Darcy and Elizabeth--A Most Unlikely Couple

by Brenda J. Webb

  Having learned from experience that when Elizabeth became impatient, their couplings were more satisfying, he quickly complied. Joining with her, he began a steady rhythm, and it was not long until he felt her quiver deep within—a sign that her release had come. Restrained no longer, he thrust again and again until he was spent.

  When he collapsed atop her and started to roll over, Elizabeth pleaded, “I want to stay as we are a while longer.”

  Framing her face with his palms, he kissed her ardently. “There are no words to describe—” He paused to think of how best to express what he felt, saying finally, “Sweetheart, you are an incredible lover!”

  Still breathless from their lovemaking, she said softly, “I had a very good teacher.”

  They both chuckled. At length William rolled on his side, and Elizabeth did as well, so that she could face him. He traced the outline of her perfect jaw before pushing a stray curl behind one ear.

  “I have a confession. This week I was reading from the journal covering my last year at Cambridge, and it dawned on me just what I had feared most in life—or at least until well after I met you.”

  Elizabeth looked puzzled. “I would never have thought you afraid of anything.”

  “Oh, but I was. From an early age my father told me of the lengths women would go to secure a husband. And I had seen firsthand the results of loveless marriages. I lived in fear of falling under the power of a woman. Only after our marriage did I discover that love could be my salvation and not my ruin.”

  Tears filled Elizabeth’s eyes, and she reached out to caress his face. William turned his head to kiss her palm. Then he grew sombre. “Surely... you must know that you own me—heart, body and soul.”

  She leaned in, brushing a kiss across his lips. “I do. And I would never do anything to betray that trust, for I am entirely yours.”

  The next kiss they shared was exquisitely tender, and afterwards, Elizabeth settled into William’s strong arms, her head nestled under his chin. Kissing her hair, he whispered, “Forever I shall love being yours.”

  Elizabeth sighed contentedly. “As I shall love being yours.”

  It was not long until both drifted into dreams of the future filled with boundless love, more babies and joy beyond measure.

  Epilogue

  As the years passed, Pemberley completely replaced Elizabeth’s childhood home as her favourite place in the world. For though she retained fond memories of Longbourn, tramping through the meadows and being atop Oakham Mount, she experienced her greatest happiness at William’s ancestral home. Life was kind, and though they did not escape the usual trials of life, she and William were abundantly blessed with love and good fortune. Consequently, with ample support from family, friends, devoted servants and tenants, they discovered the secrets of truly becoming one with one another and faced the future boldly together.

  As Alexander grew, he not only proved to be as handsome as his father, but an exceptional young man in his own right. Although aware of his station and expectations from an early age, he was a precocious child with Elizabeth’s outgoing personality and his father’s watchful temperament. Extremely intelligent, as soon as he could ride, he spent hours with his father examining the length and breadth of Pemberley and learning firsthand the skills necessary to run the estate. And, as each of his siblings was born, Alexander became the perfect older brother, helping to guide them whenever their parents were not about. At least he was perfect as far as his sisters were concerned, though his younger brother was not convinced of that until both were well past the age of majority.

  God blessed the Darcys with four more children in the next decade. A daughter, Olivia Elizabeth, was born two years after Alex. A beautiful child, she was identical to her mother in every aspect, except that her eyes were as light blue as her father’s. Doted on by her namesake aunt as well as the rest of the family, she could often be found sitting in Olivia Fitzwilliam’s lap in the garden swing, being read a book. Remarkably smart, by six years of age she began to beg her father to teach her estate matters alongside Alexander and, by the time she was grown, she was as qualified to run the estate as he.

  Three years after Olivia, Joseph Richard Fitzwilliam was born. Named in honour of his uncle and cousin, as well as his father, he favoured Elizabeth more than William. In spite of inheriting the Darcy height, his hair was chocolate brown and his eyes finally settled into a serene dark blue, the same shade as Anne Darcy’s. Blessed with an easy-going, charming personality, he was unimpressed with Alexander’s attempts to make him a smaller version of himself and chafed against his efforts. It was not until after he began university that he and Alex became as close as brothers ought to be.

