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Monday morning the ladies rode in three coaches to Madame Chambourg’s.

There was as much excitement at spending time with one another as they were about the shopping to come.

The four younger girls and Miss de Bourgh were in one carriage, and Lady Anne, Madeline Gardiner, Lady Elizabeth, Louisa Hurst and Miss Bingley in the second conveyance while the third housed companions and some of the guards not riding on the back of the first two carriages.

It was a short ride to the modiste’s shop on Bond Street.

As they were entering the shop, Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst noticed the looks of envy on some ladies faces, just like they used to have when they thought that they would never be accepted by as clients for this particular Madame.

They had three hours during which no other clients would be permitted entrance.

One did not ‘walk in’ at Madame Chambourg’s, one had an appointment or the lady, regardless of rank, would find herself removed from the list of clients irrevocably.

One lady, and one lady only, committed the cardinal sin of trying to enter without an appointment over ten years prior.

That lady was never allowed entry again no matter the entreaties she or anyone else made on her behalf.

No one ever broke that particular rule again.

The four younger members of the group who were not yet out, looked through fashion plates lovingly.

Mary and Kitty asked one of Madame’s assistants, the one who was in Meryton when the Bennets were in residence at Longbourn, if they and their cousins could view the gowns for their coming out ball.

The gowns for the presentation were being made at the modiste’s as well, but everyone knew that the gowns the Queen required would only be worn for the many practices, which the Bennet twins had started a month before, as well as on the day of presentation.

The girls agreed that it was a wonder that they had never heard of one being presented that had tripped over the hoops or the train as they backed out of the presentation hall following their curtsey to the Queen.

Lady Anne and Madeline Gardiner were playing the role of mother of the bride and helping Caroline select the pattern for her gown, with assistance from Louisa, Elizabeth and Anne.

“I want something elegant, not overly ostentatious, and more along the lines of the wedding gowns that you created for Ladies Jane and Marie,” Caroline told Madame Chambourg.

“ C'est s?r, ce sera mon Plaisir, ” the modiste said. She remembered that not everyone was fluent in French like the Bennet ladies. Madame spoke perfect English, just accented. “Yes, it will be my pleasure,” she translated, “just select the pattern and style and then when you go to Monsieur Gardiner’s warehouse, he will send me the fabric that you choose.”

“We thank you, Madame. We will inform you if my soon to be cousin finds something that she likes,” Lady Elizabeth said.

By the time that the ten ladies left the shop, Caroline had chosen a style from one of the modiste’s own unique drawings.

Colour and fabric would be decided at the warehouse on the morrow.

The carriages bore them to Gunter’s and none of them paid attention to the waif that was closely watching their movements.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

Darcy was invited to meet at Bennet House to join the other three who would accompany him to Angelo’s rather than depart from his home.

When he arrived, he was shown to the Duke’s study.

On entering he saw Lord Thomas Bennet, his sons and his brother, Lord Sed Bennet, his uncle, Lord Jersey, and Lord Granville.

“Now that Darcy is here, please repeat what you told us Granville,” Lord Thomas instructed.

“A night or two ago I was at White’s and a rather unscrupulous rake and fortune hunter was boasting that he would get a copy of the settlement to be used once he entrapped an heiress by compromise.

I mentioned what I heard to Matlock and here we are.

” Granville paused and drew a breath. “I thank you, your Grace, for giving Darcy permission to use and disseminate the draft of the settlement, but it was never meant to be used as the unscrupulous man intends.” Seeing the questioning looks he added the name, “Joseph Beckman.” All the men nodded, Beckman was known as a dissolute rake, gambler and fortune hunter, in the ilk of Wickham.

“Will he be at White’s this afternoon, Granville?” Lord Sedgwick Bennet asked.

“Yes, your Grace, he will be,” Lord Harry Smythe agreed.

“Let us all meet at White’s this afternoon, gentlemen, and have a little ‘chat’ with Mr. Beckman in a public setting surrounded by his peers.

