Not tolerable enough to tempt me(Modern Pride and Prejudice)

Chapter 8

This chapter is mainly the letter. I decided to change its contents from the original a little since Jane and Charles have yet to meet.

I also just wanted to put a trigger warning here just in case. There are mentions of drugs, as well as sexual assault. If you decide not to read it that is alright. The second half of the letter is when that is mentioned, but I think that you all should be able to continue to understand the story should you decide not to read it.

Hope you enjoy!!

Elizabeth started to read the letter;

'Miss Elizabeth,

I would first like to say that you need not worry about me renewing my request of a few hours before. I merely write this to clear up some of the accusations that you laid against you. I am not writing to you in the hope of improving or convincing you of a good opinion of me. This is solely for you to be corrected in events that you have relayed incorrectly. I do not blame you since you would not have known anything other than what you were told.

The first accusation is my character. All my life, I have lived a life of privilege. No one has ever contradicted my behaviour and therefore I have grown up with it. I know this is no excuse and I have no intent to try and make it one. My behaviour was deplorable and I would like to apologize. Upon reflection, I realise that I acted cold, distant, and proud. You deserved none of it and it makes me feel nothing but shame to think of how I treated you. I have always been reserved when it comes to people who are not of close acquaintance, thus resulting in my cold demeanor. I now know that it is wrong and I should have made an effort to know you. It was also my pride that caused this to happen. There was also another event which caused me to become distant and hesitant towards you and it had nothing to do with you at all, but you just happened to come at a terrible time.

That event is the second accusation you accused me of. What I write to you here is something that has to do with my family and I would ask you to please keep this to yourself. I don't know what Georeg Wickham told you about my dealings with him, but I thought I should tell you what really happened between us. I assume he told you that he was a student from Canada and that he stayed with my family. This was all before my father sadly passed away. He became quite close to the family and we all welcomed him warmly. He became like a brother to me and a son to my parents. My father said that he wanted George to have a good job at the company, but one where he would have to work his way up to teach him principles. Soon after my father passed away, leaving me the head of the family business. I obeyed my father's last wish and gave Wickham a stable, but buildable position while he finished university. About a month later I started to realise that something was wrong. George had been dismissing work given to him and was charming female employees to do it for him. That was only the start. At home I noticed him behaving differently as well, but merely brushed it off. That was until I found out that he had been dealing drugs throughout the university. Since he was so close to the family, I thought that I could help him and sent him to rehab with the attempt of assisting his addiction and I thought I had. He came back to our house and continued university. That summer, I had to leave on business and my mother, to visit family. Georgiana was left with a friend since we did not want her alone with George. I found out near the end of my trip that Georgiana had returned home without my knowledge. It sounded odd to me, so I decided to return home and figure out why she cut her visit short.

The next part that I am about to tell you is very hard for our family so I would very much be grateful if you tell no one of the contents of this letter. I have observed you with Georgiana and I know that I can trust you with the truth.

When I returned home, I found out that my sister has been being used by George for money. She on the other hand did not know this and was very distraught over the news. He had made it seem as though he cared for her and Georgiana being naive at this point believed it all. He convinced her to partake in an intimate relationship and would use her credit card for all of his expenses. Once I returned home, George's true character was fully shown and Georgiana was devastated. She required a lot of counselling to return back to a similar version of her previous self. At the time she was just 15. Once he was kicked out of our home, we became aware of the knowledge that he had gone back to drugs and had raped multiple women at the university. That is when I went to the school board and they quickly decided to expel him, making him unable to apply to any other schools. We lost all communications with him and suffered greatly because of him. The final thing that connected us to George Wickham was that I found out that he was giving information from Pemberley inc. to our competitor companies, causing great loss in our sales. I've cut all communications with him since.

If you need further explanation on the second point, you can ask my mother. I will explain that you may come to her for further verification. All I ask is that you do not discuss the events with Georgie.

I believe that should clear up most of the accusations you laid against me. I hope you now have a better view on the second event, though the first I can not excuse.

I would also like to thank you. You made me realise that my behaviour is despicable and I wish to improve upon it. If I am capable of change, which I dearly hope so, I do not expect your favor. I merely wish to become someone you can approve of, for that is of great importance to me.

I would also like to inform you that you needn't worry about anything relating to you or me. I will not tell a soul about our conversation and you will not see me because I have some business which requires me to travel elsewhere for about 2 months. You must also not worry about your internship for merely speaking your mind. If anything, I admire you for your honesty.

I hope you continue to succeed in your internship and have all the happiness in the future.

Respectfully,

William Darcy'