About eighty people gathered at one of London's main churches to witness Georgiana Darcy's wedding to Charles Bingley.
As the organ played, Darcy entered the church arm in arm with his sister. Georgiana was radiant in a light blue gown that accentuated the colour of her blue eyes and pearl adornments intertwined in her hair, while Bingley was wearing a blue suit that brought out the colour of his eyes.
Bingley smiled brightly when he saw his bride and gazed spellbound at her. It was clear to the priest who officiated the ceremony and everyone present at church that they were in love.
Caroline was delighted with her brother's marriage since she would finally be welcomed into London's high society. Darcy was glad his sister was marrying his best friend, but he also knew he would miss her greatly, especially at Pemberley.
During the wedding breakfast held at Darcy's house, Darcy took the opportunity to chat with Elizabeth and finally meet her grandfather. Since the Netherfield Park ball the previous week, he hadn't gone a day without thinking of her. Darcy was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Thompson was only a couple of years older than his father and had met his father several years ago. They were chatting animatedly when a gentleman in a colonel's uniform came over and asked Darcy to introduce him to the exquisite young lady and gentleman.
Darcy smiled at his cousin and made the introductions, "Miss Bennet, Mr. Thompson, allow me to introduce my cousin, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam." He paused and continued, "Richard, this is Miss Elizabeth Bennet and her grandfather, Mr. Thompson of Derbyshire."
The colonel bowed and joined them in their conversation. Richard was a very nice man, not as handsome as Darcy, but he made up for it with a more gallant personality.
"It is a pleasure to finally meet you." Colonel Fitzwilliam smiled at Elizabeth and said, "Georgiana and Darcy told me you are an excellent pianist."
Elizabeth smiled and shook her head. "I enjoy playing the piano, but Georgiana and Mr. Darcy grossly exaggerate my talent. Undoubtedly, Georgiana plays better than me."
Darcy smiled and said, "You play just as well."
They continue talking for several minutes about music, London's attractions, and Derbyshire. It was obvious to Elizabeth that the cousins had a very special relationship, and for a moment she felt sad, remembering her old relationship with Jane.
She hoped that with time and distance, her relationship with Jane would return to what it was before. They had not parted on the best of terms, and she did not know when she would see her again.
PPP
Within a few weeks, Elizabeth had fully adjusted to living in London with her grandfather. Mr. Thompson still had a few friends in town, and since some of them had children and grandchildren similar in age to Elizabeth, invitations to dinners and parties began to arrive.
Elizabeth was a very social lady by nature; she enjoyed meeting new people, and she also liked to talk about a wide variety of topics. At a dinner at the house of one of her grandfather's Derbyshire friends, she met Mr. Peter Stevens and Miss Marianne Stevens.
Miss Stevens was a very serious, pretty, and pleasant young woman about her age and physically similar to Jane. Mr. Stevens reminded her in several ways of Mr. Darcy; he was intelligent and serious, though she admitted he wasn't as handsome as Mr. Darcy.
Mr. Stevens, on the other hand, was very intrigued by the pretty and lively Miss Bennet. From that day on, every time they met at a social event, he looked for an opportunity to talk with her and get to know her better.
One afternoon in January, the Stevens siblings went with Elizabeth and her grandfather to the British Museum as there was a new exhibition on Egypt. They were very busy going through the different rooms of the exhibition when they met Mr. Darcy with a beautiful blonde young woman on his arm, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Lady Maria.
For the past few weeks, Darcy had not been able to get Miss Elizabeth Bennet out of his mind. He had participated in various social events and danced with different young ladies, but it had all been in vain so far. Unconsciously, he compared all the young ladies he met to Elizabeth Bennet and found them lacking. He was aware that he would have to marry at some point. Unfortunately, Miss Elizabeth - despite being an accomplished gentlewoman - did not match the standards that his parents had instilled in him for the future Mrs. Darcy. She had no connections to the nobility, and he had heard rumours that her dowry was only a few thousand pounds.
He found himself wondering if it was really worth it to go through with a marriage of convenience, especially since his parents had been deeply unhappy in theirs.
