A.N. Thank you, Vijaya, JoanHall, Leslie E, Gally, GemmaDarcy, ANovick, Happy Lizzy, Random Vibes, Lily, MrsSP9, guests and other previous reviewers for the encouragement. I've enjoyed reading your comments and they helped me revise the story. I hope the Epilogue will tidy up the rest of the loose end. Happy reading! Remember to leave me some final comments. You can also help in buying my books (in Amazon and other good bookstores) or recommend my stories to your friends. Thank you!

Epilogue

"Never have I seen such a beautiful girl!" Richard Fitzwilliam exclaimed, holding up Darcy's daughter in his strong, tan arms. His short time in New South Wales had instilled in him a sense of adventure, and he was never found inside. Finding himself bored with the life of a Viscount, he had decided to go into business with Bingley and Darcy by establishing a transport company in England, for which he was utterly passionate about.

"I would be inclined to agree with you," Mr. Darcy said with a smile, eyeing his lively daughter swathed in pink muslin. The Darcys had decided to hold a small party to celebrate the birthday of their daughter, Lydia Anne Darcy, who was now two years old.

"Yes, she is as beautiful as her mother," Mr. Bennet agreed, smiling at his granddaughter.

Mr. Bennet, Mary, and Kitty had travelled to Pemberley from Longbourn as they had been making regular trips, leaving only Mrs. Bennet behind. Elizabeth knew that her mother still blamed the Darcys for Elizabeth youngest sister's death. Elizabeth hoped her mother would set aside her animosity and get to know her granddaughter in time. If Elizabeth had learned nothing else within the last years, it was that life was short, and one never knew when it would be their turn. She now saw every moment with her family and friends as precious and beautiful.

"Oh, Darcy- you are a lucky chap!" Mr. Bingley exclaimed. "To be surrounded with such beautiful women," he said, putting a hand on Jane's shoulder. Not to be outdone, Jane and Charles had just announced Jane's pregnancy.

Mr. Darcy picked up his Edward and moved toward Elizabeth, who was now holding Lydia. "Yes, I am indeed the luckiest of men."

"No, I think I am the luckiest man," Richard argued and stared at his pregnant wife. Richard met his new Viscountess Matlock at the sickbay of New South Wales quarantine station, during the short few weeks while he had waited for his return trip back to England, working for the welfare of the newly arrived convicts. The former Miss Kathleen O'Reilly, an Ireland-born orphan was convicted of feloniously stealing a basket of raisin weighing of 60 pounds from her master Lord Barton of London. It was a trumped-up charge because Kathleen fought back Barton's advances and gave him several permanent scars on his handsome face. Barton instructed his lackey to arrange to crush Kathleen fingers in Newgate, which resulted in infection and caused her to lose her right hand and arm. It took Richard, with the help of Darcy and his legal team, several months to free Miss O'Reilly of her charges and for Richard to bring her back to England.

Cage and Peabody, now wiser, were involved in this successful attempt to exonerate Kathleen. They were so intrigued by the new opportunities overseas that they moved to America and later New South Wales. They were successful to turn over Mr. Wither, Wickham's lawyer friend who had made a mess of Richard's first trial, to the authority and ensured he did not ever practice in America. Eventually the sneaky lawyer gambled away Wickham's one thousand pound and lived on friends' charity. The duo of Cage and Peabody would one day became the fabric of legal and justice system in Australia. Richard, given his experience of being wrongly accused, jailed and transported, had turned a new leaf. He remained faithful to his wife, refrained from gambling or over-indulging in wine or other vices.

Lord Matlock, being an old fool, did not learn his lesson, as he had said in his letter of apology to Darcy. He tried to dissuade his new heir from marrying the disabled former servant with dubious origin from Ireland. Even with the threat of removing the heritage and estate, Richard would not abandon his darling Kathleen. They were married a few months after their return to England, in a joyous event in Pemberley, without the presence of Lord Matlock and Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

18 April 1842

The Pemberley estate was a flurry of activity on this day. Primrose and anthuriums were once again strung throughout the estate.

"Have you grown that bored with me, Mr. Darcy?" Elizabeth traced her fingers down the lapel of Darcy's fine coat.

"Never, my darling," Darcy lowered his head and pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth. "but you should not distract me so."

"You have recited the speech for a dozen times. It is nothing dissimilar to the time when you handed Georgiana over to the loving care of Pastor Heartley."

"Georgiana's wedding was so many years ago that I could hardly remember. But we are now talking about our darling Lydia. I do not want to make a mess of the toast."

Elizabeth pushed him to sit down on the bed. "Are you nervous?"

"Of course not."

"Really?"

"No, yes. Of course, I am nervous!" Darcy brushed his hand through his hair "I will be walking Lydia down the aisle. My darling little girl will be leaving home, forever. What if young Sydney hurt her?"

"You know Sydney loves Lydia to bits. And Richard and Kathleen bring up Sydney and his seven brothers and sisters to be the warmest and kindest bunch of gentlemen and gentlewomen. Sydney will never hurt anyone, let alone his beloved Lydia. You will not lose a daughter, but gain a son instead."

"Not true, I still remember 5-year-old Sydney punching Lord Barton for calling his mother, a one-handed servant-turned Viscountess."

"He was only protecting his mother and serve that disfigured and demented Barton right! Richard's children now know to use their voice, instead of their fists, to fight against prejudice and injustice instead."

