Demimonde

With the sudden and unexpected death of her husband, the still young and very beautiful Fanny Bennet is left with a dilemma: she has two daughters, limited funds, and few options. After dropping her toddler and newborn off with her brother and his newlywed wife, she makes contact with an old fling and begins an entirely different type of life. Had she just left her daughters alone, perhaps all would have been well.

Fanny Bennet (nee Gardiner)

Francine Beatrice Gardiner was not a clever woman, but she was wily. Take for example the way that she had managed to escape scandal and disgrace after she discovered that her trysts with the recently married Master of Netherfield had gotten her with-child. After she realized the horrible truth she had persuaded her mother to invite Mr. Thomas Bennet, the new Master of Longbourn, to dinner. With her own father away in London on business it had been a simple matter to slip something into the man's drink and arrange to have him wake up in her bed.

Her mother had made quite a show of finding the poor man in her bed and she had done her part by acting shocked and mortified. A little pig's blood on the bedsheets and on her ripped garments did the rest and she was married by common license mere days later. It was only weeks later that she learned about the entail, but it did not concern her since she would certainly bear at least one son, perhaps even the one she now carried. She liked the idea that her lover's child might someday become the next master, but it was not to be.

She bore a girl-child instead and named her Jane. She would rather have given the child her own name of some derivation of her lover's name. Instead she named the beautiful product of her sin after the deceased mother of Thomas Bennet. This was as much to throw the man off the scent as anything else, since he could do the math as well as she could... and little Jane was either two months premature or not his child.

The issue of the entail became important to her at that point, since her new husband wanted nothing to do with her or her babe after the early birth. It would take another year before she managed to get him drunk enough to seduce him into her bed so that she could produce a son. To add to her odds, she also slept with three other men in quick succession. Yet her efforts were not rewarded. Oh, she did become pregnant and the babe was undeniably her husband's based upon her eyes and features, but it was another girl-child.

Thomas Bennet recognized himself and his sister in this second child, so he embraced her even though his wife all but rejected her. He named her Elizabeth, after the sister he lost in her youth. He fell in love with his tiny daughter almost instantly. Had his forsworn wife paid the child even a modicum of attention he might have forgiven her all her past sins. But Fanny did not and therefore he did not. What resulted was two families, a mother and child and a father an child living like strangers in the same house.

What might have happened in the household in the distant future would never be known, because one day, a mere seven months after the birth of Elizabeth, his carriage horses were startled by wild dogs. They took off into the wilderness in terror. The coachman and footman were thrown off early in the chase, but the wild ride for Thomas Bennet only ended when the flimsy coach was overturned into a ravine and smashed into a large boulder. The Master of Longbourn's broken body was not found and extracted for another eleven hours, but by then he was long gone from this world.

Fanny Bennet soon found herself putting on mourning even as she was ousted from Longbourn by that hateful Mr. Jed Collins and the man's ugly little son. Faced with living in poverty with two little children and no prospects for the future, Fanny quickly came to a decision. She used some of the meager funds left to her to travel by post to London, where her younger brother and his bride now resided. On the pretense of a short stay, she left her daughters with the couple, spent her remaining funds on a particularly attractive and somewhat risque dress, and sent a note to her lover.

The Master of Netherfield was also a parliamentarian, so he happened to be in London at the time. He was more than happy to set Fanny up in her own apartments there in London. Not only was she beautiful, but she was also shameless and up for anything... including entertaining his political allies when he required an extra vote or two.

By the time that Edward and Madeline Gardiner concluded that Fanny Bennet had abandoned her daughters the rumors of a "new talent" had already begun to circulate. Edward, a very savvy businessman even at a young age, did not take long to discover that this new addition to the Demimonde was none other than his older sister. He had never liked his shameless sister and he knew perfectly well that any remonstration on his part would do no good. Instead he and his lovely wife talked it over and decided to change the girls' surnames to Gardiner so that the shame of their mother's sins would not trickle down to them.

