There is a certain momentum, an inexorability if you will, in the events surrounding a wedding. Plans must be made, wedding clothes purchased and neighbours allowed to share in the good fortune of the families involved. Yet, in the midst of such pleasures, other events will transpire and, if not deflect, at least capture the attentions of those most intimately involved in the wedding preparations.

One such event took place a week or so after Mr. Bingley's return to Netherfield. Happy for all her maternal feelings was the day on which Mrs. Bennet saw her most favoured daughter become engaged to a very deserving gentleman; for indeed, Mr. Bingley did shortly come to the point, aided beyond doubt by the machinations of Elizabeth and Darcy and accomplished without that loss of propriety which might have attended any effort by Mrs. Bennet. At Darcy's suggestion, the two couples set out together to walk to Oakham Mount and, since both Darcy and Elizabeth were the more accomplished walkers, a separation of no little distance was soon established. Being careful to remain within sight but too distant for any conversation to be overheard, the foremost couple were soon treated to the sight of Bingley on one knee in front of Miss Bennet. The subject of his application could not be doubted and its reception even less so, as he was soon seen to jump to his feet, embrace Miss Bennet and then swing her around in his arms. Her laughing delight could be heard from where they stood and they quickly closed the distance to extend their congratulations and share the joy being experienced.

Mr. Bennet's approval was sought but a short time later and, if he sported with Bingley for a few minutes, he did not withhold his blessing; not a word, however, passed his lips in allusion to it, till Bingley took his leave for the night; but as soon as he was gone, he turned to his daughter, and said, "Jane, I congratulate you. You will be a very happy woman."

Jane went to him instantly, kissed him, and thanked him for his goodness.

"You are a good girl;" he replied, "and I have great pleasure in thinking you will be so happily settled. I have not a doubt of your doing very well together. Your tempers are by no means unlike. You are each of you so complying, that nothing will ever be resolved on; so easy, that every servant will cheat you; and so generous, that you will always exceed your income."

Elizabeth could rejoice with her sister in her happiness without envying her at all. Although quite liking Mr. Bingley, his character was lacking in that resolve and firmness which she had come to admire in Mr. Darcy. She could not believe that Mr. Darcy would have been dissuaded to walk away from her if placed in a situation similar to Mr. Bingley. In fact, he had withstood his aunt's importuning quite well. As she thought further, she remembered Mr. Bingley's dislike of confrontation and disagreement during her stay at Netherfield while nursing Jane. He had been obviously uncomfortable with those exchanges between herself and Mr. Darcy that had bordered on a pronounced disagreement and, in addition, had done little to curb his sisters' exhibition of poor manners while in Hertfordshire. She wondered at his ability to manage an estate if he was unwilling to deal with controversy and contentious issues. Perhaps her father had the right of it and they would be prey to all manner of cheats. It was not a happy thought or prospect. But neither was it a problem that she could affect at all.

Darcy and Elizabeth were all but forgotten by Mrs. Bennet. Jane was beyond competition her favourite child. At that moment, she cared for no other. Jane's hopes to share her wedding with her sister were for nought, however, as Mrs. Bennet would not hear of the wedding being held with so little time to prepare. Three or fewer weeks were hardly sufficient time, in her opinion, to organize an appropriate celebration. Since Elizabeth was not to return from her honeymoon for four weeks after her own wedding, a date of July 1 was decided upon to the satisfaction of one and all. If Mrs. Bennet treated Jane's intended with more deference than Elizabeth's despite the disparity in their incomes, the pin-money they would have and the quality and number of their carriages, the cause was not difficult to discern. The proximity of Netherfield and the prospect of having a daughter wed and living nearby with whom she could visit whenever convenient was undoubtedly of material satisfaction and raised the value of Jane's attachment greatly.

The only person unhappy with the prospect of Jane's wedding was Lydia. The _shire Militia was to depart in a fortnight and the ensuing lamentations and complaints issuing from both Lydia and Kitty had not lessened to any noticeable degree. But the gloom of Lydia's prospect was shortly cleared away; for she received an invitation from Mrs. Forster, the wife of the Colonel of the regiment, to accompany her to Brighton. This invaluable friend was a very young woman, and very lately married. A resemblance in good humour and good spirits had recommended her and Lydia to each other, and out of their three months' acquaintance they had been intimate two.

