one, and Lydia's reputation could not have been ruined for the ruse!

During their journey home, he had confessed to admiring her, and also that he would not marry a woman younger than nineteen. He had asked her if she was willing to wait that long, and they had both promised that if they found someone they liked better in the meantime, they would not hold back for the sake of a perceived obligation.

Lydia had been exposed to a greater variety of society, since her secret mission, than her youth had previously afforded her. She had been permitted to accompany her sisters for the Season that Georgiana and Kitty had reluctantly subjected themselves to in exchange for being taken seriously in their stated desire to be spinsters together. House parties at Pemberley and Stonewall had brought her into contact with any number of Gifted young - and not-so-young - men. The steady trickle of those who travelled to Longbourn to seek Matthew's assistance with a research project or some other matter contained ladies as well as gentlemen, but the point remained.

Some of those men introduced to her had been handsome. Others had been charming. Some had even seemed to be genuinely interested in Lydia herself, and not just her sisters' connections or the chance to established a line of Gifted descendants.

None of them were Jasper Fitzwilliam.

Even when they were undercover as a married couple, he had been nothing less than honourable and respectful of her. He openly admired her skill in both combat and magic (the latter away from unenlightened ears, of course). He treated her like an adult, not a child to be petted and protected, but someone who had their own mind and was capable of using it.

Lydia sometimes wondered if he knew how rare a trait that was in the average man.

Rarely a day went by when Baron Fitzwilliam did not call on Longbourn, or issue an invitation to join him for tea at Netherfield. With barely more than a month before her nineteenth birthday, Lydia had been attempting to determine how best to broach a certain topic.

On the journey home from France, the now-Baron had said that he would not offer for a lady younger than nineteen. As her birthday drew ever closer, with no mention of their past promise, Lydia wondered if he remembered it. Two years had done nothing to dim her regard, but could he say the same?

Today, Lydia drove the pony trap to Netherfield, with Mary as her chaperone. Under normal circumstances, Lydia would have preferred to walk, but Mary and Matthew had made the announcement that Mary was expecting her first child only yesterday, and Mama would not hear of her over-exerting herself.

Baron Netherfield welcomed them heartily, much to his Butler's annoyance. The poor man's duties and sense of propriety was forever at odds with Jasper's ingrained self-reliance. As a mere friend and sister of his cousin-by-marriage, Lydia couldn't really tell him that he should let his visitors be announced. Perhaps in the future...

A maid brought in a tea tray, and the pleasantries were quickly dispensed with. Mary took a plain ginger biscuit - apparently pregnancy brought stomach troubles. "You spoke of planning something when you called for tea yesterday. Have you had any new developments?"

Jasper smiled, glancing at Lydia. "I plan to host a ball in a month, on the 20th of June. Will your family be available?"

That was the day after Lydia's birthday, when there would be a dinner in her honour, but she did not think that Mama had anything planned for the following day. Mary's eyes narrowed ever so slightly over her teacup. "I do not believe we have any commitments that day."

Mary and Lizzy both had very arresting stares, when they chose to use them. Lydia was almost envious, for the Baron quickly elaborated. "In truth, it will be the first social event that I host as a Baron. I would welcome any assistance or advice you might feel able to provide."

With his newly-increased rank, there might be an expectation that the expense of the refreshments and decorations increase to match, but this was the country, and he was a former soldier. The local guests would not mind a little austerity, Lydia was sure. She said as much, and was rewarded with another smile.

It was a fine day outside, and after Lydia's third glance out the window, Jasper stood up. "Mrs Bennet, would you and Miss Lydia care to view the gardens?"

Mary tired more easily these days, now that she had entered her fourth month, and had never much cared to spend more time outdoors than she could avoid. "Perhaps at a later date, but I am sure my sister will be safe in your hands, as long as you stay within view of the window."

At some point in the last month, the gardeners had added a trellis arch, currently blooming with honeysuckle. Lydia closed her eyes, inhaling the sweet scent of flowers. She opened again to see Lord Fitzwilliam watching her, and blushed lightly.

He patted her hand, nestled in the crook of his arm, reassuringly. "I'm glad that you are still able to find joy in the little things. It is refreshing."

They resumed walking, and Lydia considered his words. "Do you struggle to do so? I have heard of soldiers becoming consumed by battle memories..."

He waved his free hand. "Less so now, but whenever I find myself falling into melancholy, I think of the joy you find in everything, and my spirits are lifted."

Turning one way would take them into the ornamental maze, but then they would have to deal with Mary coming out after them to fulfil her responsibilities. Jasper clearly had the same thought, because he continued their circuit around the flower beds. "In truth, there is a certain matter I have been hoping to speak to your father about, and a question I wish to ask you. Two questions, really, but asking the second will depend on your answer to the first."

The events of the past several months rearranged themselves in Lydia's mind. Baron Fitzwilliam did not pay so much attention to every one of his neighbours, nor was he particularly ostentatious. He had been courting her, but quietly and without fanfare, attempting to determine if his attentions were still welcome.

For all her newly-gained maturity, it was clear that Lydia could still be a touch unobservant at times, at least when the Supernatural was not involved.