The fact that Fanny was quite strikingly beautiful with her blond hair, blue eyes, and very womanly figure soon resulted in attention from men in even higher circles. Her lover of four years was soon thrown off for even bigger fish and within a few months the former Mistress of Longbourn was living the life she always dreamed of. In fact she wondered why she had not thought of this long before. Fanny had all of the money she ever wanted and spent it quite freely, not even worried about how others looked at her.

Elizabeth Gardiner

The first time that Lizzy saw the beautiful mystery woman was when she was six. She had gone to the park as usual with her sister, cousins, and a couple of maids. At one point, after she had fed the last crumb of stale bread to the ducks, she realized that she did not see her dear sister Jane. The correct action would have been to speak with the two maids, but they were currently occupied keeping her two younger cousins from dashing off into the pond. So she wandered off to look for Jane on her own.

The search was short, since she quickly spotted her sister, newly turned nine year old Jane, in the little gazebo not fifty yards away, seated beside a woman. Jane was easy to spot since she had long blond hair and was easily the prettiest little girl in the park. What was surprising was that the woman seated beside her was also blond, in a very fancy dress, and strikingly beautiful. Lizzie did not recognize the woman, but Jane seemed very familiar with her.

Lizzie called out to her sister and began to hurry toward her, but the woman looked up, said something to little Jane, and then hurried away. Lizzie did not miss either the furtive way that the woman quickly spoke, or the look of dislike that the woman shot towards her... but she would not understand any of this for many years to come.

Jane, who was usually all that was sweet and innocent, also looked furtive and guilty as she quickly stuffed a penny bag of candy into her dress. Lizzie did not care so much about the candy but she was quite hurt when her beloved sister snapped at her, "Why do you not stay with the children where you belong?!"

Having never been spoken to like that before, little Lizzy was startled and felt tears in her eyes. Jane, usually so kind, followed up on this by saying, "Forget what you saw. Sisters do not tell on sisters." Then Jane ignored her as she stomped by the frozen little six year old. But by the time that she rejoined the nurses and her cousins there was no sign of the different creature who had just verbally assaulted her little sister. Jane was so bubbly and effervescent, in fact, that the nurses did not even realize that she had wandered off.

Lizzy, on the other hand, came in for a scolding for running off to the gazebo without telling the young women.

Had the Gardiners been home that night, Lizzie might have said something. They were away for two nights however, having left the children in the care of their servants while they attended a function in the south. By the time they returned Lizzie decided to forget the matter.

Jane Gardiner

Jane actually felt bad about snapping at her sister in that manner. It was her own guilt and fear of discovery that had led to that action. Unlike her sister, she remembered her mother from "before" and had greatly bemoaned her mother's sudden absence from her life. She liked her aunt and uncle, but their refusal to speak about her mother or explain what had happened to her had created a distance between her and them. She didn't understand and therefore did not trust the people who now named themselves as her parents.

The first time that she saw her beautiful mother again, Jane had called out her name and run to her. She did not understand why her mother would not stay, nor why the nurse in charge of her behave so coldly. That night her uncle and aunt had sat her down to tell her that her mother had done something very wrong and that she should never speak to her again. Jane, a born people-pleaser, reluctantly agreed so that they would stop frowning. But the next time she spotted her mother watching her from behind a large tree, Jane had created a distraction by "accidentally" bumping her sister Lizzy into the pond and then running over to give her mother a hug.

From this small beginning did the double life of Jane Gardiner (Bennet) begin. It is said that "character is formed in the first five years." For Jane years four and five were all about seeking opportunities to thwart her overbearing aunt, uncle, and servants in order to steal chances to see her most beloved mother. In her young mind she was doing what was right... but it began to form something within her that would make her more and more like the mother she loved and everyone else disdained.

Her sister Lizzie became her enemy without knowing it on that day, which was only three days after Jane's ninth birthday.

Elizabeth Gardiner

Alone in her room in the sleepy town of Lambton, eighteen year old Elizabeth said a prayer for her lost sister Jane. Raising the handkerchief she had embroidered for her sister's birthday, she wiped her tears and tried to stifle her sorrow. Then she carefully folded the delicate material so that the "J" surrounded by embroidered roses would show. Finally, she placed the item with three of it's mates into the small box she had set aside for the presents that her sister might never see.

