The story never told

Mr. Bennet has his reasons for hating the Ton. Lady Catherine has her reasons for her bitterness and often ridiculous behaviors. It is only when Mr. Collins comes into both of their lives that the two must meet again after so many years of silence.

An estate in Kent, 1812

"Thank you for coming. I did not know if you would. You may rest assured that we will have privacy to speak here. This is my friend's estate and she has absolute trust in the servants currently in the house."

"You look well, Kate," Mr. Bennet said softly.

"You have learned to lie, Thomas. I look dreadful and nothing like the girl you knew."

"You are still a handsome woman to me. Though from reports you have changed in other ways."

"What can you expect when I was cast aside and then forced to marry a man I could neither love nor respect?"

"You know that I did not cast you aside, surely? Your father's goons beat me within an inch of my life and then the earl saw to it that I lost my position at Cambridge. I was told that my life was forfeit if I should ever approach you again."

"Oh Thomas... I am so very sorry. I did not learn any of that until much later, when that man thought it amusing to brag upon what was done to you. I was defenseless in his power by then and I had my Anne to protect."

"I only recently did the math, Kate. I wish that I would have known. My cousin spoke with great praise about your daughter, but some of his allusions suggest that she is unwell? Then my Elizabeth's own letters support that. Is she...?"

"Anne is yours. My husband knew this when he married me. It amused him to have another hold over me. She bears the de Bourgh name even though she is a Bennet. My father may have forced the annulment, but she was conceived in love and in the sanctity of marriage."

"And her health?"

There was a fire in her eyes when she answered, "He was drunk once in the middle of the day and ascending the stairs. She was ten and full of life. She was running down and tried to pass. He struck her and she fell down the entire flight. There were several bad breaks, one of which became infected. She has never been the same since. She was a bright, intelligent creature. Now she has constant megrims, had little energy for any exertion, and she takes sick with alarming ease."

"If he was not already dead..." Thomas ground out.

"I took care of that. Bad enough that he took pleasure in hurting me. I would not allow him another opportunity to hurt our child. God forgive me, but I have always found the study of plants and medicines to be fascinating. It was easy enough. I only regret that it was not down before Anne's fall."

There was a long silence as both were lost in their thoughts. Then Mr. Bennet had to ask, "Why did you hire my cousin, and why did you send him to seek a wife from among my daughters? Have you come to hate me so much?"

Lady Catherine looked genuinely hurt, but she answered calmly, "I do not hate you. I feel no love for your silly wife. I will admit that I hired someone to seek you out and learn the details of your life after my husbands... untimely demise. He was very thorough, or at least so I thought. I do not feel that he gave me the true measure of your daughters. Of your wife he provided enough detail that I had to wonder what you were thinking to choose such a fool."

"I was not thinking, Kate. I was only recently recovered when my brother died and left me as heir. It was unexpected and I was unprepared. In my time of confusion she offered me amusement. It was not as if I could love again. I did not learn how foolish that I had been until after our wedding. But she has given me five beautiful girls... each as silly as the other, except for my Lizzy... and Jane to some extent. Truthfully they are all good sorts of girls."

Lady Catherine nodded, "Mr. Collins came to me from a list of potential candidates. When he spoke of his status as your heir, I thought perhaps that I might be a help to you by influencing him, but he is the veriest fool I have ever met. Then I thought that perhaps, if he were to wed one of your daughters, then it would at least relieve you of the concern about the entail. It was only after I met Miss Elizabeth that I realized that my estimation of your daughters might be wrong. She is a remarkable young lady," she added with some degree of envy.

Thomas could not but agree, but that brought him to the current situation, "What made you send for me after so many years of silence, Kate?"

"Something that was spoken when your daughter rejected the marriage proposal of my nephew."

"Proposal! Let me see... she wrote of two nephews. Quite obviously it was not Mr. Darcy, so it must have been the Colonel. That is odd. She wrote of him with approbation?"

"It was not Colonel Fitzwilliam. It was Darcy."

"Mister Darcy?! The man who never looks upon a woman except to find fault? The same man who said of my Lizzy that she was "tolerable, but not tempting enough" for him to ask for a dance?"

"Did he seriously speak such tripe? I should take him across my knee!" Lady Catherine declared. She had known that her nephew was in a foul mood since the summer, but she had not expected him to behave in such a manner. Perhaps I have played my act a little too well and led him to believe that it is acceptable behavior?

"He most certainly did... and from other reports of those who know him from childhood, he is guilty of other crimes."

"Would this other report stem from a scoundrel by the name of George Wickham?"

"The same. You name him a scoundrel?"

