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A ll of the Gardiners accompanied Lizzy and Mary into Hertfordshire. The Phillipses and their two wards were waiting at Purvis Lodge to welcome them when the conveyances arrived.

Lydia, who was nine, was bouncing on her heels at the prospect of seeing her sisters again. Cathy, who had reached the age of eleven in June past, was just as excited as Lydia was to see her older sisters, but she did not have the exuberance of her younger sister.

“Lizzy! Mary!” Lydia exclaimed as soon as Uncle Edward handed her sisters out of the coach. “How long will you remain in the neighbourhood?”

“We do not know that yet, Lyddie,” Elizabeth responded. “I suppose it will depend on how things go with Mr Bennet. I am not looking forward to meeting our birth mother, or for that matter, our half-sister.”

“Unless you visit her in the cottage that is almost a mile and one half from the manor house, you will not see my sister,” Hattie informed the arriving family.

“As she could not accept that the girls’ father wanted to know them, she has been removed from the house.

There are none in Meryton who feel sorry for her. ”

“What of Miss Millar?” Madeline enquired as they all made their way into the house.

“Word is that the girl has realised her mother has been teaching her all that which is wrong. Mrs Hill told my housekeeper that our niece had an epiphany of sorts. She begged Bennet’s leave for her to remain at the manor house.

Evidently Fanny was not pleased at Jane’s betrayal of her,” Hattie reported.

“By the by, until the day of the confrontation, she was not aware she had aunts and uncles. Fanny told her we were all dead.” The Gardiners could only shake their heads at this further evidence of Fanny’s lack of character.

“Is her reformation real, or is it just so she does not have to live in a cottage?” Gardiner queried.

“Bennet seems to think she is sincere,” Phillips revealed.

“However, he is the man who married Fanny Millar, so his judgement may be severely compromised.” He turned to his nieces.

“Just be very careful around Jane Millar. Even if she says she is trying to change, she has suffered sixteen years of inculcation by her mother.”

“She has never said a word to us when we visited Meryton, but her looks were never friendly,” Elizabeth remembered.

“We will be wary of her.” Mary nodded her agreement.

“I am pleased to be able to spend a longer time in the area than we have in the past. When I wrote to our friends, they were all excited, especially Charlotte.”

“Lizzy, you enjoy sketching characters,” Madeline mused. “I will be interested to hear what you see in Miss Millar. Never forget that she wanted the surname you bear, or perhaps that was more her mother’s desire than her own.”

“I think I will enjoy sketching her character, but I promise I will not let my guard down. She is our sister, well half-sister, so I will allow her a chance to prove herself while being vigilant at all times,” Elizabeth promised. “When will we meet with our birth father?”

“Let us take a few days to settle in, and then, once Easter is passed, I will send a note to Bennet to set up the time and date of the meeting,” Gardiner suggested. No one disagreed.

Soon Cathy and Lydia were leading Lilly and Eddy up to the nursery. While Hattie and Frank Phillips waited for them in the drawing room, the Gardiner parents and the two eldest Bennet sisters went up to their chambers to wash and change.

As soon as Elizabeth was ready, before she joined the family in the drawing room for tea, she made her way out to the stables to make sure Jamil was happy in her stall.

She gifted her mare a carrot, which led to the horse rubbing her forehead on her mistress’s shoulder.

Convinced her mount was secure and happy, Elizabeth was on her way to the drawing room.

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

Before the Phillipses departed for their home in Meryton, it had been agreed that Cathy and Lydia would reside at Purvis Lodge for as long as their sisters were in residence.

The next morning, trunks with the girls’ clothing were delivered not long after sunup.

Shortly after the trunks, Charlotte Lucas arrived to see her friends.

“Charlotte, I am so happy to see you, but I really need a ride. Mary is not up yet; will you ride her cob and join me? You can show me good places to explore,” Elizabeth said after she had hugged her older friend. “Is there an elevated place from which it is good to watch the sunrise?”

“Yes, Eliza. I would be happy to ride with you, and I am well pleased to have you so close to Lucas Lodge. We will ride to a hill, the only one of any height in the area, called Oakham Mount. I have watched the sun come up from there before, and it is, in my opinion, a perfect place to sit and greet the new day,” Charlotte replied.

