On the morning of the second day after Mary's wedding, the Gardiners and Elizabeth returned to London. As soon as Elizabeth arrived in London, she immediately visited Jane and learned that Jane's first daughter had been born three days earlier.

Jane was very pale and lying in bed with several pillows. She was still sore and exhausted from the delivery. Seeing her sister so pale, Elizabeth worriedly took Jane's hand and asked, "How are you feeling?"

Jane sighed and in a flat voice replied, "I am just exhausted and aching from the long labor. Luckily, Victoria was born healthy and strong. The midwife said I will be fine in a few days. I wish you and Aunt Gardiner had been here for me during the delivery."

Elizabeth squeezed Jane's hand and replied contritely. "I am really sorry for not being there for you. If I had imagined Victoria would be born earlier than expected, I would not have gone to Mary's wedding. I would have gladly stayed with you."

Jane nodded slightly and didn't reply. The truth was she had been scared during childbirth. Due to her new family and many duties and obligations, Jane had grown apart from her mother and sisters. She was not unhappy but was not particularly happy in her marriage either. Her husband spent most of his time in his warehouse. She had only a maid and a cook, and she spent several hours a day doing chores around the house and teaching her stepdaughter to read and write.

Sometimes, she missed her life at Longbourn and the relationship she used to have with Elizabeth. However, she was aware that as time passed, she had less and less in common with her sister. She recognized that it was not Elizabeth's fault; she was the one who had changed.

Looking at the little golden-haired girl sleeping next to Jane, smiling, Elizabeth commented, "She's so beautiful, Jane."

Jane smiled as she looked at her daughter. "She looks just like Lydia did when she was a baby. Fortunately, she sleeps for several hours a day and wakes up only when she is hungry."

"Do you have a wet nurse or are you feeding her yourself?"

"I am feeding her, Lizzy. Although my husband said that he could hire a wet nurse, I prefer to save that money for my daughter's dowry."

Elizabeth nodded. She knew her brother-in-law's income had dwindled due to the war with America.

Curiously, Jane asked, "How was Mary's wedding?"

Elizabeth smiled. "It was a beautiful ceremony. Mary's husband is an intelligent and kind gentleman. Mary is happy to be a parson's wife. They seem very much in love." Elizabeth paused and added, "I have two letters for you: one from Mary and one from Kitty." Elizabeth removed the letters from her purse and placed them on Jane's nightstand.

At that moment, Victoria woke up and began to cry. Jane looked at Elizabeth and said, "I am sorry, Lizzy, but I have to feed Victoria."

Elizabeth nodded and left Jane's bedroom to give them privacy. Half an hour later, she returned, but her sister was asleep.

That night, Elizabeth wrote a letter to her mother and another to Mary to let them know the good news.

Victoria's christening took place a few weeks later. Elizabeth was Victoria's godmother, and the godfather was a cousin of Mr. Carter.

In late October, Elizabeth received an interesting letter from the publisher that published her books. In the letter, Mr. Colt told her that her second novel was proving a great success in London, and several wealthy ladies had expressed great interest in meeting her. In particular, one of them was hosting an exclusive literary gathering and wanted her to be her guest of honor.

Elizabeth didn't know what to make of the invitation. The decision was very difficult; if she accepted the invitation, she would no longer be anonymous, but if she did not accept, she risked offending the leading ladies of London, and that could negatively influence the sale and acceptance of her novels.

After discussing it with her aunt and uncle, weighing the pros and cons in detail, they decided it was best for her to accept the invitation, but introduce herself under her pen name Lady Roses. It was very likely that none of these ladies knew her, and her true identity remained anonymous. Subsequently, she briefly answered the letter accepting the invitation.

She also spent a few days preparing simple and concrete answers about her past. It was an exhausting but thorough task, since she did not want to lie, but she did not want to give too many details about her personal life. After several days, she had already written and memorized more than 30 possible questions with their answers.

The day of the famous literary gathering arrived, and a nervous Elizabeth entered the main hall of Lady Maria's mansion, where a group of about 20 ladies eagerly awaited her arrival. The ladies were wearing luxurious and stylish gowns. The majority of them were younger than 30.

During the gathering, the ladies, in addition to reading and discussing various chapters of the novel, asked Elizabeth all kinds of questions about her life. Elizabeth's answers were vague but she managed to satisfy the curiosity of her audience. One of the ladies asked her an impertinent question, and at that moment, she remembered Lady Catherine's interrogation the day she met her at Rosings.

As the meeting drew to an end, two gentlemen arrived and greeted the ladies. One of them was the husband of the hostess and the other was Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.