"Of the worst possible sort... and he is the reason that I felt the need to speak with you personally after so many years. I have kept my silence as you are married and I mean to maintain my distance. But you have five daughters all reputed to be of remarkable beauty. If your Elizabeth is any example, then all reports are true. That would make them just the sort of targets that a man like George Wickham likes to pursue... especially the youngest and most foolish. He tends to target those too young to know better or at least too foolish to make the best choices."

Mr. Bennet thought on this for a minute, "Thank you for telling me. I will take action as soon as I return home... but what does any of this have to do with a proposal?"

Lady Catherine actually blushed, "I have spies. One of them is in the Collins household. She heard the entire sorry proposal and the argument which followed. A portion of the problem is not my business, but when I heard your otherwise intelligent daughter championing George Wickham, I knew that I would have to take immediate action. He has already rendered great harm to my niece, Darcy's beloved sister. Were it not for a timely intervention, the scoundrel would have eloped with the young girl and robbed her of her happiness and her dowry. It was this very incident which put Darcy in such a foul mood when he went to Meryton."

After a pause, Mr. Bennet asked, "Didn't you want Mr. Darcy to marry Anne?"

"I had hoped he would. Lewis had no choice in the marriage contract to give me lifetime control of Rosings if he preceded me in death. I suspect that he intended for me to go first. He made no provision for our daughter. The problem is that my dowry is tied up in the estate. I have managed to put some aside, but not enough for a girl with Anne's medical concerns. So I tried to push the matter with Darcy. There might have been a time he would have obeyed, but after meeting your Elizabeth, all hope was lost."

"I still cannot fathom Mr. Darcy... but then I can see how her intelligence and impertinence might speak to his heart. It was those same qualities which first drew me to you all those years ago. If only your father had not developed other ideas." There was a long pause where to pairs of eyes met and held, then he asked, "Were we foolish to elope, Kate? Up until I tried to ask you father for your hand, he had given no indication that he even cared. So why...?"

Lady Catherine sighed, "My foolish older brother got in trouble gambling. Sir Lewis held a great number of vowels and wanted to improve his own standing by marrying the daughter of an earl. He wanted Anne, but Anne was still too young and George Darcy had already exhibited a strong interest. So the man was persuaded to turn his attentions my way. Of course you and I knew none of this. The worst part of this is that my foolish brother died in a duel only five months after everything, leaving my younger brother to take the title. Had it happened a year sooner, I believe my father would have been relieved to have me off of his hands."

There was a great deal of feeling in the room and a great amount of words left unspoken when they both rose and departed.

Thomas has fifty miles of good road to travel while he thought. If he simply tried to forbid his daughters from seeing Wickham, they would be even more attracted. No, I need to pull his teeth or send him packing... or both.

Resolved, he halted his carriage in Mertyon rather than continuing home. There he paid visits to most of the prominent shopkeepers, putting a bug in their ears about the militia and outstanding debts. It was done in such a clever way that not one of them thought to name Mr. Bennet as their source of concern. Within two days Colonel Forster was inundated with calls for repayment of debts... and he quickly learned that a vast majority came from one officer: Lieutenant Wickham.

Fearful that the man might flee and leave his unit responsible for the debts, the commander had his officer placed under house arrest until further investigation. Each day thereafter revealed more problems, to include a large number of gambling debts and several supposed indiscretions with young ladies. A week after Mr. Bennet's return he had to sit and listen while his two youngest bemoaned the arrest of the man. "They're carting him off to London for trial, Papa! Can we not do anything?"

For once Mrs. Bennet was not on her youngest daughter's side. All that week she had been hearing reports of debts and assignations. As thrilling as the rumors were, she was not so foolish as to allow her daughters to be caught up in the scandal. After all, she had invited the man to sup at her table many times in the past few months. Elizabeth, who had only just returned with Jane after a stopover in London, remained silent and looking relieved.

As much as Thomas Bennet dearly wished to speak with his daughter, he waited for her to come to him. Eventually she did. "I have been a fool, Papa."

They talked for several hours that afternoon. Though Elizabeth claimed that she did not regret refusing Mr. Darcy's proposal, only the manner of her refusal, Thomas saw something else. "I will not press you to change your mind, Lizzy. Who you accept must be your choice. But I do counsel you to reexamine your time spent with Mr. Darcy in the light of everything you know now. And ask yourself this: why did you react so strongly to one insult from a perfect stranger."

Two days later she came to him again, heartbroken, "You are right, Papa... but what does it matter? I have already lost my one chance at happiness due to my own temper and foolish pride."

"Time will tell, my dear. Time will tell."

Later that day Thomas wrote to his brother-in-law, Edward Gardiner, and asked if the man might consider an alteration in their summer traveling schedule. "It is essential that Elizabeth sees Pemberley and that I know exactly which day that event will take place."

