by Kate Speck
“What are you doing here, Anne?” Lady Catherine screeched and looked at Mrs. Jenkinson to answer on Anne’s behalf. “Why has no one informed me ahead of this visit? Brother, I thought you were keeping her for the Season to look for a husband. With Darcy married off, you are not seriously considering marrying my daughter to your son, are you?”
Anne laughed before the others could respond, “Oh, mother, I will not marry anyone.” She chuckled louder when Lady Catherine’s mouth dropped open. “I have faced my greatest fear in Hertfordshire and I have won and will no longer be ruled by my anxieties but do as I wish from now on. Papa left me as heiress to Rosings Park and I have made Richard the executor of my estate, and uncle is here to ensure you will abide by my wishes. You will be moved to the dower house this week and Richard will be master here while I travel to see the world. Darcy and Elizabeth have invited me to Pemberley and I will join them next month then travel to Scotland and Ireland. Uncle and Aunt Margaret will accompany me and my dear friend Lady Andover will host me in her homes in the north. I know that I have a weak constitution and I am not fit to marry, but I wish to travel and attend parties and find enjoyment in life, mother. I will no longer sit silently like a vapid creature and I plan on improving the lives of our tenants, starting with Mr. Collins and his new wife. Charlotte Collins and I have been writing to each other and she has told me all about the parish and their needs. She will make her husband a better man once you cease your meddling and Richard will be an excellent master here. I plan on throwing a big party in a week and I will invite you if you would like, mother. Your reign is over and it is time you find your own happiness without interfering in everyone else’s life.”
Lady Catherine could hardly believe what she was hearing but one look at her brother and she knew her life of comfort and power was at an end. With Richard as master, she knew her headstrong nephew would not listen to her wisdoms and she only wished for distance from Rosings so she would not have to face the tenants with her humiliation.
After some negotiations, Anne agreed to allow her mother to take the London townhouse and live in comfort with the remainder of her settlement funds. Her father had been kind and Lady Catherine would not have to worry for her future, as long as she was frugal in the years to come.
~*~
“What do you mean the baby is coming now?!” Samuel Allens yelled at his wife. “Is there a real danger if you give birth too early? Our house is finally ready and we are supposed to move to Cumberland tomorrow. You were not due for another month yet, Caroline!”
“Oh, shut up, Samuel! The babe is coming now and there is nothing to be done! You were only able to build the manor by my agreeing to an enormous loan using my dowry as collateral and our travel will have to wait.” Caroline screamed out. “Go and call for a midwife! The babe is arriving NOW!”
Mr. Allens panicked and promptly fainted instead of being used to his wife. Caroline groaned loudly and commanded her housekeeper to call for the midwife while the butler and three footmen dragged the master out of the mistress’ room.
After hours of screaming and cursing, the wails of a babe were heard in the grand mansion located in the large estate in Sussex. Although shunned by those with connections to the haute monde, the Allenses were accepted here enough by those of lower circles, mainly due to their fortune. The plan had been to stay at Stoneman Lodge until Pemberston Mansion was as completed in Cumberland.
Mr. Allens looked at the babe in his arms and smiled. “I am proud of you, Caroline. Although the babe arrived early, she seems large and healthy. I would have liked an heir first but I am certain you will do your duty next time. She has very dark hair and I am surprised that she is so dark, considering that your siblings all have red hair and all my family members are very fair.”
Caroline gulped, “Well, it must be from someone in our family, Samuel. Perhaps I have had a grandmother with dark hair.”
Mr. Allens readily accepted the explanation and after a kiss on his wife’s forehead, he left mother and daughter to celebrate with his favourite courtesan a few miles away.
~*~
Due to the birth of the babe, the Allenses could not relocate to their magnificent new estate until November. It was a long journey to their home located twenty miles south from the Scotland border but when Caroline Allens at last lay her sights on the grand estate that she had commissioned, tears rose to her eyes. It was fashioned in the model of Pemberley with large pillars and numerous windows placed in the middle of the lowlands for everyone to appreciate its grandeur.
