The Heiress of Rosings

*** This is a story I’ve been wanting to write for some time now. Everyone who is an avid reader of Jane Austen knows and loves the story of Pride and Prejudice, and how Elizabeth Bennet attracted the attention of the much maligned (and very handsome and rich) Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. But has anyone felt sympathy for Ann de Bourgh? The woman Mr. Darcy was supposed to have married? I have! And so here is her story. I hope you enjoy it!*** Everyone agreed that lady Catherine de Bourgh was to be greatly pitied. Her own nephew Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, of whom she had such high expectations, had gone against her advice and was to be married this very day to a woman of no noble birth, without connections, consequence in the world, or fortune. A Miss Elizabeth Bennett. As far as Lady Catherine was concerned, the Bennett family was a disastrous choice for her nephew to ally himself to! Their entire fortune was entailed upon a cousin so that upon Mr. Bennett’s death the family would most certainly become destitute. They had also recently suffered a grievous misfortune, the scandalous elopement over the summer of their youngest daughter to a man of no money and apparently even lower morals. And this was to be her nephews chosen relations? Miss Elizabeth Bennett had no sense of duty or shame for using her arts and allurements to coerce her nephew into offering her his hand in marriage! Polluting the shades of Pemberly with her scandalous relations. And not only that, but in marrying Miss Elizabeth Bennett, her nephew Mr.Darcy had jilted her own daughter Miss Ann de Bourgh! His long standing betrothed bride! A marriage that had been planned between herself and her sister Mrs. Darcy since her daughter Ann’s birth! Lady Catherine had vowed to never forgive her once favorite nephew for this foolish and disrespectful behavior after everything she had done for him his entire life! Everyone who was anyone in the world knew that Miss Bennett was never to be mentioned within Lady Catherine’s presence, nor would she allow anyone with the name of Bennett to call upon her for any reason henceforth. She was absolutely determined upon that! So if that great lady seemed a bit irritable or out of sorts this evening at the dinner party she had organized to keep her mind off of her great disappointment, it was only to be expected. And everyone there knew to pretend there was nothing wrong, and that they should all have a merry time at this wonderful evening party. If not, at least the food should be quite splendid, as it generally was. As for Lady Catherine’s only daughter Miss Ann de Bourgh, it appeared to all as if the wedding taking place just 40 miles away at Longbourn did not bother her in the slightest. Everyone naturally felt pity for poor Miss de Bourgh as well over the devastating loss of her fiancée. Remarkably, her composure did not slip even once during the evening party. She was able to hold her head high, and even smile occasionally despite her sorrows, although she was careful not appear cheerful when in view of her mother. No, she was obviously a sensible young lady, and probably just didn’t want to ruin the evening with hysterics. The evening party was a small one, naturally. The neighborhood of Hunsford in which the great estate of Rosings Park resides was but a small one, and did not contain many persons of status or wealth. The Collins’s were in attendance mainly because Mrs. Collins was expecting and therefore was unable to travel the distance to Longbourn to attend the wedding of her particular friend, although Mr. Collins did assure Lady Catherine most strenuously that they had no desire to be anywhere else this evening. Lord and Lady Metcalf were also in attendance along with a widowed Mrs. Norris and her niece Miss Mary Bertram, as well as Dr. and Mrs. Wallace, and Mrs. Jenkins. “Lady Catherine, this roast lamb is probably the finest I have ever eaten,” Mr. Collins said, complimenting her ladyship many times over the course of the evening over similar trivial matters. “Nothing could be finer than a lamb raised so carefully on the Rosings Park estate. I always say so, don’t I Mrs. Collins?” “Indeed, you do!” Mrs. Collins replies, always agreeable and sensible despite how ridiculous her husband could often be. Her husband gives her a smile of gratitude in return. “And the potatoes, they are exquisite!” Mr. Collins speaks again, before waxing poetic on the properties of his favorite vegetable. “Yes, the meal is a very fine one to be sure,” Mrs. Norris speaks up between bites of her own meal. “As fine as anything I ever had at my sister Bertram’s home in Mansfield, which is as