For some reason Charlotte called her Eliza, and she was the only one who Elizabeth allowed to use that moniker for her.

With a footman and groom as escorts, the two friends were soon riding across the fields of Purvis Lodge towards the hill which marked a common point between Netherfield Park, Purvis Lodge, and Longbourn.

Elizabeth was—reluctantly—riding side-saddle.

They were not remaining on Purvis Lodge’s land.

Hence, if she wanted to ride, it was to be with the saddle she hated with a passion.

That notwithstanding, Elizabeth was beyond pleased to be on Jamil ’s back again, even if it was not safe to ride faster than a canter.

When she rode astride at Rambler’s Run, there was nothing Elizabeth liked more than giving Jamil her head and galloping at full speed as the wind whipped through her hair.

When they arrived at the base of the hill, while the groom held the horses, the footman assisted Miss Lizzy and her friend down from their mounts.

Even though the little miss insisted it was not needed, knowing what his master’s orders were, the footman escorted the two young ladies up the path to the summit of the hill.

As there were no others present, he remained next to the head of the path.

As soon as she saw the summit, Elizabeth knew it was a place she would be very happy visiting.

To one side was a stand of five oak trees, all fully verdant.

The branches held many birds, flitting here and there, while regaling the visitors with song.

There were two benches underneath the branches of the trees for those who wanted to enjoy the gift of their shade.

Charlotte pointed towards a large, flattened boulder near to the one edge of the summit.

“East is in that direction, and as I am sure you have already realised, that rock is on the eastern side of the summit, so ideal to watch the sun break above the horizon.” Charlotte led Elizabeth around the perimeter of the top, stopping when there were things of interest to show her friend.

“That is Meryton, and past it to the west is Netherfield Park’s manor house.

” They walked a little further. “There is my home, your uncle’s, and lastly,” she pointed to the east, “and that is Longbourn, where you were born.”

It was decided; this would be the spot Elizabeth would ride to every morning she wanted to see the sunrise. There was nowhere comparable in London; however, there were a few hills at Rambler’s Run, perfect for viewing the beginning of the new day.

Even though the sun had been up for a few hours, the friends sat on the boulder. “Eliza, are you nervous about meeting your father for the first time?” Charlotte enquired.

“Not exactly nervous per se . I am interested to see if Uncle Edward is correct and Mr Bennet thinks I can be useful to him. My uncle usually has the right of it with regards to divining the motivations of others. It is an ability that is very useful to him in his business,” Elizabeth replied thoughtfully. “We will meet with him soon enough.”

“What of meeting Miss Millar, or do you not want to?”

“Can you tell me anything about my half-sister’s supposed changed character? I will have to see for myself, but I value your opinion on the matter.”

“Since her mother was sent to the cottage, I have seen Jane Millar in Meryton a few times, and I will say she is much altered from how she used to be.” Charlotte did not miss her friend’s inquisitive look telling her to expand on what she had said.

“She has been much more demure. Not one comment from her about her beauty making her better than everyone in Meryton. If it is an act, it is a very good one which would deserve to be on the boards of the stages in London’s theatres. ”

“Thank you, Charlotte. I will bear that in mind, but I will still be very careful around her, if we meet her on Monday, that is. You are such a very good friend to me.”

“You know I will support you in any way that I am able, do you not?”

“Charlotte, of course I am aware of that. You are such a good person and the best of friends to me.” Elizabeth paused, thinking of Charlotte’s loss. “Tell me, my friend, have you been open to any suitors since Mr Sykes was felled in the war with the Corsican tyrant?”

The man who Charlotte had had an understanding with was the second son of a landowner whose estate was just across the border in Bedfordshire.

His chosen profession was the army, and he had been a Lieutenant in an infantry regiment.

He had been among the first soldiers of England who had been lost in the war.

She had mourned him as if they had been married.

It was only recently she had fully re-entered society.

“Even if a man were interested in knowing me better as the plain one , as your birth mother always calls me, I am not ready yet. I loved my Samuel very deeply, and although I may be able to open my heart to love again one day, it is not now. My mother opined it would have been better had we not been in love.”