Lizzy’s mood altered immediately, and she was so bold as to kiss him on the cheek. But Mr. Darcy was even bolder, and he put his hand on her neck and brought her toward him. Her kiss was as wonderful as he had imagined it would be, and he could feel the heat rising. Reluctantly, he let her go, but whispered. “Everything will be decided at Pemberley. Will you come?” Lizzy went to the library to get her father’s permission to go to Derbyshire with Mr. Darcy.

Lizzy had already made the acquaintance of Anne de Bourgh during her visit with Charlotte Collins in Kent in the spring. After Mr. Darcy’s departure from Rosings Park following his awful marriage proposal, Anne had called on Lizzy at the parsonage. She had made no attempt to defend the words her cousin had uttered on that dreadful afternoon but was very keen for Lizzy to hear about the Fitzwilliam Darcy she knew and loved. After listening to her recitation of Mr. Darcy’s many virtues and kindnesses to Miss Darcy, Her Ladyship, and herself, Lizzy could feel the bulwark of her prejudices crumbling, and she immediately developed a fondness for the daughter of the insufferable Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Lizzy’s first meeting with Georgiana Darcy was at Jane and Charles’s wedding. With her black hair and gray-green eyes, she was as beautiful as her brother was handsome. She stood a head taller than Lizzy, and her height accentuated her long elegant line. But there was much more to this lovely young woman than good looks and beautiful clothes. There was a graciousness in her manner and a kindness in her addresses that immediately drew the approval of all who met her, and Lizzy was very pleased that Mr. Darcy was eager to bring them together again and expressed his hope that they would become the best of friends. In that one statement, he revealed that he wanted to renew those attentions he had been paying to her during her visit to Pemberley before the sordid affair between Lydia and Wickham necessitated their separation.