Chapter 27 #2
The current owners clearly cared for the house and inspired their servants to the same care.
Nary a speck of dust was to be seen, on floors or windowsills or door lintels, and the mantelpiece in Elizabeth’s assigned chamber had been impeccably clean.
The linens were clean and neatly darned.
The guest rooms were comfortably furnished and had been scented with sachets of dried lavender in the armoire and on the plumped pillows.
Yet, it was equally apparent that the house had not been appropriately taken care of.
Repairs of various kinds had been left undone, the carpets were threadbare, and the furniture was demonstrably old and might predate Mrs. Bennet’s birth.
Elizabeth stole a glance at her mother. Mrs. Bennet wore a mask of serenity, but to those who knew her, the tightness around her eyes and the set of her mouth betrayed an acute distress.
Wrayburn held many happy memories of her childhood, and to see it in such a dilapidated condition was obviously a veritable wound to her heart.
Elizabeth’s sympathy was stirred, but she refrained from speaking before the maid. There would not be time, at any rate, for the girl was stopping at a door as old as the rest of the house.
“The family is waiting within,” she said, opening the door and stepping aside to allow the Bennets to pass within.
Elizabeth’s eyes went immediately to the four people standing near the fire. Lord Langdon stood next to a dark-haired older woman who was certainly his wife, while flanking them were a red-headed young man a few years over twenty and a pretty, dark-haired girl still in her teens.
“Cousins,” Lord Langdon said, stepping forward with a broad smile, “please allow me to introduce you to my family. My dears, Mrs. Bennet and her daughter, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Cousins, Lady Langdon, my eldest son, Mr. Zachary Rutherford, and my only daughter Miss Priscilla Rutherford.”
The ladies curtseyed and Mr. Rutherford bowed, and Lord Langdon said, “Please, do sit down, and we will enjoy tea momentarily. We have three more sons, but two are at Eton, and the youngest is still in the nursery.”
Elizabeth waited until her mother had taken a seat near the fire and then took a chair some distance away. She had an idea that her mother would like to be able to speak to her cousin somewhat privately.
The Rutherfords waited until their guests had seated themselves, and then Lord Langdon sat down near Mrs. Bennet, while his lady took her place on a couch across from Elizabeth, with her two children on either side.
“I cannot tell you how happy we are to meet you at last, Miss Bennet,” Lady Langdon said. “My husband has spoken often of his cousin Annabelle, and he was overjoyed to receive Mrs. Bennet’s letter last year.”
“I know my mother was extremely happy to receive Lord Langdon’s kind response as well,” Elizabeth said. “I do not know how much you have been told about my family’s rather odd situation…”
“Langdon and I were already wed when your mother was forced to marry Mr. Harper,” Lady Langdon said in a disapproving tone.
“Naturally he could do nothing about it, but he always thought it unconscionable. Not that I wish to cast aspersions on your father, but they apparently had nothing in common, and the marriage was entirely transactional.”
“I do not mind casting aspersions on my father,” Elizabeth said drily.
“I daresay he was forced into the marriage as much as my mother was, but he was not at all a good husband to her. My mother married Mr. Bennet when I was only a year old, and he has always been a father to me, so I truly feel nothing for the long-dead Mr. Harper.”
Lady Langdon heaved a relieved sigh and said, “I am so glad that your mother found an excellent second husband. I understand that you have four sisters?”
“Yes. The oldest, Jane, is actually my stepsister, but she was two when my mother married her father, so I grew up with her, and we are the best of friends. We have three younger sisters, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia, who are ages eighteen, seventeen, and fifteen.”
“Oh, how lovely to have so many sisters,” Miss Rutherford said, speaking for the first time.
Elizabeth smiled at the girl and said, “It is, though a brother would have been extremely welcome too. Unfortunately, Longbourn, Mr. Bennet’s estate, is entailed away from the female line.”
Lady Langdon grimaced and said, “My husband mentioned that. It is a hard thing for your family. Of course, one could argue that we benefited from a similar situation given that Wrayburn did not go to your mother but to Stanley.”
Elizabeth looked around at the room. Like the rest of the house, it was well cleaned and tidy, but also like the rest of the house, the curtains were worn, as was the furniture.
Lady Langdon said wryly. “Langdon’s inheritance of Wrayburn came with its own challenges, of course.”
Elizabeth sighed and said, “I never met my grandfather, naturally, but Mother tells me that he was a gambler and a spendthrift.”
“He was,” the older lady said grimly, “and while he did not leave overwhelming debts behind, he let everything go to rack and ruin here at Wrayburn. But enough of that, my dear; will you not tell us about your plans for the upcoming Season? Our own preparations have kept us busy, and Priscilla is looking forward to it a great deal…”