Page 1 of Aunt Felicity

Summer 1777

F elicity Rose Bennet was well aware of what the fifth commandment said. However, at that moment, the young lady who had recently turned seventeen, wanted nothing but to disobey her father. In fact, she was determined to do so.

She was the daughter and second child of Henry James and Elizabeth Rose Bennet of the estate of Longbourn near Meryton in Hertfordshire. She had a brother who was four years her senior named Thomas James, and other than the infernal Collins family, no other by blood relations. The Bennets had never had large families. That fact, as well as the entail on Longbourn in favour of heirs male, was the impetus for her father arranging a marriage between her and the son of Augustus Collins, Clem. The man was a mean, unintelligent, barely literate, bully! She would rather die than tie her life to such a man.

Even worse, the Collins men would arrive just a sennight after the assembly with the wedding to occur the next week on the Saturday. On the twelfth day of July of this year, her life would be over. She had only one option, and that was to refuse to say her vows. Her father and Mr Collins could do nothing at that point, as by church law, the rector could not solemnise a marriage if one of the couple refused to recite their vows.

On this day, a Wednesday, Felicity had walked to Oakham Mount, her eyes streaming with tears after the awful row she had had with her father. Her mother’s support had not swayed him. As was his wont, her brother, Thomas, said nothing as he shied away from confrontation.

As she sat on the rock looking to the east, not even the song of the birds flitting from branch to branch of the three old oaks that gave the hill its name could cheer her. Normally she would have revelled in the almost cloudless sky, the view of the fields below her, and Meryton off to the left of the eminence. She felt not the slight breeze, was deaf to the chirping of the birds, and blind to the view she loved so much. Instead, all she could hear in her troubled mind was the argument she had had with her father, never again would she call him Papa.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

An hour or so earlier, Longbourn

“Why Papa? Why would you have me marry such a man, one I do not like, and will never respect?” Felicity demanded.

“Henry, surely it is not necessary to have Felicity marry Clem Collins. She is an intelligent girl and that man is anything but. He can barely read; do you think he will allow our daughter to keep books?” Elizabeth Bennet, called Beth by all who were close to her, pleaded in support of her beloved daughter.

“Enough, Beth, I have made my decision and will not be swayed. This way I am assured that Bennet blood will continue on at Longbourn after Thomas is no longer alive,” Henry Bennet thundered.

“But Papa, I am sure Thomas will marry and have a son, then I will have been forced to marry a bully, who will more than likely not, punish me physically when he is angry for no good reason,” Felicity reasoned. “Why are you so worried that my brother will not produce an heir when he marries?”

The brother in question tried his best to make himself smaller and hide behind the book he was reading. He hated arguments and did not want to be drawn into this one. He loved his mother and sister, but he had never yet stood up to his forceful and commanding father; he was not about to begin now. He did wonder why his father was so insistent that Felicity marry to save Longbourn for the Bennets. Did he not think his son was capable of finding a woman and begetting a son?

“You know that your brother is weak. I doubt he will be able to produce a son which is why I must ensure that you marry Collins.” Bennet neither cared nor noticed how his son blanched when he had heard the last statement. As expected, Thomas said not a word of protest. “You will do as I command! I am your father, and until you reach your majority, you will obey me.”

“Henry, you do not know…” Beth began to say but stopped when her husband growled.

“You will say nothing more to me on this! As your husband I command it,” Bennet ordered. “And you,” he turned to his daughter who was crying, but was not moved by her tears, “a sennight after this Saturday, you will marry Clem Collins!”

“ Never !” Felicity yelled. “I will not say my vows! How could you do this to your daughter? You are supposed to protect me, not sell me into slavery.”

“If you do not say your vows, I will banish you from Longbourn. In addition I will withdraw your dowry of four thousand pounds so you will have nothing,” Bennet threatened nastily. “Let us see how long you survive in the hedgerows.”

Felicity looked to her brother who just buried his head behind his book even more than he had before.

“Henry please…” Beth tried again but was cut off.

“ ENOUGH ! I will hear not another word on this subject. Beth and Felicity, out of my study.” He looked at his daughter again. “You know what will happen to you if you do not obey me and say your vows.”

Mother and daughter went up the stairs to the mistress’s sitting room. When Agnes, the upstairs maid who was sweet on the footman Hill, saw her mistress and the young miss in such distress, she was greatly concerned. “Mistress, Miss Felicity, may I fetch you some restorative tea?” she enquired.

“Felicity dear, do you want some tea?” Beth asked in a quiet voice.

“No thank you, Mama, I am too angry to drink anything right now,” Felicity replied.

“You may go, Agnes. We will be well,” Beth said in dismissal.

The maid bobbed a curtsey and returned to her duties.

The two Bennet ladies entered the private sitting room and sat on the settee. “That Agnes is very good; I am having Mrs Harderson train her so that she will be ready to fill the role of housekeeper when the current one retires in a few years.” Beth looked at her very upset daughter. “Here I am rattling on about the housekeeper. I am sure it is not what you want to speak of at this moment.”

