Chapter 3

Elizabeth was on top of Oakmont, seated on a log, crying. She felt anger and helplessness for her horrible situation. However, that morning started with excellent news because Mr. Bingley proposed to Jane, and her sister was radiant with so much happiness. After talking to Jane, Mr. Bingley talked to Mr. Bennet, and their engagement was official.

Elizabeth was sincerely happy for her dear sister and could not hold back tears of emotion when she saw Jane so excited.

But half an hour later, all her joy had vanished when her foolish cousin had proposed to her, and Mrs. Bennet wanted to force her to accept. Fortunately, her father defended and supported her rejection. He was aware that Elizabeth could not be happy with a man as ridiculous as Mr. Collins.

"Dear Jane, you don't know how happy I am to know that you will fulfill the dream of marrying the man you love and who loves you," said Elizabeth, wiping away her tears.

Then, she stood up to see the whole valley. "I think I shall never get married because I shall never fall in love. Good, agreeable men like Mr. Wickham are too poor to marry a woman without a dowry like me, and those who have the means to do so are conceited idiots like Mr. Collins," Elizabeth thought.

She stayed at the top of the mountain for one hour more. She needed time before returning home to face her mother.

P&P

Caroline and Louisa wished they were anywhere but Longbourn. The only happy people in that family were Mr. Bingley because he was with his angel and Mr. Hurst enjoying Mrs. Bennet's excellent table.

Elizabeth was also uneasy because she could see the contempt with which Caroline and Louisa looked at her family. But as if that weren't enough, her mother had made her life miserable in the past few days because she turned down Mr. Collins's marriage offer.

"My dear Mr. Bingley, I always knew my beautiful Jane would marry a handsome, rich gentleman like you. When you have your home in London, I hope you invite Lydia to spend the season with you and introduce her to your rich friends. I'm sure everyone will fall in love with her because she's so pretty and lively."

"Yes, mama, I want to go to London for the season and dance with all Mr. Bingley's rich friends. And you, Kitty, will have to stay here and dance with the butcher and baker," Lydia said, teasing her sister.

"I want to go to London too, mama. It is not fair that only Lydia can dance with Mr. Bingley's friends," Kitty added, almost crying.

"Oh, Kitty, stop complaining! We are celebrating your sister and Mr. Bingley's engagement," Mrs. Bennet shouted, interrupting the argument between her younger daughters.

Caroline and Louisa looked at their brother in disgust, but he didn't notice it because he was engrossed in conversation with his beautiful betrothed.

Elizabeth thought her mother and younger sisters would never stop embarrassing her, and she admired Jane's ability to ignore her family's awful behavior.

Caroline somehow had to vent her frustration and decided to attack her sister-in-law's intolerable younger sister with all the sarcasm she could.

"Lydia, what are your talents besides dancing and being so... lively?

"What do you mean?" Lydia asked, intrigued.

"Do you sing or play the piano?" asked Caroline.

"No," replied Lydia.

"Do you speak French or German?" asked Louisa to support her sister.

Mrs. Bennet was going to support her daughter, but Caroline wouldn't let her.

"Perhaps here, in this place where people are more... simple, a girl like you can attract the attention of certain kinds of men like the butcher or the baker," Caroline sneered.

"But in London, only a truly accomplished girl can draw the attention of a wealthy and influential man," Louisa concluded.

"No, I do not need that, right, mama?"

Mrs. Bennet didn't know what to say and just stared at Jane's future sisters-in-law. Elizabeth thought that Caroline and Louisa were somehow correct, but they spoke with such contempt that she couldn't help but feel sorry for her sister. Of course, Lydia was far from perfect, but she didn't deserve to be slighted like that in front of her family.

But Lydia wasn't one to keep quiet, and she responded to the attack. "Miss Bingley, can you sing, play the piano and speak French?"

"Of course, I studied at one of the best seminaries in the country," Caroline replied proudly.

"And why are you still single if you are so accomplished?"

Caroline was furious at Lydia and ignored her for the rest of the evening. She would not waste her time explaining to that impertinent chit that she still had not met the right man who would fulfill all the requirements to be her husband.

When the horrible dinner was finally over, Caroline and Louisa were relieved and began planning what they would do to avoid associating with that vulgar family anymore.

P&P

It was exactly five months after the death of Aaron Dalton, and his son William was locked in the study of his London home, writing letters to Mr. Owen, who was in charge of the business in Manchester. He blindly trusted Nicholas Owen because he had worked with his father for over twenty years and had known him since he was little. But there were many decisions that the business manager couldn't make and that needed William's signature and approval as the new owner of everything.

For that reason, in the last months, he had worked incessantly. During the day, he worked in the new business he was setting up in London, and at night he had to dedicate himself to reading reports and writing letters related to the company in Manchester.

He had only been in London for three months, and if it weren't for his promise to his father, he would have returned north. The society there was much more stratified and pretentious, and most of those who looked down on tradesmen like him were mostly pompous fools who lived off the work of others.

The good thing was that he could find a nice house on the same street where the Gardiners lived. That way, his mother could be close to her niece Madeline and not feel so alone since he spent much of his time working.

