Page 43 of Longbourn’s Son (Pride and Prejudice Variation #22)
Longbourn
“You will be a beautiful bride, Kitty,” Luke said to his sister, who was dressed in a pink dress which accented her dark blonde locks.
Kitty stared into the mirror and carefully brushed out her skirt before turning and rushing into her brother’s arms. “Luke, I will miss you!”
He returned the embrace, his own eyes teary. Yes, tomorrow would be a wonderful, exciting day for both twins, but it would be difficult to leave Longbourn, to never again share a home with his beloved wombmate.
“At least we will still live close to one another,” Kitty murmured. “If I had to move far north, like Jane and Elizabeth, I could not bear it.”
“We will be very close indeed,” Luke agreed, planting a kiss on his twin’s fair head.
The two separated and Kitty, after wiping her face with her handkerchief, demanded, “Now, I have dressed up in my wedding finery; it is your turn now.”
Luke cast his eyes heavenward. “No one is going to be paying attention to me or Samuel. All eyes will be on Georgiana and you.”
“Nonetheless, you are the heir of Longbourn and need to look your best. Go along to your bedchamber, and I will be along as soon as I have changed out of this dress.”
Luke groaned but obediently stepped out of Kitty’s bedroom and walked toward his own bedchamber. The nursery door at the end of the corridor opened, and Louisa Bennet stepped out with her infant son in her arms and her three year old daughter at her heels.
“Wuke!” Esther Bennet exclaimed, rushing forward to clasp her very tall half-brother around the knees. “Bwocks! Wanna pay wit bwocks!”
Luke lifted his little sister into his arms and kissed her on the cheek. “I will play blocks with you later, Esther,” he promised her. “But Kitty needs me right now.”
“Kitty pway with bwocks, too?” Esther asked.
“Perhaps we can both play with blocks, yes,” Luke agreed, swallowing hard. This, too, would be a difficult change for the twins; they loved their stepbrother Christopher, half-sister Esther, and half-brother Josiah. They would see them often, but not every day.
“Esther!” a maid called from below, and Louisa said, “Run along, my dear. Sally is waiting to give you your snack.”
“Smack!” Esther yelped excitedly, hurtling with unnerving speed down the stairs. Both her mother and eldest brother watched in some concern, but the child made it to the bottom without disaster.
Louisa huffed and shook her head with fond dismay, “Your father tells me that Elizabeth was like Esther as a child, and she survived to adulthood, after all.”
Luke chuckled and reached forward to pat his little brother on his surprisingly hairy head. “I am certain Esther will be well. How is Josiah?”
“He is content,” Louisa said, looking down at her two month old baby son, who was curled up in her arms with his eyelids squeezed tightly shut. “He was up but once last night, which was a blessing.”
“Indeed,” Luke agreed heartily, bestowing a grateful look on his stepmother.
The second Mrs. Bennet, unlike Luke’s own mother, was extremely attentive to the needs of her young children.
Most gentlewomen paid wet nurses to feed their babies, but Louisa rose from her comfortable bed every night to feed her little one.
“I hope that tomorrow will not be too exhausting for you, Louisa,” Kitty commented as she stepped out of her door.
“I will be fine,” Mrs. Bennet assured the twins. “I think that if the wedding breakfast had been here at Longbourn, it would have proven difficult, but since Mrs. Bingley is hosting at Netherfield, I can stay for a short time and leave as necessary.”
/
Netherfield Hall
“You will be a beautiful bride, Georgiana,” Elizabeth declared, staring at her sister by marriage. The girl’s soft aqua gown accented her pale blonde hair, and her blue eyes shone with excitement.
“Thank you, Elizabeth,” Georgie answered, smiling brightly into the mirror. “Oh, Lizzy, I am so excited!”
“I am excited as well,” Elizabeth said, and, to her considerable embarrassment, began sobbing.
“Oh, Elizabeth, is something wrong?” the girl asked in distress.
