Chapter 6
What Fanny did not know was that her brother was not in London. That same morning as she rode towards London in Clem Collins’s rented carriage with her daughters, her brother was saying his vows to his bride, and she was saying them back to him.
Gardiner could not believe that the wonderful woman who had just recited her vows had agreed to marry him.
But it was a fact. After the rector bestowed the final benediction, the newly married couple and their attendants—Maddie had a very good friend from Lambton standing up with her, and Patrick Lambert was doing the duty for Gardiner—made their way to the registry.
The newlywed Gardiners signed their names, with Maddie signing Lambert for the final time, followed by the maid of honour and best man witnessing the signatures.
The latter two departed the registry, closing the door behind them.
Gardiner and his wife finally got to do something they had wanted to do for a long time.
They had their first of many more kisses.
Thanks to much of the courtship, proposal, and engagement being conducted via the post, this was their first opportunity, and neither desired to waste the time they had alone.
The wedding breakfast was at the Lamberts’ house. Many of those who had been in church for the ceremony were present. The Darcys had returned to Pemberley after the service. Gardiner appreciated that they had taken the time to witness his wedding.
Although he had become closer to Mr Darcy and Lord Matlock, he would not suppose on the connection and consider them friends. They were, like his other investors, very happy with the returns he produced.
As they made the short walk from the church to the Lamberts’ house, Gardiner could not have felt more content with his wife on his arm.
A little more than an hour later, they began their slow journey south.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
It was only when they entered the environs of London that Fanny realised she did not know where her brother lived or where his business was located.
She had the coachman take them to an inn in Cheapside, where she released him to return to Faversham.
She paid for a room for a night, using the name Mrs Harding.
When her daughters asked where they were, she told Jane and Lizzy this was part of their surprise.
Regardless of the impending surprise, by the time they reached the room, the two older girls, who had slept part of the way in the carriage, were very restless and complaining of being tired and hungry.
As she did not want to attract too much attention to herself, Fanny purchased some biscuits and milk for the older two and fed Mary. Soon all three were asleep.
She slipped out and walked around close to the inn, asking if anyone knew of a shop belonging to a Mr Gardiner.
As his emporium was quite well-known, Fanny discovered she was not far away, so she walked, following the directions she had been given, and found Gardiner Emporium. She never looked up, because had she done so, Fanny would have seen the sign proclaiming Gardiner and Associates.
On entering her brother’s shop, Fanny approached a shopgirl. “Is Edward Gardiner in?” she asked.
“Sorry, Madam, Mr Gardiner is on his wedding trip,” the girl replied.
“Do you know when he will be back?” Fanny pushed.
“My manager said that it will not be for another sennight or so. Do you want to see the manager?” she enquired.
Fanny was at a loss. Her brother was away. How selfish of him to not be in London when she needed him! She turned on her heel and stalked out of the store. She did not consider that she never gave her name, nor did she state the reason she was seeking Mr Gardiner.
The shopgirl did not think anything of the encounter since many customers did not wish to speak with the manager when Mr Gardiner was unavailable to see to their needs. As far as she was concerned, the lady was another one of those.
Thankfully, Fanny remembered how to get back to the inn where she was staying. Better still, Jane, Lizzy, and Mary were still asleep when she returned, obviously very tired.
Fanny paced back and forth trying to divine a solution to her problem. She could not return to Longbourn with her daughters. No, they were Mr Bennet’s daughters, not hers, because it was his fault they had been girls. She would not forgo her allowance to pay for the upkeep of his daughters.
‘This is the fault of that useless husband of mine! If he had enabled me to bear a son and treated me the way I deserved, I would not be in this situation! What can I do? I cannot return home with the children because Clem will make me pay all costs for them. What am I to do?’ Fanny thought.
Just then she remembered something she had heard about London.
Hyde Park was a location frequented by many of London’s residents.
She was certain that if she left the children there, one of the many people who visited the park would find the girls and turn them over to a parish or the workhouse or something like that.
That was it! She would tell them they were going to get their surprise this evening when they woke.
There were a few biscuits and half of the bottle of milk remaining.
She would take both with them to give the impression they would be having a picnic.
‘Mary!’ Fanny thought. ‘The only option is to feed and change her just before we leave.’ To deflect questions in the morning when the maid found the room empty, Fanny intended to leave a note saying that she and her daughters had departed the inn to travel south early that morning.
At least she thought to take a blanket off the bed to add to the impression that they were to have a picnic.
Fanny waited until later when the sun was sinking in the west. She had decided she did not want to be seen when she left the girls in the park, as she was not ready to answer any questions.
As planned, Fanny fed and changed Mary and woke Jane and Lizzy up.
“Are you ready for your big, exciting surprise?” Fanny asked once the two older girls were fully awake.
“Yeth, Mamma,” Jane responded.
“Good. Follow me, Jane and Lizzy. Jane, be a good big sister and hold Lizzy’s hand.
” Fanny had the blanket, milk, and remaining biscuits in the valise where she had placed Mary’s napkins.
She held the sated and sleeping babe in one arm and picked up her valise as well as the other one with her other arm.
She indicated that the girls should be quiet and opened the door. The hallway was empty.
Luckily, she saw very few people on the way down the stairs, and no one looked at her as she and her daughters exited the inn. She walked away from the inn to the next street, where she hailed a hackney cab.
It was not easy, but with help from the man driving the cab, they made it into the small carriage.
Fanny told him the destination was near Hyde Park, and off they went.
Fanny felt the anticipation building that she would soon be free of the impediments to her receiving an allowance once again.
The fact that Clem Collins never mentioned how much her pin money would be was not remembered as Fanny thought about how she would spend the funds on herself each quarter.
As Fanny had requested, the coachman stopped near Hyde Park.
She gave him an added shilling as the man assisted her and the girls to alight from his hackney.
She waited until he had ridden off, and then, she walked towards the park.
Happily, Fanny noted that there were hardly any people in the park.
She walked past what looked like a winding lake or pond to her, which she did not know was the Serpentine.
She made a turn onto a wide gravel path.
She was unaware that she had turned onto Rotten Row.
About a hundred yards down, she spied a bench near some shrubs.
Fanny looked about and saw no one close to her.
She spread the blanket in a gap between some shrubs behind the bench.
She laid a still-sleeping Mary down on the blanket and placed the remainder of the milk in the bottle along with the biscuits near Mary.
“Jane and Lizzy, Mamma forgot something we needed in the carriage. It is the biggest part of the surprise. She will go collect it and be back. You need to be good for Mamma while she is away and remain right here and be quiet.”
A pair of trusting deep blue eyes and another of emerald-green stared back at their mother as they nodded. “We be good,” Jane promised.
Without looking back, Fanny walked back the way she had come.
As soon as she turned the corner and his daughters were out of sight, she turned and walked across some grass to another path leading to a different exit from the park.
She hailed a hackney and asked to be taken to a coaching inn, one that the post stopped at, on the way out of London towards Bedfordshire.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As the dusk gave way to the dark of night and Mamma had not returned, Jane began to worry.
Lizzy was also upset, but only because Janey was and she could not understand what was wrong.
When they got hungry and thirsty, the two girls shared the biscuits and milk.
Mamma had told them to be still, but surely she did not mean for them to be hungry.
Thankfully, April had been unseasonably warm so far.
The night was cooler, but not cold. Not knowing what to do, Jane had Lizzy lie next to Mary, and she pulled the blanket on that side over them.
She lay down on the other side of her youngest sister, moved as close to Lizzy as she could, and then pulled the blanket on her side over herself.