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A t the end of the first day of their journey, Elizabeth and Georgiana sat together in their room as they had stopped at an inn for the night.

They preferred to have their supper upstairs, and Darcy understood Elizabeth’s hesitance in being in Lord Anderson’s company and agreed.

However, he joined Lord Anderson when it was time to eat and tried his best not to offend him in the whole affair.

“You did not have to force yourself to keep me company, Mr. Darcy. I am quite well on my own. I am never alone as my past haunts me now, and my mind never allows me to rest as it is spinning questions about my future.”

“Trust me, sir, I am not here just for the sake of civility. As much as I care about Elizabeth’s feelings, I understand your intentions towards her now. I can see that you are trying to make amends for what happened in the past.”

“But she does not, does she?”

“She has her reasons; you may not fully understand how difficult her life has been since she knew the truth about her past. I am not certain you are aware of every detail that happened in Hertfordshire.”

“I am aware that her parents, I mean Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, were forcing her to marry someone not of her choice, and she had to run away to save herself.”

“It is not as simple as that,” Darcy said, wanting him to understand how much his actions impacted Elizabeth.

He explained how Mary had saved her and how the people who raised her planned to let Mr. Collins ruin her just to save Longbourn.

He watched the horror on Lord Anderson’s face as he understood the depth of her suffering in the past.

“I do not know if Lady Martha informed you of this; Elizabeth was employed in London before travelling to Derbyshire. She had to leave her employment there due to circumstances.”

As uncomfortable as it was for Darcy, he related the horror she had faced while working in Mr. Brooks’s house.

“I cannot believe this, and this man is roaming freely after attempting to touch her?” Lord Anderson cried with rage.

Darcy could see that his anger mirrored his own.

“It might have been the case then. But I am not willing to allow anyone who harmed her to walk freely on this earth; each one will pay a price for hurting the woman who deserves nothing but the best in life. It pains me to explain Elizabeth’s character to you, but I need to.

You may think she has agreed to marry me because I offer a safe future.

But that is not true. Even though she truly loved me, she refused my proposal before I learned the truth. ”

“What do you mean? I do not understand; Martha said you were engaged before you made the announcement in Pemberley and that she was aware of it. When did she refuse you?”

Darcy related why she had refused him the first time and how he became aware of her identity while he was at Hertfordshire.

“So, I returned and confronted her, and she had no choice but to tell me the truth. She was in love with me when I proposed to her, but she could not accept me as she did not want Georgiana and me to suffer the scrutiny of society. She thought she was unfit to marry me because of the legitimacy of her birth. Elizabeth cared nothing about her welfare or feelings. I am not telling you all this to show her in a good light; by now, I assume you can see for yourself. She truly has remarkable qualities, Lord Anderson, and I consider myself fortunate to have her love and regard. I can never stand to see her hurt in any way. Whatever happens in town, I will do everything in my power to keep her safe and happy. My only warning to you is that there is a good chance that she may never accept you as her father, and I will stand by her decision if that is the case,” Darcy said with resolve.

Lord Anderson looked at him with admiration, and it was evident that Darcy would do anything for his love for Elizabeth. He finally realized that Elizabeth could never forgive him, as he had done nothing for her happiness so far.

***

A couple of days later, Mr. Bingley received an express from Darcy asking him to meet him in town.

Since his engagement to Mary, he had found it difficult to stay in Netherfield as his sisters disapproved of the match.

He could sense Jane’s animosity towards Mary during his visits to Longbourn.

Mr. Bingley did not care for her in any way, and all he was concerned about was Mary’s welfare.

Meanwhile, Mary was in a dilemma about revealing details about Elizabeth and Darcy to him.

She was aware of their engagement and knew they would be in town soon.

However, Elizabeth had not written to her after discovering the truth about Lord Anderson and her mother, and Mary felt guilty about not revealing Elizabeth’s secret to Mr. Bingley.

Mr. Darcy must have written to him about their engagement by now, but he does not seem to know yet. How do I explain about Elizabeth and her life here? What if he shuns me after knowing what my parents are capable of? How would he perceive my character after learning the truth?

