This is it folks, the story is over and I thank you for travelling along the lives of my protagonists with me. I know there are still many typos and will review and correct what I can later this year (although still keeping UK spelling, sorry my US friends).
Epilogue – part 2 (the end)
With two cousins as close as sisters married to two cousins as close as brothers, their two estates a mere twenty miles away from each other and their London houses separated by only a few hundred yards, it was no surprise that the families only grew closer as time passed.
Elinor Belle Darcy was born five months after the Fitzwilliam wedding and was followed six months later by Jonathan Henry Fitzwilliam; Richard and Isabella had firmly refused to call the boy Bennet, while still honouring her father.
Bennet (Ben) Richard Darcy came next, followed in order of arrival by Frederick Reginald Fitzwilliam, Edward Frank Darcy, Mary Catherine Darcy and finally little Helen Rose Fitzwilliam.
Following the tradition started by Isabella's Uncle Anthony, all the Darcy and Fitzwilliam children were taught not only their letters and all the traditional subjects and accomplishments required by society, but they were taught how protect themselves and their loved ones when required; all seven of them could fight and defend themselves, whether from thugs and brigands, or the far more dangerous high society schemers and fortune hunters.
The Darcy children, their Miller, Shaw and Fullerton first cousins and their Fitzwilliam second cousins, whether their father was named Richard or Henry, considered themselves very lucky, for not only did they have many aunts and uncles, as well as enough cousins, and almost-cousins in the Bingleys and Hursts broods, so that they never need to be bored during family reunions, they had many loving grandparents.
Reginald and Susan Fitzwilliam could officially claim Richard and Henry's children as theirs; having been surrogate parent figures for William and Georgiana after their parents' early demise, they insisted that their children called them Grandpapa and Grandmama as well, of course; from there to claim Elizabeth's nephews and nieces as grandchildren was such a small step away, it was done before any of the babies could learn to talk.
The Gardiners and Phillipses, who remained on excellent terms with their three middle nieces also quickly claimed that it was too unfair that some of the children had two sets of grandparents while others only had one set, therefore all the children would need their involvement in their lives as spare grandparents.
As the result was more family to love and spoil them, the children all happily referred to Elizabeth's aunts and uncles as Grandma and Grandpa Gardiner and grandma and grandpa Phillips.
Isabella's children called the Joneses Uncle Anthony and Aunt Susan as their three children were of similar ages. Anthony's business was successful enough to keep his family in complete comfort, although he never quite made as large a fortune as he initially hoped, preferring to spend more time with his family rather than at the office; he had no regrets about his choices, with his beloved wife at his side and his brood of spirited little ones to keep him company.
Two years after Georgiana's wedding, Elizabeth and Darcy started a new tradition, and once a year, in June when the planting was long done and harvest not yet starting, the whole family and their closest friends met at one of the estates. Pemberley, Haddon Hall, Adlington Hall and Netherfield Park, with a little help from Lucas Lodge, were large enough, although the children often had to share happy large rooms full of fun and mischief.
There, the Darcys, Bingleys, Hursts, Fitzwilliam, Gardiners, Millers, Fullertons, Shaws, Jones and Phillips all pilled up for two weeks to share all the news that had already been shared by post many times and reforge the bonds between them anew. Anne joined for the first few years, until travelling became too difficult, and the noise too distressing for her. Lydia joined from time to time, although her work kept them busy some years.
After several years, Lady Catherine de Bourgh was also invited to rejoin her family and meet all the children her brother wrote about so often.
Lady Catherine de Bourgh had not enjoyed having to settle away from Rosings Park. She had lost the power she had craved her whole life, and only realised she loved her daughter once she was no longer allowed in her company.
Her only regular visitors initially were her nephew, Henry, who felt sorry for his aunt, and her brother and his wife. After a while her paid companions became more bearable, nearly friendly, which was mostly due to herself tempering her moods and reactions as her rants had no effects on the ladies her brother recruited.
Lady Catherine partially reconciled with the Darcys, after a long battle led by Elizabeth; her husband family was so small already, she did not like being the cause of any prolonged estrangement with his aunt. Through them, her Ladyship slowly repaired her relationship with Anne, although she was never invited to Rosings Park again and would only meet her daughter on the rare occasions when the later visited London or when they both attended the large family gathering.
Miss Anne De Bourgh had never married. Her health had improved after her mother's banishment to London, but she knew she would never be able to carry a child, and she was content to remain unwed and fully independent. After Richard and Isabella's wedding, Miss Fairchild officially left their employment and remained at Rosings Park with Anne. The two ladies had more of a sisterly relationship than that of a mistress and companion, and for many years lived happily together with no other concern than Anne's estate.
