P&P

Epilogue

June was in full bloom, the grass under the intense sun soft and green under my toes. The branches of the tree I was sitting under gave me enough shade from the sun's rays to read the book in my lap without squinting. After turning the last page, I finally shut it with the gratifying pleasure finishing a book always gave.

"So you've finished it, then?" Darcy asked me. He had evidently heard the book shut, since he was sitting on the other side of the tree. He was reading a book of his own. When we walked to this park, initially he wanted to sit next to me but I fought him to the other side, for fear of a distraction.

"Yes." I replied. "Now I can cross out number ten on your sister's booklist."

"Georgiana will be pleased. She finished your list within the week." I could faintly hear a pompous tone in his voice, but I knew by now that he was only teasing me. "You should really give her a longer list next time."

"The list I gave her was my top five favorite books of all time." I told him, a mock-defensive tone in my voice. "Your sister favors books too easily. I've hardly ever heard her say one bad thing about any novel she's read."

"Maybe she just has better taste than you." Now I knew he was teasing me. I inched my way around the tree to his side. He didn't even so much as look up from his book. I decided to stare at him until he did. "I'm starting to understand why you thought I would be a distraction to you."

I laughed.

"You're only reading a poetry book." I whined. "Which, I might remind you, you only brought along so you wouldn't be bored as I finished my book."

"If I knew you'd antagonize me this much, I'd have compared you to a summer's day." He sassed. I scoffed. He finally shut his book as well and looked at me with his bright blue eyes. I smiled, but I wasn't quite as forgiving yet.

"I know you only shut yourself away behind a book when you want to ignore something." Darcy told me. He knew me too well. I was getting through Georgiana's list with a speed that competed with her own. "How's Lydia doing with the news?"

With some talking into by Aunt Gardiner, Lydia had agreed to testify against George in court. She wasn't the only girl to testify; even Georgiana had come down to give her own. George's final ruling was six months in prison and a year on probation.

"Not that well." I admitted. She shut herself in her room for a week after the day in court, and barely emerged now. Our parents decided to let her see a psychiatrist, which I recommended to them after Georgiana had told me to. But they seemed to be helping her. Lydia had also taken to being my assistant when writing short stories. She would read over my work and give me her honest advice – the kind Jane lacked in giving me. "But I'm running out of ideas to write for her to look over. I'm afraid that if I don't give her a distraction, she'll find one herself. And she's not exactly keen on reading other people's work."

"As long as you continue to be in an open and honest relationship with her, there's no reason she should look elsewhere for comfort." Darcy told me. I knew that he was right. He got up from the grass and then held a hand to help me up. I took it and we made our way back to Netherfield Park.

Jane and Charlie were waiting for us in the driveway, Charlie's arm around my sister. Her skin seemed to glow under the blazing sun, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at her boyfriend. Darcy's fingers interlocked with mine, making me feel nothing but pure happiness for Jane. I no longer felt that stab of jealousy when I looked at her.

"It's about time you two got here." Charlie told us. "Jane just told me that everyone's already at the restaurant." His voice was anxious, but his body was relaxed. I sensed it was Jane's effect on him.

"I just hope Lydia and her friends haven't gotten into too much trouble yet." I said as Darcy unlocked his black sedan. "You know how she gets when it's someone's birthday, Jane."

"I'm sure she's not giving our mother a hard time. Not on her birthday, Lizzie." Jane told me as she and Charlie climbed into the backseat and I climbed into the passenger seat, next to Darcy.

My phone chimed when we were halfway to The Basil Leaf. I laughed at Lydia's message. "It really must be mother's birthday if her two oldest daughters are no longer on the market." I read aloud.

"Oh come on," Charlie said in a laid-back tone. "I didn't think she was that bad at trying to match off her daughters."

"You do remember how we met, don't you?" I asked Charlie, looking at him from the rearview mirror. "She paid me to stalk you to make sure you weren't coming back with a wide variety of women in tow." Darcy and I exchanged smirks. I knew that he remembered how my mother was, but didn't want to say anything for my sake.

When we finally got to the restaurant, everyone was there. My father was looking at my mother in a way he hadn't in a very long time. Lydia was chatting animatedly with her friends Cat and Mary. If it weren't for them, I'm not sure what wouldn't happened to Lydia. Richard and Charlotte had even come down for the occasion, though they were only here on business as Richard's magazine had just come out on specialty newsstands. Aunt Gardiner, my mother's sister, was there as well.

"Well, it's about time you four showed up!" My mother chastised as we took seats around the reserved table. "I was just about to have a right panic if you hadn't showed up soon."

"As if she wasn't panicking before." Lydia murmured to me.

"This is a moment to document, I think!" My mother exclaimed. She brought out her digital camera and said, "Pass this on to Richard, we need to take a picture. I never thought my daughters would ever enter into a serious relationship! I need the proof before something devastating happens to ruin it before I get a snapshot."

"I think she might be talking about us." I whispered to Darcy. He only laughed at this. My mother was the only one I hadn't told the full story to. She didn't need me to explain our relationship – only to have it.

"Say 'basil'!" Richard exclaimed before he took the picture of all of us around the table. My smile was real, the only real smile that was ever caught in a picture.