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“ E lizabeth, stop!” Darcy cried out as he ran after her.

However, she rushed out of the library, unable to stand in Lord Anderson’s presence.

She ran up the stairs, not knowing where she was going.

She was aware that Darcy was behind her but did not stop.

She ran to the upper floor, unable to find her way to her room; she opened the door to the music room and rushed inside.

Darcy finally caught up to her and shut the door behind him.

“Elizabeth, are you all right?” he cried, unable to bear her suffering. He caught her arm and swung her around.

However, she pushed him away. She cried uncontrollably, and Darcy did not know what to do.

“This is why I refused your proposal the first time. I knew I could never make you happy, Fitzwilliam; see what has happened.”

Darcy did not understand what she said.

“I did not imagine in my wildest dreams that this evening would end like this,” she sobbed. “I wanted to know the truth about my past but never imagined it would be this cruel.”

“Please do not cry. I am there for you.”

“No! I can never let you be peaceful; my past will always haunt me and haunt us. You don’t deserve to endure the misery that is attached to me. I should have never agreed to marry you, and you do not deserve to face this battle with me.”

Now, Darcy was angry.

“Enough!” he cried, pulling her close to him. His eyes gleamed with anger as he stared at Elizabeth with rage.

“How could you say this? How many times do I have to prove my love to you? Whatever you term your misery, if not yours alone, is ours. For heaven’s sake, Elizabeth, we are engaged, and you mean the whole world to me.

Don’t you dare push me away, do you understand?

” he cried, shaking her to bring her back to her senses.

Elizabeth stared at him, finally realizing the torment she had caused him. She fell into his arms and sobbed.

“I am so sorry; I do not know what came over me,” she cried.

Darcy felt anguished by her suffering. He allowed her to cry her heart out as moonlight filtered through the windows.

Finally, Elizabeth calmed down, and Darcy lifted her chin and locked his eyes with hers. His heart ached to see her tears.

“I love you, Elizabeth. By now, you must know that I cannot imagine a life without you. Come what may, I will stand by you, and we are in this together. Can you trust me?”

“I do. I was so happy this evening because I could see the same happiness in your eyes. But I never anticipated this evening to end this way.”

“I am still happy; nothing can take away the happiness you have given me since the day you agreed to marry me and acknowledged your love. It pains me to see your distress, but trust me, we will sail through this together.”

“I cannot bear the accusations by that man. He is lying; my mother would have never demanded money, and everything he states is falsehood.”

Darcy was silent.

“Fitzwilliam, say something; do you believe him?” she asked in horror.

“Something seems wrong; I do not believe everything he states. But his side of the story is still unclear. I am going to meet him now, after leaving you with Georgiana. I am really concerned about your health; you do not look well at all.”

“I don’t know what else he could state regarding his relationship with my mother.”

“Listen to me; I will get to the bottom of this. I want you to rest now. You fainted some time ago, and I cannot allow your health to suffer.”

“It was because of the shock; I am well and please do not worry.”

“Can I take you upstairs now?” he asked, unwillingly to part from her. He wished they were married, as he did not want to sleep away from her that night.

Elizabeth nodded, and Darcy wiped her tears away and kissed her forehead gently.

They left together and met an anxious Georgiana in her room.

“What happened? You look so unwell. Can I bring you something to drink?” she asked, worried.

“I do not want anything. I am sorry to keep you awake, Georgiana,” she said.

“Please try to sleep,” Darcy said and kissed her hand. “I will see you in the morning.” He motioned for Georgiana to step out of the room with him.

As Georgiana stepped out, he quickly hugged Elizabeth and reassured her that everything would be all right.

Darcy had no choice but to relate the events to his sister. He knew Georgiana needed to see the truth to support Elizabeth as a sister, and she was shocked by the discovery.

“Poor Elizabeth, I cannot believe what she is going through. Fitzwilliam, does this mean she is Lady Martha’s niece?”

Darcy nodded.

“She is devastated; I did not want her to sleep alone, so I brought her to your room.”

“I will take care of her; please do not worry,” Georgiana assured him.

