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“ F itzwilliam, are you certain?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes, I am. I received a letter from Philip before we left, and he has stated the same.”

“You do not know how glad I am to hear that Lady Isabella is to return to Ashton Park. I knew Lord Ashton would forgive her. After all, she did not do anything knowingly. It was all due to circumstances, and one cannot blame her for her decisions,” Elizabeth said and saw Darcy keenly observing her.

“So, you state that people can commit mistakes without intention and deserve forgiveness?”

“I do, but there are exceptions,” she said in a low voice, well aware of whom he referred to, as they sat, breaking their fast in one of the inns.

Georgiana was also thrilled to hear the news, and it was a couple of days into their journey to Derbyshire.

It was painful for Darcy to watch the discomfort between Elizabeth and her father while they were in each other’s company.

Elizabeth tried to find an opportunity to have the conversation she wanted to have with Lord Anderson during their travel but could not do so.

Something had changed in how Elizabeth felt toward him, but she was unwilling to acknowledge it.

She was not confident in her own resolve to converse with him and explain her stance on their relationship.

Now, she had only one day left before they reached their destination and decided to seek Darcy’s help in the matter.

“Fitzwilliam, please, I need your help as I cannot say this to him,” she pleaded.

Darcy was shocked by her request.

“Do you want me to ask him to leave before our wedding?”

Elizabeth was silent, and Georgiana, who was a part of their conversation, was also troubled by Elizabeth’s words. According to her, Elizabeth could not hurt anyone, let alone her father.

“He plans to stay for your wedding, and he understands your sentiments in the matter and is under the assumption that Mr. Gardiner will walk you down the aisle. Lord Anderson understands that you do not want him to be involved in the ceremony but asking him not to attend our wedding is beyond imagination. Honestly, I did not expect this from you,” Darcy said with distress.

“What did you expect from me? You expect me to accept him as my father and accept everything he wants to do for me. There is no reason he should stay for our wedding. He has a family of his own and has nothing to do with me. Whatever he wanted to prove has been proved about the past which is why he accompanied us to town. Now, there is no reason for him to stay for our wedding, and it is better for everyone, especially his family.”

“We cannot judge what is good for him or dictate his sentiments toward our wedding. If you think I can break that poor man’s heart by asking him not to attend his daughter’s wedding, then I am sorry.

I could never do that. What I don’t understand is that you have always been open about your hatred towards him; you have argued, reasoned, and spoken to him without any guilt of hurting him until now.

If you want to tell him this, I don’t think you will have any scruples in doing so; why don’t you do it by yourself? ” he asked.

“I just cannot,” Elizabeth replied, and Darcy knew very well why.

It is because, in your heart, you have forgiven him, and you are struggling to acknowledge that you want to accept him as your father.

“Lizzy, please do not do this. I stayed with Lord Anderson most of the time in the house; and he seemed truly sorry for his past actions. I cannot imagine how he would feel if you asked him to avoid your wedding.”

“Just imagine how awkward it would be if he attends. He shall be forever at odds with his wife and daughter, who already hate me. His life is with them, and while I have no regard for him, he wastes time trying to change my mind.”

“You seem to care about him, and I think that is why you are thinking about his well-being,” Georgiana pointed out, much to Elizabeth’s shock.

“No, I do not; I simply find his presence unnecessary and his expectations about us a waste of time,” she said and looked at Darcy.

“I cannot be your advocate in this, Elizabeth. I am sorry,” he said.

She sighed and realized that no matter how difficult it was, she would convince Lord Anderson to stay away from her life.

But in her heart, she knew that as difficult as it was to acknowledge him as her father at her wedding, it would be even more challenging to watch him attend the same as a stranger.

They were to reach Ashton Park the following day, and Elizabeth decided to speak with him before supper. Lord Anderson was surprised by the request.

“May I ask what this is about?” he asked Darcy.

“I think she wants to speak with you regarding the wedding; she is waiting in the parlor,” Darcy said.

From the look on Darcy’s face, Lord Anderson was certain that whatever the conversation was about was of a serious nature.

