Interesting you should say that about the parents being alive. One of the stories I'm VERY SLOWLY writing has Lady Anne and Mr Darcy still alive. In my 'universe' (I like to fill in details) the mother and four Darcy children died in a carriage accident when Georgiana was a baby - Mr Darcy was injured and held on for a while but died when FD was 22. In the 'normal' universe G is at home with a cold or teething when the family goes to Buxton for an outing (at the instigation of the second son). In the happier version G is well enough to go, and the family is delayed leaving the inn where they have lunch because the baby is fascinated by a robin outside the window and her mother keeps them an extra few minutes until the bird flies away. So instead of being near a narrow bridge when the lightning strikes, they are farther (both from the strike and the bridge) and the horses are under control before they reach the bridge, but the parents know they have had a very close call. This changes Mr Darcy; his son is still shy and stuffy but not so pompous and disdainful, and is certainly not encouraged to think ill of others.
