Page 80 of A Life Diverted
At almost fifteen, George Wickham was more jealous and resentful of the Darcys and their friends than ever.
He had ended up working in the stables for over a year and, even after that degrading task, had never been allowed at the manor house again, nor was he admitted to William's or his cousins’ company to play with them.
The few times he had made the mistake of inviting himself to the manor house had not ended well.
The first time, Douglas, the butler, had sent him on his way with a flea in his ear informing him he was not welcome without a specific invitation, which was bad enough.
The next had been far worse, he had been physically thrown out by two burly footmen.
To add insult to injury, his father had been summoned before the master of the estate, and on his return, young Wickham did not miss the thunderous look on his mien. Adding to the indignity of being thrown out of the great house, his father had taken his belt to his son.
Mr. Wickham told George in no uncertain terms he was not allowed into the park around the house, never mind the house itself, and as soon as he was old enough he would be apprenticed out, and that was only possible if someone who had not heard of his reputation was willing to take the young reprobate on.
About six months after his last unsuccessful attempt to enter the manor house, he noted the arrival of the Fitzwilliams and two families he did not know. He had heard one family was the Carringtons, the father an Earl, and the other the Bennets from somewhere in the south.
One day, young Wickham spied William, Andrew, and Richard riding the estate escorting a cart with eight young girls and a boy in their company.
He subsequently learned that five of those girls were Bennets, one a de Bourgh, one a Carrington, and the last was the little mouse Miss Darcy.
The boy he cared not who he belonged to.
He would have approached, but the group was escorted by a number of grooms and footmen; two of them were the biggest men he ever remembered seeing.
One girl, she must have been around eight, was willowy, blond, and very pretty, with the bluest of eyes. On that day, he marked all friends of the Darcys and Fitzwilliams as enemies, for the crime of being included where he was excluded.
Over the years he had seen some or all of these friends visit Pemberley and had marvelled at how the blond one grew more attractive each time he saw her.
On her last trip, when he guessed she was about thirteen, she had begun to develop womanly curves, and young Wickham had felt stirrings in his loins as he leered at her from afar.
He did not know how, but he would have his angel one day.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Bingleys of Scarborough were well-off tradesmen. The older brother, Arthur Bingley, was married to Martha. His younger brother and a partner in the Bingley Carriage Works, Paul Bingley, was married to Henrietta. For the most part, the Bingleys were happy with their lot in life.
The exception was Arthur Bingley’s wife Martha, who felt they should raise themselves above their roots in trade. She and her husband had three children, Louisa was going on fifteen, their son and heir Charles was almost thirteen, and their youngest, Caroline, had just turned eleven.
Paul and Henrietta Bingley had a six-year-old daughter, Maude, and a three-year-old son, Paul Junior.
The brothers were close—or had been—until Arthur’s wife began her social climbing and put on airs and graces, looking down on anyone in trade even though it was money from trade that put food on her table and kept a roof over her head.
The two older children were not interested in their mother’s constant harping on raising the family’s status in society, but in her youngest daughter she found fertile soil and her ideas took root.
Her husband was always busy running the business, so he left the rearing of his daughters to his wife.
Charles had already begun to learn about the profitable enterprise from his father and uncle.
It was clear from a young age that the boy had a head for business.
Not only that, but young Charles also loved working in the business in any role his father and uncle assigned him, from physical labour to meeting with customers for sales and design discussions.
His mother and sister Caroline did not like that he enjoyed putting his energies into trade as much as he did.
Eventually, Martha wore her husband down and Arthur agreed to send Charles to Harrow the following year, then to Cambridge after that, so at least Charles would have a gentleman’s education.
In his father’s mind, this would open up greater choices for his son than he had been gifted with.
Louisa was asked if she wanted to attend the fancy seminary in London that her mother was pushing for the following year, but she demurred, telling her father she wanted to attend school locally, with her friends. He granted her wish, and no amount of haranguing from his wife could change his mind.
