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Lady Sarah Bennet was very happy. She was in her sitting room reading a letter she received from Marie before descending to the breakfast parlour.

Seaview Cottage, near Brighton

My dearest Mama,

Before you berate me for writing you a letter while on honeymoon, I promise that this is not a long missive.

Mama you were so very right! Being with a man who loves you as Andrew loves me is one of the best experiences in my life!

Other than telling you that EVERYTHING you told Jane and myself was very accurate, thank you, Mama, for preparing us to be the ladies that we are today.

I cannot imagine that there is a better mother anywhere!

Seaview Cottage is not a cottage! It is three times larger than Lucas Lodge, sits on a bluff, and has a very private beach that one can only access from Seaview’s land.

We are close to Brighton, but I doubt that we will be spending very much time there.

I suppose if Cousin George opens the Pavilion while we are here it will be rude to not, at the very least, send him a note.

Please give our love to all of the family including my new parents-in-law as Andrew has declined to write any correspondence unless absolutely necessary.

With all of my love,

A deliriously happy Marie

The duchess shed a few tears of joy as the contentment her daughter conveyed was palpable. It was in this state that her beloved husband found her.

“Sarah, are you well?” the Duke asked with concern.

“I am very well, my beloved husband,” she said with a smile that gave truth to her words, “I am just overjoyed. I received a short note from Marie. Oh Thomas, our girl is so very happy. I could feel her joy as if I were experiencing it myself.”

“That is a relief, my love,” her husband replied with a small smile.

“I suppose we will have to allow Andrew to live if our girl is so happy.” The Duke’s sardonic wit was on display, and both laughed quietly at his ridiculous statement.

“You have not heard from the other Fitzwilliams yet, have you love?”

“No Thomas. If Janey writes to me, given the distances involved, I do not expect a letter for at least another week.” The Duke gave his Duchess a toe-curling kiss, and after she put herself to rights, they descended to break their fasts with as much dignity as they could muster.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Fitzwilliam Darcy was falling in love. The more time that he was around Lady Elizabeth Bennet, the more he felt himself falling into its clutches.

Yes, she was beautiful, the most handsome woman that he had ever beheld, but she was so much more.

Lady Elizabeth was loyal, intelligent, well read, kind and compassionate, as well as charitable to a fault.

She used to be quick to anger and slow to forgive, but like he had changed, so had she.

The way that her fine eyes flashed and seemed to change shades and even colour when her moods shifted.

When they debated, he hated it more when the hour determined the end, than his wish for it to be, he felt like he wanted to never stop debating with her.

His mother had been correct when she had said that he and Elizabeth had much the same taste in books.

They had already debated Plato, Socrates, Descartes, Machiavelli, and others.

One thing that he had already discovered in their short time as cousins was that if she felt like extending the debate, she would express opinions that were not her own so that they would be able to continue it.

He had never met her like, and if he had not been so sure that she would laugh him out of the room he would have declared for her already.

Some of her hair always escaped her coiffure and it delighted him to see some of her raven curls hanging down her neck.

This was a woman who deserved to be pleased by one who knew how to please her.

As he was sitting in the library at Darcy House, he admonished himself for his thoughts of declaring for Lady Elizabeth before she was ready to hear such a declaration from himself.

Who knew if she ever would be? ‘ You are supposed to be an intelligent man, Fitzwilliam Darcy. Unless you are reasonably sure that she is receptive to you and has tender feelings toward you as well, if you do anything precipitous you will undo all of the good that is your friendship with Elizabeth—Lady Elizabeth—has wrought. Slow down, man! Nothing good will come from trying to force something that does not yet exist, ’ he berated himself.

He was correct, Lady Elizabeth Bennet did not abhor him as she had in Meryton after his performance there, but at this time it was a budding friendship on her side, nothing more, yet anyway.

What he had no way of knowing was that the lady in question was sitting in her chambers at Bennet House thinking about him.

Far from dislike him, she considered him a friend, and her treasonous heart reminded her how handsome he was and that it was possible that he could be more than just a cousin who was a friend.

She knew that she was far from ready to consider anything more at this point, so her head overruled her heart, for the present.

He had been amazed when his mother relayed information to him about the charitable works of the Bennet family as a whole, and specifically those supported by the one that he loved.

She had told him that the family, in conjunction with both dukes, had a foundation that was working to improve the lives of the common man.

Their foundation was slowly opening and fully funding schools, hospitals, clinics, and orphanages around the country.

The schools were for both girls and boys to teach them to read, write, and do sums. If they found any promising young men with aptitudes and the drive for further education, they would receive a scholarship to an institution of higher learning so they may one day aspire to be a steward or enter the law.

The orphanages were not workhouses. The children were treated as children, not slaves.

Rather than having the young children enter the work force as soon as may be, they were educated and nurtured.

Only those who would truly care for their charges were employed, and the children’s well-being was the focus of all Bennet Foundation orphanages.

The governors did not primp and preen to curry favour with benefactors while diverting most of the funds to their own wallets, the bulk of the funds was used to assist those in actual need.

One of the stated aims of the Foundation’s orphanages was to place children in loving homes where there were those who could not bear their own or simply had a big heart and wanted to take in additional children.

Before placement was authorised there were extensive investigations of prospective adoptive parents undertaken with periodic unscheduled visits.

Unlike so many in the Ton, the Bennets did not do what they did for recognition or accolades.

They believed that to those who much is given, they have a responsibility to take care of those who cannot do so for themselves.

A few who had applied to the Foundation for help had tried to hoodwink them when there was no actual need, only evidence of avarice or indolence.

Those cases were exposed with alacrity, sent away with a flea in their ears, and publicly exposed, which discouraged others from trying to take advantage of the largess of the Bennet family.

With the ownership of the Dennington Shipping Lines, their shipbuilding yards and the connection to Gardiner and other merchants, those who wanted to learn a trade were trained and offered well paying positions as they became available.

The girls for whom higher education was not an option were prepared for good service jobs that the education they received assisted them in attaining.

The schools, clinics, and hospitals were separate from the orphanages.

The schools were open and free of tuition to any servants, tenants, or their children that wanted to be educated in the area in which the school was located, while at the same time created employment opportunities for the local populace.

Darcy now understood why the denizens of Meryton were so loyal to the Duke of Hertfordshire and his family.

The Foundation had built a hospital, an orphanage, and two schools in the area.

Not only did they provide many well-paying jobs, but thanks to the school and the hospital the quality of life of many in the area had been made far better.

As if what her family did was not enough, Lady Elizabeth had founded, with her family’s full support, Haven House, a charitable organisation for which his Aunt Elaine and his mother were board members before ever knowing the name of the founder or the family that was the home’s major benefactor.

Madeline Gardiner was the chairwoman of the charity and represented the family who remained anonymous.