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T he next morning, Darcy was surprised to receive a note from Elizabeth requesting his immediate presence at Charlotte’s house. He rushed there to find Elizabeth waiting for him impatiently.

She wasted no time in explaining her discovery the previous night. Darcy looked at the letters she handed him and was intrigued by her observation.

“So, you say Mrs. Bennet wrote these?”

“Yes, it is obvious now. I do not know how I missed it previously. Mamma writes the alphabet “y” in such a way. You see, there is a loop in the upper part of the letter; Mamma writes this way, and so does Kitty. I have often heard my father making fun of it. He used to state that Kitty and Mamma had confused minds and handwriting. It is such a small thing, but if you compare the letters written from London after her marriage and the previous ones, you can easily spot the difference. The sisters might have had the same writing style, but this is the difference.”

“Agreed, but what about the choice of words and the content? I may not have known her for long, but Mrs. Bennet is incapable of that.”

“Maybe someone helped her word them, but one thing is certain: she wrote them, I have no doubt,” Elizabeth said and looked at Charlotte, who nodded in agreement.

“Mrs. Davis, my original plan was to call on Elizabeth in the afternoon today, but now, I want to take her to my townhouse as my close friend Mr. Bingley is arriving from Netherfield. I assure you I will bring her back before evening,” he said.

Charlotte smiled at him and agreed.

“Your future husband’s actions amuse me, asking my permission to take you to his house,” she said in a low voice as Elizabeth prepared to leave.

“Well, I am your responsibility now; he is doing the right thing.”

“I can see he brought a maid as a chaperone for your carriage ride. But trust me, Lizzy, more than society, he is scared of himself; I can see it in his eyes,” Charlotte said with a wink, and Elizabeth frowned.

***

Meanwhile, in Darcy’s townhouse, two men sat in the drawing room, unable to be civil to each other.

Mr. Gardiner decided to meet Lord Anderson that morning and made the call.

However, he was unaware of Darcy’s absence, so Georgiana made the introductions and left them alone.

She hoped her brother would return soon.

“Trust me, Lord Anderson, if I come across as uncivil, I am not explaining why. I wish I had met you twenty years ago while my sister was still alive. I still do not understand why she kept your identity a secret and hid her marriage from us. Do not waste time justifying your actions, stating that my sister wanted to keep it a secret for her own benefit. Do you have any idea as to how much she suffered till she died?”

Lord Anderson clenched his fist and stayed silent.

“As her family, we despised her for her ruin, having no idea about the secret she buried in her heart to safeguard you. Why did you marry her if you had no intention of living a life with her? It was easy for you to forsake her based on a few letters, wasn’t it?”

“I did not forsake her; I did everything that she wanted. You say she never wanted to marry Thomas Bennet, but she wrote to me stating the opposite. How do you explain that? I sent her money, as she requested, because she blamed me for taking advantage of her, even though to get married in Scotland was her idea.”

“No wonder Elizabeth is so angry with you; I am not certain you understand what you are saying. If you had visited her once to see why she sent you those letters, you could have saved her from pain and suffering. Why didn’t you?”

“Because she did not want me to. Do you think it was easy for me to forget her?”

“You married again, if I am right, within a year after a demise, did you not? That was easy for you, I assume.”

Lord Anderson knew he had nothing to defend himself on that subject; it tortured him to think that while Elizabeth was raised by the Bennets, he had married Lady Anderson, unaware that Sarah had died, leaving behind his daughter.

Just then, Elizabeth and Darcy entered the room, looking tense as Georgiana informed them about the arrival of Elizabeth’s uncle.

It was two days since he had seen her, and Lord Anderson could not help but feel relieved to have her in his presence. Elizabeth said nothing to him as Darcy welcomed her uncle to his home.

“I apologize for arriving unannounced, Mr. Darcy. I assumed you would be home,” Mr. Gardiner said.

Darcy and Elizabeth could sense the tension in the room.

Without wasting time, Darcy explained Elizabeth’s discovery about the letters being forged and witnessed the shock and horror on both men’s faces as they tried to digest the truth.

She held out the letters to her uncle, and he immediately grabbed them and tried to understand what she meant.

