Mr. Darcy's Bride

Chapter 1

Elizabeth Bennet sat in the corner of her father's study, watching the sunlight move across the wall as afternoon changed to evening. The room she had known for her entire life already looked foreign to her. She could not believe how quickly things had changed; how quickly they had gone wrong. It was a normal day a fortnight before Christmas when she knocked on the door of this very study, and pushed it open to find her father slumped over his desk. The worst fear of the Bennets came to pass: Mr. Bennet had passed away, and not a single daughter had yet found a husband.

"Oh, how could Mr. Bennet do this to me?" cried Mrs. Bennet, as if Mr. Bennet's entire goal in dying suddenly had been to inconvenience her. "Why could he not have waited until one of the girls was wed?"

Her ire then turned to Elizabeth. "If you had accepted Mr. Collins, we would not be in this state now. But he is to wed Charlotte Lucas, and there is nothing to be done for it! We are lost! We are destitute!"

Elizabeth's eldest sister, Jane, was obliged to gently maneuver their mother to bed; Mrs. Bennet continued to rant and weep. Elizabeth understood the things that needed to be done in the wake of her father's death would fall to her, as her other sisters would be no help. Mary had not uttered an intelligible word since hearing the news, but her lips moved quickly. Elizabeth knew she was praying. Her sister Lydia was acting quite a bit like their mother, but she had not yet perfected the art of the dramatic swoon, so she was receiving less attention from her sisters and the servants. And Kitty only sat on the settee and wept; Elizabeth's first urge was to comfort her, but the tasks that needed to be done could not wait for the needs of the mourners.

Elizabeth sent a servant to fetch the undertaker. She did not know what needed to be done in a time like this, but she suspected this was the appropriate first step. She then went to her father's study and draped a blanket over him. She knew it was not rational, but the thought he might be cold made panic rise up in her throat. She felt strangely better once he was covered, as if she really had assisted him.

By then, the undertaker arrived and began his work. Elizabeth answered his questions to the best of her ability, but later she found that she could not remember a single word of their conversation. She directed the servants to follow the undertaker's instructions to take Mr. Bennet to an outbuilding to prepare him for viewing, grateful that in this, at least, she would have assistance.

The viewing! She had not even considered they would need to open their house so the neighbors could come and pay their respects. Her breath hitched in her throat, but she quickly regained her composure and began to instruct the servants on what needed to be done to prepare for that. Jane was back, having given Mrs. Bennet a tonic for nerves and helped soothe her to sleep, and Elizabeth was relieved to have another rational person helping her plan.

"Oh, the timing, Lizzy!" said Jane. "Mr. Collins is due back tomorrow. Who knows how long we will have to find somewhere else to live?"

"We are not without friends, Jane," said Elizabeth, trying to convince herself as much as her sister. "We can stay with our Uncle and Aunt Phillips in Meryton if we need to."

"But that is only a temporary solution," said Jane. "Uncle Phillips does not have enough room to house six people forever."

Elizabeth had already considered that, but she quickly dismissed the idea. She had to focus on the present if she was going to survive it.

"We will have to think about that when it happens, Jane. Try not to worry yourself."

Elizabeth found that she could not take her own advice: her mind swirled with the terrible possibilities of what could happen. There was only one thing she knew for certain, and that was that the Bennets' life was changed forever, and not for the better.