In the end, Jane made her father proud. She assigned her father and mother the two largest apartments with ample dressing rooms. She gave Kitty and Lydia a moderate sized room with a view of the street, and Elizabeth and Mary the slightly nicer room with a view of the garden, in respect to their ages. She gave herself a small bedroom overlooking the back garden. It was smaller than the others, but no less grand in its decoration, and it featured a lovely balcony through a set of glass doors. She had felt a tiny twinge at giving such a decadent feature to herself and not to her sisters who would have also enjoyed it, but she judged that the room was not large enough for two comfortably, and that as the eldest, she ought to have her own chamber. She also did not think it wise to constantly leave Mary on her own as had been their pattern in the past.

Decisions made, the girls quickly set to unpacking and within an hour, they were setting off for their first glimpse of the sea.

~

After seeing Elizabeth off, Darcy left for London with his cousin. He wasn’t at his townhouse an hour before he had dispatched a letter to his solicitor requesting an appointment. He then busied himself planning Elizabeth’s settlement. He felt almost giddy with excitement over what he could give her and the lifestyle she would be able to lead as his wife, so much better than the one she had been living as a Miss Bennet. After he’d made all the necessary notes, he toured the mistress’s chambers.