Chapter 1

His ship arrived at port after almost three years of sailing through all the kingdom territories that extended practically around the entire world. Since he was twelve years old, Adam Bennet had spent a few months in his homeland. He started his career as an officer's servant. He was the protégé of a prominent officer in the Royal Navy, Admiral Edward Jackson. He was the closest to a father figure he had known, and from him, he learned everything he knew today.

Nearing his thirtieth birthday, Adam was a noted officer and captain of his own ship. All those under his command admired him deeply and feared him at the same time. He was ruthless with those who did not follow his orders but loyal and was capable of giving his life for his men.

His naval career was his whole life; his mother died the same day he was born, and his father had practically abandoned him shortly after that. But he forgot all that bitter memories when he began to travel around the world. Now, the ocean was his home, and his family, all the brave men who traveled with him.

In his career, he had not only found his place in the world but had also made his fortune participating in more than one expedition where he earned good commissions for capturing great treasures for the British crown. That is why he had a great deal of money invested in various businesses and a splendid house in London that he used very little, but that served as a refuge when he was forced to spend time on land.

When he was thirteen, he met old Joseph Hughes. He was the ship's cook and always gave him an extra portion of food when he could. He had a son he lost in childhood, and Adam reminded him of his little angel.

Joseph's wife worked as a maid in an inn on the outskirts of London, and they could see each other often because Joseph was always traveling. So when Adam bought his house, he asked his friend if he and his wife could take care of it while he traveled. They were very grateful for the opportunity, so old Joseph became his butler and his wife Amelia, the housekeeper. But in reality, they were his friends, not his servants.

"My dear Captain Bennet, it's been almost two years since I have not seen you. You don't know how good it is to know that you are here, my good friend," said old Joseph sincerely.

"I am glad to see you, Hughes. Besides, I must confess that I really want to eat one of the delicious stews that you prepare so well," replied Adam as he entered his elegant house and hugged his dear friend. He was proud of everything he had accomplished and liked to enjoy the product of his effort and dedication.

"How long will you stay in London, Captain? In the last letter you sent, you told me that for two or three months.

"That's what I estimated at that time, Hughes. But everything will depend on how long it takes to repair my ship. Unfortunately, in the last year, two storms hit us pretty hard, and I think 'The Misty' needs major repairs before it can sail again. But I will have time to tell you more about that later, my friend. Now I just want to take a bath, eat something, and rest." Adam felt the weight of the long trips of recent years. At present, he just wanted to enjoy his days off, reading his favorite books and touring London. Between visit and visit, usually many things changed in that vibrant city that did not stop growing.

Adam took off his coat and was going straight to his room when old Joseph asked for a moment of his time. "Captain, in your study, there are several letters, including one from your father. Apparently, he sent it to your ship, and someone directed it here. In any case, it is from over a year ago."

"Thanks, Hughes, but you can get rid of it. I'm not interested in reading anything coming from that man," Adam said emphatically. He wanted nothing to do with Mr. Thomas Bennet because he and his family were not and never would be a part of his life.

P&P

Mr. Bennet was locked in his study, trying to read the last chapter of an exciting book about ancient Greece history. But it was hard to concentrate because his wife was yelling, and Lydia giggled very loudly. He did not know what was happening outside his sanctuary but assumed it was related to his idiotic cousin William Collins because Mrs. Bennet kept repeating his name.

A month ago, he received a curious letter from that distant cousin, and from the way it was written, he knew that Mr. Collins was just as stupid as his father. Horatio Collins always believed that he or his son would be the Longbourn's heir because his cousin Bennet had just daughters with his wife, and his son thought precisely the same.

When Mr. Collins arrived in Longbourn, one thing that got Mr. Bennet's attention was seeing Mr. Collin's greedy eyes as he looked around Longbourn. He wanted to amuse himself at his stupid cousin's expense, just as he had done with his father and did not feel like telling him that he had had a son from his first marriage and he was not Longbourn's legitimate heir.

Besides, he also didn't know how to tell that truth to Mr. Collins without revealing his big secret to his family. He never told his wife or his daughters of the existence of his firstborn; they even did not know that he was a widower when he married Frances Gardiner.

He often regretted that decision, but he justified his actions by telling himself that he had done it for his son's sake when he actually did it because of his inability to take his responsibilities seriously. He always preferred to ignore the problems to take the trouble to solve them.

