Page 64 of The Next Mrs Bennet
“Y ou are gifting us dowries of how much !” Jane exclaimed with the volume of her voice rising. It was hard enough to comprehend her sister’s wealth, but this was far too much.
“Was I not clear? You will each have one hundred thousand pounds,” Elizabeth repeated. “Once word gets out, every fortune hunter in the land will be after you…”
“And you, Lizzy,” Madeline interjected. “You know it is true.”
“I suppose it is,” Elizabeth mused. “Do not forget, I will always be with John, Brian, and Albert when I am not at home, and I have asked them to find more men of their quality to guard not only me but my sisters as well.” She paused as she remembered what they had been discussing. “Uncle Frank is having the conditions of the release of the dowries written in such a way that a fortune hunter will not benefit from even one penny. Moreover, if some man is dishonourable enough to convince one of you to elope, other than the one thousand pounds you would have received from Mrs. Bennet’s portion, you will receive nothing.”
“I for one would never elope,” Lydia insisted.
“Lyddie, I am happy to hear that. Also Janey, did you not hear how much the Duke of Bedford will be paying for the shipyards?” Jane nodded. “Even after your dowries are deducted and invested, I will still have a vast amount remaining, and when you add that to what is in the various bank accounts already…” Elizabeth trailed off not saying what she was about to. She still felt uncomfortable with the amount of her vast wealth.
“If you put it like that, then I suppose all I can do is thank you for your generosity,” Jane responded. “I do not want to feel like I am taking advantage of you, Lizzy. We are living with you, you are giving us a quarterly allowance which makes what we received in the past at Longbourn in a year a mere pittance, and you will be purchasing new wardrobes for all of us. Need I go on?”
“Do you not understand what a pleasure it is for me to be able to do this for all of you?” Elizabeth challenged. “The fact it was his money, and I am able to lavish it on you, whom he threatened to gain my compliance makes it even sweeter for me to do.”
“I understand your desire to turn what was once used for evil to good. Thank you for loving and caring for us as you do, Lizzy.” Jane averred.
There was a chorus of appreciation from the three youngest Bennet sisters.
“When are Lord Hilldale and Lawrence Portnoy supposed to call?” Elizabeth asked, causing her older sister and Charlotte to blush with pleasure.
“By the way, Charlotte, I intend to speak to your father about dowering you and Maria as well,” Elizabeth whispered in her friend’s ear.
“Eliza!” Charlotte admonished.
“Why not? I have more than I, more than all of us, would be able to spend before the Second Coming,” Elizabeth stated quietly. “What is it all for if I am not able to gain pleasure from being generous to those I love?”
“Maria and I are not blood; it would not be the same,” Charlotte protested.
“Would you gainsay a duchess?” Elizabeth teased. “To me, you and your family are my family,” Elizabeth said with conviction.
“I know how hard it is to divert you once your mind is made up. Speak to Papa; I will leave it up to him,” Charlotte capitulated.
Just then the butler entered carrying his silver salver. “Mr. Gardiner and Mr. Philips, please pardon me, these arrived while you were out with Her Grace. I had handed them to Mrs. Philips and she requested I give them to you on your return. I was caught up in my duties until now,” the butler stated contritely.
“No harm done,” Gardiner said as he removed the two missives. He kept the one addressed to himself and handed the other to Philips.
“It is in my clerk’s hand,” Philips shared. “I wonder why Jackson sent me an express. By the direction, it was posted to Lambton and then forwarded to Gracechurch Street.”
Gardiner was the first one to break the seal. He read the note quickly which caused his eyebrows to climb up to his hairline. “I think I need to read this to you all.”
Philips had just read his letter. “I agree with Gardiner,” he added.
Gardiner cleared his throat and began to read.
1 April 1807
Law Office, Meryton, Hertfordshire
Mr. Gardiner:
I know you had permanently broken with Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Bennet but you need to know that Mr. Bennet passed away today.
Ever since Her Grace and her sisters left Longbourn, the remaining Bennets were ostracised by the locals hereabout. It had been some time since either Mr. or Mrs. Bennet had been seen in the town (not since Mrs. Bennet spent her time in the town gaol).
From what the Hills have shared, Mrs. Bennet kept to her chambers for the most part while Mr. Bennet lived within his study. It is reported he drank larger and larger quantities each day. In the last few months of his life, he was finishing at least two bottles of brandy, whiskey, or gin every day and had given up port as it was not strong enough.
