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E lizabeth felt suffocated as she finally completed reading all the letters.

When she opened the first one, she was shocked to see the striking resemblance in the writing between her mother, Sarah, and Mrs. Bennet.

She had mentally prepared herself for the worst when she started reading the letters written by a woman she would never see in her life.

Elizabeth could sense the depth of her mother’s love for Lord Anderson in her words, and she wondered how she could have trusted him so blindly to marry him but never disclose his name to anyone.

The letters written by her mother after she returned to London conveyed every detail of how she wanted to end the relationship with Lord Anderson, and Elizabeth found it strange that she suddenly wanted to end their marriage after returning to London.

The reasons cited were the same as those mentioned by Lord Anderson.

Her mother’s words reflected a sudden shift in her regard for her husband.

Elizabeth was shocked to read her words, demanding money, stating how Lord Anderson had taken advantage of her after marriage, and ruining her.

She read the letters repeatedly, wanting to find one reason to discredit them.

These were not forged; there is no change in the writing from the initial letters until the last .

Though similar to the hand of Mrs. Bennet, there was nothing else that stood apart.

And Elizabeth knew Mrs. Bennet’s choice of words very well, and she was certain the ones she had in hand were written by a woman with much more command of the language, and every word proved that whoever wrote it had a strong sense of judgment and intelligence, which Mrs. Bennet lacked.

After a couple of hours, Elizabeth gave up.

I cannot do this anymore. Now, I have nothing to defend her except my instinct. She would never have demanded money when she wanted to safeguard him from the whole world. She never married anyone else, and none of this makes sense.

Elizabeth realized that her only hope now was to find out the truth in London.

Someone must know what happened; we must find Mrs. Lewis.

She was glad when no one disturbed her that morning, and she ate dinner in her room. Elizabeth could not stop thinking about how each family member would react to the truth. She was certain Lady Anderson would lash out at her once she became aware that she was Lord Anderson’s daughter.

Elizabeth felt that the truth had not impacted her alone but spiraled to everyone around and altered their lives forever.

However uncertain the outcome of the truth would be, she knew that she could never accept Lord Anderson as her father, nor would she care for his status, wealth, and the legitimacy of her birth.

According to her, he was the cruellest man on earth.

She longed to discuss the matter with Darcy and was certain he would visit her that evening as promised.

Downstairs, Lord Anderson and his wife finally emerged from the study after a conversation they wished they had had before their marriage.

Lady Anderson felt as though the world had crashed on her; she did not know how to disclose the details of her horrific situation to her daughter, who was already distressed.

From the moment she set eyes onElizabeth, Lady Anderson had hated everything about her; the feeling came from the fact that Elizabeth had captured Lady Martha’s regard and was given preference over her daughter.

Now, she posed as a threat to her status and position in life, and she stripped Lady Anderson of her pride.

She was enraged beyond measure, and all she wanted to do was throw Elizabeth out of Ashton Park at that very moment.

She understood that she was not merely Lord Anderson’s legal daughter now but was to become Mrs. Darcy as well. From the conversation with her husband, it became apparent to her that neither her husband nor Darcy would be willing to abide by any of her requests.

She locked herself in her room, unable to find a way to break her daughter’s heart with the truth.

Lady Martha did not disturb Elizabeth until Darcy arrived that afternoon. Once he arrived, he requested to meet Elizabeth in privacy.

“You can meet her in the library; I will be present, though.”

"You have not spoken with her since she read the letters?”

"No, I have not. I am well aware that the first person she would want to talk tobefore any of us is you.”

Lady Martha sent for Elizabeth, and she hurried down, understanding that Darcy had arrived earlier than expected. Lady Martha said nothing as she entered the library, and Darcy immediately walked up to Elizabeth and held her hand.

He motioned her to sit down.

“How are you, my love?” Darcy asked her.

“As well as you saw me a few hours ago,” she smiled. “I expected to see you only in the evening.”

“Well! I could not stay in Pemberley after you left. Did you read them?” he asked, eyeing the stack of letters in her hand.

“I did,” she said, noticing that Lady Martha had given them privacy by stationing herself on the other end of the room.

