Page 35 of Aunt Felicity
Snowhaven, July 1822
F elicity could not believe it was already more than a year since first her beloved and then her brother had been taken from them. 1821 had been a very bittersweet year. On the one hand, she had lost the other half of her heart, her one and only Reggie. He had gone to sleep, and in the small hours of the morning Felicity had been awoken by her husband moaning and clutching his forehead. One second he had been alive, and the next he was gone.
The physician had opined that it had been something in her beloved husband’s head, called a ruptured cerebral aneurysm. He told her he had heard of similar cases where there had been a sudden sharp pain followed by almost instant death, but he and his colleagues had no way of detecting who would and would not have an aneurysm.
She had observed full mourning for a year complete for the love of her life, and only transitioned to half mourning in April 1822. Felicity intended to wear those colours for the rest of her days.
Rather than concentrate on what she no longer had, although she missed Reggie every minute of every day, Felicity had so many wonderful memories from the almost four and forty years He had granted her with her beloved before He called Reggie home to Him.
Two months later, Thomas had succumbed to a bad case of influenza. He had joked that no one died from a trifling cold, but his had developed into the illness which had ended his life. As sad as Fanny was to lose her husband of well over forty years, she had many options. She could live with her sister in Meryton, with one of her daughters’ families, or remain at Longbourn. Charlotte and Richard would not need it for many years until their second son was old enough. Fanny had chosen to live with Lydia and her family in London.
There had been a very close brush with death for Robert Darcy in June of the same year. He had been out riding the fields of his beloved estate when a fox had broken from cover and run between the legs of his mount. In fear, the vermin had snapped at the horse’s forelegs, leading him to rear up. Robert had fallen off and broken a leg; his horse then bolted. When the stallion had returned to the stables without its master, an extensive search had been undertaken, and Robert had been found. The doctor and surgeon who had worked on him had opined that had the patient been left in the elements a few more hours, or worse, overnight, the outcome could have been vastly different.
Lizzy was already the mistress of the Darcy properties, and this almost tragedy made William the unwilling master. Robert had handed over the running of all Darcy properties to his son, effectively retiring as the master. William had hoped it would have been many more years before his father was ready to step aside. He had been well trained, and the transition from Robert to William had been seamless.
The sweetest part of the year had been the birth of several grandchildren. As she was considered a grandmother to all of the children of the extended family, that number was mostly made up of those not named Fitzwilliam. Felicity could not but smile when she thought of all of the grandchildren who had been born over the last ten plus years.
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After Kathy—who was very proud she was the eldest of the generation of grandchildren born after her—and Anthony, Andrew and Marie were blessed with four more children. Three girls and, in 1819, a brother for Anthony, who, at the age of not quite ten, was the new Viscount Hilldale. He came to the title on his Grandpapa Reggie’s death when his papa became Lord Matlock.
When they had become the Earl and Countess of Matlock, Andrew and Marie had insisted Felicity not be relegated to the dower house, even though she had been more than willing to move into it.
To make sure that the staff and servants took orders from Marie and did not seek her out to ask her preferences, for the first month Felicity sequestered herself in her new suite, only allowing family and her maid access. It had worked as she had intended. By the time she left her suite, those employed at Snowhaven were used to the fact they had a new mistress.
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Charlotte and Richard were the first of the three couples who had married within a month of each other to be blessed with a child. Much to everyone’s delight, Charlotte had birthed a son and daughter in November 1812.
Lady Lucas had had bragging rights until Elizabeth delivered identical twin boys before the end of December of the same year. Keeping to what his parents had done by not using the maiden name of the mother, the firstborn and future heir of Pemberley was named Alexander William and his slightly younger brother Robert Thomas.
Jane and Charles had approved of Sherwood Dale when Robert escorted them to view the estate, and after Pemberley’s steward joined them, they all met the owner. The man had decided the Bingley’s were the kind of people he would feel comfortable selling his estate to, and for about half of what it should have cost, the estate had become theirs in February 1812. The Bingleys were blessed with their first child in April 1813, a daughter.
It was Elizabeth who delivered the next child of the three couples, a daughter, who, much to both William and Felicity’s delight, looked just like her mother, was born in August 1815. Charlotte evened the tally of boy and girl grandchildren between Lady Lucas and Fanny when she was blessed with another son in January 1816.
As Netherfield Park was quite a bit larger than Longbourn, and the entail ended with Richard, their eldest son would inherit the former while his brother would have Longbourn.
Two months after Charlotte delivered her son, Jane gifted her husband with a son and heir.
Between June 1818 and the end of the year, three more grandchildren were added. Jane was first with a son, followed three months later by Charlotte and another daughter, then Elizabeth was blessed with a second daughter less than two months after Charlotte.
