For the first time, Mark Rhys-Davies allowed Kitty to see the real him. He explained he was tired of all the fawning debutantes who were only interested in his title, connections, and wealth but cared not a jot for him, so he used his behaviour as a defence mechanism.
He shared with Kitty that he found her the most handsome woman he knew, and he was sure after their acquaintance to date, that if she came to like him, it would be for himself and not his title. He said he was aware she did not need to marry for wealth as her family was almost as wealthy as his.
He requested, and was granted, the chance to start again so Kitty could come to know the real person behind the mask. She agreed but warned him his second and last chance would be over if he ever treated her or her family and friends with disrespect again.
At the end of the season, he called on Kitty at Pemberley, requested, and was granted a formal courtship. The couple courted for about six months and then Lord Chatsworth requested and was granted Kitty’s hand in marriage.
After his interview with Bennet, he was shocked to find out that it was very possible that the Bennets had more wealth than his family, and he almost gasped aloud when the amount of Kitty’s dowry was shared with him.
Three months after Tom and Georgie married, Kitty became Lady Catherine Rhys-Davies, Marchioness of Chatsworth. Mark’s father passed two months after the birth of their son, Haywood Jonathan Rhys-Davies, was born.
The Duke had passed away after a long bout of illness due to cancer. He died happy knowing the dukedom was secure with the birth of his grandson. Kitty was now her Grace, Duchess of Derby. She went on to present her husband with four more children, twin boys and two daughters.
Though the family would sometimes tease her with deferential or irreverent ‘yes your Grace,’ ‘no your Grace,’ ‘if you please, your Grace,’ Kitty and Mark were never formal with the large, extended family and loved each other very deeply. Mark kept his promise and was never rude or disrespectful to Kitty or anyone else for all their long years.
Our Villains:
Lady Catherine de Bourgh:
Lady Catherine de Bourgh slipped further and further into her mania. Toward the end, she thought herself a god that could command man and nature to do her bidding to whatever her will was at the time the command was given. Four years after her commitment she refused to be treated for a trifling cold.
That cold turned into pneumonia, and three days after contracting the disease Lady Catherine shuffled off the mortal coil. Lord Matlock was notified, and when asked what to do with the body he sent funds for burial but would not allow her to be interred at any of the family sites. And so, she was buried with others that had passed away while consigned to Bedlam.
She would have been seriously displeased had she known she was to be buried between two servants, and it could be said the thought amused the Earl as the years passed and he reflected on his family late at night and alone, wondering how many times she had rolled over in her grave between them.
Caroline Bingley:
To her detriment, Caroline Bingley did not soon enough learn that she was the author of her own downfall. After a very long and uncomfortable sea voyage, she arrived in the Americas and eventually rented a flat in New York City. She tried to put on her airs and impress people with the same pretensions that had miserably failed to work in England but found out the people in the colonies were even less tolerant of her behaviour.
She was soon in the familiar position of the pariah no one wanted to associate with. She had a little more than ten thousand of her twenty-thousand-pound dowry left. Even though a kind soul had warned her, she was taken by a huckster who sold her shares in a non-existent gold mine believing she always knew better. She was left penniless and was forced to go into service.
It was only once she hit rock bottom she realised what her behaviour had gained her, or more truthfully lost her, and she finally accepted the fact she had caused her own fall from grace. Not long after her epiphany, on an evening in the twilight of a muggy summer day, she stepped in front of a carriage traveling at speed and ended her own misery.
George Wickham:
The most surprising was George Wickham. In his first months at Marshalsea, he tried his charms on fellow inmates and discovered the hard way there was no appetite for his lies and manipulation. He lost a tooth, suffered a broken arm, and had many cuts and bruises before he finally realised if he wanted to live, he had to change.
So in the clarity of rock-bottom, Wickham understood he had to make a real change, not the appearance of one as had been his way of portraying himself as a gentleman. For the next three years, he was a model prisoner and read the law like he had said he would when he got Darcy to pay him three thousand pounds for the living.
He was changed not just in word but also in deed. He wrote letters to each family that he could remember that he had trifled with or imposed himself on their daughters to beg their forgiveness and explain he finally saw the error in his past ways. He helped other prisoners and did his work, and sometimes the work of those not able to without complaint.
Five years after his consignment to Marshalsea he wrote Darcy a sincere letter of apology. He enumerated his faults, and took full responsibility for all, blaming only himself. Not once in his letter did he beseech Darcy to intercede on his behalf.
Darcy suspected this was another Wickham scheme, but after contacting the prison’s governor was shocked, even amazed, at the report he had received. After a lengthy discussion with his wife and extended family, he decided to make Wickham an offer through the governor.
On condition he would depart England’s shores forever; his debts would be conditionally forgiven. He would be given passage to the Americas and one thousand pounds. If he ever returned to England, he would be sent back to Marshalsea for the rest of his life. This result, although very welcome, was not the aim of his apology letter and Wickham accepted the terms with sincerity and gratitude.
He found his way to Boston where he rented a modest room in a boarding house and was never late with his rent. He was employed as a clerk at a prominent law firm and became one of the best clerks at the firm.
After five years he was granted his license to practice law and had a long and distinguished career defending those who needed it most. If they could not pay his fee, he helped them anyway. He eventually married and had three children who were very proud of their papa.
He did not hide the truth of his past from his wife, who was all the prouder of him for the way that he had turned his life around. He did not know it, but Darcy kept track of him for the first ten years Wickham was in Boston. His investigator confirmed the reformation was real and some months after that, Wickham cried like a little boy when he received a letter from his childhood friend that included all his vowels cancelled and let him know he was free to travel to England without fear of arrest.
When his oldest son was twenty and studying to be a lawyer like his father, Wickham who was very well off by that time, took the whole family to visit England in order to see where he grew up. They toured the country and made a visit to Pemberley as any other visitor would when applying to tour the house.
The Darcys were home and welcomed him and his family to be guests at Pemberley for the three days they would be in the area. One day before he left, he and Darcy went to visit the graveyard where both of their fathers rested in eternal slumber. Both Wickham and Darcy agreed their fathers would have finally been proud of the man that George Wickham had become.
The Darcys:
