April – July 1814

Within days, Darcy's life at Pemberley was back to normal. He got up at dawn, rode in the morning, usually had breakfast alone, and spent the rest of the day in his office or surveying his land. Sometimes he ate with his wife, but often he ate at his desk working. He met twice or three times a week with his steward to discuss possible improvements and repairs that needed to be done at Pemberley and spent several hours a day working in his office.

He saw his wife at dinner and they usually made small talk and often just eat in silence. As the weeks passed, it became increasingly clear that they had virtually nothing in common. Lady Maria adored shopping, parties, and above all the social life of London. She did not like country life, and she was terribly bored at Pemberley. On the nearest estate to Pemberley - about 7 miles away - lived a couple about twenty years their senior who had two children, one of them was fourteen and the other twelve. There were very few shops in Lambton, and they were far inferior in quality to those in London.

She played the piano for an hour or two daily, not so much for the pleasure it gave her as because she was bored. She wrote to her mother and her 'friends' very often, and eagerly awaited the responses to her letters. She met with Mrs. Reynolds once a week to discuss the menus and some other details of Pemberley. The few visitors they received at Pemberley were the vicar, Mr. Castels, and his wife who came to dine once a month. Mrs. Castels was a very kind woman, but she was thirty years her senior, and her two children were married.

Perhaps another woman, with a different upbringing, could have adapted better to life in Pemberley and even visit tenants and participate in the charities. But since she was a child her mother had instilled in her that she was a Lady, and therefore she should not have any kind of relationship with the poor or tenants, since these people had diseases and could be contagious. Her mother never visited the tenants as she said the houses were dirty and his father paid the steward to do it.

She also did not enjoy her husband's company; he practically did not speak to her and what he said generally did not interest her. Intimacy with him was not satisfactory either, she did not feel pain like the first time, but she did not feel pleasure either. Darcy rarely kissed her while they were intimate, though she knew she could not blame him since she did not kiss him either…

August 1814

In the second week of August, Richard Fitzwilliam had to go on a special mission to Scotland and since Pemberley was on the way, he decided to visit Darcy. In the three days he was in Pemberley, he realized his cousin's marriage was the same or worse than his parents. On the last night of his stay, while he was having a brandy with Darcy, they talked about his marriage…

"...I have noticed that despite being newlywed, you don't seem very happy in your marriage and I must say your wife does not seem very happy either."

"Do you know of any happy marriages?" Darcy asked sarcastically.

"Honestly I know very few," Richard smiled and said, "One of the few I know is the marriage of Esteban Hauton."

"You can't be serious, Richard! Hauton married a merchant's daughter, she did not even have a large dowry..."

Richard interrupted him, "And they are very happy. You realize when you see them together; the way they look at each other and communicate without needing to speak to each other." He paused and added, "He has told me that when he was in the carriage accident and near death, his wife was by his side the whole time, and it was largely due to her efforts that he recovered. She treated his wounds, constantly put cold cloths on his forehead and body to bring down his fever, and even fed him until he got better." He smiled wryly, "I'm sure that most of the high-society women I know, including my mother if they have a good marriage settlement, don't care very much if their husband dies, and the same can be said of husbands… In fact, I know more than one gentleman who would be quite happy if his wife died because he could spend more time with his mistress."

Darcy did not answer, knowing that in several ways his cousin was right.