“You are right, Elizabeth. I do know that Fanny writes the letter “y” this way.”

He handed the letters to Lord Anderson, and he quickly compared them.

This cannot be possible. Was I tricked? If this is true, I abandoned Sarah and let her face the wrath of this world because of my stupidity.

He looked at Elizabeth with guilt.

“The letters reached you through Mrs. Lewis, am I right?” Darcy asked Lord Anderson.

“Yes, I did not trust anyone else. That is why I never doubted the credibility of them.”

“I still cannot believe that Fanny did something like this. But why? What could be the motive? The letters mention Sarah’s marriage; if Fanny had written them all, she must have been aware of it.

But she also chose to hide it. I cannot explain how much we resented Sarah for her condition.

Fanny witnessed everything but kept silent, and this is beyond cruelty. ”

“I no longer doubt what she is capable of, Uncle, and I say this because I have personally experienced her evil schemes. Please tell me, how was her relationship with my mother? Were they close?”

“They were, especially after I returned. Though Father and I were angry with Sarah, Fanny was not; at least, that was what I thought. She had been with her always since Mrs. Lewis left.”

Everyone understood that they could not prove anything unless Mrs. Lewis was found.

“Elizabeth, I promise you, I will try my best to find Mrs. Lewis. I am heading to meet some old acquaintances of our family to see if anyone has any information about her. I will keep you and Mr. Darcy apprised of what I find,” Mr. Gardiner said and then left them.

Elizabeth immediately excused herself and left to meet Georgiana. Before supper, she was summoned by Darcy, and when she entered the study, she was surprised to see a handsome man seated along with Darcy.

The expression on his face as she walked in was pure shock, and Elizabeth could not make sense of it.

“Elizabeth, allow me to introduce you to my best friend, Mr. Charles Bingley. I stayed with him during my time in Hertfordshire. Charles, this is Miss Smith, and for your better understanding, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, Mary’s sister,” he said, and from the tone of his voice, Elizabeth understood that Mr. Bingley was aware of her past.

Darcy stood and walked up to Elizabeth and held her hand. Mr. Bingley stared at her in silence, unable to say anything.

“It is my pleasure to meet you finally, Mr. Bingley. I have heard so much about you from Fitzwilliam, and I must mention that Mary wrote a lot about you in her letters,” Elizabeth said.

“I am engaged to her,” Mr. Bingley blurted out without thought.

“What?” cried Elizabeth.

His friend’s conversational skills amused Darcy for the first time. Unlike Darcy, Mr. Bingley was always confident when it came to making a good first impression, but now, he stood there tongue-tied after declaring he was engaged to Mary.

“Fitzwilliam, I do not understand; Mary did not mention anything in her previous letter.”

“Well, they got engaged only a few days ago.”

Finally, Mr. Bingley collected himself.

“I apologize, Miss Elizabeth. It is indeed a pleasure to meet you. I am sorry, but I am still shocked to hear the details Darcy related to me now. I did not have the slightest idea about the Bennet family holding such a secret. I can now understand why Mary has been distressed since our engagement.”

“Please do not be upset with her for keeping you in the dark. She is still unaware of so many details and does not even know I found out who my father was. I have not written to her about it. If I am standing here today, alive and happy, it is because of her. Please do not think she kept this from you on purpose.”

“I could never think ill of her. After becoming aware of this secret, I am only concerned about her welfare. Her parents may do anything for money, but I am disgusted by the truth. I told Darcy we wanted to get married soon, and now I plan to do so without wasting time. I am uncomfortable allowing Mary to stay there. As you say, I am very proud of what she has done, and to have lived in the same house all these monthswith such toxic people must have been heartbreaking. She has nothing but compassion for people around her. I am so glad to have her as my wife, and congratulations to you and Darcy.”

Elizabeth was relieved and grateful to hear his words. She was thrilled for Mary, and from the words in her letters, she had always doubted that she had fallen in love with Mr. Bingley.

“We will be happy to attend your wedding and then leave for Derbyshire for ours. You both can accompany us along,” Darcy said.

“When are you planning to confront the Bennets?” he asked.

