Page 18 of Ever After End
CHAPTER 17
L ondon - May 1812
“There is a letter for you, Elizabeth,” said Mrs Gardiner, holding out a thick packet as she reviewed the incoming post.
“It is from Mrs Darlington!” exclaimed Elizabeth, opening the letter. “It has three copies of the list of guests and their situations, as well as the list of rules, expectations, and the summer’s programme of activities.” Elizabeth passed them around as she opened the envelope.
“They give a copy of the entire guest list’s circumstances to everyone?” asked her aunt in surprise. “That is rather forward.”
“The entire endeavour is rather forward,” grumbled Uncle Gardiner, who had expressed his uncertainty since Elizabeth had suggested visiting Ever After End months before.
“It makes perfect sense,” said Mary pointedly, perusing the information carefully. “If every guest is actively pursuing marriage, then it goes without saying that all parties involved would wish to know the situations of everyone there before even meeting, so that we know from the beginning who we are interested in from a practical standpoint, and who might not be interested in us, due to our rank or fortune.”
“Precisely, I agree that it is eminently sensible,” agreed Elizabeth.
“There is a great disparity of gentlemen of varying rank and fortune,” observed Jane “A few who are second sons and will likely require a dowry, some with modest or greater wealth that may have less expectation in terms of a lady’s fortune. Even an earl. A wealthy one.”
“Listen to this one,” exclaimed Elizabeth. “Mr William Talbot, a charming second son from Surrey with a lively and playful nature. Mrs Darlington’s inquiries suggest that he may be still unmarried due to fears of a lack of seriousness from the fathers of the ladies he has courted.”
“She said that?” gasped Aunt Madeleine. “She politely called him a libertine.”
“Mrs Darlington writes to the rector and local doctor or apothecary of every village of her prospective guests,” Elizabeth explained. “Obviously, no one would pay such a sum to find a mate this way unless they have had some trouble in the marriage mart. Mrs Darlington ensures that everyone begins the house party in possession of as many facts as possible in regards to fortune, rank, and reputation.”
Elizabeth looked over the list and read aloud, “Mr Arthur Pemberton is a shy third son of a baron who has a passion for poetry. He has an income of one thousand a year. And this one, Mr Lawrence Audley, a gentleman of four thousand a year, seems to be unmarried because his passion for horses and breeding exceeds his enthusiasm for ladies.”
“She included information about our competition as well,” said Mary. “The Honourable Miss Julia Bertram and Miss Mary Crawford, have ten thousand and twenty thousand to their dowries, and have struggled to find husbands after Miss Bertram’s elder married sister eloped and ran away from her husband with the brother of Miss Crawford. ”
“I shudder to see what they have written of us,” said Jane nervously.
Elizabeth turned her page over and read aloud, “The three Miss Bennets are known as the jewels of Meryton in Hertfordshire. It is presumed that the reason they have not married is due to a recently broken entail on their family estate, their previously small dowries, and the fact that their mother is the daughter of a solicitor, who pushes suitors at her daughters too desperately.
“Miss Jane Bennet, twenty-three, has unexpectedly become the heir to her father’s estate of two thousand a year, and is gentle, kind, and uncommonly beautiful,” Elizabeth continued. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, age twenty-one, recently obtained a fortune of fifteen thousand and a house in London from a lottery. She is known for a love of nature and books, and has a lively demeanour and wit. Though Miss Mary comes only with one thousand and six hundred, she is known as the most pious and hardworking of her sisters, and is a treasure to her parish.”
“That did not sound too bad,” said Mary brightly. “How kind of Mr Abbot and Mr Jones to give us such glowing recommendations.”
“There will even be an American heiress who has had trouble finding a sponsor in London,” observed Jane. “How interesting.”
“I suppose it is best to begin with all of the facts,” grumbled their uncle. “I will, nevertheless, remain at the inn for some days in case you need me.”
“There is truly no need, Uncle, when you have hired me a carriage for the entire duration, with its own groom, and my footman and maid will attend us there,” said Elizabeth. “If, for some reason, we find ourselves dissatisfied with the house or its society, we can simply board our carriage immediately and return to London.”
“I will stay close for some days, just in case,” insisted Uncle Gardiner. “I have it from the owner of the inn that I am not the only relation to do so or to have such concerns. He claims to have a number of relations staying close to Ever After End for at least a week or more each summer, though he does also say that he has never heard of anyone leaving the place dissatisfied. ”
“We shall send you a note each morning then, with our thoughts on the place, so you will know when we are feeling quite secure,” promised Elizabeth.
“Abigail has nothing but wonderful things to say about Mrs Darlington and her annual endeavours,” said Jane. “I am not certain that we will meet our matches there, but at least we know that every man there is actively searching for a wife. It will be refreshing to have the opportunity to learn if I could care for a gentleman before my mother gets carried away.”
“Well if the amount of money Lizzy has invested in this venture has anything to do with it, you shall all be married in no time,” grumbled Uncle Gardiner.
Elizabeth had spent a great deal of her money. She had begun with seven hundred in ready funds when she first won her prize. Fifty had gone to treat her mother and sisters to new clothes. Then twenty to pay for Lydia to attend the end of the current school term, and another one hundred and fifty to secure places for the three eldest girls at Ever After End. Another hundred had been spent to rent a coach and groom for the summer in case it was needed, and for an incomparable wardrobe for all three sisters. Elizabeth had earned seventy five pounds for a year’s lease on her house, though fifty of that had gone towards furniture that was waiting in her uncle’s townhouse. She had just over four hundred pounds of ready funds left, twenty-five of which Mr Gardiner turned over to Elizabeth before their journey.
Mrs Bennet was put out with Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was incredibly pleased to be away from Longbourn, and entirely independent. Mrs Bennet hated the idea of Jane paying to find a husband, like some man ordering a bride from a far off country. Jane was beautiful. Jane was an heiress, and Mrs Bennet had no objection to Jane not marrying at all now that Longbourn was saved. If Mr Bennet died and Jane brought home a new husband, who knows what restrictions he might place upon Mrs Bennet and her spending habits and activities. Jane could remain single forever now, unless she was to marry a man of great fortune and move away, leaving Mrs Bennet as mistress of Longbourn permanently. She had thought Mr Ferrars would be such a man.
When making her plans, and seeing what a state Mrs Bennet was in, Elizabeth could not bear to leave Mary behind to bear the brunt of her ire. Mrs Bennet would not hear of Kitty being allowed to go, insisting that Kitty was not old enough for such a scheme. Elizabeth quite agreed, and was perfectly happy to leave Kitty to Mr and Mrs Bennet’s undivided attention. Mrs Bennet did not snipe at Kitty as she did Elizabeth and Mary, and since Lydia had gone to school, Kitty had benefited from more of her parents’ attention. She remained at Longbourn with Miss Ellis, though Aunt Gardiner had invited her niece and her companion to visit London for a month while Elizabeth and the others were in Somerset.
They visited Lydia at her school a few times since arriving in London in early March. Each time, Lydia hardly had a moment for them. Her class was always on their way to see something, a museum, a lecture, to tour a warship, or to pay calls upon the ladies of other schools to polish their manners. Lydia was busy and happy, and had made many friends. She would leave school in June for the summer, and spend a month with Kitty and the Gardiners, who agreed that the youngest girls needed more society and better examples than only their parents. The younger girls would return to Longbourn in July, where Lydia would visit home until she returned to school in September.