Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
Cross-posted on elizabethfrerichs dot com and wattpad
Epilogue—Tuesday, November 19, 1816
Darcy smiled down at his beloved wife. "You really ought to put on your nightgown before I rub your feet, my love."
Elizabeth sighed, but made no attempt to rise from the settee.
She was pregnant with their third child and often fell asleep the moment she truly began to relax. He had been told that many women were exhausted and miserable all day once they were more than halfway through their pregnancy; Elizabeth glowed and had a seven-month long burst of energy that lasted throughout most of the day. By nighttime, however, all that energy drained away, her feet ached, and she often fell asleep while Darcy rubbed them.
He held out a hand. "Come on. I shall help you change."
Reluctantly, she took his hand. "Are you certain I cannot stay right here?"
"You could," he said with a laugh. "But you will complain if I have to wake you up so you can get dressed and then move into our bed."
"I could sleep there and—"
"Have a miserably sore back in the morning?" he said, turning her around and beginning to unbutton her dress.
"Fine," she said grumpily.
He gently rubbed her shoulders. "It will not last."
"I know." She leaned back against his chest. "I just wish I was not pregnant today. If Miss Engel—"
He put his arms around her, drawing her close. "I know. But it has been five years, and no other day has repeated. Not only that, but I believe we have done a fair job of fulfilling Miss Engel's mission."
"Our sisters do seem happy, don't they?" she murmured.
Darcy nodded. "It will be good to see them tomorrow."
After much persuasion and a visit with Elizabeth, Lady Matlock had agreed to sponsor Elizabeth, and, though Lady Catherine had done her best to make things miserable for them, the only people who rejected Darcy and his new wife were those who valued wealth and position above all. It had actually made for a much more congenial season after they were married. Eventually, the ton had moved on and Lady Catherine had been forced to look to her own house; Uncle Matlock had removed Anne from Rosings, discovering that, though she was ill, she did much better without all the medications Lady Catherine's physician had been prescribing. Or perhaps it was the absence of her mother and companion constantly treating her as though she were a frail, incapable human being. Uncle Matlock had exiled Lady Catherine to the Dower House at Rosings and had threatened to ruin her reputation if she so much as stepped out of line.
Mr. Collins remained at Hunsford, as Mrs. Collins had been doing an excellent job of taking care of their parishioners. The man had tried to spread rumours that Darcy was engaged to Miss de Bourgh when he returned to Hertfordshire for his wedding, but Sir William and Mr. Phillips had squelched his troublemaking. Elizabeth had often expressed her sorrow at never seeing Charlotte, but at least they were able to carry out a clandestine correspondence, despite Mr. Collins's disapproval of the Darcys.
Miss Bingley had attempted to worm her way back into their good graces by pretending her interference had been naught but a simple misunderstanding. Bingley and Jane had not welcomed her with open arms. Eventually, she had married Sir Gilbert Townen, an eighty-seven-year-old baronet who, though he possessed a large estate, was firmly in dun territory and in desperate need of funds.
As a result of Elizabeth's new connections, the Bennets had agreed that something needed to be done to prepare their daughters for a more advantageous position in society. Surprisingly, Mr. Bennet had argued for hiring a governess, as he was not ready for all his daughters to leave Longbourn at once; Mrs. Morehead had been perfect for them.
After two years of her instruction, the whole family had changed. Mrs. Bennet still bucked social conventions at times, but the Darcys had no qualms about including her and Mr. Bennet in invitations to ton events. Even Lydia had harnessed her willingness to flout convention, her strong personality, and her love of fun, and had become a force for good. She was currently campaigning to raise money for abandoned girls.
All four girls had married worthy young men: Georgiana had married a good man who did not care a whit for the mistakes of her youth, the second son of a viscount. Mary had recently wed the youngest son of a baron; Mr. Hampton was a clergyman with an excellent living and, from their letters, Mary appeared to be thriving as a parson's wife. Kitty had fallen in love with an Italian count whose paintings were the talk of Rome and she rarely was able to return to England. Mrs. Morehead had nurtured Kitty's love for fashion though, and Kitty now designed her sisters' wardrobes regularly. Lydia's fire had attracted a young man who was even now taking parliament by storm, and Darcy would not at all be surprised if they enacted quite a few changes in their lifetime. Lydia had proved to be a perfect hostess for political events, charming people and arguing fiercely by turns.
In short, Miss Engel's intervention had saved all their sisters from miserable, wasted lives.
"I am looking forward to their visit," Elizabeth said. "And Miss Engel cannot say you are still weighed down by your past," she added, as though reassuring herself.
