Posted on Thursday, 7 June 2001, at 9:37 a.m.

Elizabeth sat down at her vanity. She took out her brush and began to brush her hair. Her hair, once a deep brown, had become speckled with and ever increasing number of grey hairs. Gently she set her brush down as she gazed at herself in the mirror. The wrinkles at her eyes had become deeper and larger and her smile lines had done the same. "Well Mrs. Darcy," she whispered with mock seriousness, "you are definitely getting old."

Elizabeth rose, removed her robe and placed it on the empty chair. She noticed how her body had changed over the years. Things that were once trim and taut were now beginning to sag and droop. Her waist was not as slender as it once was and neither were her legs. She thought to her self, "I'm guessing that five children did not help any." She sighed and headed to bed.

She saw her husband, William, sitting up in bed intently reading a novel. His temples and sideburns had long since turned a steely grey. The rest of his hair still reminded of the dark hair of his youth. As with her, his face had become more wrinkled and his body no longer retained the look of youth. Despite his aging his eyes were still the same. Those dark-brown eyes which expressed his every emotion, hidden or not. Elizabeth loved this man more than anything. He was her companion, lover, and the father of their children.

She climbed into bed and her husband turned and looked at her with love in his eyes. As she worked her way under the covers, he watched her every movement. Every night it was the same. She brushed her hair and thoughtfully gazed into the mirror. After that she would remove her dressing gown and then climb into bed, snuggling under the covers like a child. William loved this woman more than he ever thought possible. She had given him love, laughter, the five most beautiful children in the world, and hope.

Once Elizabeth was settled, she looked up at her husband, who was now gazing down at her.

"Well Mr. Darcy, I hate to tell you, but it seems your spring chicken of a wife has turned into an old hen."

William chuckled at his wife's humorous self-effacement.

"Well my dear, if you're an old hen, I dread to think what has become of me."

Elizabeth's eyes sparkled at her husband's deadpan, but obviously very amused, delivery.

"Mr. Darcy, if women are hens then men must be roosters and I daresay I've never heard a rooster described as old."

"That's because, Mrs. Darcy, by then we've become soup."

Elizabeth burst into giggles and William smiled.

"Oh William, can you really believe that tomorrow we will have been wed for 25 years! It seems like only yesterday that Reynolds was born, then after him Wyn, Kelley, Ava, and finally our little Christopher."

"Yes Elizabeth, I remember the early months of our marriage when the servants found several rooms unexpectedly 'locked'."

At this statement Elizabeth blushed, and then almost at the same time they both began to laugh as they remembered the same moment.

"I believe William that you are remembering the moment in the front coat closet, the look on Mrs. Reynold's face when she opened the door looking for the broom, it was priceless. I almost believe she would have burst out laughing if the shock hadn't been so great."

"I daresay that look was not as priceless as the one when shortly thereafter she realized that you were pregnant and then subsequently named our little boy Reynolds." Darcy was barely able to spit those last words out before laughter overtook him. At this they both laughed until they could barely breathe.

"Will," said Elizabeth trying to sound serious, "that was a bit cruel of us, but to this day Mrs. Reynolds cannot see our son without getting a really amused look on her face. And besides, he really fits the name Reynolds. I don't believe that another name would have done."

"I do believe you're right my dear." Darcy paused and his look became more introspective. "Twenty-five years, it seems like only a blink of an eye and our children are either married or engaged. I still can't believe I'm a grandfather." Darcy sighed and he reached out and ran his hand through Elizabeth's curls as he gazed into her eyes.

"Twenty-five years and I love you more than anything, and if it is at all possible, I find myself loving you more every day. Your eyes are the same teasing joyful eyes I fell in love with so many years ago...You are everything to me."

Elizabeth looked up at her husband and saw the love radiating from his face. She took his hand and rubbed her face in his palm.

"William, I would not trade these past 25 years for anything. I know that I joke about being old, but it doesn't matter to me, because I know that every minute I have spent growing old has been with you. Ever wrinkle and every line has come from the endless joy this life has brought me. I love you Will, and that is one thing that will never change."

William leaned down and they shared a kiss. A kiss not of youth and passion, but a kiss that can only come from time and the deepest love. A kiss that is both sweet from joy, but also salty from the tears that have been shed. With that, William extinguished his candle and snuggled into his wife and they both fell asleep in each other's arms.