There was sadness for Charlotte by the end of 1818, her father passed away and to allow Franklin and his wife to establish themselves as master and mistress of Lucas Lodge, Charlotte, with Richard’s full agreement, invited her mother to come live at Netherfield Park. Rather than she being the burden she had always feared she would be if she did not marry, Charlotte relieved her brother and sister-in-law of some responsibility.
Less than two years later, Elizabeth added another son, bringing the number of their children to five. Charlotte had not fallen in the family way since 1818, but Jane gifted her husband a second daughter at the beginning of 1821.
The Hursts and their three children, two daughters and a son, had a warm relationship with the extended family. Since Hurst’s father’s passing in November 1817, they spent a major portion of the year at Winsdale, the estate Hurst inherited in Surrey. He was no longer the indolent man he used to be.
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The thoughts of twelve grandchildren produced to date from the first family members to marry after Marie and Andrew cheered Felicity, but she also felt sadness as she recalled how her Reggie had been so excited by the birth of each and every one.
As much pleasure as he took in the birth of the grandchildren, it had paled in comparison to when Bethie married. By the time she married, their daughter had become almost as close to Mary as she was with Anna. She had a strong bond with her other Bennet cousins, but not like the one she shared with Mary. Even though the two married best friends and they would have liked to marry together in the same ceremony, it was not to be.
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Mary had entered into an official courtship with Sed Rhys-Davies in March 1812. To show their support for their only child’s choice, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford had held a ball at Bedford House on Russell Square to honour the couple.
It was at the ball Bethie had met Lord James Carrington, Viscount Hadlock, and the heir to the Earl of Holder. There had been an instant connection between the two, and by the end of that season, Mary had been engaged to the Bedford heir, while Bethie had accepted the Holder heir’s hand.
Any ideas of a double wedding were made impossible when, by the Queen’s command—Lady Rose Rhys-Davies was her cousin—Mary and Sed had married at Westminster Abbey in June 1812. Two months later, Bethie and her betrothed had married from Snowhaven. Poor Jamey had to survive Andrew and Richard’s interrogation to make sure they thought him good enough for their baby sister. In the end, he was deemed acceptable by his future brothers.
By the end of May 1813, Mary delivered a future duke. Like all first-born Rhys-Davies males before him, he was named Sedgewick. Before Sed’s father passed away in October 1819, he had been greatly pleased to see that his son and daughter-in-law already had three children. In mid-1816, little Sed gained a brother, and in February 1819, a daughter joined the family. Before the end of September 1821, they were blessed with a third son.
As the new Duchess of Bedford, Mary became a leader of the Ton . Lady Rose, the Dowager Duchess, did everything she could to assist her daughter by marriage in her new role.
As Felicity reminisced, she remembered that Bethie had never sought a titled man as long as she found the kind of love she had always seen in her house. She found that with Jamey, and to date she and her husband had three children, all sons. Bethie was with child again and was hoping this would be her long-awaited daughter.
Thinking of all of the connections the family had, made Felicity think of the late Caroline Bingley who would have killed to still be with her brother and the connections he had gained through his marriage to Jane.
Miss Bingley had been in the same institution as Felicity’s late sister-in-law. Felicity gave a wry smile. Not because the two had lost their lives as they had fought and tumbled down a flight of stairs, but because of the reports of the cause of the two delusional women’s animus. It had been stoked because the one claimed to be married to William and the other claimed he was married to her daughter. Their delusions had led to the fateful fight, which had ended both of their lives.
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Thanks to Mary and Bethie and their husbands, the number of grandchildren stood at six and twenty. Between the three youngest—Kitty, Anna, and Lydia—there were another seven, making a grand total—so far—of two and thirty to love and spoil.
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Even though she was more than a year older than Anna, Kitty delayed her come out by a year so she would be able to do so with her sister and best friend during the season of 1813. The two girls were sponsored for their presentation to the Queen by Felicity, as the others in the family were before them, but in addition, Mary, the Marchioness of Birchington, was the co-sponsor.
Kitty had enjoyed two years at the school and being taught by a variety of art masters who had developed her skill. With her skill, had it been acceptable in society for a gentlewoman to work, she could thus have become a painter of portraits. In her final year of instruction, she met Mr George Hayter. He was teaching a class in portraiture. Kitty found him both handsome and interesting, and she discovered he was less than three years older than herself. He was invited to the coming-out-ball, and requested permission to call on her.
She had granted his request enthusiastically, and by May 1814, the two were married. They lived primarily in London, but travelled all over the country to paint portraits of wealthy benefactors. It was suspected, but never officially known—outside of the family, that Kitty used to assist her husband with his portraits in their studio in London.
Their son was born in early 1817 and a daughter in June 1819.
Anna met no one who captured her attention in her first season. However, in her second season in 1815, she became close with Lady Isabelle De Melville, and through her she met her brother, Wesley, Viscount Westmore and heir to the Earl of Jersey. It took a year, but they married in February 1816.