I have sent a letter to the last known address of the heir and will notify you and Mr Philips when Mr Collins makes contact.
I do need to inform you from what I can tell, Mr. Bennet has been using the money from Mrs. Bennet’s settlement to pay for his and the estate’s expenses. There is barely ?800 left.
Until I receive instructions from Mr. Philips, I am his and your servant.
L. Jackson
Head Clerk
Philips and Gardiner traded letters; in essentials they were the same.
“Will we have to mourn him?” Kate asked.
“That will be up to each of you. You know I will not,” Elizabeth responded. She turned to her Uncle Frank. “Will you write to your clerk and inform him I would like to meet with the heir as soon as may be?”
“I will, but would you like to share why?” Philips averred.
“Let us see if the heir is willing to meet with a member of the fairer sex, and then I will reveal what I have in mind,” Elizabeth returned.
Even though she had not wished this on the man who had been her father, Elizabeth found she felt no sorrow at his passing. He had been complicit in selling her into slavery, making her a brood mare for a disgusting old man.
She was well aware it was her Christian duty to forgive, but not yet. Perhaps one day in the future, but she was not close to being ready to do so at present. Even if she was able to eventually forgive him, she would never be able to forget.
“We are for the Drury Lane with the Darcys and Fitzwilliams to see Much Ado About Nothing this evening,” Hattie reminded everyone. “Those who need to, what say you we make for Meryton in the morning?” There was general agreement.
Gardiner took his leave to return to his wife.
A few minutes later the butler showed the Fitzwilliam brothers, Lawrence Portnoy, and William Darcy into the drawing room. Elizabeth found herself blushing with pleasure at the men’s arrival—just like Jane and Charlotte were doing.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
A light dinner was held at Darcy House that evening for the group who would be attending the theatre. It was a fairly large group, but with the Fitzwilliam box right next to the Darcy box, there would be more than enough seats between the two.
Everyone would return to Hertfordshire House for supper after the performance.
When Lady Elizabeth entered the drawing room at his father’s house, William felt his breath hitch on seeing her. She was already beautiful. This night, however, she was resplendent in a hunter-green silk gown. Her jewels were chosen tastefully, rather than as a demonstration of wealth as so many in the upper ten thousand were wont to do.
Her raven, wavy hair—how he longed to run his fingers through her silky tresses—was piled up on top of her head with some curls loosely framing her face and cascading down her neck in back.
Andrew had a similar reaction to Jane with whom he was rapidly falling in love. In fact, he planned to find a moment to request a courtship that night. As soon as Jane entered the room, Andrew was at her side to lead her to a seat next to him, of course.
Lawrence Portnoy was convinced his future happiness lay with Miss Lucas, he intended to request a private interview from her soon. He suspected she had tender feelings for him, but he wanted a few more days to be sure.
Killion, Darcy House’s butler announced dinner.
William led Elizabeth into the dining room and seated her next to himself. His cousins Andrew and Lawrence did the same with the lady who held each of their interests.
The four younger girls—Anna, Mary, Kate, and Lydia—would remain at Darcy House for the night under the care of Miss Younge and some of the Darcy and Hertfordshire footmen and guards. As they all understood their time would come one day, none of the younger girls complained about having to remain at home.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The edict regarding no mourning for the late dastardly Duke of Hertfordshire had appeared in all the newspapers that morning. In addition was one from His Grace, Charles Manners-Sutton, The Most Reverend Willowmere, by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Her Majesty’s vicar , which announced that Archibald Chamberlain had been posthumously excommunicated.
Other than the few who briefly saw her at her presentation, no one other than the Duchess of Bedford and Lady Jersey recognised the newly widowed Duchess of Hertfordshire when she entered the theatre with a large group.
Both ladies kept their knowledge of the Duchess’s presence to themselves, informing only their husbands. They resolved to visit the Fitzwilliams and Darcys at the first intermission to garner introductions. All the while, the gossip-hungry attendees at the Drury Lane that evening clamoured to discover who the two unknown beauties were.
That the dark-haired beauty was on the Darcy heir’s arm and the blonde was being escorted by Viscount Hilldale only increased the Ton’s desire to know who they were. Another lady, not as pretty as the first two, was on the arm of the Portnoy heir. Although he had impeccable connections, their presence was not as interesting as his family was not nearly as wealthy as the Darcys.