Jane had continued her clandestine meetings with their mother for another five and a half years before Elizabeth had seen the woman again. This time she had wasted no time in asking her aunt and uncle about this mysterious woman. What followed was a night of raised voices, denials, and accusations. While Jane cast accusing glares at her sister, Uncle Edward had attempted to explain the reason that Fanny Bennet was not welcome in their lives. It was still slightly confusing to Lizzy at the time, but she was wise and well-read beyond her years, so she did understand that what her mother had chosen to do with her life would bring ruin down upon her daughters as well if it were known.

Elizabeth, now twelve, promised to never speak to the woman. Jane, a very angry fourteen, going on fifteen, snapped that "she does not wish to have anything to do with you regardless!" She was sent to her room after this, but she never truly repented her actions or her words... and any remaining relationship she still had with her younger sister was forever broken.

Matters seemed uncomfortably settled for the next eighteen months, Jane was closely watched and showed no signs of meeting with her mother. She also withdrew within herself and seldom spoke to her aunt, uncle, or cousins. She continued to pretend that her sister did not exist. Then one day, just one day after her sixteenth birthday, Jane went out for a walk with her young maid and vanished. Uncle Edward searched far and wide for her, even deigning to visit his sister where she was "kept" in luxury, but without success. The fact that Fanny was unconcerned and even smug about the matter suggested that she had a hand in the matter, but nothing could be proven.

One year later, on Jane's seventeenth birthday, a new and very much lauded new "mistress" joined the demimonde. Uncle Edward returned home one day after a meeting in the wealthiest neighborhood in Town with a pale face and a broken look. Madeline knew immediately, since she was the one who had brought the rumor to his attention. Elizabeth, now much more worldly-wise than she ever wanted to be at fourteen, almost fifteen, did not have to wait long for the details. As soon as the Gardiner children were removed to their beds, Edward spoke, "She was all but auctioned off to the highest bidder. Now she is the mistress of Lord _. Word has it that my sister, who has recently put back on the shelf, suddenly came into a windfall.

"Lord _ is much too powerful for me to challenge. I tried to enlist some help, but nobody dares. There is nothing that we can do now but pray."

Elizabeth wept bitter tears for her sister that night. She had already understood, through long talks with her beloved aunt, that this would almost certainly be the inevitable result of Jane's disappearance. "Fanny had to know that she was losing her appeal. She was always a spendthrift, too stupid and selfish to save no matter how much she raked in. We tried many times to explain to Jane what her mother was truly like, but she would not listen." Whether entirely willing, coerced, or forced, Jane was now lost to them forever.

Fitzwilliam Darcy

Fitzwilliam Darcy first met Elizabeth Gardiner when she took his payment for a book in Mr. Fulbright's Emporium. Nathan Fulbright, the owner of the emporium for longer than Darcy had been alive, stepped from the back room just a moment later, greeted him effusively, and made introductions. "Miss Elizabeth Gardiner is my youngest daughter's neice. Elizabeth, please greet Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Master of Pemberley and one of our best customers.

The pretty young dark-haired lady with remarkably fine, sparkling eyes rendered a perfect curtsy and then handed him his wrapped book. "I hope that you enjoy Philosophie Zoologique, Mr. Darcy. I found Lamarck's theories quite fascinating, even if he sets himself against current theory and religious ideas."

Darcy looked at the young woman more closely. As of yet the this new work, published in a country at war with England, had not yet been translated to English. If she had read it, then she was at least fluent in French... including scientific jargon. "You have read it entirely then?" His eyes took her in with appreciation.

Elizabeth blushed and Mr. Fulbright cleared his throat. She answered quickly, "I have. But not this copy, so do not worry. It is only freshly arrived and remains pristine." She then nodded and excused herself to hurry off to other chores. The shop owner interjected, "Forgive her, Mr. Darcy. My son by marriage is a very learned man and he has opened his library to her. Though she may be too outspoken, her knowledge in books and languages has proven invaluable to me in the past few months."

"It is no matter. I was not offended. I was just surprised to find that a young lady was conversant on such subjects. What languages, might I ask?"