great an estate as this one is, I assure you. But the lamb here at Rosings Park I admit to being the superior of the two.” “I am very glad to hear that it is to your liking,” the great lady nodded condescendingly towards her guests. While she herself ate very little. As was generally the case of Lady Catherine’s evening parties, the evening was a quiet one. The great lady did the vast majority of the talking. A great deal of that conversation revolved around Mrs. Collins pregnancy, with much advice given to ensure the very best outcome. Mr. Collins was quick to assure both Lady Catherine and Dr. Wallace that he and his good wife would follow their advice explicitly. Naturally, everyone afterwards claimed the evening to be much more entertaining than it actually had been, though there had been no dancing, no card games, and only young Miss Bertram had quietly played a few musical pieces at the pianoforte, and to which only a few of the attendees had paid much attended to it. “Miss Bertram ought to play louder and with more confidence if she wants anyone to listen to her with enjoyment,” Lady Catherine had complained at one point in the evening, to which everyone had agreed. But that only caused Miss Bertram to finish the piece quickly, and leave off playing the pianoforte for the rest of the night. Three days later, a letter arrived at Rosings Park from her elder brother Edward Fitzwilliam, the Duke of _, delivered in person by his second son, colonel Henry Fitzwilliam. My dear Catherine, I am sorry that you will likely find this missive to be rather distressing to you and to Ann. The wedding of our nephew to Miss Bennett is now fait accompli, and the young people appear to be very happy indeed. I suggest you resign yourself to this, and find it in yourselves to forgive him his happiness, as it was never his intention to slight either of you. In fact, he would very much like to make amends to his cousin in some small way, by inviting Ann to stay in London for the winter season and assisting her by introducing the young lady to several wealthy and respectable single men of his acquaintance. His hope is that she might choose one of them as a suitable marriage prospect. He is hoping to also introduce his sister Georgiana into society at the same time. I also offer an alternate plan that might also be to your liking. My son Henry would be a very suitable match for your daughter, and he is not opposed to the idea. If you find this idea to be at all appealing, give him a nod and we can start drafting the marriage contracts straight away. Your loving brother, etc. Edward, Duke of _ Lady Catherine read thru the note three times, thinking quite deeply about the contents therein. Colonel Fitzwilliam, second son of a duke as her son in law? The idea had not occurred to her before, but it was an eligible match to be sure. He was no where near as rich or as powerful as her nephew Mr. Darcy, but then very few people were. The Darcy’s family estate of Pemberly in Darbyshire was one of the finest in the country! Rosings Park, while a great estate indeed, was a hovel in comparison to Pemberly, despite Lady Catherine’s many improvements over the years, and her husband Lord Rupert’s improvements before that. It wasn’t too long before Lady Catherine was completely convinced that Henry Fitzwilliam would make a respectable alternative husband for her only daughter. In addition to his military rank, her nephew was also the Earl of Matlock. He was 26 years of age to Ann’s 21. He had a small estate of his own with an income of nearly 2100 pounds per annum. And there was the fact that he and Mr. Darcy had been overseeing the running of the Rosings Park estate ever since her husband Lord Rupert had passed away 5 years ago, so he would be an excellent steward of her daughters wealth, which included the sizable estate of Rosings Park. The more she thought upon the benefits of having Colonel Fitzwilliam as her son in law, the more she came to like the idea. Her nephew Henry, she noted, was sitting patiently near the window of the sitting room waiting for any sign from her to proceed further. Her daughter sat on a settee just opposite of him, reading a book. Mrs. Jenkins worked on her embroidery next to her. A slight nod in the direction of Henry, and he was suddenly commenting on the fine weather, and wouldn’t Ann like to take a walk in the garden with him? “Certainly, dear cousin,” Ann said after getting an approving nod from her mother. “It does look like a particularly fine afternoon. I believe I would enjoy that very much!” Then she and Mrs. Jenkins went to get properly attired for the walk. Soon, Lady Catherine thought with much satisfaction, my daughter Ann will be married!