The group did not stop to speak with anyone in the foyer, nodding to some acquaintances, and made their way directly up to the Fitzwilliam and Darcy boxes. Elizabeth, Gardiner—his wife had insisted he attend, and Charlotte were seated in the Darcy box while Jane and the Philipses joined the four Fitzwilliams.
Elizabeth was enchanted; the view of the stage was excellent from the Darcy box. She loved Shakespeare and especially his comedies. For her, the one they were to see that evening was second only to A Midsummer Night’s Dream . Now that she had limitless funds, seeing all of the Bard’s plays from her own box would not be a problem for her.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As was her wont, Caroline Bingley chose to arrive anywhere at a time she deemed to be fashionably late. In this instance, it was after the final bell signalling the commencement of the first act, so rather than crowds in the foyer looking at her admiringly—as she felt was her due, there were only the retreating backs of some patrons making their way to their seats.
Thanks to the late hour Bingley had purchased his two tickets, the seats he and his sister found themselves in were almost at the end of the second to last row, and there was a column which half obscured their view of the stage.
Caroline Bingley did not care that she could not see the stage as there was one advantage to the terrible seats. With the use of her Galilean binoculars, she had a clear view of the Darcy and Fitzwilliam boxes.
She trained her opera glasses on the Matlock’s box first. The Viscount was seated next to his mother and next to him was a very pretty young lady. Her dress, however, was a few seasons out of fashion and there were no jewels of which to speak. Caroline guessed she was about her own age. Next to the woman was the second son. In addition, there were two unknown people in the box, an older couple who were very unfashionably dressed.
Then she swung her glasses to peer into the Darcy box. There were Mr. Darcy and Lady Anne with an unfashionable man next to them. There was a young lady, rather plain in Caroline’s opinion, sitting next to one of the Darcy cousins.
She frowned when she did not at first see the man she intended to marry. Then she noticed on the other side of the couple she had just seen was the Darcy heir, deep in conversation with, and smiling at—he never smiled at her in that way—a very pretty young lady. Unlike the one in the Fitzwilliam box, this one was wearing a current and fashionable evening gown. She wore jewellery which was far too understated.
Seeing the lack of jewels assured Caroline the woman would have a small dowry, nothing like her twenty thousand pounds.
The lights dimmed and the performance commenced so try as she might, Miss Bingley could no longer see the occupants of the Darcy box.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As soon as the lights burned bright at the end of the first act, Miss Bingley again trained her glasses on the Darcy box. The interloper and her intended practically had their heads together.
“Charles, do you know who those people in the Darcy box are?” she demanded.
Bingley trained his Galilean binoculars in the direction his sister was looking. As he moved his glasses he saw a flash of blonde and immediately traversed back the way he had been moving.
There sitting and speaking to Lord Hilldale was the most perfect blonde angel he had ever seen.
Seeing her brother was fixated on the blonde, Miss Bingley elbowed him in his ribs. Bingley reluctantly swung his vision to the Darcy box. “I only know one of the men. He is Mr. Edward Gardiner, the owner of an import-export company our late father had some dealings with.”
“How can the Darcy’s entertain a tradesman?” Miss Bingley hissed.
Not wanting to cause an argument, Bingley did not point out his sister’s hypocrisy by reminding her, they were the children of a tradesman and the money for her oft boasted- about dowry was all from trade. Additionally, Bingley did not want to tell his sister he knew Mr. Gardiner because he was himself still active in trade. What he had said about his father, had basically been the truth.
Miss Bingley stood up to begin her way up to the Darcy box. She stopped when her brother placed a restraining hand on her arm.
“More than half of the intermission is over, we will not reach them before the lights go down again,” Bingley stated, “The intermission after the second act is longer, so as soon as the next act ends, I will accompany you.” He had to meet the angel.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Andrew and Jane were the only two left in the box as Lord Matlock, Mr. Philips, and Richard had gone to find refreshments while Lady Matlock and Mrs. Philips had joined those in the Darcy box.
“Miss Bennet, Jane, my attentions to you have been too marked for you not to recognise my interest in you, which is completely honourable. If you grant it, I would like to enter a formal courtship with you,” Andrew stated as he looked directly into her cerulean blue eyes. “During the time we have been together, I have developed extremely tender feelings for you, teetering on the precipice of love. I have never been drawn to another woman before you, and I am quite sure there can never be any other than you for me.”
