Chapter Text
*Excerpt from On the Nature of Mirror Phenomenon by A Lady*
After studying these communities, several ideas are clearly exposed. The Mirror Phenomenon seems to lead to excessively happy unions. Out of the hundreds we studied in detail, having interviewed the same people each year for the past fifteen years, we had only three unions that ended in tragedy – and always because of death. It seems likely that the mere thought that one’s partner is their soulmate helps with the petty arguments. Mirror couples have a tendency to work out their problems in a more equitable fashion and seem all around healthier. This, of course, underscores the seeming unfairness in not everyone being able to be a part of this Phenomenon. Why would not everyone be given an equal chance for happiness? Some people, perhaps, are honestly happier not married. Their souls may not have been separated all those years ago by the jealous gods, and so they already have satisfaction. Based on our research, it seems clear that most people who do not own land also do not have access to mirrors with any sort of reliability. While it is common for someone to be lent a mirror for their twenty-first birthday, if their partner does not happen to have a mirror right in front of them at that moment it will not matter. The last chapter will outline the different recommendations for helping one’s community experience the Mirror Phenomenon in the healthiest way, and one recommendation will be for the church to present mirrors to someone on their twenty-first birthday to keep rather than merely borrow.
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Bingley went to collect Darcy with a small smirk. Darcy rolled his eyes at his friend. “No need to laugh at me, I just wanted to look my best.”
“Oh, I am not laughing,” Bingley replied, “I just never thought I would live to see the day my friend was so concerned over his appearance he made us late.”
Darcy felt his face heat up, “I just . . . she has not seen me in a few weeks. . . do not you want to look well for Miss Bennet?”
Bingley smiled as he followed Darcy out to their horses, “Of course I do, and I have rather more to make up for.”
“No, you do not.” Darcy’s vehemence surprised himself. “You did not know she was in London, and you did not even want to leave Hertfordshire.”
“And yet I left. I let myself be pulled away, which is a choice I made, and I need to own up to it.”
Darcy nodded, not wanting to discount Bingley’s onus. He has grown up. I think I can more than trust him with his own choices now.
Darcy’s mind shifted from thinking on his friend’s love affair to his own. How am I going to act when I see Elizabeth? Should I request some time with her, or should I wait and see how she acts? It would be good to let myself be lessoned by her actions. I will try to observe her and base my actions off what she does. Elizabeth is the kind of fierce spirit that should not be forced into something simply because of fate or whatever it is that governs the mirrors. I would rather not marry her at all then to trick her into a marriage. He warmed himself the rest of the way to Longbourn thinking of Elizabeth’s shining eyes and how there was a chance she could receive him well.
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Elizabeth craned her neck to watch the two men depart on their horses. Jane sat pressed next to her in the window seat. At least she has a good excuse to be watching them go so shamelessly. Elizabeth looked to her sister, pleased with soft, gentle expression that danced across her sister’s face. All has been restored for Bingley and Jane. Really, I would not have it any other way. I would sacrifice my happiness for her anytime.
Jane seemed to notice that Elizabeth was looking to her, so she turned to meet her gaze. “Are you alright, Lizzy? I know you were hoping Mr. Darcy would have a conversation with you.”
“I was.” She nodded. “Instead, he just stood about silently as if he was beyond approaching.”
Jane stifled a laugh. “I thought he just looked uncomfortable. You did tell him that you thought he did not act like a gentleman a few months ago at Rosings and that you disdained him and that-”
“Yes, yes. We do not need to recount all that I said to him. I did not know him well enough then.” Elizabeth murmured, disgruntled.
“Then trust what you know of him now. Give him time. He is shy. He needs to see that you will not reject him.”
“As if anyone would reject Mr. Darcy.”
They laughed together, “True, I cannot even imagine you rejecting him even all those months ago.”
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A smile flitted briefly across Darcy’s face. He was pleased to see how comfortable Georgiana was with playing hostess here at Netherfield. She seemed to enjoy planning the dinner party they were planning to have to celebrate the engagement between Bingley and Jane.
