Page 37 of The Next Mrs Bennet

A s soon as the front door closed, Fanny rounded on her second daughter. On the way home she had convinced herself the wilful disobliging girl had done something which would cause the Duke not to shower Jane with his attention.

Fanny grabbed Elizabeth by the arms. “Tell me what you said to the Duke!” Fanny screeched her mouth only inches from her daughter’s face showering Elizabeth with spittle. “I do not believe you said nothing…”

“ MAMA !” Jane yelled.

If her mother had not been digging her nails into her arms, the look of shock at Jane’s shouting would have been comical. Thankfully, her mother released Elizabeth’s arms and turned towards Jane with a dumbfounded look.

“Jane what has your sister done to upset you so…” Fanny began and then closed her mouth in surprise with the strident response from her beautiful Jane.

“Lizzy told you the truth about why the Duke departed, I was dancing close to her in the line and I heard him say he was tired,” Jane asserted firmly. “It is you and your treatment of my most beloved sister which has disturbed my equanimity, not Lizzy.”

Elizabeth was overjoyed, not only that Jane was standing up for her, but she was standing up at all and not trying to look for some positive reason for their mother’s cruel treatment of herself.

“B-but Jane…” Fanny tried again.

“Mother, do you really believe Lizzy could have chosen whether she was a boy or a girl?” Jane demanded. “Is it not time to leave that behind us now? My sister has been blamed for that over which she had no control for sixteen years, it is enough.”

She was sure this outburst was somehow caused by her wilful second daughter, but now was not the time to upset Jane. Fanny was certain the Duke would be calling to see Jane on the morrow, after all, it was Jane who he had danced a complete set with.

Her eldest, most beautiful daughter would be a duchess, oh what joy would flow from that. If only Lyddie was older. With her liveliness, the same as both Fanny’s late mother and she herself had, she was sure Lydia would have turned the Duke’s head. There was nothing for it, at only ten it was not possible so all her hopes would rest on Jane.

Bennet stood inside his study with his door cracked. When he heard Jane yell he was about to join his wife and two eldest daughters to see what the ruckus was all about.

That Fanny was once again blaming Elizabeth for something she did not do was a normal occurrence. He felt guilt regarding the fact it was serene, normally docile Jane who had finally said what he had wanted to say to Fanny for years. The feeling of culpability passed as soon as it had appeared.

Peace in the home was paramount and he was well aware of the living hell his life would become if he ever tried to check his wife’s excesses, either in spending or—especially—with regard to her irrational treatment of Lizzy.

He did what he could to protect his second daughter. She was welcome to join him in his study anytime she chose to. After all, she was one of the only ones in many years who had been able to best him at chess. In addition, she was able to debate many subjects with him and cause him to stretch his intellect. Lizzy was not only a beautiful girl, but she had an overabundance of intelligence.

He watched as his daughters were waved away. Seeing his wife was headed to his study, Bennet pulled the door closed and was seated behind his desk before the harpy marched in. He waited patiently while his wife walked circles on the carpet as she tried to marshal her thoughts, such as they were.

“Once Jane is married to the Duke…” Fanny began and stopped when her husband raised his hand.

“No one has come to ask for Jane’s hand, duke or otherwise,” Bennet interjected. “Of what do you speak?”

Looking at her husband as if he was a simpleton not to know, Fanny related the events of the assembly and the fact the Duke danced with none other than herself, Jane, and part of a dance with Lizzy before she caused the man to leave the ball.

“He has not been yet, but I am sure he will, as soon as the morrow,” Fanny asserted.

“Jane is only eighteen years old, how old is the Duke?”

“I was married at barely seventeen, Jane is older than I was, besides, she will be nineteen in October.” Fanny did not answer the question.

“Excuse me if I do not like your way of catching a husband,” Bennet responded sardonically. “I asked about his age.”

“Hang his age! He is fabulously wealthy and when he is married to Jane I…we will never have to be concerned about the future after you go to your eternal reward.”

“So he is an old man. I will not force Jane to marry where she is not inclined. Besides, this is all theory. There is nothing which says he will offer for Jane, or any other woman in the area. What if the gossip regarding his seeking a wife is wrong?”

“Gossip is never…” Fanny did not miss her husband’s raised eyebrows at the statement she began to make. She had to admit tittle-tattle was more often in error than having the right of it. “I am sure it will be as I say.”

With the last said, Fanny turned around, leaving the door open, made for the stairs, and headed for her bedchamber.

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

“Jane, I have never been more proud of you nor more thankful either,” Elizabeth hugged her sister once their shared chamber door was closed.

