Prologue

The Bennet family, although not part of the Ton, was one of the most important and influential families in Meryton. Their estate, Longbourn, produced an income of 4,000 pounds a year and had belonged to the family for over two hundred years. The father of Thomas Bennet, Everald Bennet, had done much to improve the management of the estate and increase its income.

Indeed, the grandfather of Thomas Bennet had squandered the wealth of the Bennet family and had reduced the income of Longbourn to 2000 pounds a year, disregarding and ignoring the managing of the estate. But after his death, his son Everald had inherited the estate and had done everything to bring Longbourn to its former glory for future generations.

Everald Bennet was a diligent man and had a strong sense of duty to his family. For this he had agreed to marry Lady Clare Calender, the second daughter of Gerald Calender, Earl of Davenson, thus following the wishes of his father Barret Bennet. Lady Claire Calender came from an old aristocratic English family and her dowry of 35,000 pounds was certainly considerable.

Under normal circumstances Lord Davenson would never have considered marrying his daughter in a family like the Bennets, who was not part of the first circles of society. However, due to a fanatical servant who had attacked and nearly raped his daughter Claire, things had changed.

Luckily the servant was stopped before he completely violated Claire, so her virtue was safe, but the tragedy had become public knowledge and Claire was ruined in the eyes of society.

Gerald Calender and Barret Bennet had been classmates at Cambridge, and for a period they had been great friends even though they belonged to different social spheres. But Barret's disinterest in his duties and his legacy, as well as his dissolute behavior, had led to an estrangement between the two friends and after university, contacts between the two had completely ceased.

Both men had continued on with their lives. They were married and had their respective duties. Twenty years later, the paths of Gerald and Barret had crossed again by chance in London. When the meeting took place Gerald saw it as a sign of destiny. He had a daughter on the verge of ruin who was to be married as soon as possible to regain the deserved respectability in society, and Barret had his estate on the brink of disaster and many debts to pay because of his disinterested behavior and reckless lifestyle. Gerald, even after their estrangement, had never forgotten Barret, and although contacts between them had ceased, he had continued to inquire about his old, although lost friend through common acquaintances. He was aware of Barett's reckless behavior over the years, and his many debts. He also knew that the man had a son, Everald Bennet.

Gerald proposed a pact to Barret - Claire would marry Everald, so that the reputation of his daughter would be saved and the dowry of 35,000 pounds that the Bennets would receive from the marriage would save Longbourn and would cover all the debts. Barret immediately accepted the proposal. This would solve all his problems and at the same time would raise the status of his family.

Everald Bennet and Lady Claire Calender were married in 1767. Although theirs was an arranged marriage, they began to care for one another and had a son, Thomas Bennet, heir of Longbourn. But the birth was difficult and Claire could not have more children. For the couple it was very difficult to overcome this news, but their son gave them the strength to carry on.

Thomas Bennet grew up under the watchful care of his parents. He inherited his mother's gentle disposition and the sense of duty his father possessed. As soon as he was old enough, Everald began to teach him everything he needed to know to manage the estate. Through the connections of Lady Claire, Everald and then Thomas had opportunities and acquaintances among the Ton.

Among them was Francis Orester, 5th Duke of Leedwick. Francis, having become a great friend of Bennet family and being years older to Thomas, provided more knowledge of the world and of the Ton. The Duke of Leedwick was a great help to Thomas during his childhood thanks to his great wisdom in various areas of business and of society.

What few knew was that Francis had an illegitimate daughter, Melissa Orester, born from an "affair". Although the Duke had not brought the girl out in society, Francis loved his little Melissa. Soon Thomas and Melissa fell in love, but the Duke did not approve of the match, even if he was a close friend to Bennet. He had already chosen another man as husband to Melissa, one who could give her more wealth and protection since she had the stigma of being illegitimate.

The Duke was adamant on this subject. Thus, Thomas and Melissa, after she came of age, commited a so-called madness of love - they married in secret. Soon after, Melissa fell pregnant.

