Page 47 of The Next Mrs Bennet
L adies Elaine and Anne were among the courtiers present at the Queen’s drawing room the day the new Duchess of Hertfordshire was to be presented. Like others of their friends, specifically, Lady Rose Rhys-Davies and Lady Sarah De Melville, who were standing with them, they wanted to see for themselves if the debauched man truly had married one as young as had been reported in the gossip rags.
Standing just behind their wives in their full court regalia, including their ceremonial swords hanging at their sides, were the Duke of Bedford, the Earls of Matlock and Jersey, and Mr. Darcy.
The men would have willingly missed the spectacle, but their wives had told them they would be attending with them.
Darcy grinned as he remembered William begging off as he had to meet with Richard and their friend Bingley—without the latter’s younger sister present—at White’s. He was not one for court intrigue but his inability to deny his wife what she asked of him ensured his attendance.
“We will not have long to wait,” Lady Elaine observed. “As a duchess, she will be one of, if not, the first to take her curtsy before Her Majesty.”
Just then, the doors to the waiting room were opened by two royal footman. The palace’s major domo who was standing off to the side of the doors spoke in a clear voice. “Her Grace, Lady Elizabeth Rose Chamberlain, Duchess of Hertfordshire and Marchioness of Hertford Heights presented by Lady Morag McIntire, Countess of Colbath.”
The new duchess entered the presentation chamber. She was petite and extremely beautiful. It was obvious that what had been written about her age was not an exaggeration to make the story more salacious. If it were possible, the Duke of Hertfordshire’s reputation sank even further in the eyes of the Ton .
Those watching had never seen a finer pair of emerald-green eyes that seemed to shine with intelligence and strength. Her hair was raven coloured, wavy, and done up in a fancy coiffure as expected for the Queen’s drawing room. She wore the hooped dress mandated by her Majesty; it was not brightly coloured.
For jewellery, she wore an emerald studded tiara denoting her rank, a necklace, and a bracelet, all featuring large emeralds. On her one finger was a gold wedding ring and an engagement ring, also with an emerald. There were the feathers in her hair—placed behind the tiara—which were also prescribed—hers were from a peacock. She walked, her head held high, not looking at any of the courtiers gaping at her.
“Why do you think one with her obvious strength married that repugnant man?” Lady Anne asked after the new duchess had passed her and those standing with her. “She did not look at all intimidated by anything here.”
“That is a question to which we will more than likely never know the answer,” Lady Rose opined.
“My question,” Lord Matlock said to the three men standing with him, “is what leverage the bastard holds over Colbath as he is the only one who will be in Hertfordshire’s company.”
“Does the Duke ever attend the Lords?” Darcy enquired.
“He does not,” the Duke of Bedford responded. “Even though it is his right to attend, if he did, there would not be any sort of welcome, in fact, he would be cut.”
“Enough nattering,” Lady Elaine admonished playfully. “She is about to take her curtsy.”
Conversation ceased as all eyes trained on the young lady as she prepared to bend her knee to the Queen.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As she walked past those present—who were standing on either side of the red carpet she was on, Elizabeth had not missed the way she was being stared at and evaluated by the courtiers. She was sure the first question in their minds was how was it that she had married the revolting old man.
The whole time she walked, which seemed like hours, but was in reality only a minute or so, Elizabeth kept her eyes forward, her chin up. They could stare all they wanted. She would not be intimidated.
Just like Lady Morag had taught her, Elizabeth reached the spot before her Majesty and made her deep curtsey. When she rose, the Queen indicated she should approach.
It was as she had been informed; the Queen would have some words with her being she was now a duchess. Elizabeth was sure her Majesty would have some inanities to impart fulfilling the expectation she would speak to one of her rank.
“Lady Elizabeth, you look very young to us,” the Queen stated softly.
“I am but sixteen your Majesty,” Elizabeth owned.
“Sixteen!” The Queen had almost made a loud exclamation, but she managed to maintain the low volume of her voice. “You are but a child. If you were forced into this, we will have our vicar annul your marriage.”
Elizabeth had to school her features. She had not expected compassion and caring from Her Majesty. “It was not something I wanted, but it was my choice, Your Majesty. Besides, as I understand the law, it is too late,” Elizabeth replied in sotto voce .
“Our vicar will do as we ask,” the Queen insisted.
“This is my burden to bear, Your Majesty. For my own reasons, as much as I would love to be free of that man, I cannot be. For the good of others I love, I must remain married to him,” Elizabeth averred. She had tried to stop herself, but a single tear rolled down her cheek.