Violet was a little worried about her dear son. Since her father's death, he had been even more reserved than usual. Since childhood, William was a shy boy; the Daltons thought it was due to the trauma he endured so many years ago in that river. But over the years, she realized it was her son's temperament. He was a hardworking, studious boy who wanted to be the best in everything he did. The only problem is that he sometimes tried too hard, forgetting that he was still young and should enjoy life a little more.

Since William was twenty and the features of adolescence had disappeared, she noticed how women looked at him with admiration and respect. Her son was tall and very handsome but felt uncomfortable talking to people he didn't know well. He didn't have the patience to pretend he was interested in the trivialities many young ladies usually discussed. For that reason, although many ladies admired him at first sight, they lost interest because they felt intimidated by his severity.

Violet dreamed that one day her beloved son would meet a woman who would love him for all he was and that she would notice that there was an honorable, hardworking, and affectionate man behind his handsome face. Yet, she knew that even though William wasn't Aaron's biological son, he was just like him, a man who would fall in love only once and be faithful to that love until the day he died.

"William, dinner will be served in fifteen minutes. Son, I will not allow you not to sit at the table with me this evening. You work too much, son, and you must rest," Violet said, entering the study.

"I'm sorry, mother. I know I shouldn't leave you alone for so long, but I promise it will only be for a few months. Once I have consolidated my business in this city, I shall have much more free time, and if you want, we can even return to Manchester."

"Son, wherever you are, I'll be well. And when I tell you you work too much, I don't say it because I feel alone but for you. You must dedicate time to other activities than just working. You are a young man, and you should enjoy more life, go to balls to meet people your age and maybe some lady that interests you."

"If I knew there was a girl as pretty and good as you, mother, believe me, I would propose to her right now," William replied with a laugh. He knew his mother wanted the best for him. But he wasn't ready to fall in love and have to open his heart and tell the tragic story of his life to someone else. He was unprepared to share his sad tale and did not want to feel vulnerable again.

"I understood, William. You hate when I talk about this particular subject and prefer that I change the topic of the conversation. I know you well!"

William smiled and only added, "In fifteen more minutes, I'll be in the dining room."

"I'll be waiting for you, my dear boy," Violet replied, closing the study door.

P&P

Mr. Gardiner was surprised to see George Darcy observing the day's movements in his warehouse. Usually, men of his rank and influence do not directly contact merchants.

"Gardiner, I hope you don't mind that I came to see you here in your office. I enjoy seeing how everyone is busy because, in a certain way, it reminds me of the work we do in my estate during the harvest season."

"You do not bother me at all, Mr. Darcy. I was just surprised to see you here."

"I am aware that gentlemen like myself are supposed to hate trade even though we have a large part of our fortunes invested in it," Mr. Darcy said with a laugh.

"That's right, Mr. Darcy. There are many who hate us in public but invest their money with us in private," Mr. Gardiner added, smiling. He liked George Darcy very much because he was friendly and intelligent. Although he sensed that Mr. Darcy was hiding a great sorrow because he only dressed in black as if he were in permanent mourning.

"But let me introduce you to this young man accompanying me today. Mr. Gardiner, this is my dear nephew, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam."

"Delighted, Colonel," Mr. Gardiner said, extending his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, sir," replied Richard.

Mr. Darcy explained that Richard had been saving money for years and wanted to invest it in new business opportunities. Mr. Gardiner listened attentively and thought he had an excellent proposition to make to the young officer.

"At the moment, Colonel, I cannot offer you any investment opportunity in my business, but there is someone I thoroughly trust with whom you can invest with guaranteed returns. If you have time to wait for him, he will be here in ten minutes."

"I'm not in a hurry, and I don't think my uncle is either," Richard replied.

Mr. Darcy took advantage of the opportunity to ask Mr. Gardiner several questions. He was an intellectually curious gentleman and loved to learn new things. He realized that the world of commerce was growing more and more compared to the traditional system based on land ownership and farming. He sensed that the future was not in the country but the cities.

After precisely ten minutes, William arrived at his uncle's office. "Mr. Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, this is my nephew, William Dalton, the man I have been telling you about for the last ten minutes."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Darcy, Colonel," William replied as the two men in the office looked at him with strange curiosity.

P&P

Thanks to everyone who leaves supportive comments and enthusiastically follows the story.

I want to warn you that this is a long story divided into three parts. In this first one, William will resolve his love life. In the second, due to some events, he will begin remembering details of his childhood when he was a Darcy. And in the third and final, he will meet his biological family.

In Spanish, this story had 30 long chapters, but in English, the chapters will be shorter, and there will be extra details, so I assume it will reach 45.

Finally, I want to tell you that I have wanted to write a gentler Mr. Darcy for a long time. This site is full of stories in which he behaves like a scoundrel (I include my stories), so to make him nicer, I had to get him out of Pemberley and have a less proud family :)

I hope I have time to continue with "The Return," a story I love and want to share with you.

When I write, I think about what I like to read. For example, I have never read a story where Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth married and had children with other people. That's a huge NO for me, so I'll never write a story like that.

Do you have a topic you don't like reading in your P&P variations? Or do you read whatever if the story is interesting?

In the next chapter, William meets a certain lady with very fine eyes.

Saludos,

Yo