To the other guests it appeared that, despite sharing the first set, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet were still not the best of friends. As a couple, they looked completely different from Mr. Bingley and Jane Bennet, whose mutual admiration was apparent and a clear indication that a certain happy event would soon follow.
And indeed, news and events followed immediately after the ball, causing a shocking disturbance in Meryton and the surrounding neighbourhood that lasted till Christmas.
***
Never had such an event occurred in Meryton like the wedding of two daughters from the same family to two most honourable gentlemen. If Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley were meant to be together from the beginning, the marriage of Miss Elizabeth Bennet and the aloof, proud and exceedingly rich Mr. Darcy had stunned everyone.
Sir William and Lady Lucas suffered greatly that their daughter Charlotte’s engagement to Mr. Collins was ignored by everyone and wondered about the Bennets’ good luck. Secretly, they were pleased that Lady Catherine de Bourgh had expressed her disapproval of Mr. Darcy’s marriage in several harsh letters, as well as through Mr. Collins himself.
Mrs. Bennet had fainted when she first heard the news of Elizabeth’s engagement to Darcy, the day after the ball. But since then, her nerves had shown a significant improvement and she did not complain about them until the wedding day, when she suffered greatly when it began to snow and her daughters’ new gowns purchased from a most famous modiste in London might have been ruined and their new husbands might be displeased.
Mr. Bennet, who suffered as much from losing his favourite daughter as he was grateful for her good fortune, cared little about gowns and lace, and so did the happy grooms.
All four and twenty families in Meryton acquainted with the Bennets were at the church to witness the ceremony.
Some officers were there too, except for Mr. Wickham, of whom nobody knew much. Darcy had hired a man to search for him and he was found in London, hiding from his creditors, and apparently begged Darcy to help him find a new commission in another regiment abroad. Darcy decided to indulge him for the last time, as the further Wickham was from them, the better.
Mr. Bingley’s sisters and brother were among the most silent and least pleased participants.
The Gardiners, Mrs. Templeton, Mr. Darcy’s cousins the colonel and the viscount, and Miss Darcy were all in attendance too, showing their support for a marriage that some of their relatives and acquaintances disapproved of.
But Darcy cared little for anything except his bride. He barely acknowledged his dear sister—who had been close to Elizabeth all the time—and his relatives. He was just eager to have everything completed and finally be alone with his wife.
Equally impatient to start her newly married life, Elizabeth behaved elegantly. She was composed and paid attention to every guest, especially to Georgiana. However, she felt relieved and grateful when it was all over and, only one hour after the wedding breakfast, they headed towards London in two carriages: one containing the newly wedded couple, the other containing Georgiana and her cousins.
The Gardiners, as well as Mrs. Templeton, decided to remain longer at Longbourn, to console Mrs. Bennet’s nerves after the happy loss of her daughters.
Before they entered the carriage, the Darcys took their farewells one more time. Mrs. Templeton, standing with the Gardiners and Mr. Bennet, smiled meaningfully.
“My dear Mr. Darcy, how wrong I was! I recommended someone to help you improve your household but in truth, you did not need help for Mrs. Reynolds, but a wife for yourself.”
“Indeed. But you were not wrong at all, Mrs. Templeton. You were perfectly correct in finding everything that Pemberley and its master needed,” he said, then he helped his wife inside and closed the carriage door.
Emotions ran freely, but at soon as they disappeared from sight, Mr. Darcy put his arms around his wife and claimed her lips in one of the first kisses that they shared during a mostpleasant journey to London. And from there they would return to Pemberley, where Elizabeth Bennet had lost part of her heart three months ago and Mrs. Darcy was now ready to put it back together.
Bonus Story – Epilogue
Pemberley, Christmas, three years later
Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy inspected for the last time the table filled with carefully wrapped presents prepared for Boxing Day and declared herself content. Whether it was for her family, for the household, or for the tenants, each present was prepared with equal care and affection.
It was Elizabeth’s third Christmas as the mistress of Pemberley. The first one, soon after their wedding, she had spent only with her husband; her sister Georgiana and Mrs. Annesley; her sister Jane and her brother Bingley; the Gardiners; and Colonel Fitzwilliam who, together with Georgiana, had been a great supporter of Darcy’s marriage. As special guests, they were joined by Mrs. Templeton, who happened to be in Lambton with her son and daughter-in-law.
On the second Christmas, Pemberley was more crowded than it had been in many years. The Bingley sisters, mending their behaviour towards Mrs. Bingley and Mrs. Darcy, had finally been invited again. The extended Bennet family and the Gardiners stayed for a full month. Then the colonel came with his betrothed, as well as the viscount and his wife. Even the Matlocks visited for a few days, finally accepting their nephew’s marriage, despite Lady Catherine’s spiteful attempts to disgrace the country nobody who was polluting the shades of Pemberley.
On that occasion, a year ago, Elizabeth Darcy, with her husband’s encouragement, had started a new tradition. On the day after Boxing Day, after everyone had celebrated with their families, the entire household and all the servants of the Pemberley estate were invited to a special party. The dishes, the tables, everything was prepared by the household and then,when the tables were filled and ready, everyone would change into festive clothes and treat each other as guests.
More than the presents and the financial rewards—which had always been a Pemberley tradition—for the staff and their families, it was their joy and pride to be treated with consideration by the master and the mistress, to whom they offered their hard work and loyalty.
By the third year, the number of people celebrating Christmas at Pemberley had happily increased. The young master, George Bennet Darcy, was born on a beautiful spring day, bringing even more joy to his parents’ blissful marriage. Jane and Bingley, who had purchased an estate close to Pemberley, also had a beautiful son and Jane was expecting again, whilst Mary was engaged to the son of Mr. Gardiner’s partner. The colonel was finally married and his brother had a daughter.
Kitty and Lydia had many suitors but no one special. They had formed a most unexpected friendship with Miss Georgiana Darcy—one of the ton’s most talented, most accomplished and most admired young heiresses.
The friendship greatly benefited the youngest Misses Bennet—as Mr. Bennet himself mentioned several times, and even his wife agreed. Miss Darcy had also improved in openness, self-confidence and even joyfulness, since she had acquired a most beloved sister, as well as her sister’s sisters. Still, she remained very cautious, severe and pretentious when it came to accepting the admiration and courtship of gentlemen. She wished for nothing less than a marriage like her brother’s, and she still had to find someone worthy of her trust, admiration and affection.
George Wickham was last heard to have left England for India two years ago to join a regiment there, but no news had arrived from him since then. The two children to whom he was the unwilling father were growing up with their mothers with much affection and under Elizabeth’s protection. Wickham was onlyrarely spoken of in the halls of Pemberley, but the memories of him quickly faded, except for the small miniature in the late Mr. Darcy’s old room.
Mr. Bennet’s friendship with Darcy had grown even stronger since they had become family. He visited his daughter and son either at Pemberley or in London more often than anyone else, and usually when they least expected him. But he was always welcomed.