Page 15 of Ever After End

CHAPTER 14

H ighbury - May 1812

“Oh Miss Bates, you look splendid! How was Derbyshire?” exclaimed Mrs Weston, throwing her arms about her old friend as she stepped down from the carriage at The Gables. Etiquette demanded that the ladies of Highbury wait three days to allow the Darcys and their companion to settle in after their journey, but Mrs Weston, impatient, was hovering with her friend Mrs Martin, previously Miss Harriet Smith, at The Gables when the carriage arrived.

Miss Bates did indeed look splendid. She was fashionably attired, her wardrobe selected and pressed upon her by Georgiana. A maid had been assigned to her while she resided with the Darcys, and she looked very au courant. She smiled contentedly and embraced Mrs Weston, who then turned to greet the Darcys.

“Anne, my dear, you are positively radiant!” Miss Bates exclaimed when they entered the house. “Motherhood agrees with you. How is Mr Weston, and dear little George? ”

“They are very well, and they cannot wait until you call upon us at Randalls,” answered Anne Weston. “You are to dine with us on Friday, and the entire neighbourhood will attend.” She paused. “Frank and Jane are coming. They arrive tomorrow.”

“Oh, Anne, how wonderful!” said Miss Bates. “I know you were hurt last year when they married as they did, but it is good for Mr Weston and Mr Churchill to be restored to one another.”

The year before, when Jane Fairfax’s visit came to an end, Mr Churchill followed her back to Colonel Campbell’s home in all haste, and without notifying his father or any of their friends in Highbury, married Miss Fairfax by common licence less than a week after their return, in what was obviously a planned endeavour. Everyone had seen Mr Churchill avoid Miss Woodhouse in favour of Miss Fairfax, but then so did Mr Bingley and Mr Darcy. No one realized, except Darcy, that there had been anything serious to it.

Mr Weston had been exceptionally put out by his son’s obvious successful attempt to evade inviting his father to the wedding. Sympathy had been generous for Miss Bates as well, who adored her dear niece, Jane, and would have been touched beyond measure to attend. Her neighbours would have ensured her safe conduct. Angry words had been exchanged between the men by post, where Mr Churchill made it clear that neither Jane nor he felt that their true families were in Highbury. Miss Fairfax was part of the Campbell family, and Frank that of the Churchills. The newly married couple had married with those that meant the most about them, and Mr Weston had been extremely put out that those of Highbury were not amongst them. Contact between the Churchills and the Westons had ceased for some months.

“I am grateful that perhaps there will be a chance for Frank to know his younger brother,” said Mrs Weston. “But I fear that he will never cease to resent his father for sending him to live with his aunt. He was not unhappy there, but he believes that his father had a duty to keep him, no matter his circumstances, and that he did not because he must not have wanted to. Now, George will enjoy the father that Frank ought to have had. His aunt sunk her claws deep into him as a child, and the bitterness she caused in him has not abated. It is now no longer a secret between us that he did not attend our wedding because he did not want to, and that he visited last year only because he followed Jane to Highbury.”

Mrs Weston looked at Miss Bates and perceived her old friend’s discomfort at this picture of her beloved niece. She leant across and patted the older lady’s hand.

“Apparently your niece has no particular quarrel with you, nor us, she only wished to be married quickly last year, and acceded to Frank's demand that no one in Highbury know until later. She regrets his harsh words to his father last summer, and wants to see you. She has persuaded him to stop on their way south to visit Mr and Mrs Dixon,” answered Mrs Weston.

“Oh! How kind of dear Jane!” gasped Miss Bates. “I had a letter from her last month. I will be glad to look at her again, before she is confined later this year. Oh to see her as a happily married woman!”