  William was seven and thirty by the time the last of their children were born. Four years, almost to the day after Richard’s birth, Elizabeth presented him with identical twins, Clair Jane and Rose Anne. Each sported hair as jet black as their father’s and their mother’s ebony eyes. William could not have been more pleased, for he had begun to think Richard was to be their last. Of course, the twins’ arrival brought a good deal of liveliness to Pemberley, and the girls were thoroughly spoiled by everyone, including their older siblings.

  By this point, William had built Pemberley into a formidable organization, and realising how quickly life was passing, he vowed to spend even more time with his wife and children. Anne Darcy’s cottage continued to be a special place reserved for only himself and Elizabeth. Dear to their hearts for playing so prominent a role at the beginning of their marriage, they would frequently rendezvous there—at times for an afternoon but, more often than not, they would spend the night. The cottage provided the perfect opportunity to recommit themselves to each other, while the Darcy children grew up knowing that, from time to time, their parents needed time alone.

  The family also enjoyed more frequent trips to the pond, for William had another small cottage erected there to facilitate overnight stays. After long summer days spent swimming and fishing, the entire family would retire to the cottage instead of making the long trek back to Pemberley. With no servants about, it became a welcome respite from the expectations of others and, in later years, the memories made at Lady Anne’s cottage and the pond were what sustained the Darcys when their children began to leave home.

  The firstborn Bingley, Penelope Jane, a miniature of her father, was so great a disappointment to Mrs. Bennet that her displays of frustration resulted in the Bingley’s decision to move away from Meryton. Thus, not long after their daughter’s birth, Charles and Jane purchased an estate in Derbyshire, Eastgate Manor, which was a mere twelve miles from Pemberley. The proximity suited Jane and Elizabeth immensely, and they visited often in the early years of their marriages. The move proved fortuitous, too, for just over a year later, the Bingleys’ second child, Emma Elizabeth, was born. Reading of her mother’s vexation for not having birthed a son on the second try, proved much more tolerable for Jane than suffering Fanny’s lamentations in her own parlour. Sadly, when Jane delivered a son two years later, he lived for only a few hours. His death, however, managed to silence Mrs. Bennet on the subject of an heir forever. Thus, when Charles Bennet Bingley was born on their eighth wedding anniversary, Jane’s mother was the model of decorum in her response to the news.

  Over the years Elizabeth’s younger sisters were not thrown into the company of rich men as often as Mrs. Bennet would have liked. Whether their boorish behaviour resulted in few invitations to the Darcys’ homes or the fact that the Darcys did not entertain often, the true reason is uncertain. Still, Kitty was introduced to the second son of an earl who made her an offer the year she was twenty. She accepted and was surprisingly happy with her match.

  Lydia, prodded by her mother, was bound and determined to charm an earl or a duke and only a handsome one at that. Learning far too late that while a nobleman might be entertained by her liveliness, an offer of marriage would not necessarily follow, she was five and twenty before she came to her senses. On the she
lf and with her beauty fading, she accepted the hand of a retired officer in the militia—the third son of an earl who had inherited a small estate in Scotland from his grandmother. Already the father of three grown children, Lieutenant Perkins made it plain that he wished only for companionship and not any more children. Relieved just to be under a man’s protection, Lydia agreed to the marriage.

  Other than Elizabeth, Mary was probably the most content with her life. At the age of nineteen, she married a newly appointed vicar in the next county, Mr. Cobb. She proved a great help to him with her knowledge of the Bible, and as she matured, she became less judgemental. A steadfast friend to all their parishioners, she was always ready with a hot meal, a new quilt, or a heart-felt prayer when one was needed. A good and humble man, Mr. Cobb was all that Mary had wished for in a mate. Their union produced four children, two boys and two girls, and though she never complained or sought help, Mary was often the recipient of the Darcys’ good will. Among Elizabeth’s kin, she and her family were most often invited to Pemberley, along with the Bingleys and Gardiners.