“It was a good distraction. I would rather be banished and beg for my bread than marry that buffoon. I will not marry him, Mama, I will not!” Felicity exclaimed.

“My darling daughter, I am so sorry I am powerless in this. If I had some way to help you, you know I would move heaven and earth to do so,” Beth declared.

“Well do I know it, Mama.” Felicity paused. “How could Thomas just sit there when Father spoke of him so? Does he have no spine at all? If only he would have supported me, perhaps father would have relented in his demands.”

“I love Thomas as I love you, but you know how much he dislikes confrontations, especially with your father who is both forceful and very stubborn.”

“Mama, I am going to take a walk before I prepare for the summer assembly.”

“Go dear. I hope you will feel somewhat better when you return. The assembly may be the very thing you need to restore some of your spirits.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

On Oakham Mount

Felicity knew not what she would do. She thought about some of the young men in the neighbourhood, and whether they would be willing to elope with her. Any of them would be a better option than Clem Collins.

There was William Lucas, the son of the owner of the Lucas Emporium, Meryton’s major shop of all goods. Although he was not the most intelligent man, he was not cruel, was very jovial, amiable, and was not illiterate. Marrying the son of a tradesman would be a step down for her, but it was far better than the son of Augustus Collins. She did know William Lucas admired her even though Sarah Jones, the daughter of the owner of the millinery in Meryton was shifting after him.

Next was Jacob Goulding, the heir to Haye Park. He was a good man, if somewhat homely and rather indolent. There was the younger Long son, Matthew; or the Purvis heir, Simon. Finally, there was the second son of the Talmey family, Jude, who lived at Talmey Lodge which was a small estate between Longbourn and Meryton.

The man she was most sorry was not in residence, as he had just begun his two-year grand tour to the continent, was Bartholomew Morris. He was the son of the baronet who owned Netherfield Park. That estate was the largest in the area and was three miles on the other side of Meryton from Longbourn. Sir Phillip was one of the few men who, had his son proposed to her, her father would not deny. Why, oh why, had Bartholomew taken his tour now? Felicity stopped herself; she was not normally one to have such selfish thoughts. He was not here so he could not be the one to help her escape the Gordian knot in which her father was attempting to bind her.

All of them had shown a certain level of interest in her, and all had been warned off by her father. The question was, though, would any of them who would attend the assebly agree to elope with her? And would she be able to put a plan into motion in less than ten days?

She sat on her rock for another hour trying to divine a way she would be able to broach such a subject with the men at the assembly. After yet another hour and not coming up with any viable way to approach such a subject, Felicity took the path down the mount—such a pretentious moniker for a hill—and made her way home to prepare for the assembly.

She decided that when, if, any of the men who she had listed requested a set with her, the words would come to her.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the capital city of London on the same morning, the son of a noble family was also contemplating his options for his future life. His name was Reginald Andrew Richard Fitzwilliam, the second son and third eldest child of four of Lord Dryden Fitzwilliam the Earl of Matlock. The Earl had been named, as was the tradition with the Fitzwilliams, for his mother’s maiden name. The family would have been at Snowhaven already if not for an emergency session of the houses of parliament, which would end, it was hoped, in a few days.

The Earl’s eldest son, Viscount Hilldale was named Jefferson, next was Catherine, and then lastly after Reggie was Anne. The latter two were extremely close, and not at all connected to their two elder siblings.

Lord Hilldale, encouraged by his father, lived a rather dissipated life of women, drinking, and gambling. He epitomised the hypocrisy Reggie hated in the Ton . They lived a debauched life while acting as if they were lily white and pure. As long as there was no scandal, all was accepted. Jefferson had married Lady Dorothy Worthington-Smythe, the daughter of the Earl of Granville. It had been an arranged marriage to seal an alliance between the two earls. As long as Jefferson was able to keep his mistresses and visit courtesans, he was happy. Knowing he needed to produce an heir, and then a spare, Jefferson Fitzwilliam had spent a few nights each week at his house and gone to his wife when they first married.

Since Lady Hilldale had fallen with child some six months after the wedding, Lord Hilldale had hardly been home.

The next Fitzwilliam offspring, Catherine, was acknowledged by society to be a tone deaf, uneducated, virago. Since her coming out some four years previously, no one had shown the least bit of interest in her, even when her father had doubled her dowry to thirty thousand pounds.

In Catherine’s mind she would be a duchess, so she had set her cap for Lord Sedgewick Rhys-Davies, the Marquess of Birchington, the heir to the Duke of Bedford. He had not been interested in her, and even an attempted compromise had failed. All it had led to was a stern warning from Lord Bedford to Lord Matlock that if his daughter attempted to compromise his son or any other, he would see to the permanent ruin of the Fitzwilliams in society.

As Lord Matlock cared about his standing and influence above all things, he warned his daughter in no uncertain terms what would occur if she attempted such again. To be fair, Catherine was confused as her father had encouraged her to attempt it to gain him a connection to the richest dukedom in the land. After lowering her sights to baronets, still no one offered for Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam.

