Epilogue
It will surprise few of my readers to learn that after the proper full year of mourning, Mrs. Wickham and Mr. Bingley did make a match of it.
Immediately after the death of her husband, Mrs. Wickham removed to live as the guest of her sister at Pemberley, to once more reside in that great house.
Despite her long-standing affection for Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Wickham was frightened by the prospect of entering the married state once more.
However, the joy that she found in speaking to Mr. Bingley, combined with the cheerful and unassuming way he stayed near her helped to lessen her anxieties.
The daily example of the happiness of her sister and her husband showed her a promise that a happy marriage could be as good of a thing as an unhappy marriage was bad.
Shortly after his marriage to Mrs. Wickham, Mr. Bingley gave up his lease of Netherfield and pleased his wife by the purchase of an estate within thirty miles of Pemberley.
The two sisters enjoyed being able to frequently visit and enjoy each other’s company, and all of their children adored and loved their aunts.
The happiness that Mrs. Bingley enjoyed in her second marriage was great, and such as to amply compensate her for the sufferings of her first. Whatever reward the Almighty stored up for her in the next life, he did not stint in giving her happiness in this one.
Miss Georgiana Darcy did not marry until she was well past twenty, both because she so much enjoyed the domestic circle at Pemberley, and because the example of marital unhappiness presented by Mr. and Mrs. Wickham could not quite be effaced by the happy examples of her brother and Elizabeth, and further, she was too shy to easily speak in company.
She was presented to the queen and made to attend a variety of balls in her nineteenth year, but neither Elizabeth nor Darcy were of the view that Miss Darcy must shine and make a match which would bring additional luster to the Darcy name. That was not important if it brought her unhappiness.
As a result, in seeing her not particularly unexpected misery when attending grand parties in town, they decided in the middle of the season to give up the matter, and spent three more weeks in London attending lectures, haunting bookstores, visiting various museums and collections of art, which Georgiana described in minute detail for Elizabeth, and going to the menagerie, whose lions Bennet described in yet more minute detail, and engaging in the shocking behavior of going to bed at a reasonable hour and waking not long after the sun.
Georgiana spent several more years living at Pemberley, very happy with her role as the aunt in residence, before she fell in love with a kind gentleman who was quite shy himself.
She had known this man for some time, as his estate was seven miles distant from Pemberley, on the other side of Lambton.
Their marriage was very happy, not least because neither member of the couple wished to dance until their feet fell off, host mighty gatherings of hundreds, or socially compete with the greatest families of the neighborhood.
The domestic circle was what both loved best, and they were rewarded with great happiness.
Between Elizabeth and Georgiana subsisted a sisterly love for their entire lives, showing the value of a happy connection long established, and the way that earliest impressions can be of great importance in establishing the happiness of a person.
Likewise, Elizabeth and Darcy always were happy together, and though each of them changed slowly over time, as we all must if we live a long time, they always shared a deep affection for the other, they always made a practice of talking to the other about what was on their mind and of greatest importance to them, and they always found love, delight, and entertainment in each other’s company.
It can fairly be said that there have been few creatures more blessed to be alive than Elizabeth was.
The End