  All of the Bennet girls were married and on their own by the time Mr. Bennet died. His death, the result of a heart condition, came ten years after Alexander’s birth, though he was fortunate enough to live to see all of his grandchildren born. Over the years, he had often visited Pemberley by himself and loved getting lost in the library, where he could read for hours undisturbed. Yet as the grandchildren grew and began to follow him about, Thomas Bennet spent more time talking with them than reading, which delighted his favourite daughter. Often Elizabeth would find Alexander and Olivia sitting under the huge oak tree in the garden at her father’s feet, listening raptly whist he regaled them with stories of his childhood. For Elizabeth, the blow of his death was softened only by the knowledge that he had spent many lovely summers with her before he was taken.

  With her husband’s death, Mrs. Bennet hinted that she wished to live with the Darcys, but Jane insisted that she live with them. To be fair, her mother’s inability to control her tongue had improved considerably after the Bingley’s first son died and, as it happened, her presence in their home proved to be more help than Jane could have imagined. The Bingleys’ daughters were very fond of their grandmother, and Mrs. Bennet never tired of answering their questions or letting them play at styling her hair, which kept them entertained whilst Jane saw after young Charles. Surviving her husband by another two years, Fanny Bennet died peacefully in her sleep and was fondly remembered by all her children and grandchildren.

  When the Earl of Matlock died approximately two years after Alexander’s birth, the viscount began to drink even more. Edgar followed his father to the grave in less than a year. His demise, the result of a broken neck suffered while trying to take his stallion over a fence to win a bet, left Richard the Earl of Matlock. By that time, he was already in love with a young widow named Eugenie, who was left destitute when her husband, the Earl of Dunston, was killed in a gambling dispute. It was later revealed that he had lost everything on a bet. This red-haired, green-eyed beauty proved to be the love of Richard’s life, and following their marriage, she gave birth to four children in close order—Richard Edward Harold, Joseph Darcy David, Eugenie Evelyn and Chloe Catherine.

  Georgiana spent the years following her marriage regretting her unkindness to William and Elizabeth, though she was too proud to attempt reconciliation. Her husband, Viscount Peabody, proved to be as prolific a gambler and lover of the fair sex as William had warned. He joined the Four Horse Club 19 in order to place bets on the outcome of the races that sprung up between the members. During one such race, he insisted on driving a team when he was entirely too drunk and lost his life when the carriage collided with another and overturned. Though he was killed just after their fourth wedding anniversary, Georgiana was not as devastated as one might have imagined, for the viscount had long since vacated her bedroom in favour of his mistress’ boudoir.

  A childless widow at two and twenty, Georgiana found herself relegated to a small apartment, courtesy of her late husband’s father. Her entire dowry, Georgiana discovered, had been gambled away, and though Elizabeth and William invited her to live with them, she refused. Instead, with Richard’s permission, she made her home with her aunt, the Dowager Countess of Matlock, in the dowager’s house on the Matlock estate. At the age of six and twenty, she met a baron many years her senior and accepted his offer of marriage. Moving to his home in Ireland, she was content to reside there until Baron Houston’s death fifteen years later. At that time, his son took control of the estate, and she returned to England with what her husband had left her in his will.

  She purchased a townhouse in Grosvenor Square and lived alone. Frequently invited to dine with William and Elizabeth when they were in London, she did so timidly at first. Over time, though, her nieces and nephews managed to break down the walls that divided them. Grateful to be treated as an esteemed aunt, Georgiana became the person she had long wished to be and spoiled her brother’s children as though they were her own. Moreover, when she died unexpectedly at the age of nine and forty, she was sorely missed by all of her family.

  The couple whom William and Elizabeth credited most with saving their marriage, Joseph and Olivia Fitzwilliam, resided at Pemberley until their deaths. Olivia, who was not expected to live long upon her return to England, defied the expectations of her doctor in Ireland and even outlived him. Having relished her role as a grandmother to all the Darcy children, she survived until the twins were almost three years of age. Speaking of Olivia fondly after her death, Mr. Camryn made the observation that the grandchildren were what kept her alive far longer than he had thought possible.