"The usual French, Italian, and Spanish, of course. But she also can read and write in both Latin and Greek. I fear that most would view her as quite the blue-stocking, yet she is a dear child and my wife and I have been pleased with her tenure in our home."

"What brought her here?"

"My daughter Madeline wrote suggesting that the London air has proven to be a trial for the girl. She was the daughter of an estate owner in Hertfordshire until a carriage accident took the lives of her parents, so I suppose that the foul air of London might indeed be a problem."

Darcy nodded, surprisingly gladdened to learn that the young woman was the daughter of a gentleman despite the fact that she was currently serving in a shop. Perhaps she was only lending a hand? Darcy raised the wrapped book, "I thank you for procuring this. I did not wish to wait until it made an appearance in a London shop next season. Your ability to find such treasures continues to astound and please." With that the young man left the emporium with only the briefest of glances at the remarkable young woman who was arranging books on a shelf.

For the five mile horse ride home to Pemberley he tried to tell himself that the young lady had less-than symmetrical features, and that she was tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt him... but his rebellious mind continued to recall her light and pleasing figure, her pretty face, her wavy dark hair, and those remarkably fine eyes.

Darcy found himself unable to fully remove her from the fixed place in his mind. His forays into Fulbright's Emporium became quite regular, along with his conversations with the delightful and intelligent young lady. He also began to find occasions to "accidentally" meet her as she took one of her long nature walks. Oddly, though he was pursued by many, many women of the Ton and not of the Ton, Miss Gardiner seemed to be keeping him at arms length. Darcy was well on his way to falling for the young lady when her uncle, aunt, and cousins made a visit.

Concerned at the attention that this very prestigious young man was paying to his niece, Edward Gardiner reluctantly asked for a meeting with the man. "Please forgive me, Sir, but before you pursue any match with my niece, there is something that you must know. For those in my own circle, this information would probably be easily overlooked, but for someone in your circle, if the information ever came out... May I have your promise that what I'm about to tell you will remain between us?"

When Darcy agreed, Edward took a long breath and then began, explaining about his sister, her life choices, and the vile woman's actions in compromising her own eldest daughter for her own profit. "Knowing that woman, I suspected that she might target Elizabeth next even though she had completely ignored the girl for all of these years. Jane matched her mother's features. Elizabeth looks like her father. But she is still remarkable pretty, as I'm certain that you've noted. Therefore I used agents to keep an eye on my sister. Sure enough, when her new funds ran out she began to linger in the same areas where she had conducted clandestine meetings with her first daughter since she was a small child. Worse, she seemed to be keeping a couple of large men close to her. As soon as I was warned of this, I removed our Elizabeth to Lambton."

Darcy took all of this in silently, shocked. He was well aware of the Demimonde. Though he had never kept a mistress himself, both his father and his uncle had. He was not so innocent as to not understand the reality of that world. But on the other hand he had a sister and a reputation to protect. "Thank you for the information and for your trust, Mr. Gardiner. I fear though that this information will prevent me from any further association with your niece. She is a fine young lady in every sense of the word, but I have duties and obligations that must take priority."

Edward nodded sadly, "I understand. And I thank you again for hearing me out and for preserving my niece's secret."

For the next several months Darcy stayed far away from Elizabeth Gardiner. He even avoided Lambton, conducting any local business in Kympton instead. At one point his fevered longings almost led him to making an inappropriate offer to the woman, but he held off until, thankfully, the young lady removed herself from the neighborhood.

Elizabeth Gardiner

Even though she had anticipated it, Fitzwilliam Darcy's defection still hit Elizabeth like a hammer blow. She had made every effort to keep him at a distance, but the heart wants what the heart wants and he was a gloriously handsome young man. At one point she even entertained the notion to hint at her willingness to accept a "situation" from him. She quashed that immediately and brutally, however, even deciding that she would rather remove back to London than open herself up to such an ignominious fate.

That did not prevent Elizabeth from spending more than a few nights crying herself to sleep.