“What you said at the assembly may have taken hold,” Jane admitted shyly. “I love you far too much to stand back any longer and allow Mama to hurt you.”

“As I love you, Janey. You know I would do anything in my power to protect you, do you not?”

“That is well known to me, Lizzy. All I can do is beg your pardon that I allowed my desire to see things as I hoped they were, to cause me not to stand up for you before tonight. I am the older sister and it is my duty to protect my younger sisters.” Jane held up her hand and smiled as she saw Lizzy about to interject. “Yes, I know you are a strong girl and can defend yourself, but I cannot stand back and allow Mama to keep treating you as less than the rest of us.”

“If only Papa had agreed to allow me to go live with Uncle Edward and Aunt Maddie in London,” Elizabeth stated wistfully.

Elizabeth had been four, not long after her beloved Grandmama Beth had been called home to God and the Gardiners—Uncle Edward was newly married to Aunt Maddie—had been visiting.

She had been pretending to read a book—Elizabeth had always felt an affinity to them even before she could read—and her mother, not knowing her brother and sister-in-law were observing her, had pulled the book out of Lizzy’s hands. As any child of four would, she began to cry. Her mother had rewarded her with a pinch on her arm for having the temerity to disturb her peace, which only caused the little girl to cry even louder.

The Gardiners had been outraged at what they witnessed. Even more incensing was the fact Bennet had done nothing about it. It was then Gardiner had asked his brother to allow Lizzy to come live with them in London.

Not wanting her disobliging daughter to have the enjoyment of living in London with her brother, Fanny had refused and let Bennet know how strenuous her ongoing complaints would be if he agreed. Bennet had capitulated and refused his permission. They had reached a compromise of sorts. Jane and Lizzy would visit the Gardiners together for a few months a year.

It had taken four years before the first Gardiner child—Lillian called Lilly—was born. Edward, called Eddy, had arrived in February 1801. It was not until the third child May had been born in August 1804, that the Gardiners had begun to shorten the amount of time their two nieces came to visit them.

Both Jane and Elizabeth were well aware their comportment, manners, and most of their accomplishments had been learned from the examples they had seen and been taught when visiting Gracechurch Street in Town.

“As much as I understand your life would have been better living with the Gardiners, I would have missed you every day,” Jane admitted. “At least we were the lucky ones who spent much time with them.”

“I suppose what you say is true. I cannot imagine my life without you in it every day. At least Mary has been open to the lessons we have passed on. I am afraid Lyddie will grow up to be wild and ungovernable with the way Mama spoils her. Where Lydia leads, Kitty follows.”

“As much as I am loathe to criticise our sisters, I have to agree with you,” Jane owned. “I have known for a time Mama does Lyddie no favours by indulging her, but as you know, she will hear no one speak against the way she parents Lyddie, not even from Papa.”

On the tip of Elizabeth’s tongue was the retort their father would do nothing which required effort, but she did not want to push Jane too much. This was the first—and Elizabeth hoped not the last—time Jane would stand up for what was right. Not necessarily just for her advantage, but in general.

The sisters—as they did each night—assisted one another to prepare for bed. They climbed under the covers and Jane extinguished the final candle.

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

Robert Darcy was working on his ledgers and the projections for the coming harvest based on the spring planting which had been completed not many weeks past. His steward was sitting with him as the two men poured over the columns of numbers.

“Enough Wickham, it is time for us to end the work day,” Darcy decided as he closed the ledgers. “Will you join me in a glass of port?”

“Yes, thank you, Mr. Darcy, that would be welcome,” the steward averred.

The study at Pemberley was of a larger proportion than the average one. It was almost as wide as it was long. At the end opposite the door was the master’s oversized, highly polished mahogany desk. Darcy’s well-padded high-backed chair, the one the man had just vacated, was behind the desk. In front of the desk were two comfortable armchairs. One of which Wickham had just been sitting in.

Behind that was a bank of bookshelves which started on the sidewall next to the side of the desk, ran along the back wall, and ended on the other side just before one of the two floor to ceiling windows.

Very few, not even the steward, knew one of the units of shelves behind where the master sat, opened to reveal the thick steel door to a secure vault. It was not only the bulk of the Darcy jewels stored within—inside rows of velvet lined drawers stacked six high—but a few thousand pounds in cash and important documents.

Certified copies of all documents were also held in London in the offices of the solicitor who served the Darcy family’s interests.

There was a second floor to ceiling window—the view from the windows was across Lady Anne’s pride and joy, her rose garden, to the park beyond, and the lake which began where the grass ended. Between the windows was a comfortable settee with low tables on either side of it.