Mary worried and felt very guilty in the company of Mr. Bingley. To her surprise, Mr. Bingley arrived that morning with the news.

“I need to leave for town in a couple of days; Darcy has sent an express requesting my presence in his townhouse.”

“Is he travelling alone?”

“I believe so. Why do you ask? He doesn’t mention anything else.

I wonder what it could be. I think he started before he received my letter informing him about our engagement.

As planned, I want to get married as soon as possible, and Darcy can attend our wedding now.

What do you say?” he asked with excitement.

As much as she wanted to marry him and leave her depressing life in Longbourn, Mary was worried about what would happen once he became aware of the secret. Mr. Bingley was worried by her silence.

“Mary, your silence worries me. What is the matter?”

“Forgive me. I was lost in thought. I would be happy to get married as per your wishes,” Mary said, hoping Mr. Bingley would not be upset with her once he learned the truth from Darcy.

“I am glad to hear that. Once I return, we can finalize our plans, and I will inform your father now.” He glanced around the drawing room again, and only Kitty was present.

“You must let me know if something is distressing you here. I am very much aware of how your sister treats you now, and I will not stand for it if she does something to upset you.”

“Do not worry, I am fine. I hardly have time to notice things or people who don’t care about me; I only care about you and our future,” she said as she smiled.

Mr. Bingley was not convinced and wanted to marry her as soon as possible, not wanting her to be in an unpleasant atmosphere.

***

It was their journey’s final day, and the past few days had been tough for Elizabeth.

Much to her irritation, Darcy had accompanied Lord Anderson in his carriage a few times on the journey.

But she did not want to argue with him as to why he was cordial with Lord Anderson as she was grateful that he never pressed her to do the same.

Elizabeth and Darcy had a much-needed conversation about their plans in town in the last league of the journey.

“Are you certain you don’t want to stay at your uncle’s house?” Darcy asked.

“I do not know, Fitzwilliam. I would be more comfortable at Charlotte’s, as I have already stayed there.”

“As far as I know, the only place you would be comfortable is our house,” he said, holding her hand. Elizabeth glanced at Georgiana, who was asleep in the opposite seat.

“Poor Lady Martha, her chaperone is asleep,” Elizabeth said with a smile.

Darcy was silent and kept gazing into her beautiful eyes, fighting his yearning to kiss her. Elizabeth blushed, unable to hold his gaze.

“Even though you will stay away from me, there will not be a single moment during the day where I don’t yearn for your presence,” he said.

“Sometimes I feel so guilty for having you endure this for my sake. Please be honest with me; you must be upset with my decision to delay our marriage, aren’t you?”

“Angry? No, not at all. I understand how you feel. As I said before, this concerns both of us. Do you think I can be happy when you are hurting? As I said, I will do everything possible to seek the truth, and the ones who betrayed your trust will have to pay for it. I cannot wait to make a trip to Longbourn.”

Then he paused for a moment.

“As we are on the subject, I have written to Bingley to join me in London. Did your sister mention him in her letters?”

“She did and also mentioned that Jane was trying to gain his affection.”

“I don’t think he will fall for her schemes,” Darcy said, explaining how Jane had shifted her partiality towards him.

“I am not surprised. Jane always wanted to marry into a fortune, and I do not think she can look at any man without weighing his wealth and status. As much as I am uncomfortable visiting Hertfordshire, I want to see Mary. I miss her so much, Fitzwilliam. If not for her, I would not be this happy today.”

“I agree; she has indeed brought us together. I had a strange feeling when I stepped into Hertfordshire as I could feel your presence everywhere, and it did not make sense to me. Finally, I understood why I felt that way.”

“For twenty years, it was my home and everything I knew. I still do not know how I had the strength to leave everything and run away.”

“You did not run away; you saved yourself, and I do not know any woman who would have the strength to do what you did,” he said with admiration.

“I promise you our future will be filled with happiness and nothing else.”

“I do not doubt it; I have never felt like this before. I feel I can face anything in life because of you,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.