Epilogue
The next Darcy heard of Wickham, he had gone to Liverpool to try his hand at trade, though how he would get enough money together to begin was anyone's guess. Georgiana returned to Pemberley with Darcy. Needless to say, he was ever more careful of where he sent his sister to stay, often to such an extent that even Georgiana attempted to reassure him that nothing would go amiss. On occasion, he himself would accompany her on her visits.
One such trip was made to the Bingleys' townhouse in Bath. Miss Caroline Bingley had urged Georgiana to join them there and had sent her many letters extolling the various merits of Bath. Of course, she wrote, Mr Darcy must come as well, for what would Bath be without his dignified presence there? Darcy duly came along with his sister, doubting he would find much enjoyment in the expedition.
One evening, having forfeited the joys of a hectic swirl about town in favour of the peace and quiet of an evening at home, the Bingleys, Hursts and Darcys sat in the drawing room; Mrs Hurst and Caroline attempting to show some enjoyment; Darcy and Bingley playing a relaxed game of chess; Hurst upon the couch, dreaming of God knows what; and Georgiana playing the piano forte for them all.
Having exerted as much effort as she could in displaying her interest in the chess game, Caroline stood up with a yawn and tried to engage the company in some general conversation. After some effort she was successful when Bingley mentioned a property he had been looking to leasing.
'Oh, my steward tells me it is a fine estate, surrounded by fine countryside and in close proximity to a small market town. It.'
'But brother,' cried Caroline, 'what need have we for a ramshackle country estate? Why, this townhouse is perfectly adequate. In fact, I should be happy to spend all the year here in Bath.' Caroline continued to, once again, eulogise the virtues of Bath.
'Now, Caroline, I know you are not fond of the country, but really, the air will do you an immeasurable amount of good. Why, look at Darcy! He spends more than half the year in Derbyshire, and does not he look in the peak of health?'
Before he was used any longer as a point of argument, Darcy interrupted, 'If you decide to lease or not to lease this property, might it not be a good idea to tell us what the estate is called and where it is?'
'Oh, did I not say? Why, it is called 'Netherfield', I believe, somewhere in Hertfordshire if I am not mistaken.' Bingley and his sisters continued to debate over the matter for some time. But Bingley was adamant.
'Tomorrow I shall be going to view the estate. Will you come with me, sisters?' Unsurprisingly, neither wanted to join their brother on a boring excursion through muddy countryside. 'What about you, Darcy? I should be most glad of your opinion of the place.'
'Why not? Seems as good a suggestion as any other.' Darcy gleefully noticed the morose expression on Caroline's face. At least I shall be away from *her* for a day
'Good! Excellent!' Bingley cheered. Then, picking up his glass of wine, 'You know, I feel that Hertfordshire may well provide many diversions for us all. Let us drink a toast. To Netherfield, and all the joys it may bring us!'
Darcy raised his glass and sipped thoughtfully. Divert away, Hertfordshire, let us see what you have in store for Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Yay! Finished at last! Hope you all liked it, folks! Please review or e- mail to let me know what you thought of it - flamers not prohibited, as long as it's constructive. And thanks again to Green, who is one hell of a good friend to have around. Happy thoughts, man! :-)
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The next Darcy heard of Wickham, he had gone to Liverpool to try his hand at trade, though how he would get enough money together to begin was anyone's guess. Georgiana returned to Pemberley with Darcy. Needless to say, he was ever more careful of where he sent his sister to stay, often to such an extent that even Georgiana attempted to reassure him that nothing would go amiss. On occasion, he himself would accompany her on her visits.
One such trip was made to the Bingleys' townhouse in Bath. Miss Caroline Bingley had urged Georgiana to join them there and had sent her many letters extolling the various merits of Bath. Of course, she wrote, Mr Darcy must come as well, for what would Bath be without his dignified presence there? Darcy duly came along with his sister, doubting he would find much enjoyment in the expedition.
One evening, having forfeited the joys of a hectic swirl about town in favour of the peace and quiet of an evening at home, the Bingleys, Hursts and Darcys sat in the drawing room; Mrs Hurst and Caroline attempting to show some enjoyment; Darcy and Bingley playing a relaxed game of chess; Hurst upon the couch, dreaming of God knows what; and Georgiana playing the piano forte for them all.
Having exerted as much effort as she could in displaying her interest in the chess game, Caroline stood up with a yawn and tried to engage the company in some general conversation. After some effort she was successful when Bingley mentioned a property he had been looking to leasing.
'Oh, my steward tells me it is a fine estate, surrounded by fine countryside and in close proximity to a small market town. It.'
'But brother,' cried Caroline, 'what need have we for a ramshackle country estate? Why, this townhouse is perfectly adequate. In fact, I should be happy to spend all the year here in Bath.' Caroline continued to, once again, eulogise the virtues of Bath.
'Now, Caroline, I know you are not fond of the country, but really, the air will do you an immeasurable amount of good. Why, look at Darcy! He spends more than half the year in Derbyshire, and does not he look in the peak of health?'
Before he was used any longer as a point of argument, Darcy interrupted, 'If you decide to lease or not to lease this property, might it not be a good idea to tell us what the estate is called and where it is?'
'Oh, did I not say? Why, it is called 'Netherfield', I believe, somewhere in Hertfordshire if I am not mistaken.' Bingley and his sisters continued to debate over the matter for some time. But Bingley was adamant.
'Tomorrow I shall be going to view the estate. Will you come with me, sisters?' Unsurprisingly, neither wanted to join their brother on a boring excursion through muddy countryside. 'What about you, Darcy? I should be most glad of your opinion of the place.'
'Why not? Seems as good a suggestion as any other.' Darcy gleefully noticed the morose expression on Caroline's face. At least I shall be away from *her* for a day
'Good! Excellent!' Bingley cheered. Then, picking up his glass of wine, 'You know, I feel that Hertfordshire may well provide many diversions for us all. Let us drink a toast. To Netherfield, and all the joys it may bring us!'
Darcy raised his glass and sipped thoughtfully. Divert away, Hertfordshire, let us see what you have in store for Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N Yay! Finished at last! Hope you all liked it, folks! Please review or e- mail to let me know what you thought of it - flamers not prohibited, as long as it's constructive. And thanks again to Green, who is one hell of a good friend to have around. Happy thoughts, man! :-)
----------(exeunt)----------