Darcy POV October 1815 - August 1816 (The last chapter begins in April 1817, Perhaps I will change the order of the chapters at another time.)

October 1815 - April 1816

After Lady Maria's death, Darcy stayed at Pemberley for several months. He hired two wet nurses for the girl – as he called her – and sent Mrs. Reynolds to set up a nursery. He rarely saw the girl, and unfortunately had no feel affection for her. Anne Darcy did not physically resemble him at all, she had blonde hair and light blue eyes, while Darcy had dark hair and dark blue eyes. On the other hand, Sir Thomas, just like his late wife was also blond and also had light eyes.

Within a month of Lady Maria's burial, Darcy had the girl christened. Georgiana and her husband agreed to be godparents to Anne Darcy. The Stevenses did not know exactly what had happened between Darcy and his wife, but they had suspicions that it had been something serious, and even suspected that Anne Darcy was not his daughter.

In April 1816 he went to Rosings as his aunt Lady Catherine was ill and was no longer 'controlling' the steward as she should. Rosings was a place that brought back many bittersweet memories of Miss Bennet and what could not have been. In the four weeks, he stayed at Rosings, he revied the ledgers and made important decisions to improve the estate's productivity, he thought of Elizabeth daily. He remembered every conversation and to his embarrassment, he also remembered the way he had insulted her when he proposed to her. He had been an arrogant and proud man, who had not even bothered to woo the woman he loved properly since he thought he was doing her a favor by marrying her... How wrong he was!

May 1816 – August 1816

Over the next few months, Darcy stayed at Pemberley. In early June Bingley visited him as he was still looking for an estate to buy. He stayed at Pemberley for a week, and visited two estates about 20 to 30 miles from Pemberley, one was for lease and the other for sale. Although, after Jane Bennet met two other 'angels', he was still single.

The first 'angel', Caroline again convinced him that she was not suitable to be Mrs. Bingley and she was only interested in his money, and the second 'angel' left him for a titled gentleman. He had recently met another lady, Miss Johnson, but unlike the others, this time he felt he was truly in love. This young lady was not blonde like the other girls he had been interested in the past, and what he admired most about her was her character and not her beauty – although she was a pretty young woman. But given Bingley's reputation for falling in and out of love too easily, Miss Johnson was unwilling to be one of his 'angels' and paid no attention to him. She had not told him so explicity, but it was clear to Bingley that she found his character wanting. Likewise, he was not going to give up since this time he was convinced she was the one. Since her father's small estate was in Derbyshire, he wanted to buy his estate in the area to be close to her.

Darcy went with him to visit both estates, finally settling on the one for lease. On the last night before Bingley was due to return to London to make preparations to move to Derbyshire, he met Darcy in his office and had an interesting conversation...

"... I don't understand why you keep insisting if she did not accept that you court her."

Bingley sighed, "I understand you. It is hard to explain, but I feel like she is the one." he took a deep breath, "the only time I felt something similar, but not with the same intensity as what I feel for her, was for Miss Bennet, and it took me several months to forget her." He looked at a fixed point and with a half-smile added, "She had several reasons to reject me; from her perspective, I am a man who easily falls in love with a pretty face, and soon fell in love with another. She wants more than that for her future, and she does not care about the financial benefits she may have if she marries me." He looked at his friend, "she is a woman of integrity, with firm convictions and she is so different from most of the women I know… I am not in love with her because of her beauty, although she is pretty, but because of her character and her in general… It is difficult for you to understand me if you have never felt something like this for a woman. I want to be a better man for her; I want to be a man worthy of her."

Darcy listened to him with great surprise and replied, "I have never heard you talk like that about another woman. I sincerely hope you can convince Miss Johnson of the sincerity of your affection."

"I will do everything in my power…"

Seeing Bingley's determination to win the affection of the woman he loved despite her rejection, he wondered again why he had not sought out Elizabeth when he found out about the fire and especially why he had not done anything to show her that he could be a gentleman worthy of her affection. He shamefully admitted that when he proposed to Elizabeth he felt superior to her and felt he was doing her a favor. Later when he found out about her father's death, he felt that she was too beneath him and he could no longer marry her. He preferred not to see her or know anything about her so as not to be tempted to commit a foolish thing... He clearly realized that he was foolish in not looking for her since, despite the fact that more than four years had passed, he was still dreaming of her.

The second visitor was Georgiana and her husband, who came for his daughter's first birthday and stayed for a week. The girl was growing well, and according to people who knew Lady Maria, they said she resembled her mother. Despite the fact that every time he saw the girl, he remembered Lady Maria's infidelity and his mistakes, he was making an effort to love his daughter... although at times it was not easy for him