by Jann Rowland
Colonel Fitzwilliam almost choked on his tea as he laughed. “I have been led to understand that your first son-in-law is my Aunt Catherine’s parson, and given what I know of her preferences, I cannot imagine his society would be agreeable.”
“And in that you would be correct, Colonel,” replied Mr. Bennet. “But though he is all you say, he is also entertaining. I would not give up his acquaintance for anything.”
“Oh, Papa!” said Elizabeth and Jane in tandem, while Colonel Fitzwilliam only grinned and raised his teacup in a toast to the absent Mr. Collins.
“It is clear you have much experience admonishing your father, girls,” said Mr. Drummond, watching all with amusement.
“That is because he provides us so much opportunity,” said Elizabeth with a wink.
The banter continued for some time, and Elizabeth participated in it as much as was her custom, finding joy in these relationships with beloved companions. Much had happened since she had come to Derbyshire, and she could not be happier. It was strange how such things worked out, but sometimes a ray of sunshine is found in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Later, Mr. Darcy crossed the room and took a seat by her side, and Elizabeth smiled at him, happy to be the recipient of his attentions and love.
“I do not believe I have told you, Elizabeth,” said he, “but I am grateful you came to Derbyshire.”
“No more grateful than I,” replied Elizabeth. “And there is no need to despair—we would have met in time, even if I had not come. I am absolutely certain of it.”
“Perhaps we would have. But this brings us to our happy resolution much more quickly, and I find I am impatient.”
“As am I,” replied Elizabeth, touching a hand to his face. “We shall be happy, Mr. Darcy. I have no doubt.”
“And I have no doubt you would never allow unhappiness to reign,” replied he. “It would not dare even try.”
Elizabeth laughed. “Then it shall not have a chance, for we shall be united against it.”
The newly acknowledged lovers spent many moments in the company of each other, and at times, the rest of those in the room faded away, leaving them feeling like they were the only ones present. And contented and happy they would be. His reserve and shyness would be overcome by the lady’s happy disposition, and her previous depression had been overcome by means of his love, her sister’s restoration, and the newness of her circumstances. Indeed, there could be no happier couple in existence.
Bennet watched his second daughter and her lover, and he felt a wistful sort of joy well up within him. It was hard, he decided, losing such a beloved part of his life to another, but he consoled himself in the knowledge that she had found exactly what she deserved. Darcy would care for her and make her happy, and that was enough for Bennet.
Of course, there were certain additional benefits to gaining such a son-in-law, not the least of which was the wonderful library the man possessed, not to mention his future expansion plans. Bennet’s breath was almost literally taken away by the plans he had been shown, and he was certain that the future library of Pemberley, with its two levels of treasures available for his enjoyment, would be a thing of wonder to behold.
Everything had turned out well, from Jane’s restoration to Elizabeth’s engagement, and he supposed Mary was fortunate too in that she had been able to gain the attention of a respectable—albeit foolish—man. On the whole, his family had gained much, and he did not doubt that even Lydia and Kitty would benefit from their sisters’ marriages.
There was one present, however, who seemed like she had not changed, and though Bennet knew it was likely a lost cause, he decided one more word into the woman’s ears would not go amiss.
“I would like to thank you, Claire,” said he as he sat down next to her.
She looked at him, as if wary he intended to be severe upon her. “For what?” was her blunt query.
“For accepting Elizabeth into your home and giving her this opportunity.” Bennet waved her off when she opened her mouth to speak. “I am aware it was not your choice to do so. But even so, she has stayed under your roof and has blossomed into the future wife of a wealthy man, and for that I am grateful. I believe she deserves it.”
Claire only grunted and turned away, her eyes fixed on the couple who were seated not far away, oblivious to the presence of anyone else. Bennet watched her, and he thought he noticed something different in her manner. He was not certain, but he hoped that she was reconsidering her actions, remembering the happy times rather than the objectionable ones. Bennet had never been certain if Claire had felt anything for the man who had declined to pursue her. She had never allowed herself to feel anything for her husband, though he was a good man. Perhaps she was feeling a hint of regret for her choices.