Darcy nodded. Though he was not charged for desertion (as he had not succeeded in deserting), Wickham had been shipped off to the colonies. According to Colonel Forster, George Wickham had suffered an ignominious end after trying to cheat the wrong person; Wickham did not even make it off the boat before dying from a head wound. Darcy still mourned the man's death, but he had made his peace with the matter. Wickham had chosen his own fate and no one else would ever suffer from his machinations.
Elizabeth groaned as he kneaded a tight place on her shoulders. "I hate being this tired," she complained. "At least everyone is used to me turning into a pumpkin right after dinner."
Darcy kissed the top of her head. "No one minds. They love you. That is why they wanted to spend Christmas here this year." Elizabeth might have energy for visiting with their family, but he refused to allow her to travel any length of time, especially not over the jolting roads of winter in northern England. The Matlocks were only fifty miles away, but fifty miles of frozen road was too far for his beloved, very pregnant wife. Besides, everyone was glad to come.
She chuckled. "We shall certainly have a houseful. Robert and Anne are over the moon at the idea of sharing the nursery with all their cousins, but I am not sure anyone will sleep."
"Those two will sleep standing up if they get tired enough," Darcy said ruefully, as he gently pulled Elizabeth's nightgown down. His two older children, like their mother had been, were full of energy and liable to get into scrapes without sufficient entertainment. Fortunately, they would have a surfeit of doting adults and younger cousins to keep them entertained as the Matlocks, the Gardiners, the Bennets, Georgiana and her husband and son, Jane and Bingley and their twins, Mary and her husband, and Lydia and her husband and son were all scheduled to arrive in the next two days.
She poked him. "Rather like their father."
Darcy swept Elizabeth up into his arms and carried her to their bed, depositing her. "I beg to differ, Madam." He sat down by her feet and began rubbing them.
She sighed as the tension leached from her. "What would I do without you?"
"Hire a servant to rub your feet?"
She kicked him lightly, then sobered. "It has been five years today." Her brow furrowed. "Sometimes it feels like a dream."
Darcy nodded. "Another life. Yet whenever I look around at our family, I know it was not a dream."
"You do? Why?"
He raised one eyebrow. "Can you imagine your father turning into such an attentive man without supernatural intervention?"
"I suppose not," she said after a moment's thought. "I certainly never would have imagined Lydia turning out so well."
"Nor I."
Elizabeth snorted. "You thought my family was the worst from the first moment of our acquaintance."
Darcy laughed. "I did, but that was not what I was referring to. I meant that I never would have imagined myself turning out so well."
"Ah. Then I shall forgive your slip of the tongue. This time."
He leaned forward and drew her into a deep kiss, then slipped back far enough to look into her eyes. "I said it back then and I will say it again every day until I die. I love you, Elizabeth Darcy. You inspire me to be a better person. Without you in my life, I would be poor indeed."
"I feel the same way, William," she said and kissed him again. "I would never have chosen such a drastic intervention from Providence, but I am still grateful for Tuesday."
"As am I."
A/N: The End! Thank you soooo much for sticking with me! I couldn't have done it without you guys :)
Some quick business items: 1) If you'd like to be notified when this book goes up on Amazon (or when I start posting new stories), join my writing updates email list (or if you're already subscribed to one of my other lists, instructions on how to get added to a second list are in my most recent email). I hope to have The Riches of a Life Well-Lived on Amazon by mid-September, but who knows. :) 2) If there was anything that you feel like didn't get wrapped up sufficiently, pass it along! Likewise if you feel like any of the characters weren't believably redeemed. I'll be doing final edits for the next month or so and would love to hear those things. 3) If you have any great P&P story ideas, feel free to send me prompts. I can't promise to write them (and I won't be writing a P&P again until November or later), but I'm always on the lookout for ideas to spark my creative juices. 4) Finally, I've decided that I'm going to do my absolute best not to post a WIP ever again, so I'm looking for a few people who would be willing to just read my stories before I start posting them—not necessarily to beta them, but just to cheerlead and provide basic feedback (e.g., "this was my favorite part" "this was my least favorite part" "you totally lost me at this scene"). If you're interested, PM me and we'll go from there :)
Thanks to Cheryl and David for reading through this chapter! As always, if any of the rest of you notice something amiss, please let me know.
Chapter 5 of Mutante went up as well today.
Thanks again for coming along with me. I love how this story turned out and, given how crazy RL was this past year, it's finished because I had all of y'all waiting for chapters ;)