However, he had only been acquainted with Elizabeth Bennet for a few months. He remembered that he had been attracted to Diana Stevens several years ago. But in a few weeks, he had utterly erased her from his mind. Since his feelings and attraction for Elizabeth were stronger and deeper, he was convinced he would need much more time to forget her.
He deemed Lady Isabella the most suitable of all the young women of the Ton due to her outstanding education, beauty, and connection to the Matlocks. A week ago, he had decided to start calling on her to get to know her better and determine if he wanted to court her. That day he had gone to look for his cousin to accompany him to the Egyptian exhibition, and Lady Isabella and her mother happened to be at the Matlock's house at that moment. The young woman expressed a deep interest in going to the museum, and Darcy happily invited her.
He realised he had made a mistake within half an hour of arriving at the museum. Lady Isabella had no interest in Egyptian history and was bored. Besides, the two of them had few interests in common.
Darcy was perusing some interesting pieces - while Lady Isabella told him of things that honestly did not interest him - when he saw Miss Elizabeth Bennet standing with her grandfather a short distance away, along with Peter and Marianne Stevens. She looked even more beautiful than he remembered, and it was clear from the fascinated expression on her face that she was enjoying the exhibition very much – a stark contrast to the lady beside him.
Colonel Fitzwilliam and Lady Maria, seeing Miss Bennet, went at once to politely greet her. Seconds later, Darcy approached the group with Lady Isabella on his arm.
The meeting between the Stevens siblings and Darcy was brief and hostile. Sensing there was a potential problem, Elizabeth's grandfather diplomatically told the group he wasn't feeling well and needed to sit down. Immediately, Elizabeth left with her grandfather, and the Stevens siblings followed her.
Mr. Stevens was aware that his family's friends and acquaintances, including Mr. Thompson, knew to a greater or lesser extent what had happened to Diana. He concluded that it would be better to tell Elizabeth the truth instead of letting someone else give her a false account of what had really occurred to his sister.
That same afternoon at Mr. Thompson's house, while Mr. Thompson was resting, Mr. Stevens looked into Elizabeth's eyes and, with determination, said, "I suppose, Miss Bennet, we owe you an explanation for our behaviour at the museum. As you can imagine from what you saw today, my family doesn't think highly of Mr. Darcy."
Elizabeth nodded, and Mr. Stevens continued, "I have known Mr. Darcy and his former best friend and partner in crime, Mr. Wickham, since we were children. My father's estate is less than ten miles from Pemberley, so we used to see each other relatively often, and I could say we were friends. As we are also of similar age, we went to Cambridge at the same time. From then on, we began to drift apart. Darcy and Wickham shared a room, very close to where I lived with another colleague; unfortunately, it was very common to see women of bad reputations coming out of their shared room. A tradesman claimed one of his daughters had been seduced by Darcy and left her with child."
Elizabeth's eyes widened, and Mr. Stevens added, "I have no evidence to say whether this is certain."
Mr. Stevens sighed. "What I am going to tell you is a very sad story that deeply marked my family." He swallowed hard and added, "We used to have a sister a few years younger than me named Diana. She was very similar to Marianne, with blonde hair and sky-blue eyes. Diana was beautiful, very sweet, and naive. Wherever she went, all the gentlemen admired her. Darcy and Wickham were no exception."
He paused and continued, "When Diana was still very young, Wickham, through trickery and false promises, took advantage of her and then abandoned her." With tears in his eyes, he explained, "Diana became pregnant. She wrote several letters to Wickham, and he adamantly denied having anything to do with her. My father went to Pemberley to speak to Mr. Darcy's father and Wickham's father, but they both claimed that my sister was lying. They told my father that somebody had seen Diana in Lambton with other gentlemen. I challenged Wickham to a duel, and the coward did not accept, alleging that it was illegal. He flatly denied being the father of my sister's child. He even accused Darcy of being the culprit. Due to neighborhood censorship and to protect the reputation of my younger sisters, my father made the sad decision to throw Diana out of the house. When I learned of his decision, I immediately returned to Derbyshire. In her despair, my sister left home and killed herself." By this time, both Marianne and Peter Stevens were crying. "To avoid further gossip, we decided not to say anything about what happened and buried Diana in a graveyard in a remote town with an unmarked cross."
