Page 133 of A Life Diverted
“Sarah Anne Darcy, you asked Mama that ten minutes ago,” Lady Olivia, who was fourteen, remonstrated with her youngest sister.
“Olivia, I do not object if Sarah asks me,” the Duchess of Derbyshire, Princess Elizabeth Darcy, soothed her youngest while redirecting Olivia. “They will be here within the hour. Uncle Tommy and Aunt Gigi went to collect them and your cousins.
“The sooner Tom returns the better; we are going to model the battle of Waterloo, Mama,” his Grace, Lord Frederick Darcy, twelve, informed his mother. He and Tom, who was nine, were the closest of friends, just like Tom’s mother Lady Georgiana was with Kitty—Catherine now—and Lydia.
“When will Papa, Ben, and Robert return from their ride?” Lady Anne Darcy asked.
Anne, at sixteen, was the third of the six Darcy children.
Ben, the Marquess of Derby, was twenty and in his final year at Cambridge.
and Robert, the Duke of York, was almost eighteen, in his first year at the same university.
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Elizabeth was as happy and as in love as she had ever been in her marriage, notwithstanding all of the deaths in her extended royal families.
First Princess Amelia, the youngest of the King’s and Queen’s daughters and favourite of her father’s died in November of 1810.
The King had started displaying some of the mental issues which led to an attempt to impose a Regency in 1789.
After the death of his favourite daughter, he was pushed over the precipice and a Regency was established—this one with the full support of her birthfather.
Eight years later, also in November, her beloved grandmother, Queen Charlotte, died.
The only blessing arising from the King’s maladies was that he was unaware his wife was no more.
In January of 1820, Elizabeth’s grandfather, King George III, passed away.
He was succeeded by the Prince of Wales, who ended the Regency when he became King George IV
In August of the year King George III died, Princess Frederica died at Oatlands Park near Weybridge in Surrey. To commemorate her good works, the populace of the area erected a monument on the green in Weybridge to honour her. The Prince, his daughter, and her husband all attended her funeral.
The next blow came seven years later. Elizabeth’s birthfather, whom she loved dearly, died from what the doctors said was a bad heart.
He was four and sixty when he died and Elizabeth was his sole heir.
Not only did she inherit a fortune far greater than what she already had, but a number of estates, including Oatlands Park in Surrey.
To honour his late brother, King George IV bestowed his brother’s two dukedoms on Elizabeth’s and William’s second and third sons. Robert became the Duke of York, while Frederick became the Duke of Albany.
In June of that year, King George IV died and was succeeded by the oldest person to assume the monarchy—King William IV.
Elizabeth was beyond thankful she had been removed from the line of succession.
If not, she would have succeeded her Uncle George and became Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and she much preferred her—in her own words—simple life.
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There had been a few other deaths in her non-royal family as well. Catherine de Bourgh and her two brothers passed away in November of 1827. All three contracted pneumonia and were called home to heaven within weeks of each other.
Robert Darcy lived to see nine of his grandchildren born—Elizabeth and William’s six, and Gigi and Tommy’s three—Tom, Franny, and Annabeth.
It had been a heavy blow when the three had passed so close to one another, following the passing of Frederick in January of that year. Their consolation was in knowing that all of them had led full and happy lives.
Reggie Fitzwilliam lived to see ten grandchildren, five each from Jane and Andrew, and Cassie and Richard. In addition, Anne and Jamey had added three, which were counted as surrogate grandchildren by Elaine and Reggie.
Catherine lived with Anne and Jamey until she drew her last breath; she had lived a happy and fulfilled life. She spent her time overseeing her charities in Hunsford each year and keeping a close eye on them whenever her son and daughter were in residence at Rosings Park.
Elaine missed her husband, and three years later still wore half mourning. She lived four months each with her son’s families and two months with Anne’s. Jamey and Cassie were grateful that their parents were still spry and in excellent health.
Wes proposed to Mary three months after she came out, which surprised no one. They had married in 1810, and the new Countess of Jersey respectfully declined an offer to become a patroness of Almack’s. They had four children, two of each gender ranging from Thomas at seventeen to Sarah-Jane at five.
Kitty waited for both Lydia and Gigi before she came out. So, it was in 1813 when Kitty, who a year earlier had asked to be called Catherine, came out at twenty. Lydia, nineteen, and Gigi, seventeen, came out at the same time.
Georgiana had already decided Tommy was the one she wanted to marry but waited until he completed Cambridge and his grand tour. They married in late 1817. She was a few months older than Tommy, but that was never an issue for them.
During her first season, Catherine caught the eye of Mark Creighton, the heir of the Duke of Devonshire.
They were married before the year was out, and after the old duke passed, she lived at Chatsworth with her husband and four children when not in Town for the season or visiting family.