When Colonel Fitzwilliam saw Miss Elizabeth Bennet at his sister-in-law's house, he exclaimed, "Miss Bennet!"

Stunned, everyone's eyes were drawn to Colonel Fitzwilliam and the supposed Miss Bennet.

After recovering from her shock, Elizabeth greeted him politely, "Good afternoon, Colonel Fitzwilliam."

The Colonel smiled and said, "I am surprised but glad to see you here. I didn't know you were in London and I was unaware you had an acquaintance with my sister."

Lady Maria, noticing her guest's discomfort, made a jovial comment reproaching Richard for not having introduced her to the talented writer sooner.

Richard immediately understood what was going on, and to ease the discomfort of the young woman he admired – although he did not have the financial means to court her - he simply commented, "Yes, over a year ago I had the pleasure of meeting her." He smiled and continued, "Darcy knows Miss Bennet's family very well, having spent a few months on an estate near her father's. I know it's been a long time, but I wanted to tell you I was very sorry to hear of your father's death."

"Thank you, Colonel Fitzwilliam…"

For a few minutes, they talked of trivialities until the butler came to say that Miss Bennet's carriage was waiting for her. A greatly relieved and somewhat worried Elizabeth returned to her uncle's house.

Elizabeth's life after the meeting changed radically. For the next few days, her life was a favorite topic of conversation in the parlors of London's high society. Lady Maria, delighted that her brother-in-law had met the charming young author, told her friends the "news" that she was a gentleman's daughter, she had a £10,000 dowry, and due to her father's death, she had gone to live with her uncle and was writing novels without her family's approval.

Within a few days, several of the Ton's ladies lost interest in the young author, some ladies criticized her for being the daughter of a gentleman and "lowering" herself by selling novels, but others, mainly the younger ones, were fascinated to learn more about Elizabeth Bennet's life. In addition, each of the ladies who repeated Elizabeth's story added some additional detail to embellish it.

Lady Maria sometimes invited Elizabeth to gatherings to introduce her to some curious and rich friends. Most ladies were kind to her, some asked her indiscreet questions, and others limited themselves to asking questions about her novels and her plans for the future.

At one such gathering, Elizabeth overheard a couple of ladies denigrate the late Lady Victoria, and say that it was a shame no lady of the Ton was going to want to marry Mr. Darcy. Lady Maria, who had known Darcy for several years, had learned of her husband's indiscretion with Lady Victoria, and - knowing that these two ladies had long been interested in being Mrs. Darcy - vehemently defended Darcy and deliberately accused Lady Victoria of being a fallen woman. She then added, "I don't understand how Mr. Darcy's eligibility could be diminished because of his late wife. He is still rich, handsome, and honorable. If I were single and a man like Mr. Darcy took notice of me, no doubt, I would be a fool to let him go."

"You are correct, he is still handsome and rich. But he is the laughingstock of London! Everyone knows about his wife's infidelity!"

Lady Maria firmly replied. "You know very well, in a few months, nobody will be talking about Lady Victoria anymore. Mr. Darcy didn't do anything wrong, after all."

The conversation was followed by a discussion of Mr. Darcy's eligibility and good qualities. Although Elizabeth preferred not to give her opinion, she admitted to herself that Mary's praise of said gentleman was very much in line with the opinions of Lady Maria and some of her friends.

PPP

Mary's married life was even better than she had imagined. Her husband was loving, respectful, and listened carefully to her opinions. In addition, he encouraged her to engage in the same charities in Kympton as she used to in Lambton. She was very happy to be useful for the community and participate in projects and activities to improve the lives of the poorest. She knew everyone who lived around Kympton by name, and she tried to ensure that those most in need always had food and adequate clothing for winter.

Once or twice a month, the couple dined with Darcy and Georgiana at Pemberley, where they discussed in detail the budget for church charities and possible new projects.

At least twice a week, Mary joined Georgiana and Mrs. Potter at various charity activities. She was also finishing up the final details of the new school and community hall that Mr. Darcy was having built next to the church. There, Mary and Mrs. Potter would teach anyone who was interested how to read and write.

The only one who, despite all the efforts of Mrs. Potter and even Mrs. Bennet, could not be recruited to help with the church charities in either Lambton or Kympton, was Lydia. Said young lady was very upset with Mrs. Potter because she had scolded her harshly for flirting with the second son of a gentleman from a small neighboring estate. According to Lydia, George Wilks was charming, he was about to enlist in the regulars and he was very much in love with her...

Around five months after their marriage, Mary received the happy news that her suspicions were correct, and she was expecting her first child. At that moment, her happiness and that of her husband were complete.