“I spent all morning with these letters, and I don’t know how to express what I went through while reading them.”

“I am so sorry that you had to undergo this.”

“She was very much in love with him, and all the letters express the same, but everything seems to have changed once she married him and returned to London. The letters declare what he already told us, that my mother wanted to end their relationship, forget their marriage, and demand money.”

“Maybe something happened after she returned to town, or someone forced her to write them.”

“The moment I opened the first one, I doubted whether the letters were forged?”

“Why?”

“Because the writing is very similar to my mother’s, I mean Mrs. Bennet’s.”

“Oh!”

“I know her hand very well, and the writing in these letters is exactly the same.”

“So, you doubt that Mrs. Bennet forged these?”

“I did, but there is nothing to prove it apart from the writing style. I say this because I know Mamma’s choice of words and expressions. These letters are definitely written by someone who is far more sensible and intelligent, and that is not Mrs. Bennet for certain.”

“I don’t think we can brush aside your doubt that easily.”

“Do you want to read them?” she asked Darcy.

Darcy took the letters from her and sat down.

He felt very uncomfortable reading something so private.

He read a couple of them and understood Elizabeth’s reasoning.

With his short acquaintance with the Bennet family, he was certain that Mrs. Bennet could not write anything so sensible with deep feeling and intelligent reasoning.

“It is very suspicious that the letters suddenly show deep hate and aversion towards the man she loved so much,” Darcy exclaimed.

“Maybe she felt that way when she realized she was pregnant.”

“But why did she not communicate the same to your father?” Darcy asked and bit his lips, seeing the flash of anger on Elizabeth’s face.

“I meant Lord Anderson,” he corrected himself.

“I do not know. Sometimes, I don’t know whether all this is real or I am in a nightmare.”

Darcy was silent; he was very worried about her. Ever since he discovered that she had almost ended her life on the cliff when they first met, he could not bear the thought of losing her.

“Fitzwilliam?” she called out to him.

“Yes, sorry, I was thinking about something.”

“I must speak with Lady Martha now.”

“Don’t you want Lord Anderson to be present? We can request him to join us.”

Elizabeth was not ready to see him, but she had no choice but to agree.

Lady Martha finally joined them.

“I have sent for him. I understand how tormenting it must have been to read through the letters. How are you feeling?” Lady Martha asked as she sat down beside Elizabeth.

“Not as tormented as the discussion I am to have now,” Elizabeth replied.

Darcy quickly stated Elizabeth’s observation about the letters to Lady Martha.

“Well, it is not uncommon for siblings to have similar handwriting. Fitzwilliam, if I am not mistaken, your mother and aunt in Kent had the same hand; I have seen some of her letters and mentioned the same to Anne.”

Darcy nodded in agreement.

“But what felt strange to me is the sudden shift in the emotions of the person who wrote these; I am referring to the ones she wrote from London. How could such deep love change into hate?”

“I agree with you on that; I am still unsure if someone forced her,” Elizabeth stated.

Just then, Lord Anderson entered the room, and Elizabeth stood upon his arrival. Darcy held her hand, sensing her temperament. As much as she tried, she could not look away from him and his piercing gaze.

As for Lord Anderson, he understood that Elizabeth had read the letters, and he was exhausted from the discussion with his wife some time ago and had no energy left in him for another wretched conversation about the past. He had entered the library with irritation, knowing very well that Elizabeth would not agree to his explanations, even though the letters supported his actions.

Lord Anderson resolved to keep the discussion short and not become emotional, but the moment he set eyes on her, his entire resolve melted away.

He had last seen her storm out of the library the previous night, and now she stood before him, her face troubled but eyes expressing anger.

The faint resemblance he had seen initially between Sarah and her became more distinct to him now; everything he had seen in Sarah years ago stood before him in the form of his daughter, Elizabeth.

He wanted to ask her how she felt but knew she would hate such civilities from him.

The tension in the room consumed each of them, and Lord Anderson finally sat beside his sister. Elizabeth could not bear seeing him, but Darcy squeezed her hand, and she felt grateful for his presence. Understanding no one was willing to speak, Lady Martha broke the silence.