“I could hardly be better, my dear, I promise you. You know I am rarely such a watering pot, but I am always more prone to such displays when I am expecting a child. I promise you that I could not be happier that you and Luke are marrying one another. It is a dream come true.”
Georgiana sat down next to her sister and said, “It is like a dream for me as well, especially when I think of all those tiresome balls in London, with all those tedious gentlemen flattering me and hovering over me. I know they did not care for me in the least; it was all about my money and connections! I have always liked your brother very much, but last year when he visited London for a few months in winter and we were often in company – oh, it was delightful to converse with a man who looked upon me as me, not a walking bag of gold!”
“Luke loves you very much, Georgie,” Elizabeth said solemnly, and then smiled as her unborn child kicked within her, as if in agreement.
“I know,” Georgiana said. “We will be happy together.”
/
“Do you hear that?” Charles Bingley suddenly asked, lifting a finger.
Fitzwilliam Darcy and Richard Fitzwilliam froze obediently and strained their ears. They were sitting in Bingley’s office at Netherfield, with glasses of port wine in hand, enjoying one another’s company.
“I hear nothing except the wind in the trees,” Darcy said finally.
“Precisely,” Charles agreed with a grin. “There are no yelling children at the moment. Is it not marvelous?”
This provoked answering laughs from his two friends, and Richard exclaimed, “To naps!”
“Hear, hear!” Darcy responded, and the three men clinked their glasses together before drinking.
“How long will Luke and Georgiana be holidaying in Whistable?” Richard asked, leaning back comfortably in his chair.
“Three weeks,” Darcy answered, “and I am certain they will enjoy themselves marvelously. Georgiana adores the seaside, and Luke has never seen the ocean; my sister is looking forward tremendously to observing her new husband’s enjoyment of the sand and the wind and the waves.”
“Bingley, when are you and your wife departing for your new estate in Derbyshire?” Richard asked lazily.
“The sooner the better,” Bingley vowed, “which is to say, by the end of the week I hope our family will be traveling north to our new estate in Derbyshire. Charlotte is eager to depart soon, as our new child is due in three months. I am extremely desirous of removing her from Netherfield and from the influence of Lady Lucas. She is growing quite impossible.”
Richard grimaced and shook his head. “I am sorry, Bingley. I suppose Sir William’s death hit her very hard.”
“No doubt it did, but it is not fair to my wife for her mother to expect Charlotte to be at her beck and call all the time. We have two children of our own and another on the way, and Charlotte can hardly be expected to be mistress of both Netherfield and Lucas Lodge. But Lady Lucas constantly harasses my dear wife, and while Charlotte is largely able to hold the line, it is definitely wearing her down.”
“I hope that Miss Kitty is not promptly thrust into the same role as Mrs. Bingley after she weds the Lucas heir,” the former colonel commented with a troubled frown.
“That will not happen,” Darcy said with assurance.
“Samuel Lucas has matured a great deal since his father died more than a year ago, and he has no intention of permitting his mother to rule the roost. After tomorrow, Kitty will be the legal mistress of Lucas Lodge; I expect that Lady Lucas will be strongly encouraged to move in with her widowed sister in Aldbury. Fortunately, Lady Lucas is not exceptionally stubborn. I doubt it will be necessary to physically cart her out of the house.”
Richard laughed at this, and Bingley lifted a wondering brow. “You are referring to your aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I presume? Did you actually have to physically force her from Rosings?”
“We did,” Darcy answered with a groan. “Anne asked for our help and we provided it; legally, Rosings was Anne’s, but of course her mother could not relinquish control of the estate.
We had to remove many of the servants and install a new steward and a series of faithful bodyguards around Anne before our aunt submitted to the inevitable.
She now lives in the Dower House, quite alone except for the servants who have remained with her.
Oh, that tedious parson of hers, Collins, calls on her every day as well. ”
“That is all rather sad,” Bingley remarked.