“I would like to give you a word of advice, if you will.” Claire’s eyes swung back to Bennet, and he chuckled at the warning therein. “Nothing so objectionable, I assure you. I merely wished to advise you to let go of the past, Sister. Allow yourself to be as happy as you can. Perhaps this life you have chosen for yourself has not been so bad after all.”
Then nodding to her, Bennet rose and went to speak with the happy couple, and a moment later he was out the door of the sitting-room. The library was beckoning, after all, and he had no doubt there were many delights to be savored.
In the years to come, Elizabeth and Darcy would often speak of the events which had led to Elizabeth’s coming to Derbyshire, and neither could view them with anything other than gratitude. For if Elizabeth’s estrangement with Jane was a circumstance which had caused her great pain for a time, still it had, albeit indirectly, led to her decision to stay with her uncle, and through those means they had been able to find each other. Their affections and love strengthened daily, which helped them overcome the rough patches. Elizabeth would give Darcy four healthy children, all of whom were blessed with loving parents, and all of whom found their own paths in life. In the end, they were contented, and that is what Elizabeth thought was most important.
Of course, the Darcys were not allowed to arrive at the altar without exciting some drama, in the person of Darcy’s aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The lady descended on Longbourn soon after Elizabeth’s return to her father’s house, full of demands and claims of a preexisting arrangement. Unfortunately for the lady, Darcy anticipated her offense and managed to ensure his presence at Longbourn when she arrived, and she was forced to resign the battlefield without carrying her point. They saw Lady Catherine but infrequently over the years, and she never did warm to Elizabeth. Miss de Bourgh, however, seemed to accept the situation with philosophy, and if Elizabeth did not find the woman to be exactly friendly, at least they shared a cordial relationship.
Regardless of Lady Catherine’s displeasure, Elizabeth was glad that the Collinses chose to remain neutral in the affair. Though she was never certain—she did not ask, and Mary did not offer to elucidate—she suspected that Mary had convinced her cousin that he need not care for Lady Catherine’s displeasure. After all, he was the heir to an estate and would be master himself someday. Given what Elizabeth knew of the man and had witnessed the year before her marriage, she thought it was remarkable, if, indeed, it was the truth. Of the Collinses, the Darcys saw little, which suited Elizabeth quite well. When they were in company with them, Mr. Collins had little to say, perhaps remembering the words they had exchanged at his wedding breakfast. This also suited Elizabeth quite well, indeed.
For Jane and Elizabeth, their reunion at Pemberley marked the resumption of a friendship which began at their earliest days and lasted for the rest of their lives. Jane made good on her promise never to allow another to come between her and her family, and in this she was supported by her husband. The Bingleys purchased an estate near Pemberley as Bingley had designed, and if Mrs. Bennet decried their going, they were happy living in the same neighborhood as their brother and sister. The Bingleys were also blessed with four children, who, in m
ingling with their Darcy cousins, forged lifelong friendships, though none of the cousins ever married each other.
Kitty and Lydia were also able to secure themselves good marriages. But while Kitty married the parson at Kympton, and soon removed to that town close by her second eldest sister, Lydia proved ungovernable, regardless of the measures Mr. Bennet had instituted to ensure her education. When she came of age, she left Longbourn and eloped with an army colonel, setting out on a fine adventure when he was transferred to a regiment in India. Word from the youngest Bennet sister was sparse thereafter, though she did occasionally send her sisters letters designed to make them all wild with envy. Whether this desire was realized shall be left to the reader’s imagination to determine.