“It is a been awkwardly placed, is it not, Caroline? Did you indeed order so many windows? It is a large house but it is only a ten-bedroom home and the taxes on them are going to be ridiculous.” Allens commented as he stuck his head out of the grand carriage.
“It is what we deserve,” Caroline retorted. “You will show them all that you are master here with our twenty servants and I will instruct you on how to make your tenants work harder and increase your income. Your steward has sent reports of the harvest being profitable and we will at last see our income from the tenants next month.”
The master and mistress of the newest manor in this town walked in with their heads raised high and entered their new home, only for their mouths to drop open when they saw the interior.
It was barely furnished and drafty, even though every furnace had fires burning. The housekeeper explained after Caroline shrieked and complained, “I understand, madam. The furniture pieces have been delayed due to the lack of gilded accents as you had requested and are due to arrive in a month. The heat situation has been looked into but because of the designs of the high ceilings of every room, the heat rises high and escapes immediately out the windows. During the summer, the sunlight will shine in through the windows and it will be incredibly hot, while winter will continue to be very cold. We have burned more fires in anticipation of your arrival but we will go through a year’s worth of supplies in a month if we continue to burn at this rate.”
Samuel Allens dismissed the housekeeper and growled, “This is a ridiculous design, Caroline. The ceilings are two stories high in every room and the number of windows are idiotic. The few furnishings here are awfully uncomfortable and it will cost a fortune just to heat up this place. What the hell were you thinking to commission such a stupid house?”
“Oh, shut up, Samuel!” Caroline screeched, “It is was my money that paid for all of this and once the rest of the glorious furniture arrive, you will see my tastes to perfection. Just have the fires burn stronger. It will warm up eventually and we will close of parts of the mansion that we do not use. It will be fine!”
“Mansion! You are a fool, wife. You may call this a grand mansion but only the outside is ostentatious and is a small manor at best. We have no need for so many servants and we will go through all of our money at this rate.” Mr. Allens scoffed. “We must economize if we have a chance of saving some income.”
“MY MONEY!” Caroline screamed. “Not ‘OUR MONEY’, husband. I have signed off all but £3,000 of my dowry and I am counting on you to work hard to make my life comfortable from now on. You must provide for my daughter and me and put money aside for her dowry.”
Being as lackadaisical as always, Samuel Allens waved her off and retreated to the master's rooms. It was also freezing cold there even with his large body, so he sought the prettiest maid he could find to lay with him through the night to keep himself warm.
Unfortunately for Caroline Bingley Allens, her husband died in his bed while in the throes of passion with a young maid a month later. The newly widowed woman could do naught but to write to her mother in law to share the news of his death and knew that any chance of a comfortable future was over.
~*~
“I am so sad to hear of Caroline Allens’ misfortune, William,” Elizabeth wiped her eyes. “Her husband is dead and she will have to raise her daughter all alone. She has very little of her dowry left and Mrs. Allens has been kind enough to offer her a cott
age on the estate but will not acknowledge Caroline’s daughter as her granddaughter. She knows full well that George Wickham is the father of the little girl.”
Darcy rubbed her back. “It will be well, my love. Your sister has been generous and will accept her at Netherfield, and Bingley truly believes she is repentant of her past behaviours. Now that she is left with £150 per year, Mrs. Allens has no choice but to retrench and will finally learn her place in the world.” He chuckled, “Steven Allens has written to Uncle Gardiner for assistance and uncle begged for my input since we are closest to Cumberland. I am afraid Caroline Allens’ grand mansion flooded once again and the only recourse is to install a man-made river to divert the rainwater to the back of the house. Along with the modification needed within the house itself, it will cost at least one thousand pounds to make the home liveable.”
Elizabeth replied, “I cannot understand why the house was built in such a way! Aunt Madeline learned from Mrs. Allens that the outside was gaudy and the furnishings inside unusable and Caroline spent £10,000 of her fortune to design it exactly as it stands. How one can have such terrible taste is incredible to me.”
