Edited by SamH294
PPP
At the Campbell home, Mrs. Campbell gasped with excitement as she read Lord Frederick's note inviting her and her daughter to Gunter's. Until a few weeks ago, their acceptance in the first circles of London had been limited, and overnight, one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom invited her and Marianne to Gunter's!
Mr. Campbell who was reading the newspaper when her wife gasped, looked at her with curiosity, but before he could ask her about the motives of her excitement, she went off to find Marianne to tell her the good news.
Twenty-five years ago, Mr. Campbell had married her wife very much in love and they were very happy, but one day a few months after Marianne's birth everything changed. He had gone to White's to meet a friend, and there he met some acquaintances from university who invited him to go to Madame Dupree's. At first, he refused since he loved his wife, they were very happy together and he did not conceive the idea of being unfaithful to her. Unfortunately, after his acquittances made several jokes and made fun of him, added to the fact that he had drunk more than he was used to, he ended up going with them. That was one of the worst mistakes of his life. Unfortunately, he fell asleep after having sex with a courtesan and arrived home around 9:00 in the morning. He was disheveled and with a woman's cheap perfume impregnated on his skin. His wife was very worried about him, it was obvious that she had not slept at all that night and she had even cried. She had sent a servant to White's hours ago but was told that Mr. Campbell had left several hours ago with other gentlemen.
From then on, the excellent relationship between them broke forever. Mrs. Campbell refused to be intimate with him again until a doctor assured her that he did not have any kind of disease. After three months they were finally intimate again. Unfortunately, the experience was not a pleasant one since she just lay in bed, staring at the ceiling the whole time.
He apologized to her several times and expressed his deep regrets for his action, but over time he realized that she no longer trusted him or loved him and she would never trust and love him again.
The relationship between them continued to deteriorate, his previously affectionate wife now treated him with indifference and avoided seeing him as much as possible. He knew their marriage was destroyed for good and unfortunately, he was the main responsible.
A year later he was deeply depressed by the situation with his wife and he made another huge mistake. He had his first mistress that lasted two years, but unfortunately, that woman went to his house claiming she was pregnant and asking for money. It was false, but the situation was humiliating for her wife, and he felt strong remorse for what he was doing.
But a year later he had his second mistress for five years, and then he had three more mistresses. The current one was twenty years younger than him. Without a doubt, she was a very beautiful woman and experienced in the art of love. The problem was that ironically with none of his mistresses, he managed to feel even a tenth of the happiness he felt when he made love with his wife before that fateful night several years ago.
His punishment was that despite the years and all his mistresses he was still in love with his wife and would be forever…
Late December 1811 – February 1812
It is common knowledge that gossip about 'forbidden romances' were the most interesting and entertaining. In the salons of London's high society, the Ladies and some gentlemen were not talking about the Darcys, nor about Miss Bennet, but about the alleged romance between Lord Frederick with Mrs. Campbell. Several ladies had seen them together at Gunter's and claimed that they had been lovers for years.
Upon hearing the rumor, Mrs. Campbell was initially horrified but later found the situation to be quite amusing. At least the Ton thought her 'lover' was one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom, unlike her husband who only kept a cheap understudy actress.
Several of the Ladies who had hitherto ignored her began sending invitations to tea and visits, their agenda of course, being to ask her questions about the Marquess. Mrs. Campbell always replied the same - he was a gallant gentleman, but they were not lovers – Obviously, no one in society believed her...
For his part, several acquaintances of Mr. Campbell made allusions to him about his wife's affair with Lord Frederick. Needless to say, Mr. Campbell was very upset and jealous, though he had no right to be. He fully understood the humiliation he had put his wife through, although his case was worse since he had cheated on her early in their marriage with a prostitute and then kept several women over the years.
Near the end of December, Elizabeth's cousin, on winter break from his first year attending Oxford, arrived in London to visit his parents for a few weeks' vacations. He took a liking to Darcy as soon as he met him, and though Gabriel was only 18, he was quite taken with Georgiana.
Darcy and Elizabeth continued their courtship through January and had opportunities to participate in various events of the little season. At one point, they were invited to Lord Frederick's box along with the Harrison and Marianne Campbell and Darcy gave Georgiana special permission to accompany them as well.
Since Marianne Campbell was a very pretty and sweet young woman, and her family was friendly with Lord Frederick, many gentlemen became interested in courting her. To Mrs. Campbell's surprise, the son of an earl and a baron were among them; but her daughter was not interested in any of them.
In early February, Darcy received a letter from his cousin Richard Fitzwilliam with the news that Anne had died. A few months ago, his cousin had agreed to marry Anne to prevent Rosings from returning to the hands of the de Bourghs and Lady Catherine from being evicted. Richard was now a widower and owned of Rosings...