Fanny Bennet

Fanny Bennet had long since begun to fall on hard times. Men being men, they gravitated toward the fresh and new. As Fanny aged, her preeminence as one of the most sought after mistresses in London began to fade. For a decade she had been the plaything of dukes and earls. She had even entertained a prince in her bed. But paint could only do do much to hide age and she began to have to settle for becoming the kept woman of barons, then gentleman, and finally plush merchants.

She did not start out keeping in contact with her dear Jane for any nefarious purpose. She was her beloved and beautiful little girl, the mirror of her own young self, so that was enough inducement to pay clandestine visits. She never had any interest in the other one. After all, had that child been a boy as she was supposed to have been, then Fanny would not have fallen into this life. It was all her fault then.

It was one of her own suitors who saw her beautiful Jane and commented, "She'll be drawing men like flies soon enough." It was a simple comment laced with no little lust, but it put a seed in Fanny's head that just wouldn't go away.

It was in Jane's sixteenth year that another of the most beautiful young women to grace London fell on hard times. She had been the daughter of a gentleman who had serious gambling habits but no luck with the cards. One day, deep in arrears and fearful of debt collectors, the man had all but auctioned off his most desirable daughter without her consent. Fanny might have been horrified had she not heard of the amount that the man had collected. The fool lost it all at the table and had to disappear, but not before relegating his daughter to the life that Fanny had chosen of her own accord.

It was a relatively simple matter to snatch Jane away. For years Jane had loved her mother without question and hated her aunt, uncle, and sister for working together to keep them apart. One day Jane and her servant, a young woman devoted to Jane, walked out to the park and quickly boarded a carriage set aside for their escape!

The servant was rewarded by Fanny for her loyalty to Jane in the worst way: she was sold to a brothel in order to keep Fanny in funds. Jane, finally cognizant that her uncle's warnings were correct, tried to protest and demand the safe return of her maid and herself, but she was ignored. Over the intervening months until Jane's seventeenth birthday, Fanny had employed every method that she had heard of to browbeat and brainwash her daughter into compliance. In the end the auction and transaction was conducted without Jane's consent.

Fanny had made good coin from that event. She had even made a little more after the fact by staying in the same house as her daughter and serving as her keeper until the lord wished to pay a visit. But eventually Jane, resigned to her fate, betrayed her mother by promising to cooperate only if the woman she now hated was removed far from her presence and kept away. Thus betrayed Fanny suddenly found herself once again on her own.

Being a spendthrift by nature, Fanny soon ran through her profits and found herself in straights again. It was at this time that she remembered that she had another daughter. When she spied the chit at the park she had to acknowledge that, while she would never compare to herself or her Jane, the girl was a beauty and would appeal to certain men. Unfortunately that was the last time that she saw her second daughter for over a year!

Desperate and living hand to mouth by falling into the less auspicious side of her chosen profession, Fanny paid for several children to keep watch until her troublesome second daughter might return.

Colonel Fitzwilliam

Colonel Henry Fitzwilliam, of the Royal Fusiliers, decided to try a different park that morning. He had been sent home with severe injuries to his leg and chest from flying debris after a canon shot impacted a low stone wall only feet from his horse and his person. His beloved mount of seven years was killed instantly. He lay there under his dead mount for a day and a night before he was found by his orderly.

That was eight months ago. The scars remained, along with the pain, but each day that weather permitted he forced himself to walk at least a few miles so that he could regain his strength and return to service. And because it was still a time of war, he continued to wear the uniform that he was so proud of... including the saber that had served him so well in more battles than he cared to remember.

It was fortuitous that he wore that saber on that beautiful fall morning, because he was only a mile into his walk when he heard a young woman's scream and witnessed her fighting off two large men and a woman! Despite the pain that always came from the exercise, Henry ran! Almost by pure instinct his saber lept from his scabbard to his hand! As he approached, he saw that a man dressed in livery and a woman dressed as a maid were both lying prone on the ground. With this obvious sign of ill intent, the colonel showed no hesitation in driving his blade into the back of the nearest man.

The young woman had been fighting and pulling hard to get away, so the sudden loss of one combatant resulted in her, the woman, and the wounded man also falling! That left the other man, who protested and ran at Henry, his fist raised! The veteran of many such fights, Henry easily side-stepped the fist and drove his blade clean through the man's chest! Henry had seen it so many times before, but the moment of realization on the man's face would still be added to the nightmares that haunted his nights.

