Chapter 17
Like his fellow Carrington courier the previous day, the man arrived after sundown.
Jensen opened the front door and received the single missive, this one addressed to his mistress and Lady Anne.
As he had the previous evening, he sent the man to the kitchens and then placed the letter on a salver and made his way up to the drawing room.
After bowing in a stately fashion, he approached Lady Matlock and extended the silver salver to her.
They had all been talking about their departure with the dawn on the morrow when the butler delivered the epistle. “It is from Edith!” Lady Elaine exclaimed. “Anne, it is addressed to both of us. Why would she send a second letter?”
“Poor Edith. This must mean she has lost custody of our girls,” Lady Anne lamented as tears of sympathy began to fall for her friend.
“Anne, dear, do you not think that you and Elaine should read the missive first before you assume the worst?” Darcy suggested. He came and stood in front of his wife and lifted her face, so she could see his face wreathed in concern.
“I suppose I was being a silly goose to react in such a way before we read what Edith wrote,” Lady Anne owned as she dried her eyes with her husband’s handkerchief. She was thankful that William, Anna, and their cousins were not with them at that moment. Seeing her cry would have upset them.
“Come sit next to me, Anne, and let us read this before we purchase trouble.” Lady Elaine patted the settee next to her. As soon as her sister-in-law sat, she broke the seal and held the epistle where they could both see it.
4 January 1800
Holder House
Elaine and Anne, my dearest friends and sisters of my heart.
Ignore all of my worries and the woes I expressed that I believed were on the horizon; none of them have come to pass! I know, I was so sure I was about to lose my daughters, your nieces, and I have never been so happy to be wrong in my life!
“All is well!” Lady Elaine exclaimed.
“I have not read the whole letter yet, but Edith assured us that none of the fears she expressed in the missives we received yesterday have come to pass. The girls are remaining with them,” Lady Anne added. “Allow us to complete the reading, and then, we will allow you two to see it.”
After seeing nods from their husbands, the two ladies returned to reading the rest of what Edith wrote.
Mr Gardiner is in fact the uncle of Jane, Lizzy, and Mary. Also, he is their guardian. However, like it is ours, his main concern is the welfare and happiness of his nieces. As such, he and his wife decided that it would be cruel to rip the girls away from the only parents they have ever known.
Rather than lose us, our daughters will gain another aunt, uncle, and cousin. If that were not enough, they have two half-sisters living at Longbourn near Meryton in Hertfordshire, the estate where they were born!
We had our men searching in Herefordshire when they actually were from an estate barely 20 miles from London. Who will tell Lady Catherine that they were never foundlings and were in fact gently born? Knowing her she would not allow facts to change her opinions.
Mr Gardiner told us why his late sister abandoned the girls and how she came to own her mistakes close to the end of her life. I do not want to write about that now, but when I see you, there is much to tell.
The Gardiners are still here with us, but I excused myself to write this to you. I did not want to leave you with the upset I am certain was caused by what I wrote from a place of fear and anguish.
I will end here so that this can be sealed and sent on its way with one of our couriers.
With my warmest, happiest regards.
Edith
“Things could not be better,” Lady Elaine stated as she handed her husband the epistle.
Matlock could not but agree with his wife as he read the words on the page.
He handed the letter to Darcy. He was well pleased that Gardiner had only thought of the welfare of his nieces.
In the darkest moments, after seeing how badly his wife’s and sister’s equanimities were upset the previous night after reading what their friend had written, he had been thinking of ways he would be able to help by using his power as an earl.
Matlock was relieved he would not have to think along those lines any further.
He knew himself well enough to know he would have done nothing besides think about doing something; his honour would not have allowed him to interfere without Holder’s request for assistance.
While Darcy was reading, the three young men entered the drawing room.
They looked at one another with surprise, having expected their parents to be in dark moods as they contemplated the dash south on the morrow.
They certainly did not anticipate seeing their parents smiling and looking as happy as could be.
“What has changed?” Hilldale enquired for his brother and cousin.
“We will still travel to visit the Carringtons, but it is no longer urgent,” Lady Anne sang. “Your cousins are not leaving us…” She related what had been in the missive.
William felt a wave of relief wash over him. He told himself that the ebullience he was feeling at Lizzy and her sisters not leaving them was only for the fact that no one would have to tell Anna that Lizzy would not be a cousin any longer.
“We will depart on Wednesday as we originally planned,” Matlock announced after conferring with Darcy.
“We will leave you at Cambridge,” he looked at his son and heir, and then, at his younger son and William, “and you two at Eton, on the day we had intended to do so, and we will continue on to London.”
Lady Elaine ordered champagne served to celebrate the excellent news.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Agatha, please read this and tell me if my eyes are only seeing that which I want to see?” Phillips requested.
An express had arrived from Gardiner in the late morning on Monday. In and of itself, it was not out of the ordinary, but the words were those he had given up hope of ever reading. That led to him ringing for Hill and requesting he tell Mrs Phillips she was required in the study.
“Frank Phillips! Your eyes are as good as anyone’s. That being said, hand me the missive, and I will read it.” She took the paper from her husband and sat in one of the armchairs before the desk. She began to read.
4 January 1800
23 Gracechurch Street
London
Phillips:
I have seen Janey, Lizzy, and Mary. Not only are they all well, but they are thriving.
They were discovered by Viscount Hadlock, then 8, and his parents, the Earl and Countess of Holder. By the Grace of God, they had been in Hyde Park for no longer than 12 hours…
Gardiner went on to describe how he and Maddie had been invited to Holder House, and everything they had seen there. He also explained how Phillips’s letter led to the realisation the search for family had been in the wrong county.
You will, I am sure, not condemn me for transferring the guardianship to Holder.
I would have been as selfish as Fanny used to be before her change of heart, had I demanded to have the girls come live with me, thereby separating them from the only parents they have ever known.
I could not nor would not do that. Maddie agrees with me completely.
We will be involved in their lives as aunt and uncle, and also, Maddie and I have been added as godparents for all three of the girls and Lord Hadlock as well.
Lord and Lady Holder have told us we can see the girls whenever they are in London, or we are near one of their estates and they are in residence.
Regarding estates, Holder wants to arrange to see Netherfield Park.
He told me of his determination to purchase it, especially now, so that his daughters will know where their family lived.
He will write to you anon to set up a date to visit the estate, one convenient to both of you.
The whole family (except for the viscount, who will be back at Eton for his final year there; he is 16) will come to Hertfordshire.
Wait until you meet the sisters; each of them is exceptional, and so much beauty in three girls is astounding.
Jane looks very much like a younger version of Fanny.
It is much more than physical; they are wonderful girls, inside and out.
The Carringtons are educating them far beyond the traditional subjects young ladies are expected to know.
The girls are very keen to meet their younger sisters. That, of course will be up to you and Agatha as to how and when such a meeting occurs.
With regards to you and Agatha,
Gardiner
“Yes, Frank, your eyes were not deceiving you. Edward saw the Bennet sisters, and it seems that soon so will we,” Agatha said after placing the epistle down on the desk.
“I know it was not Fanny’s intent at the time, but it seems she ended up giving them a good life.
If only she had thrown off her selfishness before she left them in Hyde Park,” Phillips responded.
“There is nothing we can do to change the past, so there is no point harping on it. I look forward to seeing them when they come to see our estate with Lord and Lady Holder.”
“Kitty and Lyddie are not aware of their three older sisters. I will explain it to them without casting their late mother as the villainess she used to be,” Agatha mused.
“What do we tell our neighbours, if anything?” Phillips wondered.