Darcy sighed. He was happy for his friend. So proud of him and pleased and
“Come Darcy, stop with those dour thoughts. I can tell from here that you are allowing yourself to spiral into unpleasant thoughts. All will be well.” Bingley nudged his friend’s shoulder gently. “Look at how it came out for my Jane and me. You were anxious about that, I know you were. And yet she forgave me, and we are to be married. That could be you.”
Darcy nodded absently. “You are right, of course.”
“I just do not understand why you did not speak to Miss Elizabeth at all. You know you will have to talk to her to become engaged.” Bingley huffed, his tone teasing, “Are you nervous what she will say?”
“Yes.” Darcy whispered.
“But why? You saw each other in the mirror, Elizabeth is a smart, intelligent woman, she will accept you.”
“But I do not want her to accept me simply because I was in her mirror.”
“Ah, I should have known,” Bingley smiled. “You always were the romantic. You want her to love you.”
Darcy stood up and began pacing. “Naturally.”
“Well, I have to say that she was watching you very closely today. I think she is just waiting for you to talk to her. Do it tomorrow when you come with me to visit my fiancé.”
Darcy bit his lip as he paced a few times in front of where Bingley was comfortably lounging. “She was watching me?”
Bingley sat up smiling. “Every time I looked at her.”
Alright. That is a good sign. Right? I can talk to her – how hard would that be. If I am hoping to woo her, I better be able to talk to her. I do not have to ask her to marry me tomorrow, I can be patient. I can slowly convince her I am worth it.
Georgiana came over and hugged her brother, “You look so serious, Will. Trust her. And trust what you tell me Mother always said about the mirrors.”
Darcy nodded absently. Of course, they are both right. I just need to find my courage. He sighed, That sounds so pathetic.
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Darcy was dismounting his horse, and Elizabeth watched him carefully. He had been so quiet yesterday it had jarred her. He cannot want anything from me, can he? The confusion felt pronounced and real as it swirled around her head. But today, he seemed to be a different person. He made eye contact with her boldly and then when Bingley suggested a walk, Darcy paired himself with Elizabeth so quickly that Kitty did not even feel as if she should walk with them.
It made Elizabeth smile. Maybe we will have some conversation today. Maybe we can address the fact that we are each other’s Mirror Beings.
They had not made it very far from Longbourn when Elizabeth decided she would need to be the one to break the quiet, “Mr. Darcy, I am a very selfish creature; and, for the sake of giving relief to my own feelings, care not how much I may be wounding yours. I can no longer help thanking you for your unexampled kindness to my poor sister. Ever since I have known it, I have been most anxious to acknowledge to you how gratefully I feel it. Were it known to the rest of my family, I should not have merely my own gratitude to express.”
“I am sorry, exceedingly sorry,” replied Darcy, in a tone of surprise and emotion, “that you have ever been informed of what may, in a mistaken light, have given you uneasiness. I did not think Mrs. Gardiner was so little to be trusted.”
“You must not blame my aunt. Lydia’s thoughtlessness first betrayed to me that you had been concerned in the matter; and, of course, I could not rest till I knew the particulars. Let me thank you again and again, in the name of all my family, for that generous compassion which induced you to take so much trouble, and bear so many mortifications, for the sake of discovering them.”
“If you will thank me,” he replied, “let it be for yourself alone. That the wish of giving happiness to you might add force to the other inducements which led me on, I shall not attempt to deny. But your family owe me nothing. Much as I respect them, I believe I thought only of you.”
Elizabeth blushed, pleased and embarrassed by his frankness. But Darcy was not quite finished, “Miss Elizabeth I hardly know where I stand with you. I know you disliked me at Rosings, but then you seemed to think slightly better of me at Pemberley with everything that happened with your sister, I feared you would blame me –”
“Blame you? Mr. Darcy, in no way was that your responsibility.”
“But as you said, I could have saved everyone so much heartache if I had merely spoken out about who he was, if I had not let my pride rule my actions towards him.”
Elizabeth reached out and took his arm, feeling bold, but needing to offer him some comfort, “I never thought that. And I do not think it now. You did not do anything wrong concerning that man.”
Darcy smiled at her tentatively, “Elizabeth,” Elizabeth’s heart fluttered to hear him speak so informally to her, “please stop me if I make you uncomfortable, but you have to allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. I wanted to propose months ago, but I knew I needed to wait until you had your Mirror Day. And then when I saw your beautiful eyes shining out of my mirror that morning . . .” Elizabeth looked over, seeing that Darcy had to pause, he was so overcome with emotions.
