I borrowed the name of this story from Neruda's famous verses, "I can write the saddest verses tonight" (Puedo escribir los versos más tristes esta noche)

"The same night that pales the same trees.

We, ever since then, are no longer the same."

Chapter 1

One sunny spring day, a passenger ship from America was rapidly approaching the port of London. Standing in the bow was a very pretty woman in her late twenties, with a small three-year-old girl. The woman was looking pensively at the horizon. It had been about six years since she had left her homeland, and if it weren't for the deteriorating diplomatic relations and possible war between England and America, she probably would never have returned.

The truth was that when she went to America so many years ago, her situation was so different... She was certainly no longer the same...

1805

From one of the windows of the Lambton Inn, Elizabeth watched with sadness and shame as Mr. Darcy rode away on his horse. She couldn't blame him; she knew her family was ruined, and no gentleman in his right mind was going to want to associate with her.

When her aunt and uncle returned from visiting friends, and read the letter Jane had sent them with details of Lydia's elopement with Wickham, they promptly left for London.

Her father and uncle hired an investigator to try to discover the couple's whereabouts. They hadn't gone to Gretna Green, that was obvious, and everything indicated that they were in London. A week later, the investigator told Mr. Gardiner that Wickham's body had been found floating in the Thames. Unfortunately, they were unable to discover Lydia's whereabouts. After a month the search was over. The investigator's assumed Lydia was likely dead or she didn't want to be found and it was useless to continue the search.

After that, life in Longbourn changed dramatically for the Bennet family. Wherever they went, Elizabeth and Jane, who used to be respected and loved by their neighbors, were now looked at with censure and disgust. Even Sir Lucas, amiable as he was, had forbidden his daughter Maria to have a friendship with Kitty. Lady Lucas said to everybody who wanted to listen that 'Bennet's girls have bad habits and low morals.'

Jane was the one who was most affected by this situation, because, at twenty-three, she felt the few chances she had of making a good marriage had completely disappeared and she was now approaching the age of being considered a spinster. Not very social by nature, Mary took further refuge in sermons and playing the piano. Kitty felt guilty, as she hadn't shared a letter Lydia had written telling her about her engagement with Mr. Wickham. Being a very naïve young lady, everything had seemed very romantic to Kitty and it had not crossed her mind that Lydia would be so very imprudent.

Lizzy was upset with her father; she had implored him not to let Lydia go to Brighton, but her father – as usual – didn't want to bother saying NO to his reckless daughter. Now her future and her sisters were ruined… And there was very little that could be done.

Mrs. Bennet spent most of the day in bed complaining about her nerves, blaming everyone for her family's misfortune except herself and Lydia. Mr. Bennet, for the first time since he had married, began to take steps to save some money to improve his daughters' dowries. He had always imagined his daughters would marry a gentleman like himself, and from that moment, they would no longer be his responsibility.

But due to Lydia's folly, he knew that wouldn't happen - and it was mainly his fault. When he died, his family would find themselves in a very precarious situation with only £200 per year. The first thing he did was sell his collection of expensive and rare books, along with all the valuable objects that did not belong to the estate. He divided the money he had saved for his expenses and those of Mrs. Bennet, together with the money raised from the sale, into 4 equal parts - leaving Lydia out of his will - for his daughters' dowries. Thus, he managed to raise almost £500 additional for each of them. He also promised his family to do more to increase Longbourn's profits and cut costs.

Mrs. Gardiner's younger brother, Mr. Thompson, was Mr. Gardiner's partner in the import/export company, Gardiner & Associates. He was a man in his mid-thirties and had a four-year-old daughter. His wife had died a year ago and he wanted to get married again so his daughter Maddy would have a mother. Hearing of the misfortune of the Bennet family, and as Jane was a beautiful, sweet, and polite young lady, he spoke with his sister and brother-in-law about the possibility of marrying her.

The Gardiners invited Jane to London, and in less than two months, Jane and Mr. Thompson were married. They were both satisfied with the union; Jane wanted to leave Longbourn and have her own house, and Mr. Thompson wanted a good wife and mother for his daughter.

After Jane's wedding, Lizzy was invited to move in with the Gardiners. Soon after, Mr. Gardiner received a letter from Mr. Smith, his main partner in America. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith was very ill and did not know how much longer he would be able to continue working. Since he had no sons, and his former apprentice had recently opened his own shop, there was no one he trusted to take care of his business.

Mr. Gardiner, upon reading the sad news, and discussing it carefully with his wife and brother-in-law, concluded it was prudent to travel to America since an important part of their income was associated with that business.

Since the Gardiners had no children, they decided to leave Mr. Thompson in charge of the business in London and go to Boston themselves.

The Gardiners knew Lizzy enjoyed traveling and seeing new places, so they invited her to come with them. Very grateful for the invitation - and able to decide for herself, since she had just come of age - she happily accepted.

So, in the early spring of 1806, the Gardiners and Elizabeth set out for Boston on what would be a great adventure that would completely change Elizabeth Bennet's life.