Chapter 1
“Tell me again how it happened, Jane. I must hear it,” begged Mrs Bennet for what Elizabeth felt was the hundredth time since Jane had arrived home two days ago, collected by the Longbourn carriage from the London stagecoach. “How did Lord Grantchester propose to you?”
With that, their mother settled back on the sofa again, setting down the embroidery hoop on which she had not completed a stitch in some weeks, but still took up in the parlour sometimes as though she might.
The sound of Mary practicing scales on the pianoforte sounded through the wall from the drawing room and would usually have caused complaint from Mrs Bennet. Today, it was ignored.
“There is little to tell, Mother,” Jane answered.
Elizabeth, who was watching her sister closely, noticed the small, embarrassed sigh she gave at being made to repeat the story yet again, but their mother did not.
“We danced together twice at the Morgan House ball and then ate an ice. After that, Lord Grantchester suggested a walk in the gardens, so we went outside with Aunt Gardiner and Lord Keeble. They walked behind us.”
“How very tactful of Mrs Gardiner,” commented Mrs Bennet approvingly. “How skilfully she brought things on.”
“From her letter, I believe our aunt was as astonished by the news as everyone else,” Elizabeth remarked, but was rapidly hushed by her mother, who often preferred her own fantasies to reality.
“Do go on, Jane,” Mrs Bennet urged.
“After a while, Lord Grantchester told me that he liked me very much and wondered if I would do him the honour of marrying him. It was rather unexpected, and I did not know what to say at first. He was very good, assuring me that he did not require an immediate answer and that I might talk it over with my relatives first.”
“But you did accept him that night,” Elizabeth said with a slight frown, unable to quell the instinct that it might have been better to have taken Lord Grantchester’s advice. “So very quickly. I wondered why?”
“Well, she loves him, of course,” snorted Mrs Bennet, as though stating the obvious. “Something that you would know nothing about, Miss Lizzy, since you will not exert yourself to find a husband at all.”
In contrast to their mother, Jane hesitated before replying to Elizabeth’s question.
She made no remark on Mrs Bennet’s assertions.
“I am sure that Lord Grantchester is a good man and I do like him very much, Lizzy,” Jane said earnestly.
“I believe he will be the kindest of husbands. Seeing how happy our engagement has made everyone, I am sure I have made the right choice in accepting him.”
“Of course you have, my clever little duck,” Mrs Bennet crowed, casting a glare towards Elizabeth. “You’ve no need to explain yourself to Lizzy or anyone else. It’s all quite natural, to my mind.”
But was it? Jane was always so modest and softly spoken that it was hard to discern the deeper feelings below her simple words and faint blush.
Equally, their mother’s presence was likely some restraint on sisterly confidences.
Then again, Jane had spoken little of her private feelings on her engagement alone in their shared bedroom either.
Elizabeth felt a faint pang. Was marriage to be the end of the close relationship they had enjoyed since childhood? Perhaps it was. Maybe it would be Lord Grantchester to whom Jane would now confide her secret thoughts and feelings, not Elizabeth.
But Elizabeth did not have long to think such mournful thoughts. All private musings were soon interrupted and dispersed entirely by Lydia and Kitty, who came rushing into the room from the gardens with excited faces and raised voices, their hair and bonnets flying about them.
“He is coming, he is coming!” said Lydia gleefully, dancing about Jane’s chair. “Come and see, Jane. Lord Grantchester rides a big chestnut horse, doesn’t he?”
“He may do,” laughed Jane, declining to let her younger sisters pull her from her chair.
“Lord Grantchester has many horses, I believe. No, there is no need for me to come outside and peer at this rider. If it is Lord Grantchester, he will stop and come inside soon enough. He said he would be here for tea today and usually keeps good time.”
“You stay right there,” Mrs Bennet agreed, regarding Jane critically. “You look absolutely perfect as you are in that white dress, with the vase of white and orange flowers on the table beside you. But let me pinch your cheeks to put some roses in them.”
“Mother!” Elizabeth objected, urging Mrs Bennet away from Jane. “Lydia and Kitty must go and tidy themselves up if they are to meet Lord Grantchester, must not they?”
For once, Mrs Bennet agreed with her second daughter without argument.
“Yes, oh my word! Look at the two of you. Lydia, Kitty, go upstairs at once and put yourselves right. You must not embarrass Jane before her fiancé. Lizzy, go and tell your father that Lord Grantchester is here and he must meet him at the door. Then, get Hill to make tea. Jane and I will remain here in the parlour.”
