After the Pride and the Prejudice

Christopher Bennet

His name is something that many a person has speculated upon, for he is only mentioned as Mr. Bennet. He was a quiet man with small expectations who assumed a lot but kept it to himself. He was in love with books, but not his wife and that pretty much summed him up. When Elizabeth came along, he found something he loved more than books: her. She became his whole world. They fished together, walked together, and read together. She lit up his world and he was hers. Their relationship was something to marvel over. That was what was so important about him. He loved his child unconditionally and hardly ever let her down.
His name is of no importance, and that's why we can make it whatever we'd like. He was a man; not a name.
The morning of the news of Mr. Bennet, the Darcy's climbed into their least fancy carriage which was still fancier than most. Elizabeth had become exceedingly lethargic and finally passed out about a half of hour into the trip. Fitzwilliam had only known Mr. Bennet a short while. He had misjudged him, like he had done so many, and now deeply regretted it. He liked him because Elizabeth loved him, but it was more than that. He admired him. He lived with some of the most ridiculous women in the whole of England and still managed to be kind to anyone he met. His children weren't perfect, besides Elizabeth in his eyes, but perhaps that wasn't because of his lack of parenting. In truth, who could parent a female child with an unwilling mother to back you up?
Elizabeth's head rolled onto Fitzwilliam's shoulder and at once he was seized with insurmountable happiness. She could lie her head upon him forever, if that's what she wished. She was in control of him now. Her movements dictated his and she drove him forward.
The farther they rode the quicker Fitzwilliam's heart pounded. His palms were sweaty and he would wipe them quickly on his pants as if the thought of appearing not altogether made him inferior. He did this even though he was the only conscious person in the carriage. Elizabeth would have teased him. Fitzwilliam's mind began to reel. He started to have thoughts and fears about what would happen when he got there, what if they treated him like he had treated them, his mind just seemed to run on and on... He then thought of how much of a complete arse he was being. What does it matter how they treat him? It matters that Mr Bennet is well and that his daughter is too. He'd spent the entire carriage ride thinking, almost entirely, of himself.
They finally arrived at Longbourn. Darcy exhaled his previous worries and then inhaled his new ones. How bad was Mr Bennet?
"Elizabeth... Elizabeth wake up." He whispered into her ear as he stroked her hair. Her eyelids lifted and she looked into his eyes. For a moment she was in happy shock and couldn't remember why she was there. Then, the memory cascaded down onto her shoulders and made her slump into Darcy's chest. "No." She said quietly. "It will all be well. Come with me and we will see him together." He held her hand in in his and they stepped out of the carriage together. It was a perfectly gloomy day for the event. They knocked on the front doors and the maid answered...