When he met Frances Gardiner, he was captivated by her beauty and thought that a young and charming woman like her might not want to marry a widower with a child at his charge. She was an eighteen years old cheerful young lady and was always willing to listen to everything he had to tell her. She could spend hours listening to him talking about the latest books he was reading or the exciting news about the war in the newspapers.

But when they got married, all that changed immediately, and Frances, the modest young lady always ready to listen to him, became Fanny, a demanding woman, always nervous and never happy with anything. On many occasions, she could be openly vulgar and seemed not to care or realize how she often made a fool of herself. For this reason, after a couple of months married, he could not stand his new wife and regretted his haste decision to marry her.

He was aware that his son Adam was much better living with his grandparents, good people who would give him the education and the necessary example to become a good man. But also, he never told Adam's grandparents that he had remarried out of shame. If Adam had lived with him, Henry and Amanda Roberts would have found out what kind of woman he married.

Since Adam did not live with him, he visited him once a year in his grandparents' home for the first years of his life. When Adam learned to read and write, he communicated with him by letters until finally, they practically lost contact. Mr. Bennet knew his son was an officer in the Royal Navy and often wondered what was going on in his life. But he never did anything to seek a rapprochement between them. That would take a lot of effort, and he preferred to stay in his office thinking that everything was fine. He assumed that Adam would take possession of his inheritance as Master of Longbourn one day, and he would take care of his sisters when the time came.

P&P

"Mr. Darcy, I swear to you that if we had not intervened, my foolish brother would have proposed to Jane Bennet after supper. You don't know how happy I am that he traveled to London early this morning," Caroline said as she paced desperately around the room.

"Mr. Darcy, you are the only one who can help us. What should we do?" added Louisa, just as distressed.

Mr. Darcy had an early breakfast with Mr. Bingley and planned to tell his friend's sisters that he too would be leaving Hertfordshire that morning. The previous night, he had made a fool of himself asking Elizabeth Bennet to dance with him. He had done many stupid things in the last few days and no longer trusted himself or his good judgment. Hence, he decided to leave that place immediately and seek refuge in his London house until he got over that foolish infatuation. He would never risk the future or the good name of his family.

"I fully understand and believe the best thing to do is to keep him away from Miss Bennet. She doesn't seem to have much of an interest in Bingley, and although I think she is a modest and well-mannered lady, I can't say the same about her family."

"Yes, Jane Bennet is a sweet girl, but nothing more. She has no dowry, no connections, and her family is a disaster. All those sisters are horrible, and the mother is the most vulgar woman I have ever met," added Caroline. She watched as Mr. Darcy tensed when he mentioned Jane's sisters. The night before, he had only danced with the damn Eliza Bennet, and she saw how he was looking at her the whole evening. Caroline was so jealous that she could not avoid hating Elizabeth more than anyone.

Caroline had dreamed that the days they would spend together in Netherfield, Mr. Darcy would get to know her better and would realize that she was the perfect woman for him. However, since Eliza Bennet showed up with her so-called fine eyes and pert opinions, all his attention was only for her.

"I understand your concerns perfectly, but also, I wanted to talk to you about another matter. Unfortunately, something unexpected happened, and I need to return to London today," explained Mr. Darcy.

Caroline had an idea at that very moment and asked at once, "Mr. Darcy, could you take us back to London with you? In an hour we can be ready with what is necessary to travel. The servants can take care of everything and travel with the rest of our belongings tomorrow."

"What a good idea, Caroline. We have nothing else to do in this place full of savages. In London, it will be easier for us to convince Charles not to do anything imprudent without thinking of the consequences of his irresponsible actions," said Louisa.

"Also, it is much easier to keep him entertained, so he will not miss anything or anyone from this horrible place," added Caroline.

Mr. Darcy didn't like the idea of traveling with these women, but he realized that it was the only way to prevent his friend from doing something he would surely regret later. "Alright, in one hour, we will leave for London."

Caroline was happy; finally, she could leave that place, and also she would spend several hours in the company of the man of her dreams. Louisa spoke with her husband, and they began to prepare for the trip. Also, she ordered the servants to pack everything for the next day and close the house permanently.

P&P

Mrs. Bennet opened her husband's study door and walked in with Elizabeth. "Mr. Bennet, I demand that you talk to your daughter and force her to do what is her duty to her family."

Elizabeth looked at her father with pleading eyes, and he smiled at her as if to indicate that everything was well. "And what is Lizzie's duty to her family, my dear?"

