I am soo sorry, I just realized how LONG it has been since my last update. I hope someone is still reading this. If you are let me know, alright.

So, to make it up to you, here is an extra long chapter and just to inform you, there is some action coming up :)

So enjoy and please R&R

Only two and a half weeks were left until Henry and I would get married. I couldn't wait for it. And I was rather happy, that all planning was finished.

It had taken almost two weeks to take care of everything.

For a little over two weeks my family and I stayed at Charleton Park and I loved it. Joana and I had even formed a routine of sitting in the salon after breakfast for a few hours. Talking, or playing cards. She often asked me to play the piano for her and she always complimented my playing. Sometimes Henry joined us and sat in his favourite chair at the window while we talked, or stood next to me when I played the piano.

My mother and Kitty spent most of their time in the park, or in the town centre nearby. Kitty had been rather excited about a few very nice Gentlemen she had met in the city. At least that was what she had said, but she had liked Wickam too. That didn't speak for her knowledge of the human nature.

I was now reading a book, sitting in Henry's chair at the window, as the light was the best over there. Joana had a small tambour frame in her hands and stitched small yellow flowers into the white fabric. She was very good with stitching in contrast to my sewing or stitching skills.

We both looked up from what we had been doing when a young woman hurried into the room. She curtsied shortly before she turned to me and said:

"There is a man asking for you Miss Bennet." I looked confused at her and Joana asked the question that was in my head.

"Who is it Sophie?"

"Of course. Excuse me Milady. It is a Mr. James Henceforth." I could feel all the blood rushing from my face. Mr. Henceforth was here? Why?

I simply stared at the young maid, not able to form a whole sentence.

"Send him in." Joana smiled and got up. She walked over to me and looked me right in the eye.

"I am not sure what he wants, but brace yourself. You will be the Countess soon. You need to face even the most horrible situations with a smile on your face." She advised me and of course she was right. But I was scared of what he could want.

Because I didn't want to disappoint her. I rose from my seat, squared my shoulders and held my head high. I put the most relaxed expression on I could manage.

Joana nodded approvingly, placing her hand on my shoulder.

"Very good my dear. Now we will see what this man wants." I of course had told her everything about my engagement with him. So this man was no stranger to her.

Not long after our little talk an obviously displeased Mr. Henceforth stormed into the room. He looked at me and came closer.

"This is a scandal. You cannot just revoke the engagement. You agreed to marry me and if your family name means anything to you, you wouldn't dishonour it with such a low act." For a moment I was too shocked to say something. But then I caught myself.

"I am very sorry Mr. Henceforth. But as you might have realized I was uncertain about the marriage from the beginning. My mother talked me into it. I only said yes, because I wanted to please my family. This isn't meant as an insult of your personality. I am sure you are a wonderful man and you will find another woman who will be very happy to marry you. But I am not this woman."

He glared at me and started pacing up and down inside the salon.

"I cannot believe this. Rejected by someone like you. I should have known that a woman of your social standing has no morals whatsoever. And that is how you thank me for my kindness. I saved you from becoming a spinster, as no one else would ever want you." I wondered shortly what my father had written in the annulment. Had he no idea why I was here? And did he forget that Joana was with us in the room? But before I could explain anything, he continued his rant:

"Just look at you. Plain Mary Bennet, who would ever want to marry a woman like you? You would be a disgrace to every man. You and your family are below me and will always be nothing but vulgar and repulsive. I was willing to save you from that foul life. But your family decides that I am the one not good enough for you. You must have lost your mind. Or it is just as your looks, plain and…"

"That is enough!" Joana demanded with an angry voice. She obviously saw that I was trembling. No one had ever shouted at me like that and had said so many hateful things to me. I was sure I wouldn't be able to say one word. But that wasn't necessary. Joana was angry for the both of us.

