Chapter 9:

Longbourn was in uproar. Mr. Bennet had gathered the ladies present, his wife, Mrs. Bennet, and his three younger and very silly daughters, in the drawing room with some news.

"Lydia is getting married" he announced, showing the emotion of a teaspoon.

"George wrote to you?" asked Lydia, her downcast eyes finally looking up eagerly, filled with hope. Was it possible that he had come back? Lydia felt her chest heaving, the hope and love that had left her was suddenly returning. She had been a mere shell of herself in the past year and it seemed like now...she could have her life again...

"I would shoot that man before letting him near this house" declared Mr. Bennet, "I should have called him out" he added, mostly to himself. He had so many regrets. Too many to count. And he had no idea how Mr. Darcy came to write to him but he was glad to hear of a Mr. Rowling from Scotland who would marry Lydia for a dowry of two thousand pounds. That was a thousand more than each girl had, but he would see how he could make it up the rest. He could not let this opportunity go—he had written back at once that he accepted the offer and waited for further instruction of how Mr. Rowling would retrieve Lydia.

"To whom?" asked Lydia nervously. A year of solitude and being shunned had tore her spirits and though in nature she was the same, she had become more docile, quiet, and mainly, numb.

"A Mr. Rowling from Scotland. He is a gentleman, vouched by Mr. Darcy who arranged for the match—"

"Mr. Darcy?!" interrupted Mrs. Bennet, "That prideful man!"

"That prideful man has finally solved our situation. I do not think it will be so easy to be welcomed back into society, however, after some time of a respectable marriage, perhaps..." he said softly. He could not stand having all of them home, at all times. And if he were truly honest, he felt he had failed them immensely. But he could not be that honest, it was too painful. He had failed as a father. He had failed as a man.

"Papa, when will I get married?" asked Lydia, "And will he let me bring John?"

"Yes, he knows you have a child and will welcome him as his own" said Mr. Bennet, unsure of how this luck came to be but deciding not to question. He knew enough of Mr. Darcy to know he was a man of his word. The problem was solved for him—why should he dwell on it?

"I do not know details, I am waiting for Mr. Rowling to write to me" said Mr. Bennet. "Lydia, I should have tried to do this sooner, before John was born" he added, a hand placed on her shoulder. Lydia looked at him confused, it was not him to apologize and she knew that if anyone was at fault, it was her. Oh silly girl.

"Oh! May we go into Meryton and buy some wedding clothes?" asked Mrs. Bennet excitedly, who previously had been laying on the sofa asking for her salts.

"No" said Mr. Bennet, "Until all is set and done, I do not want others to hear of it. Do not start telling neighbors that Lydia is to be married. Once she is gone, we will discuss how to re-enter society. For now, Lydia will make due with what she has and let us hope that this happens quickly and swiftly."

Lydia burst into tears and ran up the stairs, ignoring her mother's pleas to stay in the drawing room.

Once she is gone kept replaying in her head. She had become a horrible and ugly burden to her family and her father had quickly gotten rid of her, without any details of who she was to marry. As long as she was gone….that was all that mattered.

She ran up so fast, she did not hear the voices behind her. Once inside her room, she quickly shut the door and sunk into the door, falling fast unto the ground. There were too many thoughts and too many emotions, so instead of processing them, she just burst into tears and cried for the life that once was and for the life that would come. She did not know anything of this Mr. Rowling but she vowed to herself to start a life anew, with the maturity she never had and she still was not sure she did.

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Lizzy would remember those days, when she had first arrived from Jane's house, with fondness. There was a hope that filled the home, that perhaps soon they could have a resemblance of the life they once had.

Deep down, Lizzy felt a pain, nay, a void, that she could not fill. Having seen Mr. Darcy for who he really was and feeling he was lost forever was not something she had expected, though she would forever be grateful for his intervention with Lydia. If only she had acted sooner, she would often think, before the baby was born. Sadly, as try as we might, we cannot go back to the past, so Lizzy decided to move forward.

Mr. Rowling traveled with his father to meet his bride. He was a young man, unremarkable in every way, lacking all the charm that Mr. Wickham so greatly possessed. But he was kind and was respectful, and the family soon decided that he would be good enough for Lydia and this was the answer to all their prayers. The couple were to be married in Scotland, where a scandalous marriage would easily be done, and they set off mere days after Mr. Rowling first arrived.

Mrs. Bennet was a fit of tears, kissing and hugging her favourite daughter and only grandson with all her might. She knew it would be years before seeing them again and though happy for the turn of events, was sad all the same. Lydia was more solemn that anyone had ever seen her but she promised to write to them and she kept to her word. The sisters enjoyed a correspondence with their newlywed sister that had never existed before. Lydia, Mrs. Rowling, kept them informed of her new life and overall, she seemed happy and content. John had taken to Mr. Rowling and though the house and comforts were less than what she was used to, she was grateful.

The change in Lydia was so remarkable that Lizzy sometimes wondered if this was all by design. Would Lydia had ever grown into this maturity if the world had not be so cruel to a young girl who had fallen by the charm of a wicked man and unprotected by her own parents? Alas, she did not know. But she promised she would only remember that which brought her happiness and continue life as before.

The doors to society were not opened as quickly as one might have hoped. It took months for the people surrounding Longbourn to welcome the Bennets once again. Slowly, the Lucas Family extended an olive branch and the rest of Meryton followed. The Bennets did not go near London, for they knew society would not be as kind there, and happily stayed within their confines, happy to be welcomed into their small country society once again.

It was a year after Lydia had wed and left that she wrote a letter to Lizzy which revealed more than Lizzy could have imagined:

"Dear Lizzy,

John is doing better, I thank you for your concern. It was a mere trifle cold, Scotland weather can be so dreadful! I cannot believe he is soon to be two years old and has already said his first few words. He walks to Mr. Rowling and even calls him 'dada'-it is quite touching and I am thankful that he will be a good big brother when the time comes. I will forever be thankful to Mr. Darcy and his generous dowry which allowed this marriage and our good fortune to change. I wonder how that even came to me, but alas, it seems we shall never know….."

Elizabeth put down the letter, feeling her heart take a leap. Mr. Darcy? Generous dowry? Of course! Mr. Rowling was in a desperate position and needed money—that was why he married Lydia! And Mr. Darcy offered thousands…

"Oh my" said Lizzy, feeling her chest heaving and taking a deep breath to calm herself. She had so far, in this past year, kept her mind from Mr. Darcy and Pemberley. It all seemed like a dreadful dream that brought joy and pain all the same. How could she ever thank him?

She pushed this knowledge aside and after a few moments where she composed herself, read the rest of the letter, which she promptly responded to.

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hi everyone, sorry for the delay in the update! I was really struggling with this chapter...whenever I think of a story, I feel like I see these flash moments, the main moments, like a talk in the garden, when they come together again etc, but sometimes the hardest part is getting from point A to point B in a credible way. I didn't want to jump too fast (I do quite a bit of time traveling in my other story lol...well with carriages :) ) but i also dont want to dwell too much on very mundane things, so here we are. i hope to continue to do this story justice...I think u will like the ending, at least i do :)

your encouragement keeps me going with this story-looking forward to your thoughts!