“Very soon, we are trying to find Mrs. Lewis, and I am certain we will have enough evidence to punish them for what they did.”

“Mr. Bingley, how is she? I have missed her so much. I am certain she must be very happy now to have your love and support,” Elizabeth asked.

“She is well, and I hope I can give her the happiness she deserves. Your sister has remarkable qualities, Miss Elizabeth, and I need not emphasize her compassion and kindness to you. I will wait for your arrival. I extend the invitation to Lord Anderson and Miss Elizabeth’s uncle to stay at Netherfield.

I plan to return to Hertfordshire today; I want to be by Mary’s side. ”

“Please inform her that we will visit soon,” Elizabeth told Mr. Bingley.

“I will and do not worry about anything,” Mr. Bingley said and left them.

“Did you know that he was engaged to Mary?” Elizabeth asked Darcy once he took leave.

“No! Both of us surprised each other today declaring our engagements. But I must say Bingley got the shock of his life when I related that you were Mary’s sister.”

“He seems too good for the world,” Elizabeth said and smiled.

“He is, and they will make a wonderful pair. I am certain they will be wed before we return to Derbyshire.”

Elizabeth, however, was in deep thought.

“Are you worried about how things would transpire when we visit Longbourn?”

“I am, as I am certain now that she forged these letters. I feel she did not want my mother to be happy, which is why she did it. But even if you think that way, how could one be so cruel to their sibling? When I think about it, she tried to do the same to me; she wanted to ruin my life as well,” she cried with distress.

“Considering how Mr. Bennet treated you, I will not be surprised if he is involved as well,” Darcy said.

“I am worried, and honestly, I am scared. Once the truth comes out, I do not know how many people will get hurt.”

“You need to trust me; I will not allow anyone innocent to get hurt. But those guilty will not be spared, and Lord Anderson feels the same way.”

“It is amusing; he is the one topping the list,” Elizabeth laughed. Darcy stared at her without uttering a word, relishing in the joy he experienced while she laughed, making her blush.

“Why are you looking at me so?” she asked.

“How am I looking at you?” he asked, his gaze making her shiver. Charlotte’s words echoed in her mind, and she suddenly wondered where Georgiana was.

“Are you searching for the innocent Chaperone?” he asked.

“I…well…”

“She must be in the music room,” he said, holding the door for her to walk out. Elizabeth composed herself, not wanting him to sense her feelings.

“I wish you could stay with us. I feel so bored without you,” Georgiana said with regret as they sat by the pianoforte.

“I miss you too. Will you play for me?” Elizabeth asked, enjoying listening to Georgiana as she played.

Darcy sat in silence, admiring the bond between the sisters.

I cannot tell you how much your absence affects me.

Now that his friend was contemplating a date for his marriage, Darcy was impatient to make plans for his own.

However, he did not want Elizabeth to feel pressured or guilty and decided to keep his thoughts to himself.

Darcy half-heartedly prepared to take Elizabeth back to Charlotte’s house; when she left, Elizabeth searched for Lord Anderson, and the housekeeper informed her that he was not home.

Darcy wondered where he was, and Elizabeth was confused as well.

“How is he?” she asked Darcy.

“Lord Anderson?”

“Yes!”

“He seemed a little shaken after your declaration about the letters today.”

“Does he have any acquaintance in town? Where is he?” she asked.

“He may have; after all, this is where he met your mother.”

“Is he cordial with you?” she asked.

“Elizabeth, we are not schoolboys; we are civil to each other. I have known him for years but have never understood him like I do now.”

Elizabeth did not know what to make of his words and thought it was better not to ask. She bid him goodbye as they reached Charlotte’s house, and Darcy had another critical matter to take care of that day.

He did not return home but made his way to an inn on the other side of town, clenching his fist. Darcy had waited for the moment for many weeks now, and he could not control his rage.

Once the carriage stopped, he hurried out, and it was dark. He asked the innkeeper about the whereabouts of the man he was looking for and ran up the stairs.

It is time for you to pay for what you did to her.

In a rage, Darcy kicked open the door and was shocked to see the state of affairs inside.

“Lord Anderson, what are you doing here?”