Page 92 of A Life Diverted
By sixteen, Charles Bingley had completed his third year of Harrow. He would turn seventeen before beginning at Cambridge near the end of August. Charles had enjoyed his education, but not the bullying he had received because his father was actively in trade.
Bingley hid the truth of his experience from his father, who had been pleased he was able to provide his son with the gentleman’s education he himself had not had the option to attain.
Whenever his father expressed pleasure at his son’s academic achievements, Charles presented a picture of affability to the outside world while inside he hid his misery occasioned by the cruelty of others.
Not all of his experiences were bad. He had made a true friend in Stuart Jamison. Stuart’s parents, Will and Yvette, owned a small estate in Bedfordshire called Ashford Dale. Stuart had only one sibling, Karen, who was thirteen.
Charles was grateful his friend would attend Cambridge with him rather than Oxford, and they planned to share a space in the first year’s accommodations.
Jamison was not picked on at Harrow like Charles Bingley had been, but he was not accepted by the haughty members of the Ton due to his lack of wealth, connections, and the size of the family’s estate.
When Charles Bingley became friendly with Jamison, he thought his social climbing mother and younger sister would have been happy, for the Jamisons had been on their land for some generations, but they had reacted just the opposite.
They saw Mr. Jamison as an insignificant country squire with a small estate and no useful connections.
Luckily, his father and Louisa, then eighteen, encouraged the friendship because they knew it was true and wanted the best for him.
It was deeply frustrating to Martha Bingley and her youngest, Caroline, then fourteen, that they were the only two in the family who cared about raising the Bingleys from their roots in trade.
Louisa had completed her two years at the local school and did not have a second’s regret for her choice rather than bend to her mother’s will and attend the seminary in London.
One day, while Louisa had been working with her father and uncle in their office at the carriage works, a Mr. Hurst and his son Harold had an appointment to look at options for a new carriage.
The family had a medium to small estate, Winsdale, a little southeast of Scarborough near the market town of Scampston.
There seemed to be an immediate connection between Miss Bingley and young Mr. Hurst. He was five and twenty and, from what Louisa could tell from her brief encounter, he seemed to be a good man.
In the coming weeks, the younger Mr. Hurst contrived many reasons to visit the carriage works.
A month after meeting her, he asked if he could call on her.
Not many weeks later they were in a formal courtship.
One evening, Martha Bingley complained to her husband about the Hursts only being members of the lower second circles, not high enough to help them in society.
Arthur let his wife know in no uncertain terms that she would not interfere in their daughter’s courtship unless she wished to risk of permanent loss of her allowance.
With bad grace, Martha Bingley kept her opinions to herself, and was almost pleasant to the Hursts when the families met and dined together after Louisa accepted a proposal from her suitor.
The wedding was set for August of 1803.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day after Anne died, Robert Darcy presented his late wife’s best friends and sisters with their letters.
There were three letters he held in reserve.
His wife had written one to each of her children to be presented to them on the day they wed.
She had written two to be held in case her children had not married before they turned thirty.
The other was for her sister Catherine if, as expected, she arrived at Pemberley spouting some of her well-worn lies.
The three ladies who received letters from Anne Darcy decided they would only open them after the funeral. The day after the former Lady Catherine had been removed from Pemberley was the day Fanny Bennet opened her letter. Her friends Elaine and Edith opened theirs at the same time.
June 20, 1803
To my dear friend and sister, Fanny,
What am I able to say to one to whom I have become so close over the last eight years? I love you as a sister, just as our Priscilla did. I will, however, not ask you to keep any life-defining secrets for me, my friend.
All I ask is that you, Thomas, and your children be there for Robert, William, and Gigi. You know my wishes for Gigi to spend some time with you and your family after her three months of mourning is completed.
If she is dead set against it and does not want to leave Pemberley, that is her prerogative.
I want my darling daughter to be able to choose and have her choices respected, but I am confident she will want to be with Kitty and Lydia, not to mention the rest of your wonderful children.