He had planned to dower each daughter with ten thousand pounds and was close to having the needed principal to reach that goal. He invested some of his money with a man he had met in London, Mr. Edward Gardiner, the founder and owner of Gardiner and Associates.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Welcome Anne, Robert, and Gigi,” the mistress of Netherfield stated happily as she and Bennet met the arriving guests at the base of the stone steps leading to the entrance to the manor house.
“Aunty Anne, Uncle Robert, and Gigi,” Kitty exclaimed excitedly.
As much as she liked her adopted Aunt and Uncle, it was Georgiana for whom she and Lydia were waiting patiently.
Of the two youngest Bennet daughters, Kitty was the clear leader.
It was not just that she was the older of the two, she guided those with her carefully and with encouragement, making her a natural leader.
“It is so good to see the two of you,” Georgiana returned breathlessly with the innate excitement one would expect from a girl of four years. “It has been forever since we were all at Snowhaven together.”
“Elaine and Reggie, Edith and Paul, you are all most welcome. My, Miss Cassie, you look so grown up,” Fannie greeted the rest of the arrivals.
“Welcome, Miss de Bourgh; it is good to see you again.” As all of the younger guests were females, Fanny did not miss the dejected look her son was sporting at the lack of young male company.
“It is good to see you again, Fanny,” Lord Matlock bestowed his hostess with a kiss on her cheek, “and you, Bennet.” The two shook hands. “I hope you are ready for me to challenge you to a game of chess, my friend.”
“When will the children’s Uncle Freddy be arriving?” Lady Elaine asked.
“His note stated he would join us at Netherfield by Monday afternoon,” Bennet related.
Tommy was looking down the drive forlornly when he spied the Gardiner coach making its way up the drive. “Mama! Papa!” Tommy exclaimed as he jumped up and down excitedly when he noticed his cousin Eddy’s head in the coach’s window. “You surprised me. I will not be the only boy here after all!”
“Did you forget Nick will arrive on Monday, Tommy?” Bennet asked his exuberant son.
“I know, Papa, but now I will have someone to play with until Nick joins us,” Tommy explained with some exasperation, for in the logic of a boy of four, he could not grasp how his parents had not understood what he meant.
“Welcome, Brother and Sister,” Fanny embraced her brother and his wife, and kissed her niece Lilly, who would be one in April, tucked safely in the arms of her nursemaid.
“Your girls are even prettier than when we saw them last. My goodness what a little lady Jane is, Fanny,” Madeline Gardiner stated as she looked at her nieces.
“Is everyone who is visiting now returning from Town to spend Easter with you this year? You remember we will not be able to join you, do you not?”
“Yes, Maddie, I am aware; the Fitzwilliams and Darcys will return for the holiday, but not the Carringtons. The Carringtons are invited to Edith’s parents’ estate in Suffolk so they will depart London by the end of March,” Fanny averred.
“If any of you do not remember where your chambers are, Mrs. Nichols is available to assist you,” Fanny stated when she and the Gardiners joined the rest of the arrivals in the entrance hall.
“Water for washing will be ready for you by now.” The Darcys, Fitzwilliams, and Carringtons would return to Town the day after Elizabeth’s tenth birthday, and then the former two families would return with their sons who would be on term break from their various schools at the end of March.
Elizabeth could not wait for her tenth birthday, not because she anticipated any special gifts, but because she would move out of the nursery to join Jane in the family wing and share a suite with her. It had been a long two and a half years of missing Jane without her in the nursery.
On the other hand, she was sad as she would miss sleeping in the nursery with Mary, Kitty, Lydia, and Tommy.
As her parents pointed out, just like she had been allowed to have the occasional time to sleep with Jane in her bedchamber, so would her sisters and brother be allowed from time to time, so long as it was what both sides wanted.
Fanny and Bennet would not play favourites or give any of their children that which all would not receive, though there was no denying in just over eight years all their lives would change, Lizzy’s most significantly.
Jane was excited that Anne de Bourgh was present.
Over the years since Anne had come to live with the Fitzwilliams, the two had grown very close.
During her visits to Hertfordshire, Anne had become close to Charlotte Lucas as well, and while she was visiting the Bennets she too would take lessons from the masters.