Darcy and Elizabeth’s Valentine’s Meet Cute (Holidays with Darcy and Elizabeth)

Epilogue

A fter their marriage, Darcy and Elizabeth enjoyed a sennight of peace in the Great House at Stoke.

Their guests departed for London after the wedding breakfast, with Georgiana and Mary accompanying Lord and Lady Matlock.

As Georgiana’s other guardian, Colonel Fitzwilliam escorted the young ladies back to Darcy at the end of the week.

Once reunited, the entire party embarked on their journey north to Pemberley.

From the moment Elizabeth first beheld Pemberley, she knew she would love it.

The house, grand yet harmonious with its surroundings, seemed to have risen naturally from the landscape.

Though the beauty of the estate was undeniable, it was the parkland that truly captured her heart.

The vast, rolling grounds, with their winding streams and ancient trees, beckoned her to explore.

Throughout the first summer of their marriage, Darcy and Elizabeth traversed every part of the estate, first by leisurely walks and carriage rides.

However, it did not take long for Darcy to persuade Elizabeth to learn to ride, a skill she soon came to enjoy.

With this newfound freedom, she ventured farther than ever, delighting in the ever-changing beauty of the land she now called home.

Her explorations, however, became more limited as autumn turned to winter.

Six months after their wedding, Elizabeth began to suspect she was with her child.

Her suspicions were joyfully confirmed shortly after the new year when she first felt the quickening.

The following spring, with the gardens of Pemberley in full bloom, the heir to Pemberley was welcomed into the world, bringing even greater happiness to the couple’s already blissful union.

The couple visited Longbourn only rarely.

They occasionally received letters from Elizabeth’s family, but more often than not, these letters contained demands for gifts of gowns, ribbons, trips to town, introductions to their connections, basically anything Mrs.

Bennet felt she or her favourite daughters deserved.

Jane also wrote, making similar requests, although Kitty and Lydia rarely bothered.

At first, Elizabeth responded to these letters, kindly declining the requests, but she eventually grew tired of them.

The letters were then refused or consigned to the fire unread.

Mr. Bennet could scarcely be bothered to write to his once favourite daughter himself, although the steward still occasionally wrote to her to ask her or her husband’s advice on a matter when the master could not be troubled.

After consulting with Darcy, Elizabeth did respond to these only because she did not wish to see the tenants she had long cared for in a bad situation.

There was only one instance where the Darcys’ life in town intersected with that of the Bennets.

Having heard Darcy mention it in passing in reference to his bride’s home, Bingley decided to lease the estate of Netherfield.

Their friendship, however, was never the same as it had once been.

Caroline Bingley, still smarting from her treatment at Darcy House and the subsequent denial of Darcy’s permission to visit or use his name to gain social invitations, had not forgiven the slight.

She had attempted to reclaim her position by appearing on her brother’s arm at the Matlocks’ St.

Valentine’s Day ball.

Despite Darcy’s explicit warnings, she had approached him—and, as promised, he had cut her publicly and definitively, ensuring her ruin in society.

Seeking to escape the social consequences of his sister’s disgrace, Bingley resolved to leave London and discovered that Netherfield was available to let.

Hoping that proximity to Darcy might help mend their fractured friendship, he took the house.

Though she despised the area, Miss Bingley accompanied her brother as his hostess and soon found an unlikely alliance with the Bennet family.

She recognised that Mrs.

Bennet was eager for news of her most successful daughter and, in turn, used the connection to glean whatever details she could about the new Mrs. Darcy.

Jane, for her part, saw an opportunity in Miss Bingley’s growing interest.

Aware of the woman’s true motives, she nonetheless cultivated the acquaintance, using it to gain access to Bingley himself.

It did not take long for her to secure his attentions, and before the year was out, he had proposed.

Mrs.

Bennet could at last host the grand wedding she had always desired.

Bingley and his sister were taken aback when the Darcys did not attend the wedding.

Only then did they come to understand the actual state of affairs.

Jane had led them to believe that she and Elizabeth were in frequent correspondence, fostering the impression of a warm sisterly relationship.

It was a shock to discover that their exchanges had been infrequent, civil but distant, and that Mr.

and Mrs.

Darcy wished little to do with the Bennet family—Jane most of all.

However, by the time this realisation dawned, it was far too late.

The marriage contracts had been signed, and the vows exchanged.

Whatever deception the new Mrs.

Bingley had employed to secure her position, it was not grounds for annulment.

Whether the couple were happy was uncertain, and since Miss Bingley remained unwed, she lived with them throughout their marriage.