Opposite were three wingback chairs arranged in an oval facing the settee. On the wall behind them, close to the end of the bookcase on that side of the room, was a sideboard on which sat various decanters and glasses on the silver tray.

While the steward sat in one of the wingback chairs, Darcy stepped to the sideboard, unstopped the decanter containing the port, and poured a measure for himself and the member of his senior staff.

“Thank you, Sir,” Wickham said appreciatively when Darcy handed him one of the glasses with the dark red wine within.

“To another productive year,” Darcy toasted. The two men saluted one another with their glasses and then each took a pull of his port. “Any word regarding George?”

The steward’s wayward son had been employed as a clerk in Clovelly in Devonshire, a town not far from where his sister and her husband resided. Less than two and one half years past, Wickham was notified his son had absconded with all of his employer’s funds which had been meant to pay the next three months’ wages for the employees.

Since then, neither hide nor hair of his son’s location had been discovered. Wickham hoped more than believed his son—who had a rather resentful nature and easily decided he had been ill-used when no ill-usage existed—had left England’s shores with his ill-gotten gains.

Refusing to allow his steward to repay him, Darcy had sent the employer the full amount George had stolen from him. That receipt and some other debt markers were among the documents kept in the vault. Not only had he made the employer whole, but it had caused the search for George to cease as rather than a theft, it was now a matter of a debt owed to Robert Darcy.

“Unfortunately nothing, which may be a good thing. I can only hope my son is not bedevilling anyone else.” Wickham needed to change the subject to a more pleasant one. “How does Master William in London? I thought he did not enjoy the season.”

“He is at Darcy House with his mother and sister. That Bingley fellow, affable chap, had invited William to reside at his brother-in-law’s house, but William refused. He refuses to be under the same roof as his friend’s unmarried sister.”

The master did not need to say more. Charles Bingley had been invited to Pemberley summer last. He had, apologetically mind you, arrived with his two sisters and the older one’s husband in tow, even though he had been the only one invited.

The younger sister, Miss Caroline Bingley, had obviously set her cap for the Darcy heir, regardless of his opinion of the matter. She had been in residence three days before she had stoked the ire of one of the most gentle ladies in the world, Lady Anne Darcy. Evidently, the harpy decided to act as the de facto mistress when she thought she was unobserved.

Not only had she been seen by the mistress, but she had been caught being rude to Pemberley’s housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, who was more family than servant.

The very next day the Bingleys were on their way out of Pemberley with a flea put in Mr. Bingley’s ear. He was told in no uncertain terms if he ever arrived at any Darcy property with more than those specifically named as invitees, he would be turned away and no further invitation would be forthcoming.

“Excuse me if I am speaking out of turn, but has that woman with her flaming red hair not received the message Master William would not be interested in her if she were the last woman in England?”

“You would think, but it seems Miss Bingley has the same ability my sister-in-law Catherine has. To see and hear only that which suits her desires.”

Wickham knew all about the termagant named Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Out of respect to his employer, he listened when his master spoke of her and her foibles, but never made his opinions of the woman known.

“If it is agreeable to you, I think I will turn in for the night.”

“Go Wickham, I will see you in the morning before I depart to join my family in London,” Darcy stated.

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

Bennet was seated in his study in the early morning the day after the assembly, as was his wont.

That time of the day was the most peaceful as his wife and two youngest daughters only woke a little before the family broke their fasts at half after ten. The only other one awake would be Lizzy who would be out rambling over the estate’s paths, more than likely sitting on a rock on the summit of Oakham Mount waiting to welcome the sunrise.

Thus, he was greatly surprised when Hill knocked on his study door and presented him with a note. Bennet dismissed his man and broke the ostentatious seal.

11 April 1806

Red Lion Inn, Meryton

Mr. Bennet:

I am Lord Archibald Winston Chamberlain, the Duke of Hertfordshire and (until I have an heir) the Marquess of Hertford Heights.

One of your daughters has caught my eye. Hence, I require that you present yourself to me at the above inn at midday on the morrow, the 12th day of April. You do not want to suffer my wrath and be ruined if you are late or ignore my summons.

For His Grace, the Duke of Hertfordshire, Marquess of Hertford Heights

Could it be Fanny was correct in her assertion Jane was to be a duchess? It seemed so, regardless of how unlikely Bennet ever thought it would be.

Under normal circumstances, he would have ignored the note, but this was the type of man you neither ignored nor refused. Bennet was rather sure the explicit threats were not idle ones. The only question was whether he could agree to engage his eldest daughter to a man of an age greater than his own.

He would say nothing to Fanny and go to the meeting. If Jane left, at least he would have Lizzy at home with him.