A Father's Sins: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by J Dawn King Page A

mean, sister?”
     
    “William,
Elizabeth is now proceeding to a meeting with a father she has not seen in five
years. This morning, as we walked, she briefly told me that on the same day we
lost our own good father, she lost her dear little brother to the plague. Her
three younger sisters died from that same illness as well. Even though she was
but five and ten years of age with no real training in medicine, her father
placed the blame on her for their death and immediately banished her from her
home. Due to the kindness of one of the servants, she was able to make her way
to her relatives in London. Her uncle is in trade. He has an import/export
business that required him and his family to travel the globe. They took
Elizabeth with them and she used this opportunity to study and learn all she
was able in the arts of healing and caring for those who are ill. It then did
not surprise me how quickly she was able to reduce Miss Bennet’s fever and help
her on the road to recovery. William,” Georgiana’s eyes pleaded with her
brother, “Elizabeth assisted me greatly, so much so that I was able to sleep
through the night last night, at peace for the first time since Ramsgate. I
long to assist her and would ask that if something comes to mind that you would
share it with me. I believe now that she is the one that needs a friend.”
     
    Darcy
was touched by his sister’s depth of feeling. With their position in society,
it was often the case that people sought their friendship for what they might
receive from a closer relationship. The Bingley sisters were of that sort. So
was his half-brother, George. He thought of his first meeting with Miss
Elizabeth and a mental picture of a happy, young girl with smiling eyes
immediately entered his mind. That something so dire could happen to someone so
innocent was unconscionable. The thought had crossed his mind six years ago
that the young miss would possibly make a fine friend to his little sister. How
correct his instincts had been. Now, he pondered the changes that one poor
decision could make on the lives of others. They had that in common, they did.
One poor decision on the part of her father sentenced her to remain away from
an apparently beloved sister and her home. One poor decision on the part of his
own father had burdened him with a despot for a brother who cared not for his
father’s estate, only the wealth and prestige it provided.
     
    “Georgie,”
he came to a decision, “though disguise of any sort is abhorrent to me, I
believe that we are obligated to pay a call on the Miss Bennets during visiting
hours today to inquire as to the process Miss Elizabeth used in caring for her
sister. We cannot possibly know when we might have need of such vital
information, do you not agree?”
     
    “Yes,
William.” A bright smile lit Georgiana’s face. “It is vital indeed.”
     
    “Let
us inform Bingley. It would not surprise me at all if he would desire to
accompany us to Longbourn.” The two left the study to prepare for making a call
that very afternoon.
     
    Mr.
Bingley had felt pain in his heart as he watched the carriage containing Miss
Jane Bennet and her sister leaving Netherfield Park. It had disturbed him that
Jane had not wanted to extend her stay in his household. He considered it a
fine testimony, however, that she was so concerned about the health and welfare
of her parents. Darcy teased, on those rare occasions when Darcy’s humor
surfaced, that ‘Charles Bingley falls in and out of love as often as he walks
in and out of a room’. While there was a certain element of truth contained in
that tease, Bingley had never experienced the deep stirrings that he felt when
he was in Miss Bennet’s company.
     
    Bingley
had been reared by ambitious parents, who wanted their children to rise above
their roots in trade. School had been a torment to him as those of elevated
rank reminded him daily where his roots should stay firmly planted. It wasn’t
until