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The day after the Netherfield ball, Elizabeth moved back home to Longbourn to prepare for her own wedding. She also wished to spend as much time with her father as possible to soften the blow of him losing two more daughters to marriage.

Jane and Elizabeth shared a wedding date on December twenty-eighth. Then, each of them went their separate ways. Jane and Mr. Bingley spent a month in Brighton, and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy spent a month touring the lakes.

After their wedding journey, the Bingleys stayed in London for several months, giving Jane an opportunity to meet all of Mr. Bingley’s friends.

When they returned to Netherfield, they both quickly realized that living so close to Mrs. Bennet was simply asking for her to interfere in their lives on an almost daily basis.

Even Mr. Bingley’s congeniality and Jane’s gentle kindness couldn’t tolerate such a situation for long.

The following fall, they moved back to London.

From there, they spent some time looking for land in the country so Mr. Bingley could finally fulfill his father’s wish, to elevate their family to the status of landed gentry.

They were fortunate enough to find an estate only thirty miles from Pemberley, making it possible for Jane and Elizabeth to resume the closeness they had always shared as sisters.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy also went to London that winter, but only for a couple of months. They then returned to Pemberley, since spring was the best time to get to know that great estate.

It took some time for Elizabeth to become familiar with all of her new responsibilities.

She had been raised as the daughter of a gentleman, so she knew most of them, but being married to a man of Mr. Darcy’s status and wealth required much more work than she had anticipated.

Elizabeth was not afraid of work, however, and it was something to fill her days.

Both Jane and Elizabeth were blessed with several children each, and the two sets of cousins grew up knowing each other well. The journey between the two estates was easily accomplished in half a day, so there were frequent and extensive visits between them.

A few months after the three weddings, Lydia shocked every person within five miles of Meryton by running off with one of the officers of the militia, a man by the name of Mr. Wickham.

The young man had joined the militia shortly before the Netherfield ball, but he had not garnered much attention from Jane, Elizabeth, or Mary, since they each were focused on the gentlemen who were courting them.

The rest of the neighborhood, however, was quickly enamored of the young man’s cheerful nature and pleasing good looks. He easily fit in with the other officers and gained a reputation as a good friend to them all. He also gained the attention of every single lady in the neighborhood.

Lydia, the youngest Bennet, felt herself to be the luckiest girl in the world when Mr. Wickham’s affections were turned toward her in the spring of 1812.

It did not take him long to convince the young lady that she was violently in love with the man, nor did it take much to convince her to elope with him, since she thought that to be the most romantic thing in the world.

Mr. Wickham had no trouble convincing the youngest Bennet sister to relinquish her virtue, but it quickly came to light that he had no intention of marrying her unless Mr. Darcy, Mr. Binley, and Lord Pendleton agreed to furnish her with a decent dowry.

Mr. Bingley purchased a commission for him in the army, and Gregory and Mr. Darcy each furnished five thousand pounds, though the money would be settled on Mrs. Wickham, and it could only be collected by her.

Lydia cared little for how it all came about. She was simply overjoyed to finally be married and to such a handsome and charming young man.

Once the glow of romance wore off, however, Lydia found that she had married a scoundrel. She was forced to learn how to manage their money, and she frequently hid a portion of it so he would not gamble away the money they needed for food, coal, or servants.

Kitty fared much better than her younger sister.

With Lydia gone, she was the recipient of much more attention from their mother, and since she was the only daughter left at home, she was also treated with more respect from her father.

Her petulance and vanity smoothed out, and she became a fairly well-behaved young lady.

In the winter of 1813, Mary was finally able to convince Mr. Bennet to let Kitty come stay with her when she and Mr. Worsley went to London. The two sisters had a gloriously fun time shopping for an entirely new wardrobe for Kitty and visiting every place of interest in the city.

Mary’s triumph and joy in Kitty’s company did not last long, however.

Within two months of Kitty’s arrival in London, she had caught the attention of a friend of Mr. Bingley’s, a young landlord who owned quite a bit of property in London which he rented out.

His name was Mr. Branton. After a mere month of courtship, the young man proposed, and two months later, the last of the Bennet sisters was married.

It took three years before Mary and Gregory had any children, but they were both delighted when their son was finally born. Having an heir put them somewhat at ease, though they both earnestly wished for more children.

Their additional desires, however, were not to be granted. After ten more years with no additional children, it became obvious to the couple that they would simply have to be content with their one son.

In due time, Gregory eventually became Marquess Glyndebourne. When he did, their son took over managing the property in Eastbourne. By that time, the little coastal town had grown three-fold and had become a bustling holiday destination for a wide variety of people.

Frustrated at not having any daughters to leave her own wealth to, Mary made a new will.

When she died, Braydon Hall was to be sold, and the proceeds were to be combined with her investments and then divided equally among her seven nieces.

Since she lived a long and happy life, she eventually extended it to include her great-nieces and a few nephews and great-nephews as well.

By the time this unhappy event came about, her wealth had grown to such an amount that, even when divided among so many, it still furnished a fortune of more than twenty thousand pounds to each of them.

Mary and Gregory left behind them a legacy of kindness and wise charity.

The successful management of Eastbourne provided many people opportunity for employment and a good life.

Mary was always aware of anyone in her little town who struggled to make ends meet or who went through a rough patch in life.

She didn’t always solve everything by simply giving them food or money.

Instead, she looked for more permanent solutions, such as setting them up in a business or trade or simply finding them some kind of basic employment.

She established a free school in the little town that was available to all children and even some adults, so anyone who was willing to put in the work could learn to read, write, and do basic math.

She was so beloved among the students that, against her protestations, the school came to be known as Lady Mary’s School.

Those who knew Lord and Lady Pendleton only in London would hardly recognize them at home in Eastbourne. Neither of them cared a great deal for the fanciest dress, and they seldom relied on their dignity as peers to accomplish anything.

It took years for Mary to finally understand why Mr. Allen had been so happy, so peaceful, in his final days, but she eventually realized what he had been trying to convey.

He had been a selfish being all his life, mainly concerned with his own success and happiness.

When he finally learned to love and care for someone else’s happiness, it had filled him with purpose and pleasure that was like nothing he had ever known.

Mary’s life was so full of the joy of loving others that it barely registered in her mind that there could be any other state of existence.

As she experienced life, however, and met all kinds of people, she realized the great gift she had been given.

Not only was she blessed with a husband she could love and respect, but he loved and respected her in turn.

Additionally, she was surrounded by those who needed her love in one way or another, and she had the means to help them live happier more fulfilling lives.

Mary and Gregory lived long and happy lives together, always leaning on each other in difficult times. Though Mary was the soul of propriety at most times, the entire town of Eastbourne knew that she often let her standards of behavior slip when she was in the presence of her beloved husband.

For decades, the town’s favorite type of gossip was telling each other the various places where Lord and Lady Pendleton had been caught kissing in public.

The End