Elizabeth, deeply moved by Stevens' story and suffering, asked them. "I'm so sorry for you and your poor sister. What happened to the scoundrel, Wickham?"
Mr. Stevens, with a slight smile, replied, "Fortunately, he drowned quite mysteriously in the Thames a couple of years ago. There were no witnesses."
After a pause, he continued with the sad story: "A couple of years after my sister's death, Marianne was told by one of our maids that her sister, who works at Pemberley, told her Wickham had said that he had seduced our sister just to get the better of Darcy."
PPP
After the Stevens siblings left, a somewhat worried Elizabeth started telling her grandfather the tragic story of Diana Stevens. However, Mr. Thompson had already heard the story several years before. He also remembered some rumours that George Darcy was George Wickham's biological father, and that was his main motive in defending Wickham so much.
In the middle of the story, Mr. Thompson interrupted her and said, "Lizzy, I have known the Stevens family for three decades. To a greater or lesser extent, what happened to Diane is common knowledge in Derbyshire. It is a tragic story that deeply marked the Stevens."
Elizabeth nodded slightly and curiously asked, "What was Diane's appearance like?"
He sighed heavily and replied, "Jane reminded me of Diana, with her golden tresses and crystal blue eyes. She was a beautiful young woman."
Elizabeth nodded. "Did you know Mr. Wickham?"
"No, but I knew Mr. Wickham's father. He was a good man." He hesitated momentarily and added, "There were some rumours that George Darcy was Wickham's biological father, and he was his favourite son. For that reason, he defended and spoiled him so much."
Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. Mr. Thompson added, "Lizzy, it is unfortunately not uncommon for wealthy men to have extramarital affairs and children born out of wedlock."
She nodded slightly and sighed, "You are right, Grandfather. It is such a sad story. Poor Diane. Did no one see her with Wickham?"
Mr. Thompson shook his head and said, "If there were any witnesses, Mr. Wickham Sr. and Mr. Darcy Sr. ignored them. Mr. Darcy adamantly denied that his godson had anything to do with her."
After a long silence, Elizabeth said, "I am confused, Grandfather. Mr. Stevens' statement does not match up with what I had formerly thought about Mr. Darcy Jr. I had the impression he was an honourable man, but.."
Mr. Thompson interrupted her. "Lizzy, you shouldn't make any accusations without any evidence! You always have to listen to both sides of the story and ensure you know the full story before making any conclusions."
Elizabeth blushed and nodded. "You are right, Grandfather. I often tend to jump to the wrong conclusions, and then I regret it."
"You are still young, Lizzy." He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Remember the old saying: Wisdom comes with age."
Elizabeth nodded. Then she remembered that Mr. Darcy Jr. had shown an interest in Jane. So she curiously asked, "Do you know if Mr. Darcy Jr. was interested in Diana?"
Mr. Thompson thought momentarily and replied, "I don't know, Lizzy. I never heard any gossip linking Diana to Mr. Darcy Jr. She was too young, as was Mr. Darcy."
Elizabeth nodded slightly. "Do you think Mr. Darcy Sr. was involved in Diane's ruin?"
He shook his head again. "I don't think so. I have never heard anyone accuse Mr. Darcy Jr. of being dishonourable or a womanizer." He looked Elizabeth in the eye and said, "I heard he attempted to assist the Stevens with money, yet they never accepted his help."
PPP
During the following days, Elizabeth thought often about Diane Stevens and, to a lesser extent, about Jane. On more than one occasion, she had sat down to write to Jane, but she did not know what to say for the first time in her life. She had not received a letter from her either.
She knew from Mary's letter that Jane would be in London for several weeks during the winter. She hoped to have the opportunity to rebuild her relationship with Jane since she had been her best friend her entire life. However, she did not know if her cousin felt the same.