“As I do not feel quite the same for you,” Jane did not miss how Andrew’s face fell a little, “in fact, I may already be in love with you,” her suitor's face was beaming now, “I would like nothing better than to be courted by you,” Jane responded as she glowed with pleasure. “You will have to speak first to Lizzy though, and then with her agreement, to my uncles. Is it not strange my younger sister is technically my guardian?”
Before Andrew could respond, the rest of those seated with them in the box returned. No one commented on the look of bliss shared by Andrew and Jane.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At the next intermission, before all the lights were lit, Miss Bingley was dragging her brother towards the nearest stairs, not giving a whit on whose toes she stepped in her haste.
When they arrived at the Darcy box, she did not wait to be invited to enter, she simply barged in. From close-up she could see the intimacy between her intended and the raven-haired beauty and that drove any discretion from her mind.
“I suppose you are connected to the tradesman who wheedled his way into my friends, the Darcys’ box,” Miss Bingley sneered at the dark-haired young lady next to the Darcy heir.
If she had taken the trouble to look, she would have seen the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, the Earls of Jersey and Matlock along with their Countesses looking at her as if she was fit for Bedlam. All Miss Bingley saw, however, was the person standing too close to the one she counted as her own.
Elizabeth shook her head so all the men and women who were about to spring to her defence restrained themselves. “Even though we have not been introduced, I am proud to say the tradesman, as you called him, is a much-loved uncle,” Elizabeth responded sweetly.
“How did one with ties to trade force herself on the younger Mr. Darcy?” Miss Bingley spat. “Some may think you prettyish, but you have no style, no jewellery to speak of, I am sure you do not have close to my twenty thousand pound dowry, and your complexion is so brown. I suppose that is from working as a shopgirl somewhere.”
Bingley was doing his best to fade into the background hoping he could simply go to the neighbouring box to meet the angel when Gardiner recognised him. “I assume that person is your sister?” Gardiner barked at Bingley.
“Yes, she is,” Bingley admitted with great chagrin. “Miss Caroline Bingley.”
“Miss Bingley, your father was in trade, your brother is in trade, and you dare to disdain others for the same background as yourself?” Gardiner pointed out.
Before she could respond, her pallor turned a deep shade of puce. There was nothing Caroline Bingley hated more than having her roots pointed out, especially in front of those whom she was trying to impress. The young lady next to her Mr. Darcy stood.
“Lady Anne, will you please introduce this person who has invaded our pleasant time without invitation?” Elizabeth requested with a twinkle in her eye.
Caroline was about to berate the person for daring to ask to be introduced to one so far above her as Caroline knew she was. Lady Anne spoke first.
“It will be my displeasure before we rid ourselves of this blight forever, Your Grace ,” Lady Anne averred.
Caroline’s world came to a sudden halt. She must have misheard. Lady Anne responded as if the one before her was a…duchess! No, it could not be she had just verbally attacked a duchess with so many members of the Ton looking on.
If only she could have disappeared. Instead, she had to stand there and try to salvage some dignity. “Lady Elizabeth, this pretentious harpy is Miss Caroline Bingley of Scarborough, the daughter of an honourable tradesman . Miss Bingley, Her Grace , Lady Elizabeth Chamberlain, Duchess of Hertfordshire and Marchioness of Hertford Heights.”
While Caroline Bingley was wishing herself away—anywhere but where she was—the identity of the beauty on the Darcy heir’s arm was soon spread to the farthest corners of the theatre.
“Bingley, how many times have you been told your sister is not welcome among us?” William shook his head as he spoke to his friend. “Until and unless you are willing and able to exert control over your sister, who has most certainly ruined herself tonight, I will not know you.”
Both Bingleys left the Darcy box in shock. They made for the exit and called for their carriage. One saw all her dreams disappear as wisps of smoke in the wind while her brother was finally asking himself if the cost of placating his younger sister was too high a price to bear. He also realised that he never met the blonde angel!
Back in the box, Elizabeth was introduced to the Rhys-Davies and De Melvilles. Both couples along with their sons and daughters who had accompanied them to the Drury Lane were invited back to Hertfordshire House for supper, an invitation that was gladly accepted.