“It is, but Lady Catherine has only herself to blame,” Richard declared.
“Her presumption that she can rule the lives of those around her has led to her current situation. I am proud of Anne for being firm with her mother. With the help of her current steward, Rosings’ lands are in far better condition than they have been in many years. ”
“Your cousin must be close to thirty now. Do you think she will ever marry?”
“I think not,” Darcy said. “While Anne’s health is much improved, she is still rather a frail woman.
Furthermore, she has told us that she has no particular desire to give up her control of Rosings.
I can hardly blame her for that; Georgiana’s experience after her coming out confirmed to us both the reality that most gentlemen are more focused on the wealth of a potential bride than on her character and person.
Anne has a number of female friends who visit and seems quite content to stay single. ”
“That is very sensible,” Bingley declared. “I am also most relieved that your sister and Luke Bennet will be mistress and master of Netherfield after we depart; Charlotte and I have grown fond of some of the tenants and are relieved that they will be well cared for by their new master.”
“It has worked well for us all,” Darcy said.
“Longbourn was bursting at the seams with the birth of two more children, and Luke is both intelligent and diligent enough to help oversee both Longbourn and Netherfield Park, especially as the elder Mr. Bennet is more involved in estate matters now. Luke and Georgiana will do well here at Netherfield and will relish having Kitty and Lydia nearby.”
/
“You like living in the north then, Jane?” Charlotte Bingley asked as she took a sip of tea.
“I do, very much,” Jane said warmly. “It is colder than here in Hertfordshire, but the land is pleasant and Scarsdale Manor is a fine place. It is not dreadfully far from Pemberley, which we love. I think you will like Derbyshire very much, Charlotte.”
“I am certain I will. I have no desire to speak ill of my mother, but she has been exasperating since my father died.”
“I know,” Jane said sympathetically.
“If you do not mind me asking, Jane,” Charlotte continued cautiously, “what are your plans for the future? You have two sons already, and I presume that it is challenging to save up a great deal for their futures?”
Jane smiled and said, “Richard has found that the joys of a loving marriage and children are entirely sufficient for happiness, in spite of our relative poverty compared to Darcy and your family. We are teaching our children to be content with their lot in life, even if they do not end up as wealthy as their cousins and friends. However, Richard’s older brother has not sired a son, and his wife is now eight and thirty years old.
It is possible that my husband will inherit the earldom when his brother passes on, and our little Aaron after him. ”
/
Elizabeth Darcy sat in the rear pew in the church in Meryton with two year old Alexander, the heir to Pemberley, on her lap. The sanctuary was crowded with friends and well wishers, all of whom were eager to observe the Bennet twins happily married.
Jane and Richard Fitzwilliam sat in front of them, their own boys sitting quietly, for the moment, between their parents. Mrs. Bennet and Lydia were one pew forward of the Fitzwilliams, with baby Josiah Bennet in his mother’s arms, and little Esther on her older half sister’s lap.
The only former Bennet missing was Mary; she had accompanied Darcy and Elizabeth to Brighton on holiday two years previously and had fallen in love with a local rector, a Mr. Parfitt.
Mary was expecting her first child within a few weeks, and it was deemed unsafe for her to travel so close to her time.
The door in the back of the sanctuary opened, and all turned to watch as Mr. Bennet solemnly stepped into the room with Kitty’s hand tucked in his own.
A few seconds later, Darcy entered in his father-in-law’s wake with Georgiana on his arm.
Elizabeth felt happy tears surge to her eyes.
Both of her sisters were beautiful in their wedding finery, but more than that, they looked happy.
The small procession made its way down the aisle to the front of the church, where Mr. Allen, the rector, stood along with Luke Bennet and Samuel Lucas. Mr. Bennet carefully transferred Kitty’s hand to Samuel’s, and Darcy moved Georgiana’s hand to Luke’s.
The rector looked down on them happily and began, “Dearly beloved…”