Page 100 of A Life Diverted
“Sarah, this is an unmitigated disaster!” Lord Jersey complained. “The Rhys-Davies are considering a divorce, claiming we misled them regarding the royals’ support for us cutting our daughter.”
“It seems your supposition was incorrect,” Lady Jersey stated the obvious. “The other patronesses have requested I withdraw as a patroness of Almack’s. How has it come to this?”
“We made a critical error; we cut Priscilla before asking for or receiving direction from the Crown,” Lord Jersey said resignedly. “That miscalculation has turned us into social pariahs. The Prince’s displeasure was not just simply directed toward us, it was publicly displayed!”
Lady Sarah was well aware it was her husband’s decision and directive to cut her daughter, something she did not want to do.
There was not much use arguing the point with him as he would dismiss what he found to be inconvenient.
“If only Marie had not thought she had glimpsed Priscilla and made those remarks in his Royal Highness’s hearing.
” Lady Jersey was sure her husband was upset at their behaviour being discovered rather than the pain his decision caused to their oldest daughter.
“Look at all it has cost us! A possible divorce for Marie, and Wes was refused when he requested a courtship with Huntington’s daughter. Before this, Lord Huntington would have salivated at a connection to our family," Lord Jersey lamented.
“The only solution is to reach out to Priscilla.” Lady Sarah knew her husband would read what she wrote so she would not be able to tell Priscilla she was sorry and never wanted to cut her.
“We will have to appear to show deep contrition if there is to be any hope she will help smooth our way back into the good graces of the Royals and society at large,” Lady Jersey stated in the vain hope her husband would allow her to write what she actually wanted to.
“Yes, Sarah; post her a letter. I must read it before you do so. I am sure she will be gratified for our condescension,” Lord Jersey calculated.
Lady Sarah De Melville hated having to give her husband the letter before it was posted, but the situation they now found themselves in required it.
He was too controlling to allow her to send a letter he did not approve of, so she sat down at her desk in the mistress’s study and wrote her daughter a letter in a manner to ensure his approval.
The sad fact was Lord Jersey was only interested in what would look good to society, forgetting how he had cast out their daughter like yesterday’s broadsheets. There were few nights Lady Sarah did not lament her separation from Priscilla. At least she did not cry every night anymore.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“You desired to talk to us, Jane?” Fanny asked as her eldest sat down in her father’s study at Netherfield Park.
After her coming out, Jane had accompanied the Carringtons and Fitzwilliams to London for part of the little season. Unlike the coming out ball, none of her siblings—who were not yet out—had any expectation of accompanying her to Town.
During her two months in London, Jane and Andrew became very close. The attraction on both sides had grown to the point that both were sure the other’s feelings were engaged as much as their own.
Before Jane left London, Andrew requested a courtship. Jane agreed—conditionally—she knew she could not tell him what the condition was, but she asked him to give her a few days at home before he presented himself.
As planned, Jane returned home in mid-November. Once she answered her siblings’ questions about her time in Town—her sisters, as Tommy had no interest in who she danced with and at what ball—Jane asked for a private meeting with her parents.
“Andrew requested a courtship, and I want to give him an unconditional yes, but I am not sure I will be able to,” Jane told her parents.
“Andrew is one of the best young men we know; why would you hesitate if your inclination is to accept his suit?” Bennet asked.
“I do not want to begin our courtship with a lie, even if it is one of omission,” Jane revealed sadly. “I swore to keep the secret about Lizzy, and so I will, but that places me in a quandary.”
“Jane, my darling sweet and thoughtful Jane.” Fanny enfolded her daughter in a hug.
“Richard was able to piece the facts together based on a small error by Uncle Freddy, so he told him the truth. He has not mentioned a word in three years, not even to his parents who know the truth. In fact, he requested that Richard join us in her protection and he has not yet wavered, and likely never will even after the world at large knows. I trust Andrew no less.”
“Why was Andrew not informed when Richard was?” Jane asked pensively.
“Until now, there was no need. If Uncle Freddy had not had the slip of his tongue and Richard had not divined the truth, he would not have been told,” Bennet informed Jane.