For her parents, having three daughters living close one to the other was ideal.
Lydia did not find a man she could truly love and esteem until 1816, when she met Harry Smythe-Jones. He had inherited an estate in Surrey a year earlier when his father passed. They married that year, and now had four children.
William Collins had remained the rector at Longbourn and was awarded the living at St. Alfred’s in Meryton some fifteen years previously when the incumbent suddenly passed away.
He and Charlotte were as happy, but had only two children, a son born five years after they married and a daughter three years later.
Charlotte was happily married to the man she loved. Whenever her friend Eliza visited the area the two would catch up in person; the rest of the time they relied on the post.
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After his lease of Longbourn ended, Charles Bingley decided he preferred a life in trade and returned to Scarborough.
His good friend’s sister, Karen Jamison, was seventeen and had caught his fancy.
He returned after she was eighteen to court her; they were married in 1812, had five children, and lived happily near the Bingley Carriage Works.
Harold and Louisa Hurst were blessed with three children, two boys and a girl, and were happily ensconced at the Hurst estate, Winsdale in Yorkshire, inherited by Hurst in 1811 after his father passed.
Of Caroline Bingley there is little to tell.
She was never moved from Bedlam and passed from injuries inflicted by another inmate she had upset with her pretentions two years after she was committed to the institution.
She was mourned by her brother and sister, but after the mourning period was done, they very rarely thought of her again.
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George Wickham never reverted to his previous bad behaviour and completed his schooling. As he had always dreamed of doing, George read the law and, as he had during his years of schooling, he did exceptionally well.
After thanking Mr. Gardiner for taking a chance on him when he resigned his position, the young Wickham started a clerkship at Norman and James after Lord Robert and Mr. Gardiner vouched for him.
Within five years George Wickham—who had always had the gift of the gab—was a sought-after barrister.
A few years later he earned a partnership in Norman and James.
In 1814 George met the love of his life, the daughter of one of the solicitors at Norman and James. The couple lived happily in London and were blessed with three children, two sons and a daughter.
Mr. Lucas Wickham retired as the steward of Pemberley in 1816 and came to live with his son and daughter-in-law. He passed away in 1823, a happy man with a successful and honourable son.
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Baron and Baroness Longbourn were almost ready to depart with their son, daughter, and three grandchildren for Netherfield.
Fanny just needed to impart some information to Mrs. Hill.
No not the original Hills, however. Mr. and Mrs. Hill’s son and daughter-in-law filled the roles the parents had retired from some fourteen years previously.
To accommodate the growing family, in 1814 the original house was torn down, and a new manor house built, more than double in size. Between the two estates the Bennets owned, they had enough room for their extended family, which included some of Lizzy’s royal cousins who visited from time to time.
“Mother Fanny and Father Thomas, are you ready?” Georgiana asked her parents-in-law, the only living parents she had left.
“Yes Gigi, we are. Are the children in the coach?” Fanny asked.
“They are, Mother Fanny. Tommy is waiting with them,” Lady Georgiana Bennet confirmed.
“In that case, let us return to your home,” Lord Longbourn said as he followed the two women out of the house.
When Gigi became with child a few months after marrying Tommy, Fanny and Bennet moved back to Longbourn, leaving Netherfield Park to their son and new daughter.
Since Elizabeth gifted Netherfield to the Bennets, Bennet had his brother Phillips deed the estate to his son—he would inherit it one day anyway.
The two estates became one large estate with two manor houses, each with its own name. To honour the late Priscilla, Netherfield Park’s name would never be changed.
As they traversed the three miles to Netherfield, Fanny’s mind fixed on thoughts of her sister of the heart and the changes her love, friendship, and generosity had wrought on the Bennets’ lives.
‘ Cilla, my dearest Cilla. I pray you are happy in heaven with your Frederick, your mother, Robert and Anne, Catherine, and Reggie. Things were disclosed earlier than you wished in some cases, but in the end, we protected your daughter—the Bennet of Royal Blood—just as you desired.
‘She was raised in love, as a normal young girl, never in a gilded cage. Thank you, Cilla, for your generosity to me and my daughters. You took all of my anxiety about the future away.
“I miss you every day. Each time I see my—our—Lizzy, I see your eyes and face looking back at me. Thank you for the gift you gave me. You thought we were helping you, but the truth is, in Lizzy, you gifted us with the most precious thing in the world. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Cilla. ’ Fanny looked to the heavens through the coach’s window and saw a beam of light break through the clouds.
She was sure it was Priscilla answering her.
As the carriage made the last turn towards Netherfield, she saw her son, her daughter, and their children waiting for them. The rest of their extended family would arrive in the next few days and they would be—as they always were—be wrapped in the love of all their large, caring family.
~~~The End~~~