As for the elder Bennets, the realization of her daughters’ advantageous marriages in no way changed Mrs. Bennet’s character, and ever after she remained silly, prone to gossip, and nervous. One thing which did improve was her relationship with her second eldest, for the two women were able to use their conversation before Elizabeth’s departure as a stepping stone to better understanding. Sadly, Mrs. Bennet predeceased her husband some fifteen years after Elizabeth’s marriage, leaving Mr. Bennet a widower.
Though he surprised himself by missing the wife for whom he had possessed little affection, Mr. Bennet was quick in deciding his future. He called the Collinses home to Longbourn, turned the management of the estate over to his son-in-law, and left for Derbyshire as expeditiously as possible. His new home was made chiefly at Pemberley, though he was at times induced to stay with the Bingleys, and his daughter’s prediction for his affinity for Pemberley’s library—newly renovated with the second-floor balcony installed, per Darcy’s plans—were proven correct in every particular. Mr. Bennet lived for an additional ten years after his wife’s passing, and was able to enjoy the years of his retirement with his eldest daughter and numerous grandchildren.
And what of Colonel Fitzwilliam? The good colonel courted his lady for six months before they decided they had found the one person with whom they wished to spend the rest of their lives. Their wedding was a grand event, the wedding breakfast held at Pemberley, and the two earls who were fathers to the bride and groom were well pleased. The colonel was happy with his new wife and his children, and doubly so that he was able to begin a new dynasty of Earls of Chesterfield. Then when his eldest son was old enough to receive his inheritance, he was happy to retreat to Thorndell with his wife and live in peace and happiness. They always remained friends with the Darcys, and Lady Emily and Elizabeth came to their meeting of minds, each pleased with how their lives had turned out and able to forgive the past.
Miss Bingley, unfortunately for her, was never fully welcomed back into her brother’s circle of friends. She stayed only six months in Scarborough, for the sedate pace of life did not suit her needs, nor did her poor temper suit her aunt, who had generously offered her a home. Miss Bingley returned to London, her sister allowing her to stay with her during the season, but Mrs. Hurst’s conditions included a cessation of all harangues against Elizabeth Darcy, and a promise that Miss Bingley would attempt to find a husband. It was, perhaps, surprising to them all that she did so readily, and though the match was not the equal of the one to which she had previously aspired, the gentleman she married possessed an income of about five thousand pounds, so it was not inconsequential either.
Finally, the Darcys continued to have good relations with their Drummond family, particularly Mr. Drummond, Edward, Olivia, and Leah. Sensible of the fact that Mr. Drummond had been the means of putting them in a situation where they might grow to love each other, Elizabeth and Darcy both esteemed Mr. Drummond. Olivia and Leah, when she became old enough, both benefited from the Darcys’ patronage, both making respectable marriages to gentlemen of the area. Mrs. Drummond ever after remained aloof, but her manners softened a little, and she was, eventually, able to maintain a cordial relationship with Elizabeth.
As she grew and had children, aged, and became a leading member of local society, Elizabeth found Derbyshire to be everything she had ever wanted in a home. The friends she had made also found their own husbands, and most of them stayed in the area. She received joy in these friendships for the rest of her life.
The End
Please enjoy the following excerpt from the upcoming novel On Tides of Fate, book three of the Earth and Sky trilogy.
Wisteria was much as Terrace remembered. She was heavyset, though not quite overweight, with the brown hair and eyes of her people, and though her younger sister was delicate and slender, Wisteria was rather like a battering ram in comparison. She was not unattractive, but Terrace knew many men would be put off by her plainer features and the contemptuous curl of her lips. If, indeed, they had not already been put off by her domineering manner and poisonous tongue. With some interest, Terrace noted a few pockmarked scars on Wisteria’s face, including one—quite deep—just under her left eye. Terrace wondered whether she had been in a battle of some kind.
There were a number of noble men and women standing by in the room, gazing on Terrace, as though wondering what she would do. Wisteria held her hand out to a nearby servant, who placed a goblet in her hand, backing away deferentially, almost genuflecting before the woman.