“Now that Andrew is about to become your official suitor, he needs to know. Neither your mother nor I would expect you to be other than completely truthful with Andrew.”
“Then when he arrives on the morrow, I am allowed to tell him the whole truth?” Jane verified.
“Yes, Janie. The whole truth,” Fanny assured her in confirmation.
“Thank you, Mama and Papa.” Jane was finally able to relax. Receiving her parents’ permission to share everything with Andrew had been a boon and she felt extreme excitement at the idea of his impending arrival.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Come in, Anne dear,” her uncle Reggie welcomed her to his study.
“Is there a problem, Uncle Reggie?” Anne asked nervously. After her aunt’s death, she was wary of being summoned for serious meetings.
“Nothing bad, Anne, we promise you,” Aunt Elaine assured her niece who visibly relaxed.
“Anne, the reason we requested that you join us is because we would like to discuss your mother with you,” Uncle Reggie informed her.
“What has Mrs. de Bourgh done now?” Anne asked testily. Since that day at Pemberley, Anne had put the woman who bore her out of her mind. Given all she was forced to suffer under her mother’s control, nobody mentioned the woman in Anne’s hearing.
“That is just it, she had undergone a complete transformation…” Anne’s aunt and uncle shared all with her. If it had been weeks or months, Anne would have been sceptical, but it was going on three years, and Catherine de Bourgh was—if anything—more conscientious in her good deeds.
“She is unaware you are having her watched?” Anne asked, unwilling to credit her mother with anything that did not benefit her.
“Correct. In the last six months I increased her allowance to two hundred pounds a month. That is more than enough for her to move to a reasonably comfortable house with at least four or five servants, including a cook. The condition was she had to spend at least forty pounds a month on herself and her household. Every penny of the balance, she uses to better the lives of the people of Hunsford, Rosings Park’s tenants, and citizens in the Westerham area,” Uncle Reggie laid out.
“There is no question she is sincere. She gives fifty pounds to the rector at the Hunsford church each month, to distribute as he sees fit to the needy.”
“If only she had been like this when I had lived with her,” Anne stated wistfully as a few tears ran down her cheeks. What caused the sea change in her mother was not important. The only thing that mattered was she had changed, and this was the mother Anne de Bourgh desperately wanted to meet.
“From all the reports we have, she is nothing like she was. She has begun to educate herself and, believe it or not, she is using part of the extra money she had to spend on herself to hire masters, including a music master, who is teaching her the pianoforte,” Aunt Elaine reported.
“She has written to us requesting a chance to meet with the family to apologise in person.”
“Why now and not two years ago?” Anne asked.
“She did not feel worthy, Anne,” Uncle Reggie averred. “She felt crushing shame for the way she used to behave and did not know how to face us. After counselling from the clergyman at Hunsford, she has taken his advice and believes she has become the type of person worthy of begging our pardon.”
“The same parson she used to command as if he were her personal servant is counselling her now?” Anne was flabbergasted.
“Yes, Anne, the very same one. I am waiting for Frederick’s response before we go to Kent to see her, that is if you decide you want to come with us,” Uncle Reggie’s offer clarified that it was up to her alone.
“Before you jump to conclusions, she does not want her courtesy title back,” Aunt Elaine stated. “Your mother has at last realised the value of character and not a title. The days of her lectures on the maintenance of the distinction of rank are forever gone.”
“When do we depart for Kent?” Anne asked. She was starting to feel excited about seeing her mother—and thinking of her as a mother again.
“We will depart two days hence,” Uncle Reggie informed his niece.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Welcome, Andrew,” Jane stated excitedly. She had missed Andrew greatly, even though it was but three days since they had seen one another in Town. As it was wont to do, her heartbeat sped up when Andrew was near.
“Thank you, Jane,” Andrew bowed to the Bennets. “Uncle Thomas, Aunt Fanny, it is good to see you again.”
“If I were a wagering man, I would say it is not us you are here to see—at least not yet.” Bennet’s quip caused Andrew’s colour to darken.
“Papa, behave yourself,” Jane gave her father a playful tap on the shoulder. “May we use your study?”
“You may, as long as the door remains partially open and a maid or footman is sitting in the hall nearby—out of earshot,” Bennet granted.