Early September 1814

"…You know very well that my dear friend Lady Sophia is getting married in London in a fortnight and her parents are having a ball two days before! We have known each other for many years and I want to go to her wedding!"

Darcy frowned at his wife as they had had the same argument the day before, "If you remember, I told you yesterday that I cannot be absent from Pemberley during the harvest!"

"Yes, I remember, but I don't understand why you cannot delegate the tasks to your steward, that's what you pay him for!"

Darcy replied annoyed: "I have also told you several times that my welfare, and my tenants, servants, and even yours depends on the decisions I make and the crops. I am still negotiating the sale of Pemberley's corn, wool, and other produce with acquaintances, and still, have much to do. Since you only contributed £10,000 to the marriage instead of the £30,000 I was expecting, I am in no position to risk hundreds or maybe thousands of pounds to go to Lady Sophia's or whoever's wedding."

Lady Maria was frustrated and bored and wanted so badly to go to London – even though she was honestly not a great 'friend' of Lady Sophia – replied, "I understand you, but I was thinking I could go alone for a few weeks and when you finish what you have to do in Pemberley you can go to London to spend the season with me." she paused, "If you agree, that would be an excellent solution…"

After having the same discussion a few more times and the same proposal from Lady Maria, Darcy ended up agreeing to his wife's request. The truth was that apart from occasional visits to her bedchamber, which were becoming more of a duty in producing an heir than a pleasure, they had nothing in common and he didn't care what she did the rest of the time.

He began to better understand his father, and other men of the Ton who had simply married for convenience without having anything in common with their wives and sought happiness outside of marriage. Since he was a man of impeccable morals - although at times he felt frustrated with his marriage - he was not going to do the same as they did. In moments of reflection - largely due to the conversation he had with his cousin about Esteban Hauton - he thought about what his life would have been like if he had married Miss Elizabeth Bennet..., he knew those thoughts were useless since he could not change the past. What was done was done and he had to live with the consequences. He had Pemberley, and hopefully, in a few years, he would have an heir...

October – November 1814

In the following two months, Lady Maria visited several of her 'friends' in London and participated in various parties. At first there were some comments about Darcy's absence, but since it was relatively common for men to lead separate lives from their wives, after a few days no one cared.

At Lady Sophia's engagement ball, she again met Sir Thomas, an impoverished and charming baron who had wanted to marry her. Since he did not have enough money and also needed at least 15,000 pounds to settle the debts his father had left when he died, everything came to nothing.

Sir Thomas was courting Caroline Bingley; he needed her dowry, and she wanted to be Lady XXXX. Neither of them was under the illusion that there were feelings between them, they were very clear about what they wanted and they were satisfied with it.

Whenever they met, Sir Thomas flattered and told Lady Maria whatever she wanted to hear. Lady Maria greatly enjoyed Sir Thomas's attentions, flirted with him, and felt beautiful and desired; Sir Thomas was so different from her husband.

At a fateful ball in late November - a week before Darcy arrived – after much flirting and several glasses of punch and champagne they met by mutual consent behind some bushes in the garden and became intimate.

and consummated their relationship. Sir Thomas had a lot of experience with women, had had two lovers in the past, and wanted to be intimate with Lady Maria.

Sir Thomas was an excellent lover since he had a lot of experience with women, he had had two mistresses in the past and also had a strong physical attraction for Lady Maria.

For the first time, Lady Maria enjoyed being intimate with a man; they both returned to the ballroom eager to repeat the experience. They could only see each other twice before Darcy returned, as it was difficult to create opportunities and it was risky...