  Heartbroken, Joseph Fitzwilliam poured himself into tutoring Alexander and Richard in all that he had learned during his service in the navy. Surviving another five years without his beloved Olivia, Joseph slipped away quietly one afternoon whilst sitting in their favourite spot—the swing in the garden. They found him with Olivia’s shawl lying in his lap, his watch case in hand. The case was open to a miniature portrait of his wife painted the year they had married. With his death, a huge gap was left in the family, a fissure just as painful as the one Olivia’s passing had generated. But, as life was meant to be, while the older generation slipped away, a new generation took its place.

  The Darcy, Bingley and Fitzwilliam children were as close as their parents had been before them and spent copious amounts of time in each other’s company. Moreover, as they matured, one estate or another would find itself host to various nieces and nephews with little or no warning. Thus, the next generations grew up as the best of friends, embraced by their fathers, mothers, aunts and uncles, who loved them beyond measure.

  In the twilight of their lives, William and Elizabeth often spoke fondly of family long since passed, giving thanks for having had the guidance of those dearest to them when they were once the most unlikely couple in all of England.

  As William observed, “We are forever indebted to those who loved us enough to set us straight.”

  He was right.

  Finis

  Footnotes

  1 . Paradiso is the third and final part of Dante’s Divine Comedy following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. Back to the story

  2 . Kerseymere- A woollen fabric used for coats. Regency Encyclopedia. http://www.reg-ency.com Back to the story

  3 . Pride and Prejudice , Jane Austen, Author. Chapter 31. Back to the story

  4 . Romans 12:19 KJV of the Bible. Back to the story

  5 . From 2005 Movie of Pride and Prejudice. Back to the story

  6 . The Mint – Most notorious slum in London, a ten minute stroll from London Bridge and home to the most desperate thieves and beggars. www.regencyassemblypress.com . Back to the story

  7 . Thruppence – Three pence (about $25). Shilling – Twelve pence (about $100). Ha-penny – Half a penny (about $4) www.regencyassemblypress.com Back to the story

  8 . Countess Esterházy - wife of the Austr
ian ambassador Prince Paul Anton Esterházy; Princess Esterházy after 1833. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almack's. Back to the story

  9 . The Morning Post was a newspaper that chronicled the doings of fashionable London. www.regencyassemblypress.com. Back to the story

  10 . Miss Hannah Humphrey’s shop, selling caricature prints, was located at 29 St. James’s Street, next to Boodle’s. I imagined Madam Bouvier’s fictitious shop next door. The Regency Encyclopedia. http://www.reg-ency.com Back to the story

  11 . Newgate – A prison situated in the heart of London. The Regency Encyclopedia. http://www.reg-ency.com Back to the story

  12 . George Lyon (1761 – 22 April 1815), a gentleman highwayman in England, was 54 when he was executed in Lancaster by hanging for robbery, as the last Highwayman to be hanged there. Sentence was passed on Saturday 8 April 1815 along with two accomplices, Houghton and Bennett. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lyon_(highwayman) Back to the story

  13 . Barbara Allen - There are countless versions of Barbara Allen. AKA Barb'ry Ellen and Barbara Ellen. It is over three centuries old. Its origins are somewhere in the British Isles. Scotland and England both claim it. Versions are found as far afield as Italy and Scandinavia. Back to the story

  14 . Chamber candlesticks - special candle holders for the purpose of lighting the way. They had a wide base to prevent wax from dripping on the hand or carpets, a handle for ease of carrying and sometimes an attached snuffer to make it easy to put out the candle.http://www.janeausten.co.uk/period-lighting-and-silhouette-making. Back to the story

  15 . The German Waltz was introduced in England in 1811.The earliest waltzes were not as we think of them now, but more like the dance between Maria and Captain Von Trapp in The Sound of Music. “A waltz in Austen’s novels refers to a tune and time signature for a country dance, which might have included a landler-like figure, in which the lady danced under her partner’s raised arms.”