Hope blossomed within her, and she beamed at him, bouncing a little. "Then please, ask the first one."

He guided them in a turn along the roses. "Have your affections changed since our trip to France three years ago?"

Lydia shook her head. "Not in the slightest; you are still the only man I can envision myself married to. Have yours?"

He smiled, and appeared like a man ten years younger. "Not at all; you are still the most admirable and formidable young lady of my acquaintance. So, to my second question: May I speak to your father for his consent, before I request your hand in marriage?"

That was a rich compliment, especially from anyone who had encountered Lizzy. Papa had become more involved as a parent in recent years, as teaching Matthew required him to leave his study more frequently, but Lydia wondered if he saw her as anything more than the silly girl she had once worn as a mask. "I hope he will welcome you, but you should be prepared for some teasing first."

Papa was rather disbelieving at first, but gave his blessing and agreed to wait to tell Mama until the day of the Netherfield Ball, which would now double as an engagement party.

Lydia's sisters were returning from Derbyshire for the occasion, too. They had their own lives and responsibilities, now, but it was kind of them to make the effort, especially now that the journey involved travelling with young children.

Elizabeth and Mr Darcy were the first to arrive, with little Bennet Alexander Darcy, and sharing a carriage with Georgiana and Kitty for convenience.

Jane and Mr Bingley arrived the following day, two days before Lydia's birthday, with Felicity Elizabeth and the newborn Charles James Bingley. Lydia was fond of children, but she didn't have much experience interacting with them until they were old enough to be interesting and hold up their end of a conversation.

She expressed this to Jasper, while they were overseeing the preparations for the ball, and he nodded sagely. "The curse of being the youngest, I'm afraid. Darcy and I were at school when Georgiana was born; it took some time to learn how to interact with her."

Finally, someone who understood! "Jane was fortunate; she experienced the four of us, and our Gardiner cousins, before she had children of her own. Even if little Charlie seems to do little but cry."

Jasper laughed "He is not the only one. Mr Nichols nearly wept with joy when I promised to let him announce all of the guests. He has not stopped praising your influence to the rest of the staff since."

Lydia could not help the giggles that escaped her. "Then I hope that none of them will object overmuch to a new Mistress of Netherfield."

Lydia's sisters, advised of the announcement that would be made at the Netherfield Ball, had purchased a lovely new dress of sky-blue silk, for Lydia's birthday. Mama and Papa gifted her a string of pearls. Jasper, as he had for each of the last three years, gave her a dance manual from countries she had never been to.

It suddenly struck Lydia that this was the last birthday she would spend with Longbourn as her home. True, she would live only a few miles away, but the distance of a transition did not make it less noteworthy, and tears welled up in her eyes.

She attempted to hide them by enthusiastically embracing the gift-givers, but Kitty saw through her, as she always had. Lydia's nearest sister offered an understanding smile. "It is overwhelming, is it not, to know that your life is about to change, and there can be no return to the person you once were?"

That compassion deserved an extra squeeze. "It is not apprehension, really. Merely... nostalgia, I suppose, but for something that has not happened yet."

Georgiana patted them both. "You are not alone in that, but the point of nostalgia is to look back on something fondly, while enjoying the present and future."

Lydia smiled at them both, and the dinner resumed.

No one had been so indecorous as to actually cry out in dismay when Lord Netherfield announced his engagement to Miss Lydia Bennet, but it had been a very close thing.

"Mr and Mrs Argeiad, and Miss Argeiad."

It took several second for the words to properly penetrate, over the music and the thrum of conversation. Many heads turned to look at the owners of the unfamiliar names, anticipating new society. Lydia abandoned her conversation with her sisters and rushed over to greet her old friends as they descended the stairs. "How lovely to see you all again!"

Pandora smiled and returned her enthusiastic greeting with a sedate but expressive smile, keeping her voice soft as Jasper joined them. "With Napoleon's defeat, it was... suggested... that we make ourselves scarce for a while. Apparently, we rather un-nerve the local Kings."

Jasper sniggered under his breath. "That's certainly one way to put it. In any case, you are more than welcome here, instead, and not only because you just won me a rather large bet."

Lydia gave him a disapproving stare, but the pot among Jasper and his brother officers had been an extremely tempting one. Fortunately, Orpheus only laughed. "On whether Argiad was our real name, on whether Pandora and I were married, or on how long it would take before an extensive vacation was suggested for us?"

Jasper clapped him on the shoulder, "The first two. I lost on the third count; you outlasted my wager by a full month."

Tiresais hid a giggle behind her fan, "Or rather, the French government did. They'd made up their minds some weeks before, but only mustered the courage to approach us recently."

Jasper beamed, "Oh, excellent, I can make a case for having won, after all. I'm fortunate that I didn't bet on whose name you took, or I should have lost that one."

Orpheus waved a hand. "My family name was a touch too distinctive to risk making openly known, but there are Argiads from Thessaly to the Ottoman Empire. My true name is Nicholas, and this is my wife Alexandra, and her sister Sophia."

Lydia happily tucked her arm into Jasper's, rejoicing as the last missing piece of the puzzle slotted into place, and their chosen family was complete. "Then know that you are welcome here, for as long as you choose to stay."