The brave Colonel (retired) Fitzwilliam was a wreck the day his first offspring was born. The midwife had been attending another birth ten miles away in a different part of Kent, and Richard was in the midst of a mid-wife crisis when the woman finally arrived fifteen minutes before his daughter entered the world. Jane Fitzwilliam presented her husband with a healthy child every year and a half until their brood reached a total of seven. A baby’s sex is a hidden agender until it makes its first appearance; however, the couple seemed to have a set pattern of girl-boy-girl-boy, with Janetta Lily Fitzwilliam followed by Henry Bennet Fitzwilliam, Regan Alexandra Fitzwilliam, Geoffrey Richard Fitzwilliam, Rebecca Frances Fitzwilliam, Cosmo James Fitzwilliam, and Muriel Jane Fitzwilliam.

It was very agreeable to the Bennet family to have Jane settled within so easy a distance of Longbourn. For what was fifty miles of good road? It was little more than half a day’s journey and a very easy distance when there was fortune to make the expense of travelling unimportant. When they visited Rosings, Lady Catherine was always especially pleased to see Robert Bennet, her little bug.

During one of their visits Mr. Bennet was surprised when his son asked, “Papa, is Lady Caffrin an author?”

“No, my boy, not to my knowledge. Why do you ask?”

“She complains about having authoritis in her hand. Is that not writer’s cramp?”

For several years, Robert Bennet continued to create pun-filled stories; and his writing style was like the little boy himself, short and sharp.

Great-nieces and great-nephews, as great as they may be, paled in comparison to when Lady Catherine’s own daughter delivered Catriona Anne Bingley, followed the next year by Lewis Charles Bingley, and then Rosanna Catherine Bingley two years after that. Lady Catherine was positively over the moon and absolutely loved being a granny, even if it meant she had to be very careful not to cuss. To be on the safe side, she adopted and adapted a motto, ’A closed mouth gathers no feet’. Surprisingly, it was not a hard canon by which to live, because at her age, Lady Catherine found actions creak louder than words.

As soon as Richard Fitzwilliam resigned his commission, an opening became available for the rank of Colonel. The former Lieutenant-Colonel John Dun gladly filled the position; and his wife, Charlotte (nee Lucas), was thrilled by the promotion. Their daughter, Mariah Beatrice, was born four months before her parents celebrated their first wedding anniversary. (Charlotte had wasted no time in securing her man.) Mariah’s brother, Arthur Wellesley Dun, named for the victorious commanding General in the Peninsular War, arrived almost three years later.

Fitzwilliam Darcy finally beheld true perfection on September 25th, 1812, upon the birth of his first child, an heir, Bennet George Darcy. The proud papa presented his wife with a bouquet of Damask roses and baby’s breath, while tears of joy and thankfulness filled his eyes.

Perfection was achieved a second, third, fourth, and fifth time over the years upon the births of their sons George Ellis Darcy, followed by William Robert Darcy, Richard Charles Darcy, and then Thomas Fitzwilliam Darcy.

After five perfect boys and five beautiful bouquets of roses and baby’s breath, Elizabeth finally delivered a daughter, Anne Judith Rose Darcy. The flawless baby girl had dark chestnut curls and, at least in her father’s totally unbiased opinion, the most captivating, sparkling, intelligent brown eyes ever beheld in the entire history of the entire world; and he was instantly besotted and head over heels in love. Upon Anne’s birth, Elizabeth’s chamber was filled to overflowing with Damask roses; and the tears in Darcy’s devoted eyes actually overflowed onto his cheeks that memorable day.

Despite being thrown into the path of rich and titled men, Mary Bennet happily accepted an offer of marriage from a tradesman’s son. She had long ago set her cap for young Daniel Burke, who lived across the street from the Bennet London townhouse.