Epilogue

Late April, 1821

W ith the approach of Easter, the whole of the extended family would be at Pembroke Ridge for a fortnight. The tradition had begun with the Easter after the double wedding in 1811. At that time it had been held at Rosings Park.

Mary, Richard, Elizabeth, and Darcy had ridden up a hill which gave a good view of the pasture for the one-year old horses playing rambunctiously below them. The four would often take early morning rides together without those of their children who had begun to ride.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

With her heart not able to soldier on, when Anne passed away in June 1814, the estate became the property of Richard Fitzwilliam without any sort of entail. As such, he and Mary had fulfilled a wish that they desired to be much closer to Elizabeth and William. To that end, Richard had offered his estate for sale. It had only taken three months before one of the many offers, one a little above what he had asked for, was accepted. At about the same time, the estate of Pembroke Ridge on the Derbyshire side of the border with Nottinghamshire had to be sold thanks to the profligate ways of its master.

The estate was only six miles from Metting, and four miles from Lambert Hills. Best of all, it was a little further than twenty miles from Pemberley and Snowhaven. Due to the fact the owner needed liquid funds with urgency, he had not been in a good position to negotiate. In the end the estate had been sold for a considerable amount less than the amount netted from the sale of Rosings Park.

Thanks to the fact their new estate had plentiful areas of good pastures, Richard was able to indulge his passion for horses, and began a horse breeding programme. With the money left over from the sale of the estate in Kent there had been more than enough to build extensive stables and acquire the horses needed to seed the programme. As would be expected of one who used to be an officer, the first place Richard looked to find men to staff his estate was among soldiers who had been released from the army after Waterloo.

Now after more than seven years at the new estate, the fame of the Pembroke Ridge bloodlines was well known throughout the realm, and there was an extensive list of those waiting to purchase one of the horses. There were many more buyers than horses available for sale, so some of the men employed at the stables made sure those who were permitted to purchase one of the estate's horses would treat them as they should and not with cruelty. In fact, there was a clause in the sale contract which allowed the horse to be confiscated, and returned to Pembroke Ridge if any trace of mistreatment was discovered. In such cases the purchaser would not be refunded, even a single penny.

The Fitzwilliams had been the first to be blessed with a child. Jane Elaine Fitzwilliam had been born in April 1812. She had been followed by two sons, James and Andrew born August 1814, and January 1818, respectively.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

The Darcys had not waited much longer than Mary and Richard Fitzwilliam to be blessed with their first child. Bennet Robert, Ben to all in the family, arrived in June 1812. Alexander Richard was born almost two years after in May 1814. In July 1816, Robert Thomas had joined the family. Darcy had begun to despair he would only have sons. That is until, much to her parents' joy, Annabeth Frances entered the world in March 1818. Annabeth who had recently turned three was the apple of her father's eye, even though Darcy was careful never to show favouritism to any of his children. The reason was simple. The mite was an exact copy of her mother in her character, colouring, hair, and eyes. Thanks to Elizabeth being far more fecund than she ever hoped to be, Mary Janine Darcy arrived in February 1820. Mary had her mother's hair colour, but straight like her namesake, and she had the Darcy and Fitzwilliam blue eyes.

The babe of the Darcy family had turned one not long after Elizabeth had weaned her. Like all of her sisters, Elizabeth eschewed a wetnurse and fed each of her children until they were weaned.

To date, none of the Darcy or Fitzwilliam children had agreed to call Henry Thomas Bennet uncle. He had been born in September 1811. Henry had his father's sardonic wit and although he cared not for the appellation of uncle, it did not stop him from attempting to have his nieces and nephews address him thusly.

With Henry's birth, the question as to who would inherit Longbourn had been answered definitively. It also meant that the unbroken line of Bennets who had been masters of Longbourn since shortly before the Magna Carta was signed, would not end with the future death of Thomas Bennet. To say that Fanny Bennet had been pleased when she was told that she had finally done her duty and presented her husband with a son was a gross understatement.