The rapture of Lydia on this occasion, her adoration of Mrs. Forster, the delight of Mrs. Bennet, and the mortification of Kitty, are scarcely to be described. Wholly inattentive to her sister's feelings, Lydia flew about the house in restless ecstasy, calling for everyone's congratulations, and laughing and talking with more violence than ever; whilst the luckless Kitty continued in the parlour repining at her fate in terms as unreasonable as her accent was peevish. In vain did Elizabeth attempt to reason with her, and Jane to make her resigned.

As for Elizabeth herself, this invitation was so far from exciting in her the same feelings as in her mother and Lydia, that she considered it as the death-warrant of all possibility of common sense for the latter; and detestable as such a step must make her were it known, she could not help secretly advising her father not to let her go. She represented to him all the improprieties of Lydia's general behaviour, the little advantage she could derive from the friendship of such a woman as Mrs. Forster, and the probability of her being yet more imprudent with such a companion at Brighton, where the temptations must be greater than at home. Seeing him reluctant to oppose the plan, Elizabeth and Jane then petitioned their mother as to the desirability of having Lydia present for both weddings. After some thought, persistent urging on the part of her two eldest daughters and the vocal support of their intended, Mrs. Bennet was persuaded to agree; however, she could see no reason not to allow Lydia to join her friend following Jane's wedding and with this her eldest daughters were forced to be satisfied. Elizabeth made one last effort to persuade her father to forbid the project but her pleadings had little effect upon him.

He heard her attentively, and then said, "Lydia will never be easy till she has exposed herself in some public place or other, and we can never expect her to do it with so little expense or inconvenience to her family as under the present circumstances."

Elizabeth was not content with this response and disclaimed, "Our importance, our respectability in the world, must be affected by the wild volatility, the assurance and disdain of all restraint which mark Lydia's character. Excuse me - for I must speak plainly. If you, my dear father, will not take the trouble of checking her exuberant spirits, and of teaching her that her present pursuits are not to be the business of her life, she will soon be beyond the reach of amendment. Her character will be fixed, and she will, at sixteen, be the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous. A flirt, too, in the worst and meanest degree of flirtation; without any attraction beyond youth and a tolerable person; and from the ignorance and emptiness of her mind, wholly unable to ward off any portion of that universal contempt which her rage for admiration will excite. In this danger Kitty is also comprehended. She will follow wherever Lydia leads.—Vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled! Oh! My dear father, can you suppose it possible that they will not be censured and despised wherever they are known, and that their sisters will not be often involved in the disgrace?"

Mr. Bennet saw that her whole heart was in the subject; and affectionately taking her hand, said in reply, "Do not make yourself uneasy, my love. Wherever you and Jane are known, you must be respected and valued; and you will not appear to less advantage for having a couple of - or I may say, three - very silly sisters. We shall have no peace at Longbourn if Lydia does not go to Brighton. Let her go then. Colonel Forster is a sensible man, and will keep her out of any real mischief; and she is luckily too poor to be an object of prey to anybody. At Brighton she will be of less importance, even as a common flirt, than she has been here. The officers will find women better worth their notice. Let us hope, therefore, that her being there may teach her own insignificance. At any rate, she cannot grow many degrees worse without authorizing us to lock her up for the rest of her life."

With this answer Elizabeth was forced to be content; but her own opinion continued the same, and she left him disappointed and sorry. It was not in her nature, however, to increase her vexations by dwelling on them. She was confident of having performed her duty, and to fret over unavoidable evils, or augment them by anxiety, was no part of her disposition.