The two woman, young and older, were still struggling until Henry, despite the growing ache in his leg, kicked the older blond woman off of the smaller, younger brunette and then quelled any attempt of the blond to rise by pointing his blade at her.

Just then there were whistles and the sound of running feet as the constabulary who patrolled the park rushed to the scene. The older woman tried to crawl away, but she was quickly seized. "We's been warned to watch for you! No escapin' now!" Henry noted that the woman was a fading flower, but her shrill voice did not match her waning beauty. Then he noted the young woman as she rose. She was also a beauty, who shone even despite the rapidly growing bruised on her arms and face.

"I thank you, Sir..." she began to say, then rushed to support Henry as his bad leg tried to collapse under him. She then demonstrated that she was used to showing some authority when she politely ordered one of the constables to help. Henry did not even try to protest as he was helped to a nearby bench.

In the tableau that followed, Henry saw the young woman rush to check on the two fallen servants with genuine concern. It was clear from her dress that she was genteel, but she did not seem to mind adding soil to her garment as she attended to the two. Thankfully they were both woken and slowly revived by the time that the screaming, cursing older woman and the two wounded men were removed into a black wagon and carted off. Henry also noted that an older yet distinguished lady followed a young boy to the scene, hugged the young woman, and then helped to restore the two servants.

The lead constable took down Henry's information and then spoke to the ladies before following the wagon back to their HQ.

Finally, when the groggy servants had been carefully escorted out of the part toward a townhome, the pretty women, young and older, approached him to thank him. "Thank you so much for saving my niece, Sir. My name is Madeline Gardiner and this is my niece, Miss Elizabeth Gardiner. Elizabeth tells me that you are either wounded or in some discomfort?"

Henry explained that is was a recovering war wound. The ladies asked, then begged, and finally insisted on bringing him home and arranging for a conveyance for him. More than ready to learn more about the incident and about the pretty young lady, he finally agreed.

The colonel only lingered at their comfortable home for a quarter hour on that first day, but after a few days of recovery he began to make regular visits. The truth was that Henry found it nigh impossible to stay away. Not only was Miss Elizabeth Gardiner a beauty, but she was all that was intelligent, caring, and kind. At no point did it ever become known that Henry was in any way related to Mr. Darcy.

Eventually Edward Gardiner was forced to have the same conversation with the good colonel as he had with Mr. Darcy, though the reaction was different. "I have been in many places devastated by war, Mr. Gardiner. Because of that I have seen many women, young and old, who have had to do whatever they had to do to survive and to feed themselves and their family. I do not excuse what your sister had done. Her own choice to abandon her children and take on that life was one thing, but what she did to one daughter and attempted to do to another is inexcusable. Yet in all of this, Miss Elizabeth is absolutely without fault. And it only adds to my admiration that she was willing to fight to her last breath when her mother tried what she did."

Pleased with this information, the two men then began to speak of issues regarding finances and settlements. Edward was pleased to learn that the colonel had inherited a tidy little estate, then alarmed when he learned of the man's other connections. This resulted in another revelation, which made Henry sigh, "Darcy is a good man... the best of men... and my favorite cousin. But he was raised with strict expectations. I, on the other hand, am a second son with little expectations. My brother the viscount is married with two boys already, so there is no question of succession. And if it means that I gain the love and hand of such a remarkable woman, then I am even willing to throw off my family connections."

Still concerned, Edward Gardiner asked the officer to speak honestly with his family before making any decision. Because most of them were in London, Henry did just that. It was no surprise that his father and mother were violently opposed, with was hypocritical since his father, the earl, had kept a string of mistresses since before his marriage and his mother was famous for several prominent affairs within the Ton. Henry's brother was worse because he not only refused to countenance such a match, but suggested that Elizabeth introduce him to her sister, since he coveted that particular lady. It took great restraint for Henry not to punch the man.