When a particularly cold winter, during which Anne suffered several colds and ailments, left her weakened and unable to properly manage her affairs, the two friends agreed that planning for Anne's succession was becoming urgent; her Fitzwilliam cousins were all well settled with their own estates and families, so Anne invited her youngest De Bourgh cousin, the third son of her father's only brother, and his cousin's new wife to visit Rosings Park. Jacob De Bourgh was a little younger than Anne, being only nine and twenty to her thirty years at that time, and was working as a solicitor in Folkestone, not too far from Rosings. He had married a gentle lady of good education but moderate fortune.
Jacob and his wife remained at Rosings for two months before Anne decided that her cousin would be exactly who she needed in an heir and would love her estate and its people as dearly as she did. With help from her uncle Reginald, all the paperwork making Jacob acting master of Rosings Park and Anne De Bourgh's heir were completed, and the younger couple never returned to Folkestone. Anne and Miss Fairchild happily retired to the dower house but retained a lot of their work with the Hunsford parishioners. By the time Anne passed away quietly in her sleep at only six and thirty, she had met the future heir of Rosings, a stout little boy Jacob named Lewis in honour of his late uncle, and a new little De Bourgh lady, her sweet little Harriet.
Mrs De Bough invited Miss Fairchild to move back to the main house, as a friend and companion, and that lady never left Rosings Park. As soon as the children, who were eventually joined by a little Anne, were old enough, she started training them as she had trained her beloved Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth many years earlier.
Unexpectedly, Lady Catherine was pleased to learn that a De Bourgh would inherit Rosings Park rather than a Fitzwilliam; she had genuinely loved her husband and missed him. Mr De Bourgh of Rosings Park sounded very nice, even without the Sir preceding it. When she finally joined her husband and daughter in their rest, her family was pleased to find that she had divided the remainder of her dowry between the two little De Bourgh girls.
Isabella had asked Elizabeth over for tea while the men were enjoying drinks at their club in town.
"It was thirty years ago today." Isabella was smiling, lost in her memories. "Thirty years since you turned up at my door with only a maid for chaperone, in company with a complete stranger, tall and sombre, quite intimidating really."
Elizabeth chuckled. "I hope you do not see him as intimidating now, Belle. We sat in this very parlour for hours, although I believe it was decorated in light green tones at the time."
"Could you have believed then that our lives would turn out the way they did? That an orphaned woman who had shunned society and her rejected cousin with no dowry or prospect would find so much happiness and love."
"You are getting sentimental at last, cousin. Why I believe my work in reforming my cynical sisters-of-the-heart of long ago, meaning Charlotte and you, is finally over!" Elizabeth teased.
Isabella laughed. "I will thank you to not compare me to our love-struck Mrs Bingley. I think her grief at Mrs Agatha's death has brought her even closer to her mooncalf of a husband."
"It has, and I am so glad to see her so very loved, and so happy still. It is strange to think that both Charlotte and Mary expected not to marry, or if they did, to marry for comfort and convenience, yet both love their husbands so very deeply and are loved in return." Elizabeth reflected, thinking of her pious and generous sister, still hard at work with several London charities.
"Now, look at us, all maudlin and nostalgic." Elizabeth recovered quickly. "We should be happy and celebrating instead. Why, with my Ben and your Jonathan learning to run the estates so well, we are now ladies of leisure with plenty of time to enjoy with our still extremely handsome husbands."
"Ladies of leisure indeed. Should you not be planning Ben's wedding instead of abusing your long-suffering cousin, Lizzy dear?"
"All is well in hand on that front, and his future mother-in-law has impeccable taste, so I need not worry about a thing." Elizabeth answered a little too casually, for despite the skills of the mother of the bride, she had been fully involved in all the planning and preparation; a fact Isabella knew full well.
The conversation turned to the happier topic of their children, who were fast leaving home to start their own individual stories. In some cases, such as the former little Elinor Darcy or the Hursts' Marianne, the next chapter had already been written, with the first three children of the next generation already born.
~ AFL ~
The years had been filled with love and laughter, and of course some sorrow.
The loss of Anne De Bourgh had deeply hurt Elizabeth, who had quickly learned to love her quiet new cousin. The sweet and delicate young lady had been the first to depart but not the last.
Mr Phillips had died in a carriage accident just outside Meryton twelve years previously, and her Aunt Phillips, too distraught to remain in the home they had lived in happily for so long, had moved to London to live with her brother and sister. She had joined her husband nearly four years ago, having caught a trifling cold that turned into a strong fever.
The Gardiners were still in Gracechurch Street, although their sons now run their father's business; Elizabeth could see how much her uncle had slowed down and knew it would not be long before they lost him.