Miss Bates had learned to suppress her most effusive enthusiasms, and not because her new friends encouraged her to do so. Miss Darcy liked her just as she was, and Mr Darcy was all generosity. But Emma’s words had cut her deeply last year, and she had spent a great deal of time since learning to be calm. It was fortunate that her new young friend’s demeanour aided her in the endeavour. Indeed, when she was in London or Derbyshire with the Darcys, there was so much to do that she no longer felt the need for such excitement and excessive speech at every little delight. Before, her treats had been too rare. She had to make the most of them, and to find the delightful in everything, lest she spend most of her time in despair for her circumstances. She was determined not to give her old friend Mrs Knightley any cause to snap at her on this, her first visit back to her home. She could, and would, control her address.

Darcy made his way over to Bingley as the ladies took tea with Bingley’s sisters. The Darcys and Miss Bates had remained in Highbury with the Bingleys for the summer last year. They said goodbye to their friends for a time when they went to Pemberley for the harvest, then London for part of the season. Georgiana and Miss Bates spent time with Lady Matlock, who remembered Miss Bates and her sister from a season in town decades before. The ladies enjoyed all the delights of the city, then, as the heat became unbearable in London, returned for the Bingleys’ last month in Highbury. The Bingley household would accompany the Darcys back to Pemberley in June.

“Well, Bingley, do you believe that you learned what you needed here?” Darcy asked his friend.

“I certainly did! I learned a great deal about managing a steward and tenants, how to react to difficulties, and most importantly, I learned that I enjoy the work, which was one of my most pressing concerns,” answered Bingley. “I worried at first whether I was suited for it, considering that I have done nothing like it my entire life. I have learned that as much as I enjoy bolting to London for the season or to enjoy the theatre, I am eminently suited for country life. Or, I will be in a more varied neighbourhood.”

“How has it been here lately?” enquired Darcy. The Bingleys had spent a portion of the winter in London and then returned for the spring planting.

“Much as it was before,” replied Bingley. “Mrs Knightley is entering her confinement in a few months, so they do not go out much. She is not any more pleasant than she was last year. As I told you in one of my letters, Knightley closed the abbey entirely and moved to Hartfield when they wed, for the sake of Mr Woodhouse. Everyone at The Gables is looking forward to moving to Pemberley for the summer.”

“Georgiana is looking forward to showing Miss Bates some of the sights that were less easy to visit last autumn. Some views are best in the summer. I am certain your family will be kept busy while you visit. ”

Bingley sighed. “I wish things had been different with Miss Fairf- I mean Mrs Churchill last year.”

“I did not realise your feelings were so strong for her.” Darcy was surprised. “Will you be equal to seeing her in company again?”

“No, no, they were not,” answered his friend. “Only, I wish now that they had been , and that hers were the same. I am ready to be married, Darcy. I want to settle. I am inclined to purchase an estate in Derbyshire, it would be a lark to be close by, do you not think? But I hesitate to make a purchase before I wed and know what my wife would prefer.”

“I know what you mean,” said Darcy. “I have deferred any number of decisions and tasks until I wed. It can sometimes be an annoyance.”

“At least you did something about Caroline when you were here last.” Bingley smiled. “Darcy, I do not know what you said to her the last time you visited about her behaviour, but it has been evident that she has put a tremendous effort into being more friendly and obliging. She has not thrown a single vase. I am almost hopeful that she will find a husband with her improved manners. Perhaps you might entertain a bit while we are at Pemberley. Maybe Caroline or I will find an affinity for one of your neighbours.”

“Georgiana would benefit from the opportunity to obtain some society in our county,” mused Darcy. “Perhaps we will.”

“It would certainly help her confidence, though it appears that her friendship with Miss Bates has done wonders for her,” said Bingley. “In fact, it appears to have done wonders for them both.”

“Indeed, it has,” agreed Darcy. “Richard will be amazed when he finally returns from the front by how animated our ward is.”

After a polite half hour where the Darcys took refreshment and heard the news of their hosts and their neighbours, Mrs Weston and Mrs Martin took their leave, and the Darcys and Miss Bates were shown to their rooms.

The party from The Gables attended the dinner at the Randalls the following Friday, and the entire evening was a fiasco from start to finish. Darcy did not envy Mr and Mrs Weston so many guests that disliked so many of the others, or who felt they had reasons to hold grudges.