The Queen wiped the tear coursing down the Duchess’s cheek with her own handkerchief. Her heart went out to this beautiful girl before her. “If there is ever anything we may do for you, you will ask it of us, will you not?” Elizabeth understood it was not a question. She nodded her head.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Those watching were amazed at how long the Queen spoke to the Duchess of Hertfordshire in hushed tones. None missed when Her Majesty leaned forward and did something with the silk square she had retrieved from her sleeve.
Her Majesty kissed the Duchess’s forehead—as was to be expected—and then she did something none who attended court had ever seen her do before. The Queen pulled the young Duchess into a hug, one which lasted for some moments.
All speaking in the chamber ceased as the courtiers looked on in wonderment, many with mouths hanging open.
The signal to the Ton was clear. Regardless of how ill the Duke of Hertfordshire was thought of, his wife had the approval and affection of the Queen of England. It would not do for any of them to try and paint her with the same brush as her husband.
The Countess of Colbath collected the train and handed it to Her Grace, who then backed out of the chamber without a single wobbly step.
Only once the door closed did the conversation in the chamber resume, somewhat louder than was normally acceptable. Those present had just witnessed something extraordinary. As much as they would have loved to have been privy to the conversation between the Queen and the Duchess, all the spectators could do was speculate.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“The sooner I can return to Hertfordshire House and remove this hooped monstrosity, the happier I will be,” Elizabeth stated as soon as she and Lady Morag joined the Earl and his solicitor in the Colbath coach.
As he had been since Her Grace had entered the palace, Wickham sat atop the horse. As soon as the carriage began to move, he took up station a little behind it.
“May I assume you were presented, Your Grace,” Crawley verified.
“Yes, Mr. Crawley, I was. The Countess discharged her duties as promised,” Elizabeth confirmed.
The solicitor opened the case he was holding and withdrew some papers from it. “All of your debt markers,” he announced as he handed them to the Earl.
Without a delay, Lord Colbath ripped them into tiny pieces. They would be consigned to a fire as soon as he and his countess gained Colbath House. His nightmare was over. The cheating Duke held no more leverage over him and if he never saw the blackguard again it would be too soon.
“May I ask what the Queen said to you, Your Grace?” Lady Morag queried.
Elizabeth related the substance of the conversation with Her Majesty. “I only wish I was able to accept her offer of help.” She did not elaborate and the McIntires did not feel Her Grace had left any opening for them to ask what she meant.
“You could have no more powerful ally in polite society,” Lady Morag observed.
For the rest of the relatively short ride back to Hertfordshire House, there was no more conversation in the coach. All that was heard was the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves as they connected with the cobblestoned streets.
The door was opened by Wickham who had vaulted off his horse when the conveyance came to a stop at his master’s house. He offered his hand to Her Grace, but she refused to take it and stepped out without his assistance. The Duchess stood and watched as the Colbath coach was pulled away by the two pairs of matched greys.
She had known this time was fast approaching. Now she was isolated once again, with only him and his lackeys for company.
At least she had Loretta, but she would need to continue to be circumspect in her treatment of her maid. The last thing Elizabeth wanted was for her husband to remove the maid if he felt his wife had become too close to her.
She took a deep breath. Then Elizabeth climbed the six stone steps which led to the small veranda and the front door of her prison.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day of the presentation was the day Jane, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, accompanied by the two eldest Gardiner children and the attendant nurse and footmen took a walk in Hyde Park before their picnic at the duckpond.
Jane looked longingly in the direction of where she believed Berkeley Square was. How she missed Lizzy. Based on her younger sister’s last letter, today was the day Lizzy was to take her curtsey before the Queen, so mayhap she had not even returned to the Duke’s house yet.
The two youngest Bennets were walking with Lilly and Eddy Gardiner a little ahead of Jane and Mary. One of the footmen was behind the latter pair, the other one and the nursemaid with the younger four. A footman and maid were organising the comestibles for the picnic.
It was then Jane noticed three young men. All were tall. The tallest had dark hair while the other two, an inch or two shorter than him had sandy-blond hair. One of the three was in the army as he was in uniform. Jane could not recognise rank or with what regiment the man was, but there was no mistaking the scarlet coat of the army.
The three were walking along the path towards her and Mary and seemingly deep in conversation.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale had unexpectedly decided to join his brother and cousin to meet with Bingley at White’s. On their return to Grosvenor Square, the three cousins had decided to take a stroll in Hyde Park. It was not close to the fashionable hour so both Andrew and William knew they would be able to ramble without being accosted.
The three had been in a deep discussion about Richard’s regiment’s upcoming move to the Peninsula. As such, they did not notice the group that left the path in front of them and headed for the picnic next to the duckpond nearby. Neither did they see the two young ladies walking towards them on the path.
