Pride And Prejudice, The Sequel

Chapter 9

It was surprising how life went on too quickly if you got rid of Mr Collins. Elizabeth had dismissed the man from Pemberly after he had kept on giving her long speeches on the importance of choosing your husband wisely. Once she just had Ella to worry about and Marianne to keep her company, life seemed to turn out a bit bearable.

As months went by, Elizabeth's worries were confirmed when she did started feeling different, and noticing the physical changes herself. It was really sad that something they had both waited for for so long should happen when he was away with another woman. Every day of her life, Elizabeth willed him to come home, to tell her that all the gossip was a mistake, to assure her and his child that he was still the Mr Darcy she had known and loved but it was no use, he never came. Mr Richardson advised her not to distress or overexert herself, he prescribed the food to eat and the quantity and lectured her for long hours on how to make sure the life growing inside of her was safe.

She told no one of it, not even Jane. She was grateful that she was small of stature, and she got Mr Tompkins to buy her loosely fitting gowns. If someone noticed her growth in weight, no one commented about it, a woman was allowed to gain as much weight as she wanted if her husband ran away.

She maintained her station as mistress of Pemberly, she attended to all his business affairs and took care of the tenants as duty required. She had been the one wronged, she refused to keep her head down in shame as expected, she went on as if life was as it had been before he was gone.

Marianne had assumed a permanent place of residence at Pemberly and was Elizabeth comfort and friend when Jane was not around. Ella had a governess now, and Elizabeth delighted in the child being able to learn what she herself had not had the opportunity to do so at such a young age. Ella was soon calling her 'Mama' even when Elizabeth tried to tell the child that she was only an aunt. The delight she got from raising Ella was so evident that it provoked Jane to suggest to her that she should go for Ella's twin.

Elizabeth was not opposed to the idea, and after writing to Lydia, a carriage was sent and Anne Wickham arrived four months after her sister at Pemberly. Elizabeth marvelled at the miracle of two children who looked so much like each other with two opposite characters. While Ella was talkative with easy manners and a high temper, Anne was quiet, hard to please but with such a complying temper. While Ella excelled at her letters, languages and Geography, Anne was magnificent in her music and her drawing. The only thing the girls had in common with each other, except for their identical looks and birthday was their hatred for knitting and their love for Elizabeth.

She now received a lot of letters, most of them business letters, for people had by now learnt of Mr Darcy's absence. Occasionally she had a letter from Longbourn, mostly from her mother who very much expressed her distress in Elizabeth's shame and her instructions to do everything she could to get Darcy back, but on a rare occasion, her father would add a few lines, which sarcastically threw so much abuse on Mr Darcy that it was rendered ridiculous. Elizabeth really laughed at her father's lines, and wished him to write longer ones. The only other letters she received were from Georgiana, Kitty and Mary, and sometimes, one from Lidya, demanding such and such an amount of money for her upkeep. Lidya claimed that Wickham had left her for another woman, knowing Lidya, Elizabeth knew it was probably just a scheme to get more money from her.

It was not often that she received a letter from Rosings, for Lady Catherine blamed her for her daughter's disgraceful act, and Mr Collins had forbidden Charlotte from writing to her. So when she saw the letter, addressed to her from Rosings Parsonage, she ripped it open with curiosity and a bit of dread. It was from Charlotte, and she read it with deep apprehension.

My dearest Lizzy,
I write to you in great secrecy and knows not if I will go through with sending this letter to you against my husband's express wishes.I am torn between my duty to obey my husband and the great love a bear for you Eliza as my dearest friend.
Whatever I have to communicate to you will bring you no joy, but I think it is good that you should know, so you may be free to do as you wish at last. Lady Catherine received a letter from her daughter yesterday, she apologized a great deal for her behaviour, she assured her mother that she was safe and that she had agreed to elope with Mr Darcy because of the great love they have for each other. She requested for a little money to be send her way, to facilitate their lives as Mr Darcy is still trying to work on annulment of his current marriage so he could marry her and bring her back to Pemberly.
Lady Catherine was very much delighted with the letter and send her daughter a very large sum of pounds.
I apologize for having caused you such distress with such a letter, but I just wanted you to know that he is seeking an annulment, which though difficult, is not unheard off. Should you agree to not be his wife anymore, your name will not be so disgraced as it might be if you remain married to him, and you will be Miss Bennet once more, and you are still in your youth Lizzy, younger than I was when I got married. A lot of suitors will be glad to have you, with the fortune you will acquire from the annulment in your hands.
I write not to tell you what to do, but I hope you will make the right decision for you and Lidya's children.
Love,
Charlotte.