The Bennets were already present at Pembroke Ridge. Over the years of Elizabeth's marriage to Darcy, the Bennets had visited Pemberley at least twice a year, and Bennet had realised his wish of spending time—but not too much—in his son-in-law's magnificent library. On his first visit he had pronounced himself satisfied that his old friends were very well taken care of at Pemberley.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~ ~

While Richard pointed out some of the fillies and colts he had his eye on to keep and not sell, Elizabeth leaned over to Mary. "Did you ever imagine when we came to recover at Lambert Hills after Janey was lost, you and I would be married to the best of men, and we would both be mistresses of great estates?" Elizabeth asked as she looked back towards the mansion where their children were.

"At that point such a thing had not even been a wild dream, but look at us now." Mary looked at her sister shyly as her hand went to her belly. "I told Richard the day before you, William, and the children arrived, I believe I am with child again. No quickening yet, but I should feel it in the next few weeks."

"I am so happy for you. Mayhap Jane will get the sister she has been begging you for," Elizabeth smiled. It had been agreed by those in the extended family that no girl named Jane would be called Janey, there had only been one, and that name would belong to their late sister evermore.

"Only He knows the answer to that question," Mary responded as she lifted her eyes to the almost cloudless sky which was coming alive with myriad colours thanks to the sun as it greeted the new day while it began to climb above the horizon.

"When will our other sisters and brothers be arriving?" Elizabeth enquired.

"Catherine and Charles, Lydia and Wes, and Giana and David arrive on the morrow. The Hursts will not join us this year with old Mr Hurst's passing less than two months ago," Mary reported.

"Who would have ever thought Lydia would be a viscountess? And Catherine and Charles would marry?" Elizabeth wondered.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Rather than give Netherfield Park up when his one year lease was completed, Charles Bingley had renewed the lease for a further two years. Until his one year of mourning for his angel was completed, he had not looked at another woman in a romantic sense. In that year, he had become very close to those remaining at Longbourn once the two eldest daughters had been married and moved to their respective husbands' estates.

At some point in December 1811, when everyone was at Pemberley for Christmastide, Bingley had begun to develop tender feelings for Miss Catherine Bennet. She had been out in society since she turned eighteen not long after the four Bennet sisters ended their official mourning for Jane Bennet. She was physically nothing like the women he used to think of as ideal. Her hair was sandy-blonde, she was not much taller than Mrs Darcy, and she had hazel eyes. When he recognised his feelings, he was proud that he no longer applied a physical standard to a woman. Had he done that, he would never have found the woman he had.

They began to court in January 1812, became engaged in February of that year, and were married in April. When Catherine had asked her sisters if they thought Jane would be happy she was to marry the man Janey had loved before her passing, all three opined in the strongest terms they were sure Janey was smiling on Catherine from heaven. At that moment, a gust of wind pushed the curtains aside and blew into the room. Elizabeth had been sure it was their beloved sister bestowing her blessing on the union.

Until Mary and Richard sold Rosings Park and moved to Derbyshire, the Bingleys lived at Netherfield Park, where their first son, Arthur Charles, was born in June 1813. Their next child, a daughter, Janine Louisa, was born at the estate they purchased in Cheshire in May 1815. Falcon Woods was just across the border with Derbyshire, and a little more than thirty miles from Pemberley. Their second son, William Thomas was born in October 1819.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~ ~

As the girls were so close to one another in age, Lydia and Giana had come out together during the season of 1813. They had been sponsored for their presentation before Queen Charlotte by Lady Matlock. Both had enjoyed their season immensely, but had rebuffed more than one man each who had requested to call on them.

They returned to London to partake in the little season of 1813, where Lydia had met Lord Wesley De Melville at a ball given by the Earl and Countess of Matlock. Viscount Westmore, heir to the Earl of Jersey, had been fascinated by Miss Lydia Bennet, but her initial response to him was tepid at best. Over the next month the Viscount managed to work his way into her heart.

By March 1814, Lydia had resigned the name Bennet and was Viscountess Westmore. She was well pleased that Wes's estate of Westmore was located in Leicestershire. With Catherine in Cheshire, Lizzy and Mary in Derbyshire, it could not have been a better way to keep the four sisters physically close to one another. In June 1816, Lydia presented her husband with an heir, and in September 1819, another son. Lydia had felt the quickening recently and was praying she and Wes would be blessed with a daughter this time.