The two Bennet sisters only realised the men were distracted at the last moment and hardly had any time to try and avoid the impending collision. The sisters attempted to get themselves over to the left side of the path. They did not succeed completely causing Jane to collide with the man on the left, while Mary managed to avoid the men altogether.
A collision with someone brought Andrew to awareness of his surroundings. He saw a young lady beginning to fall, and instinctively reached out to stop her from hitting the ground.
“And here we thought it was safe to amble in the park and not be accosted by fortune hunters,” William barked. “Your machinations will not be gratified, Madam!”
“ William !” Andrew and Richard called out in disgust at once. Both realised they had been in the wrong and the young ladies had tried to avoid them.
The footman had approached but stopped when he saw Miss Jane was well. He would keep watch and make sure the Misses Bennet were safe.
“How dare you impugn my sister’s honour, Sir,” Mary spat out. “You are no gentleman. You were walking and not paying attention and you and your friends walked into us! We tried to avoid you and your inattentiveness.”
William was about to ask the young lady, who did not look much older than Anna, who she thought she was when he saw the warning looks from his two older cousins.
Until then, Andrew had not looked at the woman whom he had stopped from falling. Now he did and never had he seen a more beautiful creature. If Bingley was with them, he would be chasing her as his latest angel within seconds.
“What is wrong with you, William? You make judgements without thinking,” Andrew admonished. “The young lady Miss…?”
“Miss Jane Bennet and Miss Mary Bennet,” Jane supplied.
“Miss Bennet, Miss Mary, I am Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale. The one in uniform is my brother, Captain Richard Fitzwilliam, and the rude one is our cousin, Mr. William Darcy,” Andrew responded. “You must excuse him; on occasion, he suffers from hessian in the mouth disease. As I was about to say, William, Miss Mary had the right of it. We were at fault, not them.”
“Rather than try and have themselves compromised, they did everything they could to avoid us,” Richard added.
“I am but fourteen, the last thing I am looking for is a husband,” Mary stated disdainfully.
Realising he was very wrong; William did the only thing he could. “Miss Bennet, Miss Mary, please excuse my rude and untrue words to you both. It was very wrong and most ungentlemanlike of me.” William bowed to the two.
After looking at Mary who nodded, Jane turned to the three men. “My sister and I pardon your behaviour, Mr. Darcy. In the future, we suggest you evaluate the situation before making assumptions.” Jane paused and looked to where her sisters and cousins were blissfully feeding the ducks. “Now if you gentlemen will excuse us, we need to join our family members.” Jane inclined her head towards the pond.
As much as he wanted to ask her where he could find her again, Andrew said nothing knowing he had no reason to do so without sounding extremely forward.
The cousins gave a bow to the ladies’ curtsies. Jane and Mary, still followed by the footman, headed off the path towards the pond to join their sisters and cousins.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“What can you tell me about what occurred this morning, Wickham?” Hertfordshire demanded when his man reported his wife had been presented and was home.
“Given I was required to wait outside of the palace gates, nothing Your Grace.” Wickham did not add what he would have liked to say: ‘ Like you, I am not allowed to attend .’
“Damn Colbath not allowing you to ride in his coach so you were not able to report on what was said to, and by, my wife,” the Duke huffed.
‘ Had I been within, they would have said nothing worth repeating ,’ Wickham told himself silently.
“And now I no longer have any leverage over that damned man!” Hertfordshire continued, not needing or wanting a response from his man. “At least she is presented, and it will not affect my future son.” He paused. “Bring her to me,” the Duke stated without looking up at his man.
Wickham bowed and made his way to Her Grace’s chambers and knocked on the door. The lady’s maid cracked the door open.
“His Grace has summoned Her Grace,” Wickham relayed.
Elizabeth had heard the lackey. “Inform my husband I am changing. Once I have completed what I need to do, I will be there.”
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Duke was not amused. It was over a half hour before his duchess joined him. “Tell me all!” he instructed.
“I am not sure what you would like to know and from when?” Elizabeth replied impertinently. “Do you mean for the whole of my life or a specific period?”
When motivated by anger as he was now, His Grace was able to stand from his chair with alacrity. He rounded on his wife and pulled his arm back.
She did not flinch and just stood there looking at him with extreme dislike. At the same time, Wickham cleared his throat and Hertfordshire remembered his need to wait until after an heir was born.
The corpulent man stepped back. “Get out of my sight,” he hissed. “I will think of an appropriate punishment for your disrespect!”
‘ With the greatest of pleasure ,’ Elizabeth thought. She turned and made her way back towards the grand staircase and her chambers.
It was only when she reached her chambers that Elizabeth allowed the fear she had felt when he had been prepared to strike her to course through her body. She fell onto her bed, her body wracked by sobs.
Her maid sat on the bed saying not a word and rubbed Her Grace’s back.