Page 36 of A Life Diverted
As soon as she heard Ellie address her as mother, tears began to flow, and there was nothing Cilla could do to stop them.
She understood that to Ellie, Fanny was Mama, but to be called a name which designated her one of Ellie’s parents once again, after not hearing her do so for well over seventeen years, lifted the final weight off her heart.
Cilla sat down on the sofa and pulled Ellie into a tight embrace.
She saw that her daughter was concerned she had said the wrong thing.
“Be not concerned, Ellie, my darling girl. These are tears of joy.”
At that moment, it hit Elizabeth that Mother’s reaction was because she had used the moniker Mother.
As she looked around the room, she saw that all of the ladies, Jane included, had moist eyes.
Given the many years during which they were separated, Elizabeth understood her mother’s reaction.
Madeline moved to take the seat where Cilla had been sitting, making room for the latter to sit next to her daughter .
“Now, Fanny, I think it is time to hear more about how Ellie was as a child and how she was growing up,” Lady Matlock prompted.
Cilla turned to Ellie as she took the hand closest to her in one of her hands. “Now that you know we enjoyed you hiding away, I hope you will take pleasure in that once again, even if you are a little older now than you were then,” she said with a twinkle in her emerald-green eyes.
“You said that Barney will arrive on the morrow or the day following, did you not?” Elizabeth asked. Her mother allowed it was true. Elizabeth turned to her other mother. “Mama, has Papa called James home?”
Fanny nodded that it was so. “We expect him before Friday,” she replied.
“In that case, when all my brothers and sisters are present, we will play a long-overdue game of hide and go seek. It is time,” Elizabeth said.
Both Cilla and Fanny had wide smiles on their faces. That Elizabeth was willing to hide away again, something she had steadfastly refused to do ever since she had been discovered in the carriage, was a clear sign of her recovery.
Jane felt lighter of spirit than ever. Even though Lizzy never spoke of the past any longer, she knew it had weighed on her. As much as Jane would have liked to alleviate Lizzy’s concerns, she had been powerless to do so, especially when the nightmares would strike her younger sister.
This was all occurring at a perfect time before Jane was married in January.
She was sure that with so many questions being answered for Lizzy, she would no longer need the kind of support she had since coming to Longbourn.
Jane was confident her younger sister would no longer rely on her as a constant calming force in her life or someone to keep close to at night.
“For the most part, Lizzy was a cheerful child. At least once the fragments of memories from her past no longer haunted her. That is not to say she did not get into mischief, she did…” Fanny told of Lizzy’s propensities to push limits and how once Jane got older, there was a stage when she had preferred the company of her brother and his friends to her sisters and theirs.
The more Fanny spoke, the more blanks regarding Ellie’s formative years were filled in.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Although she had claimed she would accept her punishment of being the daughter and sister of a tradesman once again, Caroline Bingley was determined to discover if the dire predictions had been true.
It was only a day since the assembly, when all of her carefully laid plans had been spoilt by that damned foundling who, as luck would have it, was somehow related to Messrs Fitzwilliam and Darcy!
Surely word would not have reached London yet, and if it had not, she would be able to spin a story to counteract anything which was said about her and her supposed ruination.
In the late afternoon, Miss Bingley slipped out of the Hursts’ home and flagged down a hackney cab on Curzon Street.
She gave the driver the direction for Miss Grantley’s house.
Seeing that her friend was one of the foremost gossips in society, Caroline would use Miss Grantley to get her tale spread in London.
It was not the time for calling on friends, but it had to be done if Miss Bingley was to avoid joining her brother to begin their journey north at an ungodly hour on the morrow.
When the hackney stopped at Grantley House, Miss Bingley alighted.
The house was on Cavendish Square, which, while not in Mayfair, was less than a mile from that most desirable area of Town.
Miss Grantley never missed an opportunity to point out that her home’s address was a much more fashionable address than Hurst House on Curzon Street.
Miss Bingley would suffer Miss Grantley’s airs and graces on this day, as she intended to use them for her own good.
Miss Bingley, her nose in the air, marched up to the double front doors. She picked up the knocker and allowed it to fall. As she would expect, the Grantleys’ butler opened the door. But he kept it blocked, which did not allow the caller to enter the entrance hall.
“Madam?” the man drawled condescendingly.
“Take my card to Miss Grantley. She will hear of your rudeness,” Miss Bingley hissed.
The door was closed. Almost ten minutes later, it cracked open again.
“Miss Grantley did not think you would have the temerity to darken her doorstep ever again. She told me to tell you that she will never be at home to a ruined woman who attempted to compromise Mr Darcy.” The butler dropped the torn card onto the top step and closed the door forcefully.
How had word reached London so speedily?
Not only had the news been received before she arrived in Town, but it was evident it had been spread throughout society.
Miss Bingley lost her colour when she saw the few walkers in the square looking at her with supreme disdain.
The hackney cab was not waiting, as she had been sure her friend would have sent her home in her carriage.
There was nothing for it, she had to walk until she could hail a hackney to return her to Hurst House.
As she walked, those who had witnessed her humiliation at Grantley House cut her. It took ten excruciating minutes before Caroline found a hackney.
She tried to keep her features schooled, but it was rather difficult. She owned the truth; she was well and truly, irrevocably ruined. Why had she not listened to Louisa? And how had word spread in London so fast ?
What Miss Bingley did not know was that first thing that morning, at Lady Catherine’s behest, a courier was on his way to London to deliver messages to the patronesses of Almack’s, the Duchesses of Bedford, Devonshire, and Hertfordshire, as well as the wives of some lesser peers.
The notes contained information about Miss Caroline Bingley’s attempted entrapment of her nephew and her pretentious behaviour with a request to make sure the disgusting actions were known far and wide in society.
The missives had reached the recipients before they broke their fasts that morning.
Hence, when some of the ladies received calls and others made them, the news began to spread.
Given the ever-widening circle of those who had been made aware of the news, it had reached Miss Grantley by the time the Bingley conveyance was halfway between Meryton and London.
Before Caroline Bingley had made her call to Grantley House, her fate had been sealed.
That evening Miss Bingley packed without complaint and intended to be ready at whatever time Charles desired to depart in the morning. She realised that she would never be welcomed back into the level of society she had craved for so very long.