At the same ball Lydia met her viscount, Giana was introduced to David Cavendish. She was aware it was the family name of the dukes of Devonshire, but she did not feel she could ask him if he was related to them if he did not volunteer the information himself.

For David Cavendish, the Earl of Burlington, it was greatly refreshing that Miss Darcy did not seem to be aware he was the heir to the Duke of Devonshire. He hated being hunted for his title and wealth and was intrigued by the slightly shy beauty who seemed to enjoy him for himself.

A month after Lydia and her Wes married; Giana became Lady Cavendish, the Countess of Burlington. When David had told her the truth of his lineage prior to asking for a courtship, she had understood his need to be liked for himself and not his family and titles. Having been hunted for her dowry and knowing of her brother's experiences prior to meeting Lizzy, rather than berate him for not telling her who he was right away, she understood why he had done so.

Their first child, a daughter, was born in March 1815, followed by a son and heir in January 1817. Another son joined the family in September 1819.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"When will the Parkers arrive?" Mary asked her sister.

"I believe they will be here this afternoon. Diana and Aaron should have arrived at the parsonage this morning," Elizabeth replied.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Charlotte and Arthur Parker could not have been happier. They had four children, three daughters and a son. Parker had never reconciled with his other brothers and sister because they had rejected any attempts by him to do so.

Diana had married Aaron Goulding in July 1811. They lived happily at Haye Park, and to date had two sons and a daughter. Before she had married her Aaron, Diana had been as close to Charlotte as sisters by blood could ever be.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

"We know the Gardiners are at Lambert Hills. They will all arrive here a few days before Easter," Mary related.

"Having Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward living just outside of Lambton is wonderful," Elizabeth stated.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

After Eddy graduated from Oxford, and reached his majority, Gardiner turned most of the day-to-day running of his business over to his son. He still guided which investments they chose, but that was all. They had found a medium sized estate, Willow Run, for sale just south of Lambton, and Gardiner had fulfilled his wife's wish to move out of London to be near to her family in the north.

Lilly had been married for three years and had already gifted them a grandson. May still lived at home and Peter was at Oxford and also lived at home…at least he did when he was not at university.

Addie Lambert was being courted, but was in no hurry to marry. Henry was at Cambridge, Rory at Eton. Rory and Joshua Fitzwilliam were still the best of friends and shared a chamber at Eton. No one knew the future, but some years hence the future viscount and earl would marry May Gardiner.

The Hilldale Fitzwilliams had added three more children after their son and daughter. Two more daughters and a son. Lord and Lady Matlock, both still spry, loved the many grandchildren they had, and in the case of the Darcys, surrogate grandchildren.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

There were no surviving villains who had bedevilled the family in the past.

George Wickham had resorted to petty theft to try to get by, and since his face was so disfigured, the only way he could have a woman was by paying for her or forcing himself on her. He had attempted such with the daughter of a smithy in a small town south of London. He had never been heard from, or seen again after said smithy had dragged him off his daughter.

Caroline Wickham caught what she thought was a trifling cold at Bedlam after having been a resident for three years. She refused to allow anyone to assist her. In an ironic twist, it became pneumonia which ended her life.

Lady Catherine de Bourgh never spoke a word after that day at Rosings Park and was as docile as a lamb. Not long after she was told her daughter had passed away in June 1814, she began to wither away. She shuffled off the mortal coil two months later.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Elizabeth lifted her eyes to the heavens. "How Janey would have loved being here with all of us," She told her sister.

"She surely would have, but you know she is with us always, do you not?" Mary commented.

"I do know that, and I feel her presence often. So much has changed, especially with our family, but I believe Janey would approve of it all." As Elizabeth said the last, a gust of wind blew and hit her face, and then the wind was gone just as quickly as it had begun.

Elizabeth, and Mary, who had felt it as well, looked at one another and smiled widely. "We hear you, sister dearest," Elizabeth said, her eyes heavenward again.

"Richard and William, it is time to go face the hoard of barbarians waiting for us to return," Mary stated. "Do not forget you two will lead the older children on a ride after we have broken our fasts."

"Yes, my love," Richard responded obediently.

The men guided their horses so they were riding next to their respective wives, who they each loved even more than they had on the day they had married.

As the two couples began the ride down the hill to the stables, a gust of wind circled them before it went on its way.

~~~The End~~~