As well, her own wedding was approaching and she would not allow herself to suffer a diminution of that pleasure. She was bound for London to purchase her wedding clothes under the guidance of her Aunt Gardiner – Mrs. Bennet being convinced to remain at Longbourn to organize the wedding celebration. This task took the best part of a week during which she found little time to spend with Darcy. The evening before her return to Longbourn, a meeting took place which, for much of the week, she had resolutely forbidden herself to contemplate. She and Darcy were to dine with the Earl and Countess of Matlock, Darcy's uncle and aunt. The earl was Lady Catherine's brother and, despite Darcy's reassurances, the prospect of possibly facing an even more intimidating version of that lady was not one to create much pleasure. In fact, however, appearances apart, the earl was in no wise comparable to her ladyship. His reserve was not unlike that of Darcy himself and, if he was uncertain as to the wisdom of his nephew's choice of a wife, it was not betrayed in any lack of civility. The countess was all that was amiable and it was clear the Colonel Fitzwilliam had derived both appearance and manners from her. If her comments were to be believed – and Elizabeth had no reason to think otherwise – she was not only prepared but delighted to assist Elizabeth's entry into society. If Elizabeth had little inclination herself to spend much time in such activities, she was aware that Georgiana would need her assistance and that of the countess when it came time for her to be introduced into society. The dinner could be considered a success. It was not long enough to establish a firm relationship with Darcy's uncle and aunt but it had passed smoothly enough to make a future meeting less fraught with anxiety. She rather thought that their first impression of her was favourable and she believed that she could come to like them quite well indeed. Certainly Darcy had had no qualms about the evening and was frequently heard to exclaim, on their return to Longbourn the next day, that Elizabeth had charmed them completely.

If her mother was unhappy with being allowed only several weeks to prepare a wedding celebration, it seemed only to spur her to greater efforts to organize as many events as possible to allow her neighbours numerous opportunities to appreciate in full the great benefits being accorded to the Bennet family. When Elizabeth was at Longbourn, dinner followed dinner as the principal families all decided to acknowledge Elizabeth's good fortune. Elizabeth's only concern was the discomfort of Darcy. That he was extremely uncomfortable in such surroundings, she well knew but he bore it with admirable calmness. He could even listen to Sir William Lucas, when he complimented him on carrying away the brightest jewel of the country, and expressed his hopes of their all meeting frequently at St. James's, with very decent composure. If he did shrug his shoulders, it was not till Sir William was out of sight. Mrs. Philips's vulgarity was another, and perhaps a greater, tax on his forbearance; and though Mrs. Philips, as well as her sister, stood in too much awe of him to speak with the familiarity which Bingley's good humour encouraged, yet, whenever she did speak, she must be vulgar. Nor was her respect for him, though it made her more quiet, at all likely to make her more elegant.

Elizabeth did all she could to shield him from the frequent notice of either, and was ever anxious to keep him to herself, and to those of her family with whom he might converse without mortification; and though the uncomfortable feelings arising from all this took from the season of courtship much of its pleasure, it added to the hope of the future; and she looked forward with delight to the time when they should be removed from society so little pleasing to either, to all the comfort and elegance of their family party at Pemberley. That Darcy and her father were slowly becoming both comfortable and pleased with the company of the other was a great satisfaction; and one day as she watched them playing a game of chess, such a feeling of happiness came over her that she could not bear to remain in the room and quickly exited the house into the nearest garden. She had not time to control her tears when she heard approaching footsteps and Darcy's voice enquiring as to the cause of her distress. Wiping her eyes, she quickly sought to embrace and murmured into his chest, "I am not distressed! Indeed I am not! I am happy!"

She could hear the confusion in his voice, "But you are crying?"

"Indeed I am happy. It was the sight of you and my father playing chess together that made me so. The sight of the two men I love most being so content in each other's company was…I don't know how to express it!"

"You love me!" Elizabeth could not miss the exultation mixed with uncertainty in Darcy's voice.

"Indeed I do, William! Most ardently!"

At this Elizabeth paused but, before she could continue, she found her lips otherwise engaged most delightfully and, she thought, rather ardently – the meaning of which she was coming to appreciate and understand more fully. The expressions of love that flowed from Darcy were a surprise to her and she realized that he had tempered his own effusions perhaps in deference to an unwillingness to overset her feelings. Now, it seemed, all restraints were loosed and it was only their proximity to the house that moderated his expressions of happiness.

In a calmer manner they prolonged their escape from the celebration inside and strolled around the garden. Elizabeth's spirits soon rising to playfulness again, she wanted Mr. Darcy to account for his having ever fallen in love with her. "How could you begin?" said she. "I can comprehend your going on charmingly, when you had once made a beginning; but what could set you off in the first place?"

"I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation. It is too long ago. I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun."

"My beauty you had early withstood, and as for my manners - my behaviour to you was at least always bordering on the uncivil, and I never spoke to you without rather wishing to give you pain than not. Now be sincere; did you admire me for my impertinence?"

"For the liveliness of your mind, I did."