Indeed, the former Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, Lord Matlock for the past 10 years, had eight children with his wife, Kathleen O'Reilly. Sydney, the eldest, named after the capital of the penal colony where his parents had met, was marrying Lydia Darcy today. The previous Lord Matlock softened his stance and begged Richard and Kathleen to return to Matlock estate after Sydney was born. Despite initially showing grudging respect to Kathleen in order to maintain a connection with Richard and Sydney, old Lord Matlock grew to love his daughter-in-law and the eight grandchildren. He even became less class conscious during the last few years of his life. The old man lived to witness the growing attraction between young Sydney and Lydia Darcy and thought about some blood of the Bennet could one day be mixed into that of the Fitzwilliam's and was happy about it. He could not be happier with his heir. Tradesmen were less and less looked down upon in England. Richard, together with Darcy and Bingley, undertook many commercial and industrial ventures in England, Ireland, the Continent and Australia, making the Matlock estate prosper beyond old Lord Matlock's belief. Richard and Kathleen's tireless effort to assist and care for the less fortunate members of society in England and overseas had raised Matlock's name to be one of the most respected families in the nobility.

The older female relatives of the Darcys did not fare so well. Lady Catherine lived to regret her acquaintance with Lieutenant Digweed. The injured redcoat later went into business with Bingley and somehow fell in love with Anne de Bourgh. Despite Her Ladyship's adamant objection, Anne disregarded her mother's words and became Mrs. Digweed. Digweed maintained his tie to trades, while he managed Rosings for many years due to Lady Catherine's old age. Friends of Digweed, including many retired and injured soldiers, people in trade, were often invited to "pollute the shades" of Rosings, much to Lady Catherine's outrage. Digweed and Anne had one daughter. Despite Lady Catherine's constant instruction to associate with people of noble birth, Anne's daughter had the misfortune (or fortune, according to her parents), of falling in love with Bingley's second son. William Bingley Bennet inherited Longbourn by taking the Bennet surname, when Mr. Collin died without a son and before Mr. Bennet. Lady Catherine was still alive and kicking and she hated every minute of seeing her respectable, honourable, and ancient family of Rosings ruled by a Bennet!

Mrs. Bennet, on learning about Elizabeth naming her first daughter, after her beloved Lydia, softened her opinion against the Darcy for a short while. But it was all Fanny Bennet's ruse to plot against Elizabeth. Mrs. Bennet wanted to turn her granddaughter against Elizabeth and taught her to be wild, spoiled and demanding whenever she had the chance to be with Miss Lydia Darcy. But Elizabeth and Darcy saw through Mrs. Bennet's stratagem and refused to be in contact with her afterwards. Bitterly disappointed in making Elizabeth to pay for her sin, Mrs. Bennet drank herself to her early death, with too much tequila. She failed to live long enough to see her other two daughters, Mary and Kitty, marry two wealthy men of means, a captain of the navy and a landowner respectively.

Among Elizabeth and Darcy's six children, Lydia remained their favourite, even ahead of their heir Edward. Before Caroline Bingley's death, she remained defiant, not showing any remorse of killing Viscount Henry in a fit of temper. Her dying wish was to recover her twenty thousand pounds of dowry from Matlock estate to set up a Caroline Bingley Seminary for Accomplished Ladies to teach women impeccable manner. She told her solicitor that the Viscount had refused to marry her, despite her giving him money to feed his bad habit regularly, agreeing to whatever nonsense he had said or even taking up with sniffing tobacco to appease him. Henry had laughed at Caroline, calling her a fawning harlot. The ultimate words that had pushed Caroline to the edge that fateful day at Pemberley stables was Henry's praise of Elizabeth, saying Elizabeth was five-time prettier than Caroline and ten-time Caroline's worth in character!

Richard agreed to return Caroline's dowry, soon after he took over the management of Matlock estate. However, Bingley would not accept it to honour Caroline's dying wish. After discussion with Louisa, it was decided that the money should be split among Henry, Hurst and Lydia Bennet's descendants, as they were the victims of Caroline's vicious action and inaction. With no descendants to inherit the fortune, Richard, Louisa, Mr. Bennet and Bingley set up the Gilbert Hurst and Lydia Bennet Foundation to invest and use Caroline's fortune to help orphans, wrongly accused people, convicts committed of minor crimes in England and New South Wales to learn new skills and earn gainful employment. Caroline's entire wardrobe of dresses, hats, feathers and jewellery were donated or sold as fabric towards the initial set up of the Foundation. The Foundation set a precedent, to only have a board of female directors. Louisa, who later married a Lord, Catherine Bennet and Georgiana Darcy, were some of the first directors of the board.

Dr. Lydia Darcy received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Halle last year, as no such course was offered to women in universities in England, and had been working at the Foundation's hospitals in London since.

"Are you ready, my dear?" Elizabeth squeezed Darcy's hands.

"Yes, indeed. I could not be prouder of Lydia and our other children. Thank you, Elizabeth, for giving me these wonderful children and spending the past 30 years by my side."

"I thank you too, my love. My greatest desires are to love you and grow old with you." Darcy gazed at Elizabeth for a long while, before they went and met up with Richard and Kathleen at the chapel. The father of the bridegroom was less nervous as Darcy. Richard was smartly dressed and could not stop grinning.

Throughout the wedding ceremony and reception of Viscount Sydney Fitzwilliam and Dr. Lydia Darcy, a smile was seen adorning the handsome face of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley. Merriment and enjoyment were clearly visible on his face as he was surrounded by his lovely family and friends. Darcy was almost lively, when dancing and laughing with Elizabeth.

Happiness came to Pemberley!