Darcy fought hard to return to the room to check on her, but he knew he had to leave. He left downstairs, wanting to understand the situation better.

Meanwhile, after Elizabeth and Darcy had left, Lady Martha demanded answers from her brothers.

“Mark, for heaven’s sake, tell me, what is the secret about your past?”

Lord Anderson was silent. He clenched his jaw, trying to compose himself, and stared at the chain Elizabeth threw at him.

“Good Lord! I cannot believe you two. How could you do this to a woman, Mark? Her mother is dead, and all this while you assumed she had married someone else?”

“I did not assume; she wrote to me stating she did not want to wait for me and wanted to marry Thomas Bennet.”

“Do you realize how ridiculous you sound? She was married to you; didn’t you even question how she could marry someone else?”

“Martha, you must understand, I would never make such a hasty decision. Even before we married, her father intended to marry her to Thomas Bennet. But when we met in London, we fell in love, but I did not go to London as Lord Mark Anderson; I traveled that year hiding my original identity. Our parents wanted me to marry Augusta, stating she was the right match for me. I did not marry without love and never loved Augusta. I argued with my father about the same, and he warned me that there is nothing such as true love in the world, and any girl who loves me would do so only for my wealth. I came to London that year and moved into society without disclosing my original status to prove him wrong. I met Sarah during my time there, and we fell in love. She was unaware of my status or wealth, and I was elated that she loved me as much as I did. She was under the impression that I had no wealth or status. Her father’s business was in trouble, and she informed me he wanted her to marry Thomas Bennet as he was willing to settle their debts.

As I had promised my father, I would not reveal my identity to anyone in London; I could not reveal my status to her.

I returned to Scotland and hoped to get his approval to marry her.

But Father still did not agree to our match, and you very well know that Mother was very sick and was on her deathbed.

I could not return to London and claim her hand as planned but still stayed in touch with her through letters. ”

“Then how did you marry her?”

“She traveled north of England with her companion to spend a few weeks away from London. By chance, we met in Yorkshire, and I finally revealed my true identity to her; she pressed me to marry her immediately as her father forced a marriage with Thomas Bennet. I tried to reason with her that our mother was very sick, and I needed time. She reasoned with me that if we were married, no one could separate us in the future. She understood my situation, and I understood hers. She was desperate to save herself from marrying that man. Francis and her companion, Mrs. Lewis, were present for our wedding, and she returned to London the very next day. I promised her that I would come for her and claim her hand. But as fate would have it, our mother passed away as soon as I returned to our estate. Her only wish for me was to marry Augusta, her best friend’s daughter.

On her deathbed, I could not reveal that I had married without her consent.

But later, when I told my father, he was furious with me.

He vowed that Sarah was behind my wealth.

I told him she was not aware of my original identity for a long time; I firmly believed she did not marry me for my wealth. ”

“Then what made you believe that she was behind your money?”

“After she returned to London, I wrote to her informing her of my mother’s passing. I could not travel to London as planned and requested her to wait.”

“I did not hear from her for many weeks. Then a letter arrived stating that she could not wait for me, as her father’s debts were mounting, and she wanted to marry Thomas Bennet to save her family. She demanded money for whatever happened between us.”

“And you believed it?”

“I struggled to believe it at first, but later received news from some common friends in London stating Thomas Bennet was getting married to her.”

“I wanted to leave for London to reason with her on her decision, but when Father knew about this, he made me realize that she was behind my money all the while, and that is why she married me in haste, to blackmail me later. I initially did not believe him, but several letters arrived confirming his words. She wanted nothing to do with me; she even threatened to ruin my reputation if I did not send the money and said our union was a grave mistake.”

“But look at the truth now, Mark. She never married anyone else, and I can understand Elizabeth’s anger; as she said, you should have sought her out. My God! She carried your child and never even informed anyone that she was married,” cried Lady Martha.

“I have proof, Martha; that is what she wanted. I do not know why she never married him; she never informed me she was pregnant. But if she never married, I know that Elizab…Miss Smith is my daughter,” he told her, unable to forget the past.

Lady Martha was confused by his story.