"You may as well call it impertinence at once. It was very little less. The fact is you were sick of civility, of deference, of officious attention. You were disgusted with the women who were always speaking, and looking, and thinking for your approbation alone. I roused, and interested you, because I was so unlike them. Had you not been really amiable, you would have hated me for it; but in spite of the pains you took to disguise yourself, your feelings were always noble and just; and in your heart, you thoroughly despised the persons who so assiduously courted you. There - I have saved you the trouble of accounting for it; and really, all things considered, I begin to think it perfectly reasonable. To be sure, you knew no actual good of me - but nobody thinks of that when they fall in love."

"Was there no good in your affectionate behaviour to Jane while she was ill at Netherfield?"

"Dearest Jane! Who could have done less for her? But make a virtue of it by all means. My good qualities are under your protection, and you are to exaggerate them as much as possible; and, in return, it belongs to me to find occasions for teasing and quarrelling with you as often as may be."

Finally the wedding day arrived, vows were exchanged, the registry signed and Miss Elizabeth Bennet surrendered that name and became, to her great pleasure, Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. The newly wedded couple stayed but an hour for the wedding breakfast and took their leave to honeymoon for nearly a month in Weymouth. I cannot divulge much of what transpired there other to say that Mrs. Darcy had no cause to repine in those marital intimacies which ensued and indeed the frequency with which she and Mr. Darcy enjoyed each other's company in the privacy of their bedchamber must stand as testimony to their mutual happiness.

Their return to Longbourn, a scant two days before her sister's wedding, was an occasion of great joy for Jane Bennet. The newly wedded couple had been offered and accepted the chance to stay at Netherfield and Jane had not needed more than an hour to determine that her sister was indeed most happily married. Neither Darcy nor Elizabeth were of a nature for public displays of affection but Jane could discern - in a host of small incidents: a frequency of small touches, a tendency to walk closely together, exchanges of lingering glances and a desire to retire early in the evening – that her sister and her husband were quite pleased with each other. One startling fact Jane was to discover was that her sister and her husband shared but a single bed and had done so from the very first night of their marriage – a fact which gave her pause for considerable thought.

Following the Bingley wedding, the Darcys removed to Pemberley and were joined a month later by the Bingleys who had travelled to visit for a month with his relatives in the north of England. The two happy couples had not enjoyed each other's company for more than a fortnight when an express from Mr. Bennet overset all their plans. Lydia, foolish Lydia, had been caught in a most compromising position with an officer in the _shire Militia. Fortunately the officer, Captain Carter, who was well known to them all, was prepared - perhaps one might even say, delighted – to act in an honourable manner and wed the young lady. The alacrity with which he signalled his intentions might have been cause for concern as to how much blame could actually be attached to Miss Lydia's role but his interest in her seemed genuine and no one doubted the necessity of their marrying. Indeed, given Lydia's behaviour, she could not, under the circumstances, have been wed to a more capable gentleman. The Darcys and Bingleys returned to Netherfield posthaste and it was but a matter of days for the details of a marriage settlement agreeable to Captain Carter were finalized. Contributions of 1,000 pounds from both Bingley and Darcy, a guarantee of 100 pounds per annum from Mr. Bennet, an equal share of her mother's portion upon the death of both her parents and the purchase of a Captaincy in the regulars for Captain Carter, was sufficient to settle the matter. That the captain had a modest income from a family bequest of about 4,000 pounds, in addition to his salary, would provide him, his wife and the subsequent children with a modest, but comfortable, life. Fortunately – or perhaps not, from Lydia's viewpoint – the captain was not inclined to allow his wife to waste their income on fripperies which they could ill afford.

The Carters were, for the first months of their marriage, settled in Essex; however, towards the end of the year, the captain's regiment was designated to travel to Canada to defend that country from its American neighbours. His wife was to accompany him, at his request, since his sojourn there was to be of no short duration. At the conclusion of that war, the captain resolved to remain in the country, adopting as his new home the port of Halifax. In this endeavour he was supported, albeit somewhat reluctantly, by his wife who rather wished to see her parents once more. In time she found that the less restrained lifestyle that could be lived in Halifax was much to her liking. While Captain Carter remained in the military, Mr. Gardiner, who hoped to expand his presence in the Americas, was convinced to begin employing him as his agent to their mutual benefit; and, in the course of time, the captain's effort proved so successful as to allow him to resign from the military and devote himself full-time to Mr. Gardiner's business.

