Page 4 of He Taught Me to Hope (Darcy and the Young Knight’s Quest #1)

Through a deep and abiding love for Ben and a shared affection as father and daughter, the elder Mr. Carlton and the young Mrs. Carlton had managed to overcome their grief and move forward as a caring family.

Mr. Carlton had watched proudly as Elizabeth assumed the role of mistress in his home.

He had delegated the entire management of his household to her.

As regarded his grandson, he doted upon him exceedingly.

He even engaged a team of nursemaids to assist in his upbringing.

When Ben was approaching the age of four, his grandfather had deemed it necessary to hire a governess to care for him.

Elizabeth had attempted to persuade him against the scheme, even as she had suspected her protests would fall on deaf ears.

Mr. Carlton exercised no limits when it came to rearing his grandson, a fact Elizabeth had learnt to accept.

Mr. Carlton, despite all his wealth, a loving daughter, and a grandchild who meant the world to him, had come to believe he needed something more.

He had buried two wives. He suffered the want of a companion.

He was lonely. Anyone who knew him could see it, including the new governess, Miss Garrett.

Aged thirty, practically a spinster, she did more to ingratiate herself with the master than she did to exert herself towards Ben’s care.

Within three months of her arrival, she had established herself as the soon-to-be next mistress of Camberworth.

Elizabeth had cared for her father-in-law.

She had been torn over how to navigate the looming disaster as she observed Miss Garret use her feminine wiles to her greatest advantage.

Mr. Carlton seemed as happy as she had ever recalled him, believing himself to have found for the third time in his life, the love of a good woman.

Even in his happiness, he had not failed to discern Elizabeth’s unease. One day, he had sought her out on one of her favourite lanes to speak with her on the matter.

“Please pardon my saying this, but how do you expect me to be anything other than worried when I sense our world is about to be turned upside down?” Elizabeth had responded to his pressing inquiry on her recent bout of melancholy .

With his arm linked through hers, he had endeavoured to speak reassuringly.

“Elizabeth, my dear, I promise you the greatest change to our lives is there will be a new mistress of Camberworth. But you need not fear. My grandson and you shall have a place in my home as long as I live. God willing my wayward son, Henry, shall see fit in allowing Ben and you to stay on in the event of my death. Ben stands to inherit his father’s wealth, bequeathed to him by his mother, when he reaches his majority.

As long as you reside here, at Camberworth, your own trust fund should meet your needs adequately until Ben comes into his fortune.

With that being said, my dear, I intend to stay around for a long, long time. ”

Alas, Mr. Carlton did not live to see his first wedding anniversary.

He had passed away peacefully in his sleep.

The widow Carlton had grieved as surely as would be expected of a loving wife.

Her outrageous behaviour some nine months or so later had proved her sorrow a lie.

Greedy relatives and rather unsavoury friends from London descended upon Camberworth.

Most of them had possessed an unwillingness to go on about their way.

By then the heir to Camberworth, Henry Carlton, had also returned to assume his rightful position as master.

Still unmarried, he was in no hurry to exert his authority over the grieving widow.

He rather enjoyed the endless stream of houseguests, in spite of their nefarious ways.

Not only was it a place that failed to instil any sense of comfort in Elizabeth, but it had also become an atmosphere in which she did not wish to raise her son.

Thus, Elizabeth and her young son were cast in an untenable position, one that could only be rectified by an appeal to her father to allow her return to her family home almost a year after her father-in-law’s passing away.

Echoes of faint coughs drifted across the hallway, effectively breaking Elizabeth from her reverie.

She hurried to check on her son. It was taking far longer than she would have liked for him to become accustomed to his reduced circumstances.

Many times of late, he had woken during the middle of the night and joined Elizabeth in her room, often with talk of fanciful imaginings and explorations.

Mindful of Jane, Elizabeth usually accompanied him back across the hall to listen to his childish musings, and remained with him until he dozed off, once again returning to his dreams of Camelot and the Knights of the Roundtable.

Elizabeth quietly opened the door. She found her son nestled snugly in his bed, resting peacefully.

By then, she was fully awake. She decided to curl up on the bed beside him.

What on earth might have caused him to insist that he met King Arthur today?

Clearly, he misses his grandfather exceedingly.

My greatest wish is that his new stepfather will be half the man Mr. Carlton was.

Despite the peaceful slumber enjoyed by her son, a half-hour later, Elizabeth remained wide awake.

If the past several nights were any sort of example, Elizabeth knew it would be hours before she finally succumbed to sleep, especially if she continued to dwell upon the past. Her philosophy to think only of the past as its remembrance gives one pleasure aside, not so agreeable musings continued to intrude upon her equanimity.

How could my own father have subjected me to such an uncertain fate?

Her mind raced in recollection of the eagerness in which her father had invited her into his library a month or so earlier.

Without even acknowledging their estrangement, he had greeted her with talk of destiny.

“I welcome this chance to speak with you, Lizzy. Since Mr. Carlton’s untimely passing, I was certain this moment would come. What with all the outrageous comings and goings at Camberworth of late, I wonder that it took as long as it did before you deemed it an intolerable environment.

“Indeed, it is divine providence that brings you to me today. You see, I have received a letter this morning that has astonished me exceedingly. It is from my cousin, Mr. Collins, who, when I am dead, may turn your mother and your sisters out of this house as soon as he pleases. I certainly bear him no ill will, as he is by all rights entitled. Nothing can clear Mr. Collins from the guilt of inheriting Longbourn. But listen to what he says.”

Mr. Bennet then had proceeded to read the entire contents of the letter. Though most of his words escaped Elizabeth’s recollection, she would never forget one part.

“I am very sensible, sir, of the hardship to my fair cousins, and could say much on the subject but that I am cautious of appearing forward and precipitate. But I want to assure you that with your consent to entertain me in your home, I will come prepared to admire them.”

“This is good news of a sort, but what can it possibly have to do with me?” Elizabeth had asked.

“You are far too intelligent not to understand what this means to our family.

Though I have never met the gentleman, I know from shared accounts with other acquaintances he is a widower of three years with two young daughters, twins, aged ten.

He wants to come here to select a bride from amongst your sisters.

One can hardly expect Mary, Kitty, or heaven forbid, Lydia, to take on such an endeavour.

You know your mother well enough to suspect she will not hesitate to recommend Jane.

“Just imagine! Should you consent to an alliance with Mr. Collins, you and your son shall be able to return to live at Longbourn.”

Elizabeth coloured. She stared. She spoke not a word.

“Where have you to go? The interest on what little is held in trust for you is hardly enough to allow you to live as comfortably as you might here with your family.

Many years will have passed before young Ben comes into his inheritance.

What do you intend to do in the meantime?

Clearly, Camberworth is no longer a choice.

“No, Lizzy, it must be either Jane or you. You have experienced young love; you have seen other parts of the world. You have even enjoyed a life of wealth and privilege during your stay at Camberworth. Jane has known none of those things. She certainly never will if she marries Mr. Collins. I ask you, Lizzy, is that the life you would wish for your dearest sister?”