Pushing her excitable younger sisters ahead of her out of the room, Elizabeth went slowly to do her mother’s bidding, wishing to be sure that the gentleman glimpsed by Lydia and Kitty really was Lord Grantchester and not some other passing stranger.
Knocking on the library door, she put her head around and smiled at her father. “We believe Lord Grantchester may be approaching, Father, if Lydia and Kitty are correct.”
“And if they are not correct, Lord Grantchester may not be approaching,” he replied cheerfully, though he nevertheless put a bookmark in his book. “Ah, well. I suppose I must put on my jacket and polish my spectacles. It is not every day that we have such august company.”
“Lord Grantchester is perfectly amiable,” Elizabeth assured her father with a smile. “He is not at all pompous and grand. I hope Mother does not fuss over him too much.”
“That wish, I fear, is bound to be in vain,” her father replied with grave humour, joining her now at the library door. “Well, well, let us go and take a look at him.”
∞∞∞
“Belton Manor? Yes, it is a very picturesque house,” Elizabeth commented cheerfully. “Some think it a little secluded with all those high hedges and trees about the place, but I have always liked it.”
“I am glad my choice meets with your approval, Sister Elizabeth,” returned Lord Grantchester jovially, his chestnut-haired, grey-eyed countenance easy and polite under the interested gaze of the many Bennet girls.
“I considered several houses available for rent in the neighbourhood, and Belton Manor suited me best.”
“It is a little small, is it not?” Mrs Bennet ventured, not willing to criticise but unable to hide some degree of disappointment.
“Compared to Netherfield Park, for instance. Netherfield is only a few miles from here and so much larger than Belton Manor. Old Lady Furness lived out a long widowhood at Belton, but I can’t imagine it would do for any real hospitality, or a family. ”
Lord Grantchester shrugged, unoffended by any questioning of his choice.
“Indeed, you are quite right, Mrs Bennet. As a permanent residence, Netherfield Park would be vastly superior. However, I was seeking only a pied-à-terre for when I visit Hertfordshire. It is very convenient for the London road, and I doubt anyone but myself and my friend Lord Keeble will stay there.”
“Is Lord Keeble with you?” Mrs Bennet asked, her ears immediately pricking up at the mention of another potentially single nobleman in the neighbourhood. “And his wife, perhaps?”
“Lord Keeble is unmarried, and yes, he has accompanied me to Hertfordshire,” answered Lord Grantchester, casting a smiling glance at Jane and Elizabeth. “He is presently settling in at Belton Manor, but I look forward to introducing him to you.”
“Oh, you must, Lord Grantchester,” Mrs Bennet enthused. “My girls would love to meet Lord Keeble too. Any friend of yours will be most welcome here at Longbourn. Isn’t that right, Mr Bennet?”
“Quite as you say, I am sure, my dear,” nodded her husband, content to watch rather than participate in the mildly humorous spectacle of Mrs Bennet fawning over her titled prospective son-in-law.
“Lizzy said that you are a great dancer,” Lydia spoke up boldly. “I hope you will accompany Jane to the Meryton assembly while you are here.”
“Lydia,” Jane chided mildly, the first time Elizabeth could remember her speaking after the first round of polite greetings. “Lord Grantchester may have other plans while he is in Hertfordshire. We should not monopolise him.”
“Not at all, my dear Jane, although I thank you for your consideration, and Miss Elizabeth for her compliment,” he replied cheerfully.
“I do like to dance, although I cannot say I am a great dancer. Keeble is very light on his feet, however. I am sure that he would be happy to stand up with Miss Lydia, and any of Jane’s other sisters. ”
“How very wonderful that would be,” Mrs Bennet responded almost greedily, already likely marrying all her unbetrothed daughters off to Lord Keeble in her imagination, Elizabeth suspected. “We shall all go to the Meryton assembly together, shall we not, Mr Bennet?”
“I suppose so,” sighed her husband, his want of enthusiasm more than compensated by Lydia and Kitty’s delight.
Mary’s expression, meanwhile, was politely contrary, and Elizabeth guessed she was about to make one of her rather joyless remarks on the pointless nature of dancing.
“The next assembly is on Tuesday,” Elizabeth volunteered, taking control of the conversation. “Does that suit you, Lord Grantchester?”
“Very much indeed,” he agreed heartily. “Matthew, that is, Lord Keeble, will be very pleased when I tell him. He was already wondering about the local society here when I left him. We intend to visit frequently during my engagement, and I hope this will only be the first of many evenings at the assembly.”