"How dare you come into my house. Pay no respect to the rules. And insult my soon to be daughter? This is inexcusable. I will see to it, that the King himself hears about this. This is outrageous. And just to inform you. Mary won't end as a spinster. She will be loved and cherished as the next Countess of Suffolk, with my son Henry as her husband. You can name yourself lucky, that he isn't here. He wouldn't have reacted as nicely as I did. Now I want you to apologize to Mary. Turn around and leave. If I ever, see you again. I promise you, you will lose everything you own."

Mr. Henceforth had gotten paler and paler, with each word coming out of Joana's mouth. I had never seen her this furious. Her blue eyes were blazing and even though she wasn't really tall. She looked intimidating. When she made a step towards him, he backed away. Even though he was four inches taller than her.

I turned my eyes from Joana to Mr. Henceforth who made a step towards me. I could still see the anger in his eyes.

"Forgive me." he whispered. Then he whirled around and stormed out of the house.

With a heavy sigh I sank to the ground in the middle of the living room. My knees didn't support me any longer.

Joana stood close to me. I could see that she was so angry, that her whole body was shaking. I took her hand in mine and with a heavy sigh she sank to the ground right next to me,

"Thank you!" I whispered and Joana nodded. A moment we were both silent until she spoke again.

"I haven't been this angry in a long time. This man is impossible. I will write at once to the King." Joana raged, got up again and stormed from the salon. I stayed behind, not quite sure what to do. After a short moment I got up and sat down on a couch nearby. I hadn't expected this and I was curious what my father had written to him. So I decided to go and look for him.

He usually spend the morning in the library. I would probably find him there too. I quickly made my way to my favourite room of the mansion.

And I was right. When I opened the door to the library I saw him in the armchair next to the window. He heard me coming, because he looked up and closed his book.

"Good Morning Mary. You look flustered, are you alright?"

"I guess so. But I need to talk to you. It's important."

"Of course. Sit down." He said and mentioned to the seat in front of him. I did and said:

"Mr. Henceforth just visited and he was rather upset." At that my father looked just as surprised as I had felt before.

"What did he want?"

"That is what I would like to know too. He obviously didn't know why I am here. So what did you write to him?"

"Ah well… now that I think about it. I can understand that me might want to get an explanation." he said and rubbed his chin. That made me even more curious.

"So?" I asked again, hoping he would tell me.

"To be honest. I wrote to him before your Mr. Howard asked me to do so. I saw how unhappy you were and I was certain that Lizzy would make you change your mind. So I wrote to him, while I was at Pemberley to talk to her."

That surprised me. He had revoked the engagement without my knowledge?

"Why? You couldn't be so sure that Lizzy would make me change my mind. What if I had insisted on marrying him?"

"I would have locked you into your room until you came to your senses. But gladly I didn't have to do that."

"But it wasn't Lizzy who made me change my mind." I smiled. I felt really happy, that he valued my happiness so highly.

"I know and for that I will be forever grateful to your fiancé."

"Thank you, for everything." I said and meant every word of it. I was so grateful to him and I wanted him to know that. Without hesitating once I hugged him, which I hadn't done in years. At first he was surprised I could feel that, but then he sighed and put his arms around me.

"You don't have to thank me. I am your father, all I want for you is your happiness." I bit back the tears that were burning in my eyes. I didn't want to cry. Because of that I let go of him and smiled at him.

"I think I better go now. So you can return to your book." To my immense surprise he nodded and I could see that he had tears in his eyes as well.

Smiling even brighter I left the library. For a moment I stood unsure in front of the door until I decided to talk a walk. The gardens of the mansion were so beautiful, I couldn't get enough of them.

My tears were quickly forgotten, as I made my way through the house and out of it. I took a deep breath of the fresh air before I started to walk down the way towards the rose garden.

It was funny how wonderful my life had turned out. It had changed so much over the last couple of weeks. If anyone had told me before it would change like this, I wouldn't have believed him.

But I couldn't be more happy and I couldn't wait to see and find out what my new life would be like in a few more weeks.

That's it for now! Tell me what you think! Until next time. Which won't be that far in the future, I promise!