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To Bennet, trading his rights as a father away to get what he wanted most in the world was the best thing that could have happened.

He would spare the daughters no thoughts.

All he could see was him regaining the life he had always wanted.

He had no words for his eldest sitting on the settee.

She was no longer his to be concerned over.

Phillips climbed into the coach before Hertfordshire handed Lizzy in. Once she was seated, he boarded and hit the ceiling with the head of his cane.

“I knew you had the right of it when you said he would agree with alacrity without your having to use what your men uncovered about him,” Elizabeth stated. “My sisters and I will be far better off without Mr Bennet being able to interfere in our lives.”

“Lizzy is correct,” Phillips agreed. “It is done and done for the best.”

As he had discussed the subject with Lizzy before, he did not worry too much speaking of it with her in the coach.

“The truth is that even though what he prefers is illegal in this country, I do not believe anything should be done; it is not like men and women like that are affecting anyone else. There are a few men like that who sit in the Lords, and they contribute as much to the body as men who prefer women,” Hertfordshire revealed.

“I am pleased I did not need to use that as leverage.”

“That is because you are the best and most honourable man I know,” Elizabeth said lovingly.

Phillips looked from his niece to her betrothed. “You both have my consent and blessing to marry one another, so the only question is when will you two do so?” he asked.

“I am too wise to make that decision without a discussion where I can receive Lizzy’s opinions on the matter.

” He looked at her, love for her shining in his eyes.

“I have a feeling that if we can arrange it to everyone’s liking, she would be well pleased to share the ceremony with Charlotte and my nephew,” Hertfordshire replied.

Elizabeth nodded emphatically.

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

Gardiner added his unreserved permission and blessing to that of Phillips’s for Lizzy and Hertfordshire to marry on seeing him at Purvis Lodge.

Permission was granted for the two to discuss the wedding date in the study, with the door open. “If Charlotte and Anthony are agreeable, I would love to marry in a double wedding ceremony with them, as you suggested,” Elizabeth said once they sat on the settee, calendar in her hand.

“I suspected as much, as I said in the coach, but I did not want to make a decision for us without consulting you.”

Elizabeth’s eyes shone with love. Archy did not just pay lip service to them having a true partnership; his actions proved it was what he wanted. “Thank you for considering my feelings on this subject and all which touch my life.”

“Always,” was the succinct declaration.

“Should we request that Charlotte and Anthony join us? It would help to know their feelings about a double wedding, especially as I assume we would not be marrying from Lucas Lodge.”

Hertfordshire agreed, and Biggs was asked to summon the other couple.

Charlotte and her betrothed sat on the chaise longue opposite the settee. “You sent your small footman to order us hither, and you are not even a duchess yet,” Charlotte teased.

With her fiancé’s assistance, Elizabeth explained what they were asking. “If you agree, we would marry from…” she looked at the Duke.

“Falconwood. It would be expected for me to marry at St Paul’s with either the Bishop of London or even the Archbishop of Canterbury officiating, like the former did for my first, arranged wedding.

I do not want anything about our union to resemble that first disaster of a marriage.

The rector of the Falconwood Village church, which is on the Hertfordshire side of the border, Mr Stuart Jamison, who is in his sixties now, but still very spry, is the man who christened both Leticia and me.

I would love, if we all agree, to have him marry us.

“Another advantage, as my nephew will tell you, Charlotte, is that the manor house at Falconwood is rather large.”

“That is brown, Uncle,” Anthony ribbed. “It is one of the largest mansions I have seen at any estate. It even makes the manor house at Pemberley look small.” He saw the questioning look on both ladies’ countenances.

“That is one of the largest estates in Derbyshire and is owned by the Darcys, who are friends of Uncle Archy’s.

” He turned towards his uncle. “They arrive on the morrow, if I am correct. My parents will return by Friday with my sisters in tow. Their husbands are busy at their estates, but Loretta and Marjorie had to meet their future sister.”

“Yes, the Darcys and Fitzwilliams will reach us on the morrow,” Hertfordshire confirmed, ignoring his nephew’s jest about the size of his house.

“In addition, the Hertfordshire border of the estate is not much more than five miles from Meryton, about ten miles to the house, so those coming to celebrate with you will not experience the hardship of a lengthy journey to arrive at the wedding.”

“How did I not know your estate was so close to Meryton?” Elizabeth wondered.

“I would surmise it has something to do with the fact you have lived in London and summered in Derbyshire for the first fourteen years of your life,” Hertfordshire suggested. “Until Mr Bennet wanted to see you, you hardly knew about Longbourn, never mind other estates in the general area.”

Elizabeth nodded her understanding.

“Now that is settled, are you two sanguine with the date we selected for the wedding? It is the twentieth day of May,” Charlotte verified.

Elizabeth and Hertfordshire looked at one another and both nodded.

“In that case, I will speak to Mama and Papa, but I do not think they will object to sharing the day with a duke, even if it is not in Meryton,” Charlotte stated.

She wrote a note to her parents, and Biggs, who was in the hall, was asked to dispatch a rider to Lucas Lodge and have him wait for the reply.

An hour later an affirmative answer was received.

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

“What about Longbourn?” Elizabeth enquired after all that had transpired with Mr Bennet had been revealed a little after Charlotte and Anthony left the study. “It may have been hyperbole from Mr Bennet, but the Collinses did not sound like a family capable of managing an estate.”

“Based on the report from my investigators, I do not believe them able to manage an estate without bankrupting it in short order,” Hertfordshire related.

“The father, Clem Collins, was not long for the world; in fact, he may no longer be alive. His wife has been gone more than ten years, and it is suspected it was the man’s cruelty which took her.

The son, Clem William Collins, is studying at a seminary in Kent.

“I could have the Court of Chancery void the entail without consulting this Collins fellow, but that would be somewhat unfair to him. I will send him a letter with an offer. If he willingly ends the entail, I will pay him five and twenty thousand pounds. In the case that he is unreasonable, he will receive nothing, and I will have the court act.”

“If he is sensible, he will take your offer.”

“He may not be, but he is awed by rank, so a letter from a duke may be enough to convince him to be reasonable.”

“In the case he ends the entail, what will become of Longbourn?”

“That, Lizzy, is a decision you and I will make. With Netherfield Park, I have eight estates besides Falconwood. Anthony and Charlotte will have the former on their wedding day, but we still have no need for more estates. If you agree, Longbourn will be part of one of your sisters’ dowries; I was thinking Mary? ”

“That is some dowry, and I think that is a wonderful idea.”

“I will settle fifty thousand pounds on each of your sisters as well.” He saw she was about to object that it was far too much.

“Lizzy dear, we have more money than Croesus. It is a pleasure to do this. I will write to my solicitor, Grant Marylebone, to prepare a wedding settlement, and when the draft arrives, you, Lizzy my dearest, will sit with me and your uncles to review it.”

Elizabeth held her peace about the amount with which he would dower her sisters.

She assumed Mary would have half that sum plus the estate.

The fact he wanted her present when the marriage contracts were to be reviewed, only increased her esteem for him.

The man next to her truly treasured her, and it was something that made Elizabeth feel very safe and loved.