The wedding of Jane Bennet and Charles Bingley was the pinnacle of Mrs. Bennet's happiness. With what delighted pride she afterwards visited Mrs. Bingley, and talked of Mrs. Darcy, may be guessed. The marriage of the daughter she favoured above all others could not be the subject of excessive praise; although such satisfaction as she could realize was lessened considerably by that daughter being settled so far away as to preclude the possibility of visiting. I wish I could say, for the sake of her family, that the accomplishment of her earnest desire in the establishment of so many of her children produced so happy an effect as to make her a sensible, amiable, well-informed woman for the rest of her life; though perhaps it was lucky for her husband, who might not have relished domestic felicity in so unusual a form, that she still was occasionally nervous and invariably silly.

Mr. Bennet missed his second daughter exceedingly; his affection for her drew him oftener from home than anything else could do. He delighted in going to Pemberley, especially when he was least expected. Mr. Bingley and Jane remained at Netherfield only a twelvemonth. So near a vicinity to her mother and Meryton relations was not desirable even to his easy temper, or her affectionate heart. The darling wish of his wife and sister was then gratified; he bought an estate in a neighbouring county to Derbyshire, and Jane and Elizabeth, in addition to every other source of happiness, were within thirty miles of each other.

Kitty, to her very material advantage, spent the chief of her time with her two elder sisters. In society so superior to what she had generally known, her improvement was great. She was not of so ungovernable a temper as Lydia; and, removed from the influence of Lydia's example, she became, by proper attention and management, less irritable, less ignorant, and less insipid. Mary was the only daughter who remained at home; and she was necessarily drawn from the pursuit of accomplishments by Mrs. Bennet's being quite unable to sit alone. Mary was obliged to mix more with the world, but she could still moralize over every morning visit; and as she was no longer mortified by comparisons between her sisters' beauty and her own, it was suspected by her father that she submitted to the change without much reluctance.

Miss Bingley was very deeply mortified by Darcy's marriage; but as she thought it advisable to retain the right of visiting at Pemberley, she dropped all her resentment; was fonder than ever of Georgiana, almost as attentive to Darcy as heretofore, and paid off every arrear of civility to Elizabeth.

Pemberley was now Georgiana's home; and the attachment of the sisters was exactly what Darcy had hoped to see. They were able to love each other even as well as they intended. Georgiana had the highest opinion in the world of Elizabeth; though at first she often listened with an astonishment bordering on alarm at her lively, sportive, manner of talking to her brother. He, who had always inspired in herself a respect which almost overcame her affection, she now saw the object of open pleasantry. Her mind received knowledge which had never before fallen in her way. By Elizabeth's instructions, she began to comprehend that a woman may take liberties with her husband which a brother will not always allow in a sister more than ten years younger than himself.

Lady Catherine was extremely indignant on the marriage of her nephew; and as she gave way to all the genuine frankness of her character in a letter which denounced its arrangement in language so very abusive, especially of Elizabeth, that for some time all intercourse was at an end. But at length, by Elizabeth's persuasion, Darcy was prevailed on to overlook the offence, and seek a reconciliation. After a little farther resistance on the part of his aunt, her resentment gave way, either to her affection for him, or her curiosity to see how his wife conducted herself; and she condescended to wait on them at Pemberley, in spite of that pollution which its woods had received, not merely from the presence of such a mistress, but the visits of her uncle and aunt from the city. With the Gardiners, they were always on the most intimate terms. Darcy, as well as Elizabeth, really loved them; and they were both ever sensible of the warmest pleasure in the company of those persons who, by the excellence of their manners and intelligence could not but bring credit to themselves and those connected to them.

It is not to be supposed that a couple, both of whom are possessed of strong opinions, lively tempers and a goodly measure of stubbornness, could hope to avoid arguments and disagreements; however, since both were also possessed of a very strong affection for the other and the ability to consider the other's viewpoint, such disagreements were rarely of a long duration. By Elizabeth's liveliness and happy nature, Darcy was enlivened while Elizabeth found her understanding improved by Darcy's experience and knowledge and, if she found, more frequently than she expected, that her opinion needed to be modified once exposed to his information, she could be satisfied that her husband was quite willing to defer to her judgement in those areas where she had proven her superiority.

Finis