By the end of that year, they were blessed with a daughter, and less than two years later, a son and heir was born. Anna had delivered a second son on the final day of December 1821.
Lydia Bennet could have come out with her sisters in 1814, but she cried off and waited another year. The girl she was when she made her curtsy in 1815, bore very little resemblance, other than physically, to the brash, flirtatious, and wilful girl she had been at fourteen. She had remained at the school in Durham for two years. By the time she left, she knew how to behave as a lady and had begun to gain accomplishments. Although, at first, she had blamed Felicity for her being banished to the school, by the time she began to change, Lydia understood it had been the best thing for her. Hence, she had become as close to Aunt Felicity as any of her sisters. She had been sent to a finishing school outside of London for a year and done very well.
No one ignited her interest during her first season as she had learnt to be far more circumspect than she had been before being sent to Durham. She had been spending time with the Gardiners when one night her Uncle Edward’s new partner, a man of seven and twenty years, was invited to dinner. A connection had built over the weeks she had been at Gracechurch Street.
Even though Fanny had tried to discourage Lydia from accepting a tradesman, after all she was connected to many nobles; Lydia was in love and accepted him when he proposed. Two months after Anna married her viscount, Lydia married Paul Hammersmith.
The Hammersmiths lived on Portman Square. Paul was rather wealthy, and they had two sons so far. Notwithstanding her attempt to discourage Lydia away from her husband, it was the Hammersmiths Fanny chose to live with after her deep mourning period for her husband was passed.
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Anne de Bourgh was still alive and well. She lived at her estate with her Jenki, whom Felicity suspected was more than a paid companion to her niece. Since her mother’s ejection from Rosings Park, Anne’s estate had thrived.
From the time Anne became mistress, all of the extended family went to Kent for Easter, and Anne travelled north in the summers. Kitty’s eldest son stood to inherit Rosings Park. After he attended university in some years, he would go to Kent and live at the estate, learning how to manage it.
Thinking of Anne de Bourgh brought William Collins to mind. The man had been sent to Africa after his missionary training. It seemed that he realised he was operating on one last chance with the church, and as such, he dedicated himself to being the best that he was able to be in his new role. Part of his self-improvement included study, and especially study of the Bible and discussions on the meanings of the texts with other clergymen. He met a native woman, who had converted to Christianity, in his second year in Africa and married her some six months later.
After five years of glowing reports, he was sent back to England, where he was assigned as a curate in the parish attached to Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire. He was sent there by design to see if he would toady up to the Duke and Duchess of Bedford and ignore his parishioners. He had not.
William Collins had shown them the deference, which was their due, but no more than that. His improvement was so extreme that when the rector of the parish retired two years past, Sed and Mary, with the recommendation of the retiring man, preferred Collins to the living. He, his wife, son, and daughters lived happily in the parsonage near Woburn Abbey. Every now and again, as they were cousins after all, the Collinses were invited to one of the family gatherings in the summer.
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Felicity did not repine that they never heard of George Wickham again once Reggie had received notice the reprobate had served his seven years of hard labour. If none in the extended family ever heard from the miscreant again, it would be too soon.
As she often did when she ruminated about the past, Felicity’s eyes went heavenward. She was sitting in her private sitting room, enjoying a cup of tea in the relative peace. In two days’ time, all of the extended family would arrive to spend a month or so with the Fitzwilliams at Snowhaven.
“Reggie, I miss you all the time. Your being in God’s Kingdom, I am sure I am not telling you anything of which you are not aware,” Felicity told her beloved in heaven, “but what a family we have.” She smiled ruefully. “At least I am sure neither of our fathers nor that terrible Jefferson are in heaven to bother you. I am jealous you get to spend time with Anne. I am bereft of both of you. When it is my time to be called home by God, I know I will see you both again.
“At least I still get to talk to you, and I do not hear your words, but in my heart, I know you hear me, and I can sense your replies. Do not reproach me for my decision to wear half mourning colours until we are together again. I am still living fully, but it is my way to have a symbol of your existence with me at all times.
“With Andrew, Marie, and the children visiting Hilldale, the house is very quiet, but they will be home on the morrow, and then in one more day, everyone will be here. I must tell you that I find much solace with Robert, and now even Fanny, as they most of all can understand my feelings. Yes, I know Thomas and Fanny never had a love like you and I, or like Robert and Anne, but it is comforting to speak to her.
“I will go for a ramble soon now that the heat of the day has cooled.” Felicity paused as she believed that she felt Reggie wrap his loving arms around her. “Dancing with you and accepting your proposal at that assembly in ‘77 was the best thing I ever did. We saved each other and what a life we had together.
“Reggie, I love you now as I have for more than forty years, and I always will.” Felicity blew a kiss heavenward and finished her cup of tea. Once she had her walking boots on, she headed for the gardens to take some exercise.
~~~The End~~~