Mr and Mrs Knightley attended, and as usual, Mrs Knightley was icy to both Mrs Churchill and the Bingleys. Mr and Mrs Martin attended, and they were icy to Mrs Knightley. Mr Churchill and Mr Weston were avoiding one another, and everyone was attempting to avoid Mrs Elton. Darcy felt terrible for Mrs Weston, who only wished to welcome her old friend Miss Bates back to Highbury warmly. Miss Bates was seated between her niece and Mr Woodhouse, to whom she had written faithfully on her travels, and who she was currently assuring that though Derbyshire was fiercely cold, that Pemberley was sound, free from fatal drafts, and that the fires were generous and abundant.

After the meal, the men joined the ladies in the drawing room after their port and cigars, and accepted cups of tea from Mrs Weston, who was encouraging the ladies to exhibit. Georgiana began, in a duet with Miss Bates who had renewed her old skills on the harp while at Pemberley. Miss Bingley went next, and was well received, as she always was. Then, being short on single ladies, the married ones took to the instruments.

Mrs Elton performed, and then Mrs Martin. Mrs Knightley displayed her talents as well, though it was obvious that she had no wish to, and only did so at the encouragement of her husband.

Mrs Elton smiled at Mrs Knightley as she reclaimed her seat. “I do admire how unbothered you are by your little missteps, Mrs Knightley. What strength of character you possess!” She looked over to see Mrs Churchill approaching the bench. “Now, here is a treat!”

Mrs Knightley’s face flamed with mortification, but Bingley had explained to Darcy that the woman was hardly on good terms with any neighbour except Mrs Weston. She had interfered with Mr and Mrs Martin’s courtship more than once, on the insistence that she was certain her friend was born to parents of high rank and deserved better. Miss Smith, uncertain of herself, persuaded by Mrs Knightley that her high-born father would be disappointed in her choice, had put off poor Mr Martin again and again.

When Harriet Smith finally learned that her father was a wealthy tradesman, she ended her friendship with Mrs Knightley, claiming that she was not worthy of her company, being the offspring of a man who worked, and married Mr Martin forthwith. Her portion purchased a small estate nearby, with only two tenant farms, but it was a start towards gentility for her husband, and Mrs Martin wanted no more truck with friends who had only associated with her because they believed she might be connected to someone important.

As usual, Mrs Churchill played divinely. Darcy wondered why Mrs Knightley seemed to have such an objection to the lady, but she watched Mrs Churchill play with utter loathing in her eyes.

“I commend you for how you always keep a smile, even when someone else is the centre of attention. You are so brave, Mrs Knightley,” said Caroline, unable to resist a jab at the woman who had snubbed her family so scandalously. “It is quite obvious you find your own skills lacking in comparison to Mrs Churchill, but your courage never falters!”

“It is easy to be so accomplished, when one is an orphan with access to education, and without obligation to family,” said Mrs Churchill as she left the instrument and returned to her husband. “Growing up, I had no duties but to be a friend to Mrs Dixon. If I had a father as kind as Mr Woodhouse to care for during my youth, an estate full of tenants and a home to look after, and the responsibility of offering hospitality and friendship to my neighbours, I am certain I would have had no need to devote myself to my studies so religiously. Mrs Knightley has spent her time much better engaged, and probably found the endeavour a great deal more fulfilling. I know that I am infinitely more satisfied with my new life and all of its duties and blessings. I hope I will care for those I love half as well as I have heard Mrs Knightley has done.”

“Brava, dear Jane,” said her aunt, proud of her niece’s generosity of spirit. “Mrs Knightley’s devotion to her father, and her friends here in Highbury, have been her most glowing accomplishment, and we have all loved her dearly for it.”

Mrs Knightley, now having been defended by two of the people in the room who owed it to her the least, was quiet and contemplative for the rest of the evening, and her husband watched her carefully. He had been displeased with Mrs Elton’s and Miss Bingley’s cutting remarks to her, but relaxed as the kindness of Mrs Churchill and Miss Bates put an end to the matter.