Elizabeth stood in the private parlor adjacent to her room, anticipating Lord Anderson’s arrival. She tried to compose herself and resolved to keep the conversation short.

When Lord Anderson entered the room, she held on to the chair for support. Neither of them said a word for a couple of minutes, each studying the expression of the other and trying to read the other’s mind.

“Mr. Darcy said that you wished to speak to me,” Lord Anderson said.

“Yes…yes, I did,” she replied, and he waited for her to continue.

“I do not want to revisit the past, assess what happened in the past few weeks, or discuss anything that would result in only pain for both of us. I understand from Fitzwilliam that you plan on attending our wedding,” she said.

“Yes, I do,” he replied.

She does not want me to walk her down the aisle; this must be about the same.

Elizabeth paused for a few seconds and then continued.

“I kindly request you not to attend it,” she said inwardly, trembling.

She witnessed the shock and confusion on his face.

“Not attend your…” he was unable to complete the sentence.

“Yes, not attend my wedding.”

He took a few steps forward and stood right in front of her.

“How could you be so cruel?” he asked.

“I am not being cruel; I am trying to save you from distress. You have a family waiting for you to return to Scotland, and there is no reason for you to be present at my wedding, as I am well aware of your wife’s sentiments towards me.”

“Nothing would distress me more than not being present on the happiest day of your life. I understand your resentment towards me, and I promised you I would never cause you any distress in the future. But this is unacceptable; you are doing this out of spite and to hurt me.”

“What am I to get by hurting you? Please understand this: we have nothing between us, at least not on my part. You have a family, and your priorities lie with them.”

“Don’t you dare tell me where my priorities should lie. You are my family, my daughter, and as much as you deny it, you are too intelligent not to understand the same.”

Elizabeth stared at him in silence as tears built up in her eyes.

“Your daughter is waiting for you in Ashton Park. I am the child you never knew you had, and I want it to stay that way. Lord Anderson, I do not want you to be present for my wedding. I hope you are intelligent enough to understand my request. As you stated, it will be the happiest day of my life, and I don’t want to see you there reminding me of my mother’s misery. ”

“All right, I did make a mistake, a blunder that will never let me rest in peace, even in my grave. I was responsible for your mother’s misery and yours as well; I accept my fault. But can you not see that I was deceived in this as well? I was deprived of a life with the only woman I ever loved.”

“The only woman you state? Then what about Lady Anderson? You married her and have lived happily all these years, and as a result of your happiness, you have a daughter. If you really loved my mother, you would have never married anyone else.”

“How can you say that I lived happily? You seem to possess the art of perceiving everyone’s feelings and sentiments according to your needs.”

“Why? Am I stating something untrue? You married someone else after sending her the money; it was so easy for you to do so.”

To her surprise, Lord Anderson started pacing the room, trying to calm himself.

“It was never easy for me to do so. I did not marry her out of love. I never loved Augusta and never could.”

“Then you deceived her as well. If you think you are defending yourself or striving to gain my favor, you are doing a very poor job,” Elizabeth said sarcastically.

“Enough!” Lord Anderson cried with rage and grabbed her by her arm.

“Yes, I made a grave mistake by marrying Augusta, but I never forgot your mother. I never forgot the one day we spent together as man and wife. There was only room in my heart for one woman whose eyes, smile, and kindness still live with me. I have never lived a happy life, as every day has been nothing but torture for me. Let me make it simple for you if you are hesitant to ask how I have a daughter out of a loveless marriage. Beatrice is not my daughter,” he cried.

Elizabeth stared at him in disbelief.

“What?”

“Yes, you heard me. She is not my daughter. I married Augusta, and I was well aware of her condition; she was pregnant before we got married. No one knows this except Augusta’s mother and me.”

Elizabeth was unable to process his words.

No! This cannot be true. How could this be possible?

“I am not revealing this to prove anything here, but I cannot bear that you thought my love for your mother was so frugal.”

“I do not understand; why did you have to marry her?”