Chapter 34. New Beginnings
The Master of Netherfield brought his bride home from the church in Meryton for the wedding breakfast on an overcast December morning.
The young couple left for the Darcy home in London shortly after one of the clock and remained in town until after the turn of the year.
They returned to Netherfield in January and welcomed family and friends for supper at ‘old Christmas’.
Georgiana had spent the time with the Bennet family and the same schedule of lessons and suppers for the ‘family’ remained in place.
In the spring, Mr Bingley returned for an extended visit to court Jane.
By summer, the couple were engaged and the families made merry with celebration.
At some point, Mrs Hurst wrote that Caroline had met and married a clergyman named William Collins who was looking for an appointment.
The couple settled on the estate of Darcy’s aunt Lady Catherine and the less said of their lives the better.
Charles and Jane married in the fall. Before Christmas, Mr Bingley purchased an estate in a neighbouring county where Darcy and Elizabeth spent many weeks in the following years helping the young couple improve the house, tenant families and income.
Mrs Darcy proved to be an aide to Mr Darcy with politicians at dinners for many years. Their sons and daughters grew up in Hertfordshire and their eldest son Henry Darcy settled at Pemberley when he was two and twenty, opening the great house for the first time in a generation.
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