“She has no taste and I was in awe to hear that she had signed away £15,000 of her dowry for a £10,000 loan. I could have never imagined a person making such an awful financial decision. To sign a fifty per cent interest is unheard of!” Darcy retorted. “She has no taste and no sense and I am certain she drove Allens insane before his heart exploded. I am glad for Steven Allens, though. He is a good man and he will take good care of his mother and his new inheritance.”
“Well, as long as she accepts Charles and Jane’s generosity and keeps out of trouble, she will be comfortable in Hertfordshire. Even if she has called it a ‘backwater country’ and hated the thought of residing there, many of my family will be there to keep her straight and care for her daughter. Amelia Allens will have friends near her age growing up and Jane and Mary will do what they can.” Elizabeth added. “Thank you for allowing all of my family to enjoy Christmas at Pemberley, my love. Our home was so comfortable for everyone, even if Mrs. Reynold constantly bemoaned that it could have been better with so many nobilities under one roof.”
“You did a marvellous job and I could not have been prouder. Pemberley is the best pace in the world, even if for two people or two and twenty. You are the best mistress I could have ever wished, Mrs. Darcy.” Her husband kissed her lips and caressed her arm. “Do you think we can work on making our heir now? We might have half an hour before…”
His seduction was interrupted when there was a knock on the door to the drawing room. Darcy smiled and bid the intruder to enter.
“Guess who is awake!” Georgiana excitedly entered. “My beautiful niece had a long nap and is awake to play with us again!”
“Georgie! Were you waiting by the nursery door again so you could swoop her up as soon as she awoke? She will be far too spoiled with her doting aunt at her whim!” Elizabeth teased.
Darcy chuckled, as he kissed his daughter’s hand. “Dianne Margaret Darcy, what has your aunt done to you? This appears to be yet another new dress. Georgie, did you make this one, too? I believe she has more dresses than the queen!”
They laughed and played with the baby and planned for their trip to London the next week to enjoy the spring season in town. Georgiana would be formally presented and they would visit Hertfordshire and Rosings before returning home for the summer.
~*~
Richard Fitzwilliam gulped when he saw her. Becoming master of Rosings, he had finally retired last year and was on the hunt for a wife but no one had turned his eye until he saw the woman of his dreams.
“Darcy,” he nudged his cousin, “I am a dead man. Your wife is going to kill me, will she not?”
Darcy laughed at his heroic cousin who was not afraid of anything but of Elizabeth and Georgiana. “Perhaps she will, Richard, but as long as you do not hurt her, my wife will be happy for you. Go; go find your future.”
Richard straightened his jacket and approached the beautiful woman with dark hair and bright eyes to ask for a dance.
Elizabeth approached with a gleam in her eye. “Just as I thought, William. Richard is smitten and I knew they would be a good match.”
“I thought so as well, Elizabeth. We only had to wait until Kitty was formally out for him to see her as a woman. She does look most like you so I am not surprised, my dear wife. She is not as beautiful as you but he will be a good husband to her if things go well.” Darcy kissed her hand.
“Papa and stepmother are so happy to be staying with us again and they do truly love Darcy House. Not as much as Pemberley, but papa enjoys the library and seeing his friends again. Lord Suffolk and Uncle Harold have been so kind to all of our family and Georgiana will be scooped up in no time if she will accept a suitor.” Elizabeth looked fondly at her sister in law who was dancing with a son of a duke. “She has had so many callers but none has inspired her yet. I love having her with us but I do hope she finds love soon.”
Darcy rubbed her hand, “She is young yet and I do not wish to let her go so soon. I hope for a few more years with her and you know she is in no rush to marry, Elizabeth. She loves being a doting aunt and is excited to have another niece or nephew to spoil. Are you certain you are feeling well, my love? We can return home anytime you wish.”
Elizabeth leaned against his arm and smiled. “I am fine, William. This babe feels quite different from little Dianne but I took your advice to rest all day and I am feeling well. It seems we will have another autumn babe and with your consent, we will have the whole clan at Pemberley again this Christmas.”