Terrace watched this scene with shock. Groundbreathers had never required such strong obeisance from their subjects. Most of those who lived in the castle were Groundbreathers themselves, descended from the same people who had originally been blessed by Terrain. Tillman’s requirements for respect had been almost perfunctory in nature, though Sequoia had always been more stringent. But even that imperious woman, who Terrace knew to be a good person at heart, had not acted the way her oldest daughter did. The girl almost seemed to think that she was Terrain himself.
“Welcome, Aunt,” Wisteria said, her contemptuous amusement not hidden when she paused to drink deeply from the goblet that had been provided to her. “To what do I owe the honor of this unannounced visit?”
“I am sure you understand exactly why I am here, Wisteria. I wish to know what happened to my brother, and I want to know what you have done with River.”
Wisteria cocked her head to the side. “You were informed, were you not?”
“I was. But I would hear it from you nonetheless.”
Wisteria shrugged. “It is as you were told. There was an attempt to take over the castle, and my father was an unfortunate casualty.”
“You speak of him as if he was nothing more than a Groundwalker,” Terrace spat. “He was king of our people!”
“You had best moderate your tone,” the chamberlain said. “Your niece is to be addressed with the respect she deserves and referred to as ‘Your Majesty.’“
“I changed her soiled linens when she was a child and swatted her bottom when she misbehaved,” Terrace snapped. “You had best mind your manners, or my niece will need a new toady to do her bidding.”
The man stiffened at the insult, but Terrace’s glare must have been fierce enough that he knew better than to speak any further. The sullen glare he directed at her, however, informed Terrace that she had made an enemy. But she did not fear what a man who kissed her niece’s feet could do, and she turned her stony gaze back on Wisteria.
“Well, Wisteria?” Terrace prompted. “I am waiting for your answer.”
“I do not make light of my father’s death,” Wisteria responded. “I mourn his passing as much as anyone, but as I am the eldest and the leadership of our people must be maintained, I have put my personal feelings aside for the good of the people and so that I might act in obedience to Terrain.”
Terrace glared at her niece. Wisteria had rarely been obedient to anyone, and Terrace had always thought her devotion to the earth god to be little more than superficial.
“Where is River?” Terrace asked, deciding a different tack was required. “Where are Sequoia and Tierra?”
Watching for Wisteria’s reaction as she was, Terrace was not surpr
ised when an expression of almost insane revulsion crossed the young woman’s face. Wisteria had always hated Tierra with an antipathy so deep that Terrace suspected Wisteria would not shed a tear if Tierra fell over dead.
“My mother disappeared in the chaos,” Wisteria replied, though her short tone indicated her patience was being exhausted. “As for River and Tierra, they are safe at present. That is all you need to know.”
“River is my daughter, and I demand—”
“You are in a position to demand nothing!”
Aunt and niece glared at each other, neither giving an inch. Wisteria stared with cold eyes, her gaze almost seeming to bore through Terrace as though she were not even there. Belatedly, Terrace realized that this woman now held absolute power over the castle and its surrounding environs. These strange Iron Swords guaranteed that.
Wisteria would not be loved by her people. She did not have the ability to inspire such loyalty. Rather, she would rule by fear and her implacable will. Judging by the atmosphere in the throne room, she had already made a start down that path.
It was time to take greater care. Terrace could not do anything from the inside of a cell, and Wisteria would have no compunction about incarcerating her own aunt if her displeasure grew too great.
“I am merely concerned over my daughter,” Terrace said. Her attempt at a conciliatory tone was likely an abject failure, but Terrace thought Wisteria would care more about outward respect than inner feelings.
“I know you are concerned,” Wisteria replied, her grating attempt at a soothing tone nearly causing Terrace to grimace, “but at present, you must trust me. River will be returned to you, and I promise you she has not been harmed.”
Terrace did not miss how Wisteria did not even attempt to mollify her concerning the fate of Tierra. “And when will that be?”