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Before he left, Lord Jersey pulled Lord Thomas Bennet aside and apologised to him.

When asked what he was apologising for, the Earl had said that he regretted the imposition of the full season.

He blamed himself for his daughter’s heartbreak that would have been alleviated without his demand to wait.

Bennet had absolved the Earl of any fault; none of them could see the future and the fault lay with the conniving, social climbing, dishonourable woman that had entrapped him, no one else.

He also related the details of the meeting he had with Sir Randolph, the head of the firm of barrister and solicitors Norman and James.

He went to them because they had a reputation of being the most feared and powerful firm at the Inn of Courts, indeed in the realm.

He had settled only five thousand on the fortune hunter.

She would only receive five pounds per month in pin money, get no jewels, and would not be allowed to use a carriage without permission from her husband.

If there was any infidelity proved against her, the marriage would be immediately annulled.

Sir Randolph would have the final draft and the special licence ready for him before he departed four days hence.

The Bennet brothers made their way two doors down to Bedford House.

Bennet looked longingly at Netherfield House, knowing that he would never bring her here, as they passed it on the way to their father’s house.

The Duke of Bedford and Hertfordshire was not well; he was ailing and was not expected to live more than a year further.

The brothers went up and when they learned he was not resting, went to talk with him in his bedchamber.

The Duke was physically weak, it was true, but he had all his mental faculties about him.

He sympathised with his younger son’s plight, did not admonish him for not better protecting himself, and agreed that his Thomas was doing the only honourable thing that he could.

Once their father started to wane, the brothers returned to Birchington House.

Before Bennet returned to face his fate, one he saw as worse than death, he went to visit Reggie and Elaine Fitzwilliam, Viscount and Viscountess Hilldale, who had married a few years before.

They had two sons; Andrew was a little over four and Richard was now just three.

Reggie’s younger sister, Lady Anne, had married a Mr. George Darcy of Pemberley in Derbyshire and had an almost two-year-old son, Fitzwilliam, or William as they called him, and his older sister, Lady Catherine, had married a baronet, Louis de Bourgh, who owned an estate in Kent called Rosings Park.

Lady Catherine was with child and the family was overjoyed at the blessings they had been granted with their children.

His friend sympathised with Bennet but agreed that there was little that could be done.

Early Friday morning, armed with his iron-clad settlement papers, Bennet returned to Hertfordshire to face his punishment. The only thing that gave him purpose was his beloved Sarah’s statement that replayed in his head over and repeatedly.

Gardiner and his daughter were shown into Longbourn just after luncheon.

His soon to be wife was seated in a drawing room while her father joined the reluctant groom in his study.

Elias Gardiner may not have been the most upright man, but he knew the firm of Norman and James, and he knew that there would be no way to change the terms, as outlined in the settlement.

He became more and more apprehensive about the situation that his daughter had gotten herself into.

He questioned the settlement amount, the five pounds a month pin money, and anything else he could think of, but his soon to be son-in-law was implacable.

He was faced with the same choice that Mr. Bennet had offered him prior to his trip to London, sign or take himself and his daughter home and never darken Longbourn’s doorstep again.

In the end, Gardiner’s desire to rid himself of the silly, indulged, and selfish problem that was Fanny won out over his fatherly protective instincts, and he signed.

As soon as he signed, he was informed that he would never be welcome on any Bennet lands again, however, his daughter was free to walk to Meryton to see him if she desired to do so, and then Bennet rang for Mr. Hill.

On entering the master’s study, the butler bowed and then asked, “You rang your L…” He stopped when he saw the look that the master gave him. “Mr. Bennet.” The butler cleared his throat with exaggeration after a cough to cover his almost mistake.

“Hill, please summon Longbourn’s vicar to perform the wedding ceremony that I discussed with him prior to my trip.” The butler bowed again and went to do as he was bid.

While they waited for the clergyman, Mr. Nigel Lipton, Elias Gardiner went to see his daughter to break the news of the contents of the marriage settlement to her.

It was not above a minute in that Miss Francine Gardiner was crying real tears for the first time in memory; driven by anger and fear of what she had done to herself, blaming all except the one responsible for her situation… herself.

“How could you sign such a thing, Papa? This man is obviously rich! I would not have trap…er wanted to marry him if he were not. What am I to do with a measly five pounds a month? No carriage! No jewels, and a pittance of a settlement! This is not to be borne!” She shrieked, stamping her foot like the spoilt and petulant child that she truly was.

No matter how much she protested and lamented her new situation, Mr. Lipton was shown in, and ten minutes later after she had pledged to obey the man that was clearly punishing her for her actions, Miss Gardiner was Mrs. Fanny Bennet.

Had she known that she was, actually, a marchioness, she would have felt that it had all been worth it, but until her dying day, that was information to which she would never be privy.

She was shown to her room by Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper, a small chamber and certainly not the mistress’s chambers.

She would not have her own lady’s maid like she had dreamed that she would.

If and when one of the upstairs maids was available to help her, they would do so.

She was not mistress of the estate. The servants understood that unless an order came from the Hills or from the master, that they were to ignore the woman who had entrapped their master.

It was explained on pain of dismissal with no character that not a word about the master’s title or his family was to be breathed to his new ‘wife’.

The Bennet’s paid much more than the expected wages by position so no servant would risk his or her position by doing anything that would cause them to be discharged.

As distasteful as it was to him, Bennet did his duty and consummated the marriage.

Each time he lay with her she cried, and it did not move him.

He did nothing overt to hurt her, but he could not care less about the woman.

He did not take meals with her and spent no time with her other than when he did his duty.

As each day passed, it started to creep into Fanny Bennet’s consciousness that she may have made the biggest mistake of her life.

A sennight into his hellish marriage, Lord Thomas opened a letter that he had let sit on his desk for three days as it was from one Mr. Edward Gardiner, who he remembered was the woman’s older brother.

He almost consigned it to the fire suspecting it was some sort of demand or the like, as he believed that the son must be like the father.

When he remembered that the oldest, the one married to the solicitor’s clerk had tried to tell her father the truth the night that the abominable compromise was affected, he relented and broke the seal and started to read.

8 August 1786

Oxford University

Lord Netherfield,

Before you think that I will reveal what I know to my sister who, in her avarice and selfishness entrapped you, you have my word of honour that I will never do so.

Nor have I shared what I know with my older sister, Mrs. Hattie Phillips, who informed me of the despicable behaviour of my sister Fanny and then my father.

My Lord, there is nothing that I can say or do that will make their actions any better, but I want you to know that neither Hattie nor I condone or support the actions of either my youngest sister or my father.

I know that we are commanded by God to ‘honour thy mother and father’, but I believe that honour is the important word.

If there is anything that either my older sister, her husband, or myself can ever do for you, please do not hesitate to ask.

Again, on behalf of the Phillips and myself, I send you my most profound and deepest apology for the actions taken by members of my family. Unless I hear from you my Lord, I will not impose upon you again.

Your humble and mortified servant,

Edward Gardiner

Bennet appreciated the sincerity, especially as there was no attempt to make excuses for the father and sister. He wrote back to Mr. Edward Gardiner and so started a friendship that would last a lifetime.