Reginald Fitzwilliam had passed away, his heart having suddenly stopped in the middle of a speech in Parliament six years before. Lord Henry Fitzwilliam was now the Earl of Matlock, and Lady Susan shared her time between the homes of her five children, as she called them. She was currently staying with her daughter Amelia who had just lost her husband; having never had any children, she was lonely and would need her mother for many months.
So much sorrow, yet there had been so many joys too, all the marriages of their friends and relatives, the many, many births, christenings and birthdays of all the children that had followed; and now the next merry-go-round of marriages, births and all that ensued was underway, with so much more joyful moments to come.
Elizabeth was already fifty years old, and she had led a long fruitful and beautiful life; now was the time for the next adventure.
~ AFL ~
When William and Richard returned from their club, the four friends enjoyed a very cheerful evening, such as they had enjoyed so many times over the years.
"I have been thinking about what to do after Ben's wedding." William started. "I think we should let him have a whole six moths of peace in Pemberley. Shall we travel my love? Edward will be at university still, and your sister Mary wants to host her namesake. I am sure our eldest, most sensible daughter and her husband will keep an eye on her siblings if we ask her."
Elizabeth smiled lovingly at William. "Belle was calling us ladies of leisure earlier, maybe she was right. With the war long over, it is safe to travel on the continent. Do you think we could visit Paris and Vienna? I have always dreamt of seeing these most romanticised cities."
"With our little Jonny running Adlington so effectively, and Fred away on his grand tour, perhaps we could join you for a short time." Richard was looking at his still beautiful wife as he spoke. "I am sure Lady Kathy would happily take care of our baby girl for two or three months."
Isabella laughed. "The most difficult part of this journey will be to get our daughter back at the end, for you know as well as I do that Kathy will enjoy having a surrogate daughter far too much."
"Is it decided then? We will all cross the channel together and tour parts of the continent?" William was hopeful, he had planned to take his wife on a tour of the continent, but having Richard and Isabella join them, even for only a part of it, would make it even better.
Locking eyes with her husband, Isabella answered. "It is decided, we will all cross the channel and travel in style to Vienna, for I want to see that city most of all; there will be plenty of sights to see on the way as well. You two can enjoy Paris on your own after we return to England."
Elizabeth and Isabella had been happy for thirty years, and now they looked forward to many more years of love, joy and adventure with their wonderful husbands.
As for Annie, the young and eager former scullery maid who followed her mistress into the unknown, protected her and remained with her through sadness and joy, her life was no less full and happy as that of her beloved Mrs Darcy.
Annie had fallen in love with Pemberley during her first visit to the estate, and after her parents' passing, while her two elder brothers took over the tenancy of the farm at Lucas Lodge, Annie brought her three younger siblings, two boys and a girl, to Derbyshire. The children were well behaved, little Tim Culvert being only nine years old by then, and were soon part of the estate community just as much as the children born at Pemberley.
Tim and his brother would end up moving in with an elderly tenant not far from the manor house as teenagers, to help the man, who had no children, remain in his beloved home; years later they took over the farm. There would be Culverts at Pemberley for several generations.
Annie however did not keep the name Culvert long after settling permanently in Derbyshire, for she fell in love with one of Mrs Reynolds nephews, a stable groom, who would later become the Darcys' main coach driver, accompanying his wife and their employers everywhere they went, including Vienna, Paris and the south of France.
Annie had loved her Miss Elizabeth, loved her Mrs Darcy, so of course she loved all the children, and in time her single child, a daughter she named Charlotte in honour of her wonderful young Miss Lucas of old, became Miss Mary Darcy's personal maid.
~ The End ~
Additional Notes
The story is over, but I wanted to add a few details of the locations I have chosen for this little saga.
Of course, Jane Austen's beloved settings have been kept just as they were, although I decided to place Pemberley closer to the border between Derbyshire and Cheshire - I feel I was allowed to do that as I could find no exact location for the estate. I needed more pretty estates and decided to use real places and stately homes I have come across in my time in England.
The two estates I chose would have hosted the right type of families during Jane Austen's time; Adlington Hall, in Cheshire, is not open for visitors just now in summer 2023, however I fell in love with the mix of styles, with the Tudor wing remaining near untouched next to the imposing Georgian front, and with history going back to the Saxons. It is larger than I implied from Jonathan's fortune, so if you search for photos of the place online (you will find many), please scale it down a little, especially the stable block, or palace really. I wanted an estate around the size of Netherfield, but could not resist the white and black Tudor wing.
Haddon Hall in Derbyshire is open for visits at selected times during the year and is perfect for an earl I think. It was also Thornfield in the 2003 BBC production of Jane Eyre starring Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens – absolutely the most beautiful old castle with crenelations, what's not to like. Again you should find plenty of images online.
For the town houses, I picked some pretty houses in London while walking a half marathon for charity about a year ago, so in my mind, I see real houses when my fictional characters walk in and out of buildings.