When Francis found out, he was furious and insisted that marriage did not become public knowledge, so none knew of the union of Thomas and Melissa, apart from the family of the Duke and the Bennets. At the insistence of the Duke, Melissa's pregnancy would be spent in a secluded estate in Scotland.

From this secret marriage were born twins, Jane and Elizabeth Bennet. Unfortunately, Melissa died moments after the birth of the twins. The Duke never forgave Thomas Bennet for what happened to his little Melissa.

Estranged completely from the Orester family and after the death of his parents due of an accident with the carriage on their way to Scotland for the birth of their granddaughters, Thomas knew that he had to remarry immediately for the good of Jane and Elizabeth before he could get back to Longbourn.

Although his pain was excruciating, he went in search of a possible wife in Scotland. A few days after the tragedy, Thomas met the Gardiners.

The Gardiners were an old acquaintance of the Bennet family. Miss Fanny Gardiner was the youngest sister of Mr Edward and Miss Lucy Gardiner. She had a lively disposition and immediately realized the pain Thomas felt. Since their first meeting in Scotland, she tried to cheer her dear Mr. Bennet, despite not knowing yet of the tragedy and the enormous weight Thomas was carrying on his shoulders. He was struck by the compassion shown by Miss Fanny, and decided to marry her, hoping that she might be a good mother to Jane and Elizabeth.

After a week of courtship, Thomas asked Fanny to marry him and revealed everything that had happened. Fanny, feeling even more deeply for her Mr. Bennet, immediately accepted his proposal. Secretly, she hoped that in time, she could heal the wounded heart of Thomas Bennet and eventually be loved by him. She did not know that Thomas had sworn to never love any other woman after Melissa.

After a quick wedding, Fanny and Thomas Bennet returned to Longbourn with Jane and Elizabeth. The new master of Longbourn told the neighborhood of Meryton that during his trip to Scotland almost a year ago, he had met, fallen in love and immediately married Fanny Gardiner and from their union were born Jane and Elizabeth. As Thomas and Melissa had immediately left to Scotland on the orders of the Duke after discovery of the pregnancy just a month after the wedding, and since no one knew of the secret marriage of Thomas, the story was quite believable. He also told them that his parents had died in an carriage accident while they were reaching him in Scotland for the upcoming birth of their granddaughters.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Bennet had three other daughters: Mary, Catherine and Lydia Bennet. During the years of their marriage the love that Fanny hoped for never developed. In fact, the pain Thomas felt became increasingly marked by loneliness. In addition to this, he also blamed his second wife for the lack of an heir. Consequently, because of her own sadness and desperation for love that she never recieved from her husband, Fanny became increasingly silly and devoted herself mainly to the growth of her three daughters. Jane and Elizabeth grew up with a mother who distanced herself more and more from them.

Jane, over the years, became more and more beautiful, having inherited many of the noble features of the Orester family while Elizabeth was the exact copy of her mother with chestnut curly hair and the most fine eyes that a man could see in a pretty face of a woman.

Thomas deeply loved his older daughters, especially Elizabeth who became his favorite, while he ignored his wife and his three youngest daughters. The pain and loneliness that Thomas felt led him to ignore the management of the estate, so Longbourn returned to producing an income of only 2,000 a year.

Trying to lessen the pain as much as possible, Thomas tried to forget as much as possible of his past. This led him to forget all the precious teachings and values that his parents had instilled in him.

The 5th Duke of Leedwick never forgave Thomas Bennet for all that had happened to his Melissa. And although he never resumed contacts with the Bennet family, Francis Orester could never forget the legacy that his beloved daughter had left in this world - his beloved granddaughters. For this, he wanted to do for his granddaughters what he could not do for his beloved daughter - ensure them a happy and bright future.