"Mr. Collins just asked her to marry him, and she turned him down. So you must force her to marry him; that way, we'll have a home to live in if you die, and we won't have to live in the hedgerows," Mrs. Bennet explained loudly.

"Have you ever thought, Mrs. Bennet, that you might die before me?" asked Mr. Bennet sarcastically.

"MR. BENNET! Do not play with my poor nerves," shouted Mrs. Bennet.

Seeing that his wife decided to continue bothering him, he said emphatically. "I will not force my daughter to marry that man because he is an idiot, and also, you need to understand that he is not Longbourn's heir if that is what motivates you to force Lizzy to marry that fool. I already explained it to him two days ago, and now I am telling you, Mrs. Bennet, that man is not my heir. Lizzie, you can leave because I don't want to talk about this anymore." Indeed, Mr. Bennet had told Mr. Collins that he was not his heir but had given no further explanation.

Elizabeth took advantage of her mother's confusion to quickly leave her father's office. Although she overheard her mother asking incessantly who Mr. Bennet's heir was, her father seemed to ignore her.

"You are lying, Mr. Bennet. Mr. Collins is your rightful heir, and you know that very well. You are saying this now to support your irresponsible daughter. You always let her do whatever she wants!" Mrs. Bennet was distraught because Mr. Collins left the house very upset, and she did not know what to do to remedy the situation.

"For the last time, Collins is not my heir. Now, if you'll excuse me, my dear, I want to continue reading my book," said Mr. Bennet and ignored his wife, who stayed in his office for at least another half hour complaining and lamenting.

P&P

Mr. Darcy was looking out of the carriage window though his mind was elsewhere. Caroline and Louisa talked incessantly, and Mr. Hurst was dozing, but he was barely aware of what was happening around him. But suddenly, he saw a familiar silhouette of a woman walking briskly on the trail that led to the top of Oakham Mount.

He was grateful that Caroline and Louisa were entertained talking to each other, that way, he could better observe the woman. It was undoubtedly Elizabeth Bennet, and she looked distraught. It seemed that she was drying her tears with a handkerchief while walking.

Fortunately, she didn't see the carriage go by and didn't realize he was watching her. But he couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. Perhaps some Netherfield servant had come with the gossip that the Netherfield party returned to London, and she was sad thinking that they would probably never see each other again. Yet, as powerful as the attraction between them was, it wasn't enough to override everything that separated them.

"Elizabeth, I understand your sorrow, but if I had stayed longer, it would have been worse for you. Between you and me, nothing will ever be possible, and you should understand that," thought Mr. Darcy decidedly. Then he picked up a book and pretended he was reading the rest of the journey so no one would try to converse with him.

Once Elizabeth reached the top of the hill, she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, thinking how unfair life was. "My dear Jane, I hope you have more luck than me, and Mr. Bingley proposes to you. So I can go live with you and forget about all this. I prefer a thousand times to work as a governess to marry a man I can never love or respect."

P&P

Mr. Bennet thought he would go crazy if he heard one more complaint from his wife or one more stupidity from one of his daughters. So he went to the stable and asked a servant to have his horse saddled to go to Meryton. There, he could chat with Mr. Prior and see if he had any interesting new books. But unfortunately, he did not get very far because his horse lost a shoe and lost balance, throwing his rider heavily to the ground.

The stable boy who saw him fall ran over to help him, "Master, wake up, Master, are you alright? HELP, PLEASE, HELP!

P&P

This is my new story, and I hope you like it!

My idea is to publish three chapters a week or more when possible.

I will focus just on this story, so I will not have time to translate "I already knew you" until I am done with this one. Sorry about that! I will leave the Spanish version available a little longer if any of you want to read it using the translator (I recommend Google, much better than the App)

In the next chapter, you will learn more about Mr. Bennet's first marriage and how he separated from his son.

See you soon!

Para mis seguidores de habla hispana, gracias por las sugerencias de nombre. Mi próxima historia en esa lengua se llamará "El desvío" y comenzaré a escribirla cuando termine con esta. Les agradezco mucho que no me recuerden cada acento que se me pasa. En inglés tenemos a un grupo de cretinos que les gusta leer gratis y quieren que además sea perfecto :)

En el próximo capítulo conocerán un poco más de la historia del primer matrimonio del señor Bennet y la relación con su hijo.

Merci à tous les lecteurs francophones pour votre soutien continu!

Muito obrigada aos leitores de língua portuguesa que acompanham minhas histórias e sempre deixam comentários de apoio.

¡Nos vemos pronto!

Saludos,

Yo