The youngest Fitzwilliam, Anne, who had come out the previous season, was being courted by Robert Darcy, one of Reggie’s good friends who he had studied with at both Eton and Cambridge as they were only months apart in age. At first his father had wanted to deny permission for a daughter of his to be courted by an untitled man. That was until he remembered the Darcys were wealthier than a good many nobles. Since he needed loans from time to time, ignoring the vociferous complaints from his older daughter—railing about the distinction of rank being preserved—Lord Matlock had given his grudging permission.

Reggie was training to be a barrister at the most prestigious firm of barristers at the Inns of Court in London, Norman and James. In another year, he would be qualified to appear before the bar. Luckily, unbeknownst to Father, Jefferson, and Catherine, their late maternal grandmother had left her fortune and property to Reggie in order that if he ever needed to be independent, it would be possible. His mother and Anne were the only ones who were aware of the truth, and Grandmama Ingrid had sworn her daughter and granddaughter to secrecy. As far as his father and his older siblings were concerned, all had gone to some distant cousin they did not know.

Thoughts of his family and his place in it, brought Reggie back to the present and his dilemma. His father had arranged a marriage for him to Lady Elaine Winston, the daughter of the Duke of Hertfordshire. He needed another alliance in the Lords, and the powerful Duke was the one with whom Lord Matlock desired to be connected. His mother, Lady Angeline, had tried to reason with her husband, but he had ignored her, as he always did.

The problem for Reggie was that Lady Elaine was a vapid, selfish, arrogant, insincere, nasty featherhead. He loved books, and the only thing she read was the gossip sheets and La Belle Assemblee to study the fashions. She denigrated anyone she felt below her, and as she was the daughter of a duke, that was most in society. The cruel way Lady Elaine treated servants was legendary. She was everything he rejected and hated in society and could not imagine being tied to her until he was called home to God.

He was well aware that she had set her sights much higher than the second son of an earl. However, after not taking for six years, no matter her dowry, with not a single titled man asking to call on her, never mind offering for her, the Duke had been desperate. Hence, when Matlock had offered his son as a marriage option, Lord Hertfordshire had jumped at the opportunity.

He was of age so there was nothing his father could legally do to force him. His obedience to the fifth commandment only went so far. The previous night his pater had informed him that his wedding would be on the second to last day of July, a Wednesday. His father had demanded Reggie sign the settlements, but he had refused. He told his sire he needed to be able to think and needed the documents with him so he could review them while he travelled the following day on a task for Norman and James.

Knowing he had no legal standing; Lord Matlock had turned over the documents with many threats and bluster about what would happen if Reggie refused to do his duty to his family. Among many other things he said, he informed his son he would disown him, cut him off, and use his influence to end his clerkship at Norman and James.

After his father dismissed him, both Jefferson, who had come to kiss his father’s ring, and Catherine, railed at Reggie about the privilege he would have marrying the daughter of a duke and the cachet it would bring to the Fitzwilliams. As he always did, he listened to his older siblings politely and then ignored them.

The first thing he had done when he returned to his chambers was throw the papers in the grate. He lit a taper and then held the end to the corner of one of the pages. Reggie had felt a measure of pleasure as he had watched the papers be consumed by the hungry fire. Seeing that he would be away for more than a sennight he had time to consider his options.

His valet had packed what he needed. Reggie was informed that his trunk was lashed to the carriage—his father had gifted him an old, smaller carriage after he had graduated from Cambridge. He looked around to make sure there was nothing he was forgetting and then made for Anne’s suite to farewell his dearest sister.

“Reggie,” the golden-blonde haired, blue eyed Lady Anne Fitzwilliam exclaimed with pleasure at seeing her brother. “Are you on your way to…?”

“Yes, Annie, I am to depart for Meryton. You remember I told you, Norman and James are arguing some case for the local solicitor, Mr Elias Gardiner, before the courts, and I am to work with them for a sennight or so to gather all of the information Sir Randolph told me he needs,” Reggie reminded his sister. “It is, I understand, only about four hours away, even in my carriage and I should be there in the early afternoon. I will miss you greatly, Annie.”

“As I will miss you, especially as you will leave me alone with Catherine.” Anne had wrinkled her nose as she said the last. Just like her favourite brother, Anne had learnt to listen, nod her head occasionally while ignoring anything Catherine had to say with her nonsensical, pompous, and often ridiculous pronouncements.

The two sisters could not have been more dissimilar, and not just in character. Where the older was homely, had dark brown hair, and a rather large frame, the younger was comely, and sported a willowy figure, fair hair, and blue eyes. Anne was the definition of the Ton’s standard of beauty. In character Lady Catherine, aside from the nonsense she spewed, was similar in demeanour to Lady Elaine Winston, while Lady Anne was kind, considerate, genuine, moral, and sincere.

“Just keep out of her way and spend as much time at Darcy House with your companion and the Darcys as possible. You know our sister refuses to enter the house of, as she calls them, non-titled nobodies ,” Reggie advised his sister.

As much as he loved spending time in Anne’s company, he did not want his coachman and valet waiting in the July heat with London’s odours swirling around for longer than needed, so he kissed Anne on the forehead and was gone.