“It is absolutely agreeable, my dear wife.” Darcy chuckled. “I infinitely prefer being at home and as long as you are safe and comfortable, wherever you are, I am home, my Beth. Now, how about another dance? Shall we scandalise society by dancing four times together? They will believe me to be the most arrogant gentleman in town with my selfishness!”
The couple laughed and began to dance the next set, and the crowd gossiped on how well the pair looked and if it would have been possible for any other lady to bring the formerly taciturn man from his aloofness.
Epilogue
Jane and Charles Bingley had their heir within the first year of marriage as well as three more offspring in the next five years. The number of children from the Bingleys, Darcys, Kings, as well as the eventual Fitzwilliams were massive, and when Lydia, at seventeen, married Steven Allens’ son, Joshua Allens, who was four and twenty and heir to Claymore Manor, formerly Pemberston Mansion, the Bennet daughters were all married off and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet enjoyed their numerous grandchildren in the years to come.
Anne de Bourgh eventually left England with her faithful companion and wrote to Richard Fitzwilliam that life in the West Indies was ideal and that she had no plans to return. The weather was most agreeable and although still weak, Anne was able to live a full life which she had never thought possible before.
Lady Catherine remained in London for the rest of her life, reconciling with her dearest friend Lady Metcalfe, and finding some enjoyments in her life that did not involve telling others what to do. Lady Matlock subtly supported her as long as she behaved herself and the years passed peacefully for the once impossibly demanding woman.
Caroline Allens apologised to the Darcys for her horrid behaviours in the past, but seeing that there was a glimmer of hope for her husband’s attentions, Elizabeth avoided her at all cost. Darcy remained unforgiving of that woman’s follies and vices and although attempting to remain civil in public outings, he refused to attend dinners or parties where the widow was invited.
Caroline remarried a gentleman of £1,000 per annum five years after her first husband died and was able to give her second husband two daughters. She bemoaned that she only birthed three daughters in total and constantly worried that she would be thrown in the hedgerows should her second husband perish before her, leaving her destitute and her daughter with only a thousa
nd each at her passing. The Hursts faithfully promised her that they would find her at least a small cottage to live and attempted to assuage her worries. It was only when the eldest Hurst heir asked for her daughter Amelia’s hand in marriage that Caroline could settle her anxieties and be a calmer woman.
~*~
Georgiana Darcy waited for years to find the perfect companion for her life and after three years of informal courtship, she finally married at the age of two and twenty to the man who loved her with all of his heart.
Darcy discreetly wiped his eyes at the front of the church as he walked his baby sister to the altar to become Mrs. Brandon Bennet. Elizabeth rubbed his hand while Dianne Darcy sat next to her and he held Thomas Harold Darcy on his lap. He looked down and smiled at his wife and kissed baby Edward George Darcy’s forehead in Elizabeth’s arms.
After the ceremony, all of the Bennet daughters and their husbands celebrated with a grand wedding breakfast and the festivities lasted yet another fortnight after the newlywed had departed for their wedding trip.
It would become tradition for years for the Bennets, Kingstons, Gardiners, and the Darcys to spend each significant holidays together and the love for each other grew every year.
~*~
“Are you ready, my love?” Elizabeth gently ran her fingers through Darcy’s hair as he sat at his desk to finish a letter. “I thought I would be a crying mess today but it seems you are more affected.”
Darcy wiped his face quickly and smiled, “It is not every day that a father gets to walk his little princess down the aisle, Elizabeth. I was touched at Georgiana’s wedding but our dear daughter will no longer bear the Darcy name after today.”
Elizabeth sat on his lap and kissed his lips affectionately. “You are the best of men and best of fathers, William. You do have another daughter at home still but I know the first is the hardest. I believe my father was the same and he had five daughters!”
Darcy ardently kissed his wife. “None of it would have been possible without you, my Beth. It is all due to you that we are so blissfully happy.”