A week later, after the details were set in motion, Thomas sent an express to Kate.

Pemberley, late July 1812

"Please forgive me, Mr. Darcy. Had I known that you would be here I would have never imposed..."

Mr. Darcy was standing there in his soaked clothes looking rather magnificent to her eyes, though she tried to modestly look away.

"No! Please, Eli... Miss Elizabeth, do not apologize for being here. It has long been my desire for you to be here. You have taken the tour then...? Do you approve?"

Her eyes moved over him again before she forced them into submission, "There are few who would not approve, Mr. Darcy."

"But your approval is not easily given, and therefore much more to be desired."

These words brought tears to Elizabeth's eyes and she could not help but say, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Darcy, for the way that I spoke to you then... for believing that man's lies and for holding on to my own resentment for so long. I know that I can never hope for your good opinion again, but..."

"Never hope...? Oh, Elizabeth, surely you know?! If there was any chance, any chance at all that I could earn your good opinion, then I would be the happiest of men."

Elizabeth didn't have to fight her eyes now. They were fixed on his own. "Mr. Darcy, my feelings have experienced such a great alteration since that foolish day. You have my good opinion and so very much more."

"Fitzwilliam."

"What?"

"Please, Elizabeth, just once would you call me by my name?"

"Fitzwilliam. If you wish, I shall call you that for the rest of our lives..." She might have said more, but her lips were suddenly otherwise occupied. She was getting quite damp from her lover's soaked clothing, but she had no thought-space left to notice.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner might have been shocked at the scene in front of them had it not been for the letters from Thomas Bennet. Nevertheless, after a minute or three they knew that propriety demanded they step in. "Young man, I believe that you might have something to speak to me about?" Mr. Gardiner said sternly.

Meryton Church, 1812

Thomas Bennet saw his eldest daughter for the first time after he gave his third daughter's hand away to Mr. Darcy. Lady Catherine sat there looking quite disapproving, but she still took the time to introduce Thomas to his Anne. Anne, for her part, had to fight not to show her own emotions. Her mother had finally told her the truth about her past. Then Anne had been handed a long and endearing letter from the father who she never knew, who had not known of her until this very year.

After much discussion, it was decided that Jane, Elizabeth, and later Mary had the maturity to handle the truth. Naturally this also meant that Fitzwilliam Darcy was also informed. The three eldest Longbourn sisters became good friends with the half-sister they never knew. After a tentative beginning in each case, they grew to love her and understand her frailties. Mary became the closest of all, finally finding the sister-pairing which suited her personality. Over the next few years Mary would spend as much of the year at Rosings as she did at Longbourn. It was there, ironically, that she met the true heir to Rosings, Alan de Bourgh.

Alan liked Mary right away and became a regular at Rosings. Lady Catherine was standoffish at first, knowing that this was the young man who would eventually take over, but she quickly grew to like the man's character. Eventually Alan married Mary and moved in to begin running the estate. The couple made it clear that Anne would always be welcome, even when her mother passed.

It would be kind, in a way, to write that Mr. Bennet outlived Mrs. Bennet and that he and his Kate had at least a few years together, but alas, it was not meant to be. Both Thomas and Kate were a decade older than Francine, and she was healthy even without her salts. When Thomas passed away in his late sixties, there were two women who cried at his passing. And when Lady Catherine passed away, three of the Bennet sisters were soon there to offer love and comfort to the older sister only they knew about.

Francine Bennet never knew about her husband's first wife or the child they had made. She never knew that three of her daughters knew and loved their older sister. And she never knew that it was only by the intervention of a rival for her husband's affections that her youngest was saved from the worst sort of scoundrel. She did, however reap some benefit from that great lady. When Mr. Collins left his living to assume his new role as the Master of Longbourn, Lady Catherine informed the Bishop of Kent that she wished to place the living in the hands of the Church. As a result, the parsonage, which was Rosings property, became available. It turned out to be just the right size for the widow.

It would be an untruth to suggest that Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet finished out their days in perfect harmony. The great lady found the other woman to be quite ridiculous and Mrs. Bennet found the great lady to be quite officious, yet they somehow carried on well enough. Lady Catherine followed Thomas into glory three years later. Mrs. Bennet only carried on for another two.

Anne de Bourgh (Bennet) remarkably lived to be the loving aunt to many Bennet, Darcy, and Fitzwilliam children and even grandchildren before her end. The truth behind her parentage was never passed on to anyone else or to the next generations. It was the story never told, but all that really mattered was that she lived the remainder of her live surrounded by love.

AN: I chose not to fill in the blanks on other marriages, etc. This time I will leave you to decide their fates for yourselves.