Page 95 of The Shades of Pemberley

S ubsequent years proved Elizabeth’s supposition, for the Darcys lived in happiness, and her husband was very attentive to her.

Before the end, they had six children, three boys, tall, handsome, and dark who took after their father, and three girls with beautiful eyes, pert opinions, and gay laughter that lightened the hearts of all who heard them.

The youngest, Cassandra Darcy, was a surprise, coming more than five years after her elder brother, when the Darcys thought their days of populating the earth with Darcys were at an end.

It was not long before the girl learned that she had her parents and elder siblings wrapped around her finger, but they taught her good morals and restraint, leaving her only a little spoiled.

The Bingleys, their closest relations, moved to an estate not more than ten miles from Pemberley only two years after their wedding, and their intimacy and nearness guaranteed the family would be the closest for the rest of their lives.

Jane Bingley was not so prolific at begetting children as her younger sister, but she produced four—three boys and one little girl, whose situation was much like Cassandra Darcy’s, being the youngest by several years.

As Jane and Bingley were both of complying temperaments, it could not be said that Elizabeth Bingley was unspoiled like her cousin, but her angelic demeanor, much like her mother’s, blunted the worst of whatever excesses she might have contemplated.

As for the youngest Bennets, Mary found a baronet who could not live without her and married, settling in Hampshire, while Kitty and Lydia each found gentlemen of their own who, though their situations were not so fortunate as their elder sisters’ husbands, cherished their wives and gave them excellent lives, full of laughter, children of their own, and lifelong associations.

Their parents, by contrast, lived at Longbourn but infrequently.

By the time Elizabeth gave birth to her first son, Mr. Bennet had acted within the law to bar Mr. Collins from inheriting the estate, which Elizabeth thought was nothing more than justice for the way he had behaved at his patroness’s behest. What Mr. Collins said when notified of the action, none of them could say, for no one in the family ever saw the man again.

Through Lord Matlock’s connections, they learned that after he spent several years at Merton College, he was assigned to a parish in Lancashire as a curate under a strict parson.

Whether he ever attained the rank of parson again, none of the family ever knew, nor did they care to know.

With the estate secure, Mr. Bennet altered his will, leaving Longbourn to Jane’s second son.

Then, with Darcy’s assistance, he hired an excellent steward to manage the property, ceding the care to the steward.

For the remainder of their lives, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet spent their time visiting their five daughters and their families, though the excellent library at Pemberley drew Mr. Bennet’s frequent visits, often departing from one of his other daughters’ homes for Pemberley mid-visit.

The family looked on this eccentricity with fondness, and Darcy, esteeming his father-in-law as he did, enjoyed having him in residence.

As for the other characters in our tale, Colonel Fitzwilliam wed Anne de Bourgh the year after the Darcys’ union, and they settled in to raise their two children.

Lady Catherine was a part of their lives, reconciling with most of the family, though the bonds between them were often strained.

It was no surprise to anyone that she dispensed her “wisdom” to her daughter at every opportunity—that Mrs. Fitzwilliam ignored her, and Colonel Fitzwilliam instructed her to stop whenever her advice became too onerous was no less shocking.

As for Pemberley and the Darcys, Lady Catherine could not abide their presence.

This was no hardship for the Darcys, who well remembered her attempts to separate them.

Miss Caroline Bingley also found her happiness, Darcy’s friend Mr. Brooks, who, though a confirmed bachelor, was won over by the pretty and proper sister of Darcy’s friend.

The relationship between the Darcys and Mrs. Brooks, though it had started in acrimony and ambition, had warmed enough that she and her new husband were always welcome in their circle.

Though Miss Bingley did not gain Pemberley, she gained something far more valuable—a husband who adored her, children of her own, and an excellent perspective on the important things in life.

Georgiana too flourished under Darcy’s protection and Elizabeth’s loving care, and she learned to consider them her second family.

As the only remaining member of the previous Darcy family at Pemberley, she sometimes struggled with guilt or sorrow when she considered she was the only survivor, but she learned to accept it and move forward as she knew her family would have wanted.

When she met and married the man of her dreams, Georgiana left for a home of her own, but she never forgot her origins and remained close with her adoptive family for the rest of her life.

When Darcy and Elizabeth looked back on those years, it was with soberness, regret for the life lost to the lust of a man without morals, but grateful for the life they led.

Pemberley was everything they could ever want, and they lived their lives, managed the estate, and raised their children to be a credit to those who had gone before.

The End