When you and Robert give her the option, you will know if I am correct or not.
William will need help, too. I intend to extract a promise from him that he will not withdraw into himself. I am sure he will deny me nothing, but he may need some prodding, or a kick from Lizzy.
Am I insane to think that one day they would be perfect for one another?
Although Lizzy is still five years away from her come out, the revelations at that time will surely send shockwaves through her life.
By then, William will have finished at Cambridge and will be able to help her through that transition. I swear I see something there.
‘ You may have the right of it, Anne ,’ Fanny shook her head as she read Anne’s prognostication. William and Lizzy had become very close, but there was a long way between that and the notion of romantic feelings.
The answer to my above speculation is one you will have in the future. As much as I would love to be there to witness it for myself, it is not to be. I will have to find a way to send you a message from beyond when, as I suspect I will be, I am proved correct.
I want to thank you for your unwavering friendship, not only for me, but for our Priscilla. She gave you a herculean task, and you accepted without a second’s hesitation. If that is not the purest form of love between friends—sisters—that exists, then I know of it not.
The one thing I am looking forward to is being reunited with Priscilla in heaven. What stories I will have to tell her. Do not take this the wrong way Fanny, but my prayer is that it will be many, many years before you join us.
It was my privilege to be accepted as a close friend by you, Fanny. You do nothing by halves, and it was—is—the same in our friendship. Because of the support my three sisters will give Robert, William, and Gigi, when my time comes, I will be able to enter my eternal slumber in peace.
I very much desired to be there for all of the coming outs from Jane on down.
You will have to help represent me at Gigi’s coming out, which I am also asking of Elaine and Edith.
I will not be there with my daughter when she joins society, but I am confident in the three surrogate mothers who will be there in my stead.
I intend to have Robert promise he will not give up and stop living.
William and Gigi will need him more than ever.
I will not try to take away from his year of mourning, but after that, I want him to begin to live fully again.
All of you, including Frederick, will be integral to making sure my Robert carries on with life with a view to not letting it pass him by.
Let me close by thanking you for gifting me your friendship, your loyalty, and most of all the love of a sister.
Farewell Fanny,
Anne
By the time Fanny completed Anne's letter, the tears were streaming down her cheeks.
“Oh Anne, how I miss you,” Fanny lamented aloud.
The bond she had shared with Cilla had been deep, and she had never thought she would ever find such a bond with another friend.
She was wrong, she had—with all three of her best friends.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After a subdued dinner night, the three ladies who had read their letters from the late Anne Darcy sat on one settee in the drawing room.
No one spoke for a time. “Anne has charged us with looking after her family, and by goodness, that is what we will do,” Lady Elaine stated quietly so only her two friends could hear.
“That she has, Elaine. I agree that it will be best for Gigi to be with the Bennets after the initial three-month mourning period is over,” Lady Edith opined.
“Fanny, if Cassie wants to, would you allow her to spend some time at Netherfield with Gigi? Cassie is not as close as Kitty and Lydia are to her, but even though she is closer to Jane’s age, she counts Gigi among her best friends. ”
“Edith, surely you know there is no need to even ask,” Fanny returned as she took and patted Lady Edith’s hand.
“With or without Gigi’s presence, Cassie is welcome anytime we are home, as are any of you.
Between the science, maths, music, and singing masters, we will keep all our children occupied, and the more the merrier.
Mr. Mercury has said many times that with a few more voices and he will be able to form a choir from his students. ”
“If Robert is not up to travelling yet, Reggie and I will transport Gigi to Netherfield. If you prefer, Edith, we will collect Cassie on the way,” Lady Elaine ventured.
“That would be perfect, Elaine,” Lady Edith responded.
“We must have our husbands talk to Robert,” Fanny remembered. “Anne did not want Gigi to feel abandoned by her father, so even during his year of mourning, it will be important for him to be present at Netherfield from time to time.”
“We can always have Frederick issue a royal decree,” Lady Elaine jested.