Sometimes, as he watches her moving about the room - ensuring the guests are taken care of, that Georgiana is not hiding in corners alone, that nothing shall ever shame Pemberley in the eyes of their acquaintance - he still wonders at how he ever managed without her.

Unsociable and unyielding as he was wont to be, it is a wonder to Mr Darcy that he ever hosted a successful gathering, and stranger still that he coped alone in raising his dear sister from her childhood years to womanhood without incident.

All has been improved by the presence of his dearest, loveliest Elizabeth, something he hopes he makes clear to her with each passing day, and realises it is true when she smiles at him, exactly as she is smiling now.