Francis contacted some distant relatives of his wife Lady Alena Darcy, who he knew were wealthy and respectable, in addition to being distinguished members of the Ton, although not titled. He contacted George Darcy, father of Fitzwilliam Darcy. The two did not know each other well, but they respected each other. Francis knew he could trust George from his reputation and the descriptions his wife had given him about the character of George.

When Francis and George met, the Duke immediately saw the integrity George Darcy possesed and knew that he could trust him. After learning all that had happened to Melissa, George Darcy was very shocked, mainly because he was completely unaware of the existance of an illegitimate daughter of 5th Duke of Leedwick. However, after absorbing the information, Mr Darcy asked the real motive of why he was summoned. The Duke offered him an arranged marriage between Elizabeth and his heir, Fitzwilliam Darcy.

If George Darcy was shocked before, now he was stunned, and his first instinct was that to refuse. But rationally thinking about the situation, an alliance with a descendant of the Duke would be a extremely advantageous alliance, although derived from an illegitimate daughter.

Thus, after an endless struggle with himself, George Darcy did something that went against all his morals for the first time in his life, at least until that moment, and accepted the proposal. Arrangements were made and the marriage contract was signed. No one could go back on this decision.

Francis also asked George if he knew someone for his granddaughter Jane. George, now involved in this scheme, thought of his brother Lord Matlock. He had two sons and one of them could be a potential husband for Jane Bennet, the other granddaughter of the Duke. So Lord Matlock was summoned and after revealing the whole situation to him, Francis repeated the proposal to Henry Fitzwilliam. The reaction of Lord Matlock was identical to that of George Darcy, but unlike the first, he did not think twice to accept. In the end, the agreements and the marriage contract was signed for Jane as well.

The Duke had listed what he left as a dowry to his granddaughters in his will, although, according to propriety, his young granddaughters would not have rights in that regard being descendants of an illegitimate daughter. The two gentlemen were baffled as to the generosity of the Duke, especially considering the fact that Melissa Orester was an illegitimate daughter who had not even been presented in society and Jane and Elizabeth were her daughters.

George Darcy was doubtful about what he had done, especially with his view that a marriage of love was better than a marriage of convenience. He only hoped he had done the right thing and that one day his son could love his future wife and forgive him for his actions. He wanted a bright future for his only son, his family and his legacy.

Lord Matlock was extremely happy with his good fortune and that of his son.

The Duke was pleased with all that he had managed to achieve for the future of his granddaughters and now no one could break the agreements and contracts that had been made. The future of his two granddaughters was ensured. The only thing the Duke had not considered - all this had been done without the knowledge of Thomas Bennet.

For Mr Bennet, in his frantic effort to forget his painful past, had also forgotten that he had signed with the Duke a document, which ceded all rights he had in regard to his eldest daughters to the family of the Duke, a precaution that the Duke had requested after discovering the misdeed of Melissa and Thomas. The Master of Longbourn has accepted these conditions hoping to keep the peace between him and his new father in law. He was, of course unaware of the terrible tragedy that would follow.

The agreements between Francis Orester, Lord Matlock and George Darcy were over quickly, but none of the gentlemen would ever forget the words with which these arrangements had been closed.

"Remember! All this must remain a secret for now!"

"Your Grace, this will be a secret between us?"

"Yes! A secret that will be revealed in due course!"

"...secret... agreements..."

"Yes, secret agreements!"

Hello everyone,

I'm new and I'm trying to write my first story.

I had this idea for a while and I tried to write it. I'm not a native English speaker so I apologize in advance if there are errors, I'll try to improve with time.

I also used historical figures, obviously also inventing or distorting elements in their lives directly, if someone is strictly historical I apologize but it is a fiction.

I hope you enjoy the story and the beginning inspire you to keep reading... I also are happy to accept tips.

I also want to thank ViolaBee for helping me with the site, tinkcook for giving me a better overview of the Regency era and khaduhr448 who has offered to help me reviewing my chapters.

Thank you and good reading.