“It was the same for me too. I wanted it to be you more than I understood at the time.”
“Really?” Darcy tentatively asked. He fumbled for something in his pocket. “Elizabeth, I hope you will do me the honor of becoming my wife. I loved you long before the universe said you and I were to be together, and I want to keep loving you until we are both wrinkled.”
“Yes, Fitzwilliam, yes! I love you too.”
Darcy beamed, which made Elizabeth’s heart stop. I have never seen him smile so unreservedly before. It is beautiful. I need to make sure he smiles like that at least once a day. She leaned into him.
“This is a ring my father made for my mother. They were each other’s Mirror Beings as well,” Darcy spoke quietly, making Elizabeth lean even closer to him to be sure to hear him well. The ring he presented to her was stunning. It was intricately carved and seemed impossibly delicate. It also had a small highly polished center that acted as a mirror. “He said it was so he could catch little glimpses of her reflecting out of her hand, which would make him think of the day she invaded his private mirror at home.”
“It is beautiful, Fitzwilliam.”
“Would you wear it?”
“I would be honored.”
Darcy put the ring on her finger, and they both enjoyed searching each other’s reflections out as they turned her hand this way and that.
As they continued walking, Elizabeth felt warmth suffusing her entire being. She was engaged, to a kind warm man who wanted to be enchanted by mirrors. She tried to look over at him subtly, but he noticed and looked up at her smiling his true smile at her. Yes. That is the one. I am going to make you smile like that all the time, my Love.
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Bennet was shrieking as he chased around the new puppy he had just received for his eighth birthday. His curly hair was dancing with the wind as he ran hard through one of the open lanes at Pemberley. Darcy smiled at his son, holding his daughter’s hand. Emma was far less inclined to run around the garden, content to walk with her father. He stopped them in front of the bench, sitting down, and Emma jumped on it and leaned into his side.
“How long do we need to stay outside to give Mama some quiet.”
Darcy smiled, “Long enough. Having another baby is tiring. She needs to be able to rest.” He tried to sound stern, but he knew he always just sounded besotted and fond when he talked to his children.
Emma played with the signet ring on his hand, “Papa, tell me about Mama’s ring. The one she wears all the time. I can see myself in it.”
“That is a pleasant reminder to your Mama and I. Every time I see it, I see her looking back at me.”
“But you see yourself, not her.” Emma screwed her face up in confusion.
Darcy nodded, “Yes, but remember, your Mama and Papa were blessed to be a part of the Mirror Phenomenon.”
Emma tried to pronounce the word along with her father, tripping over the ending somewhat spectacularly. She loved anything about mirrors and was always begging to hear the story again. “You saw Mama in your mirror one morning, right?”
“That is right, Little Emma. Her eyes, which look so much like yours, were blinking back at me in surprise.”
“Because you already knew each other. She had just been to Pemberley for the first time.” Emma paused, waiting for her father to continue.
“It seems like you know it better than I do.”
“But I like it when you help tell the story,” Emma said.
“You are right, of course. And I had wanted to propose to her months before the Event.”
Emma nodded sagely, “Poor Papa, having to wait for months for no reason.”
Darcy shook his head, “No, it was very good I had to wait. I needed to make sure your Mama wanted to marry me.”
“But who would not want to marry you?”
Darcy laughed, “I know Mama has told you that I was – ” Darcy cut himself off, standing quickly when he noticed Elizabeth coming out of Pemberley. He rushed to her side, “Elizabeth, I thought the doctor told you to rest.”
“And I can rest outside where I can watch my children play. George is sleeping right now, and I wanted some fresh air.”
“Mama!” Emma cried, which drew Bennet’s attention so that he came racing over with the puppy tumbling after him.
Darcy helped his wife sit down, smiling at how everything and everyone always seemed to turn to Elizabeth, seeking her warmth. He knew his affection was printed clearly on his face, but he did not care. He was happy for everyone to know that he loved his wife, especially her.
Elizabeth listened to both her children as they clamored for her attention, but her clever eyes watched her husband carefully. Darcy felt loved.