The only surprise was Fitzwilliam Darcy, whose face showed considerable pain as he supported the match, "Henry, I truly believe that she is the best of women and an innocent victim in the entire matter. Had matters been different... but I will say no more, nor ever say anything again... But I am certain that she will never wish to see me, so it will most likely curtail our association. I betrayed her honesty and that is most likely unforgivable."

The truth was that Elizabeth understood and forgave Darcy. Now, after his rescue and his stalwart presence in her life despite her mother, Elizabeth was deeply in love with Colonel Henry Fitzwilliam. So when he asked for her hand, she gave it without a moment's hesitation. Not one member of Henry's direct family attended the small wedding, but both Fitzwilliam and Georgiana did. There was another who slipped in at the back of the church but remained in the shadows... a beautiful blond young woman who slipped out shortly before the end. Elizabeth tried to catch her, but her carriage sped away before she could.

Epilogue

Henry recovered rapidly after his marriage to Elizabeth. He never fought in another battle, but remained in the military and took posts all around the world. Elizabeth always traveled with him and kept house wherever he was posted. The colonel's, then later general's wife was famous for her beauty, kindness, and hospitality. She was loved by the troops, the officers, and their wives. With her gift with languages and her intelligence she was always a great support to his work.

Although they attended the wedding, the Darcy's interaction with that small branch of the family was sparse for the first two decades. Then, due to the circumstances which will be explained, the previous excellent relationship was restored. Neither Henry nor Elizabeth held this against the siblings.

They had five children, two boys and three girls. Despite all expectations otherwise, Henry's brother, his wife, and children all passed in an epidemic, leaving Henry and Elizabeth to eventually assume the titles of Earl and Countess. They served that post with the same dignity, honor, and grace that they lent to all of their other posts over the years. They were also highly esteemed and honored by their children.

Fanny Bennet, having been implicated in several crimes and deeply in debt, ended her days when she died of a fever on a ship bound for Australia. Her two assistants, brothers, both died of their saber wounds. Her last "protector" had her home purged and had installed a new mistress before Fanny had even gone to trial.

Elizabeth, who had her sister's address from her uncle, never ceased sending mail to her sister Jane. Finally Jane responded, though she kept her younger sister at a distance for another three years. Eventually, on one of Elizabeth's brief sojourn's home, Jane arranged a meeting with her. They talked. They cried. Jane told of the horrible moment when she realized that she should have listened to her uncle. She did not tell of the worst of her travails, but admitted that she was now in a relationship with a very prominant but married man who she truly loved and was therefore unwilling to leave that life just yet.

Unlike her mother, Jane carefully managed the monies she brought in and invested them on the bedroom advice of one of her lovers. Though that particular relationship was brief, the advice she collected from it helped her to build up a considerable savings. When the man she loved died suddenly, she refused to entertain another match. With the aid of her aunt and uncle she relocated far away from London and lived a quiet life. When Henry and Elizabeth had to return home to assume the mantle of nobility, Jane tried to break contact, but Elizabeth would have none of it.

All five of the Fitzwilliam children came to know and love their aunt Jane, even though they all eventually learned the truth in their later years. She never married or had any relationship despite the fact that she remained beautiful even into her seventh decade. And when she passed Henry and Elizabeth insisted that her body be transported north, where it was interred in the family plot as a "most beloved sister."

AN: I've actually had this scrap in my collection for over a decade, but could never find a believable way in which Darcy would wed Elizabeth knowing the circumstances. In modern times it might be different, but back then... So then this possibility presented itself in my messed up mind and I ran with it. Hope you enjoyed it.

Addendum: several reviewers have questioned the idea that Elizabeth was reconciled with Jane. Without going into exact detail, this story was first inspired by a true and tragic tale told to me by an older woman who was sold into prostitution at a very young age. Her mother tricked her and groomed her, then betrayed her. Due to her beauty she eventually became a courtesan to men at the very top of society. Anyway, she was retired and told me of how her dear sister, who escaped her mother's clutches, kept in contact even though she was happily married to a prominent man (he did know, by the way) and how when the first sister left her work the family helped her to vanish and establish a new life elsewhere. She did not want to do what she did but found it impossible to escape until she was old enough for others to lose interest. It is sad, terrible, tragic, but true.