I doubt that there are many who would like to oppose the houses of Bennet, De Melville, Fitzwilliam, Darcy, and Smythe, especially after we remind him that most of us are related to the royals.

After our tête-à-tête with that scoundrel, he will be lucky to find a servant that will want to come near him!

” No one witnessing Lord Thomas Bennet’s resolution could doubt that Beckman was about to be ruined.

“He will be there some time after two in the afternoon, your Grace. What say you we meet at the club at two?” Granville asked and there was agreement from all. Joseph Beckman had made enemies of some of the most powerful men in Society.

After the meeting, the younger gentlemen headed to Angelo’s.

The full name was Angelo’s School of Arms and was founded by legendary fencing master Domenico Angelo in 1758.

The school, or club, was now run by the founder’s son, Henry Angelo, who now was getting on in years so more of the day to day running of the school was being passed to his son, Henry II.

The school always did very well, as learning to fence was an essential part of a gentleman’s education, and the better the master, the more gentlemen wanted to join the school or club.

The founder was the first to emphasize fencing as a means of developing health, poise, and grace.

Domenico Angelo literally wrote the book on fencing when he published ‘ L’Ecole d’armes ’ in 1763.

As a result of his influence, fencing changed from an art of war to a sport.

Angelo’s fencing academy established the essential rules for posture and footwork.

George Darcy, while sparing with his son at a young age, could not help but notice his natural talent so at the ripe old age of eight, Fitzwilliam Darcy commenced training in the art of fencing with Henry Angelo.

Henry’s father, who passed in 1802, had said that he had never seen anyone in all of his years of training with as much natural talent as the Darcy boy.

Domenico assisted with young Darcy’s training until the boy was twelve, when the founder retired completely.

In the last four years before his retirement, Darcy was the only student that the old master trained.

By the time Darcy was fifteen, he was routinely beating Henry II, who had grown up in the school, and occasionally he achieved what no other student had--he bested Henry Angelo from time to time.

The older he got, the more he beat the master until now it was rare for Mr. Darcy to lose to any of the Angelos.

When the four cousins walked into Angelo’s, they found Bingley and his brother-in-law Hurst fencing against one another.

Neither man would test their skill against Darcy since they had lost to him innumerable times in the years that they had been friends.

It was not missed by anyone that Darcy was welcomed by Henry Angelo and his son Henry II.

“Welcome, Signore Darcy. I see you have brought some victims; I mean partners to spar with today,” Henry the father smiled. He had seen many a young buck challenge the school’s best student and very few had scored a single hit, never mind bested Darcy.

Lord Tom Bennet decided to try his hand first. Within seconds, Darcy had landed the first of the three hits he would need to win the match.

The Marquess was stunned for the master had barely said ‘ en guard ,’ when, in a flurry of parries and ripostes, the hit was scored in the middle of the elder Bennet son’s chest. The match was over before it started, and Darcy scored the next two hits just as fast. Lord Tom, who was very skilled in the art of fencing, had not come close to his opponent with his foil.

Seeing the level of skill that Darcy possessed, it was little wonder that no one else was fencing; they were all watching the unbeaten school’s champion display his mastery of the foil.

Neither James Bennet nor Wes De Melville fared any better or lasted any longer than Lord Birchington had.

By the time they left the club to return to Bennet House with some minutes to spare before the agreed time, the Bennet brothers had a full and clear understanding why Richard and Andrew had told them what a huge folly challenging Darcy had been.

There was no doubt that based on the masterful display that they had just witnessed at the dulled point of Darcy’s foil his skills had, at the time, been understated.

Using that measure, they were left with little doubt that his skill with a pistol was better than had been stated.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

The oldest of the boys watching the Bennets reported the lady’s movements that morning, including the large number of footmen that accompanied her and other family members whenever they left the house.

“At the modiste on Bond Street, you said there were at least four of those big footmen near the door?” Wickham interrogated the boy.

“Yes guv’ner,” the lad replied.

“Did one of your cohorts check the back?”

“I dunno what a cahort is. We look’d an there were two of them huge men near the back door.” The young man frowned, hoping he had answered right.