Chapter 20
Jane Carrington-Bennet was close to the age of eighteen.
She would reach that milestone on the twelfth day of the month.
Of the three sisters adopted by the Carringtons, the day her parents had chosen to celebrate the date of her birth before they had been informed of the true dates was the closest to her actual birthday.
In the years since the adoption of their daughters, word had begun to reach the farthest corners of society that although the Carrington-Bennet girls had initially been thought foundlings, they possessed spectacular fortunes to rival those of some of the daughters of the wealthiest peers in the realm.
Evidently the Earl of Holder had dowered them shortly after the adoption.
In fact, they were not foundlings. Rather, they had been born to a gentleman and his wife. With the reputed massive dowries had they been foundlings, it would have been irrelevant to men chasing a large fortune.
When Gardiner had been reunited with his nieces some seven years past, the amount he held in the account the late Bennet had begun was close to fifty thousand pounds.
Now it was about five and seventy thousand pounds, and that did not count the original amount Holder had invested for his daughters, which had also increased apace over the years.
Thanks to the growth generated by Gardiner, it was now over one hundred and twenty thousand pounds.
That meant that if Jane married soon after her entry into society, her dowry would be a staggering five and sixty thousand pounds.
The rumours estimated the fortunes of the Carrington-Bennet sisters at about forty thousand pounds, large enough to gain the attention of many fortune hunters.
Had the truth been known, none of the sisters would have had a moment’s peace, even before they came out.
Edith and Holder were not too worried about their daughters’ safety thanks to Biggs, Johns, and their men.
When the girls left the house, whether it be in London or the country, alone or in a group, they were never without at least two of the footman-guards escorting them.
So far, the presence of the men—especially the mountainous Biggs and Johns—had discouraged any schemes before they began.
It was known throughout society that the Carringtons’ daughters were as well guarded as royal princesses, so if one was simple enough to attempt anything untoward aimed at one of the heiresses, he did so at his own peril.
If the presence of the footman-guards was not enough of a discouragement, when the sisters were out in public, it was seldom they were not in the company of a combination of Lords Hadlock and Hilldale, Richard Fitzwilliam, and Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Of late Hilldale, who was six and twenty, had been less evident as he was courting the only daughter of the Duke of Bedford, Lady Marie Russell.[5] It was a recent event, one which pleased Hilldale’s mother to no end. Lady Matlock was more than ready to be a grandmother.
Upon returning from his two year grand tour, Andrew Fitzwilliam had thrown himself into the management of his estate, Hilldale, which was within a few miles of Holder heights.
Unfortunately, thanks to the war of aggression the Corsican tyrant had begun, when Richard Fitzwilliam graduated at the end of the 1801-1802 school year, and then when Jamey and William did so with the summation of the 1802-1803 scholastic year, they had not the option to have a grand tour.
With the war raging in Europe, after graduation on the first Tuesday in July 1802, Fitzwilliam intended to join the regulars, specifically the Royal Dragoons.
He did not relish dying on some battlefield, but of all of the professions available to those who were not an heir, the military called to him the most.
No arguments changed his determinations until a conversation with Fitzwilliam’s father some days later.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
July 1802
“Richard you cannot join the army, or any other branch of the military for that matter,” Matlock stated evenly. He had ordered his son to his study at Snowhaven as soon as they arrived back from the ceremony at Cambridge.
“Sir, did you not tell me that the choice of profession was mine? What, other than your order, is preventing me from joining the Dragoons?” Fitzwilliam responded stubbornly.
“Do not tell me that you, Uncle Robert, and Holder will purchase me an estate or gift me one of the existing satellite estates. I will not take charity.”
“You are too proud for your own good, Son,” Matlock retorted and his son looked away.
“I never said may not, I said cannot! Quite without charity, you are the heir to an estate, Rosings Park.
Even before the scarlet fever, Anne de Bourgh was never a strong and healthy person, and her late father knew that very well.
You may not know it, but she is one and twenty, and from what the doctors who have examined her tell, and I do not mean the quacks Catherine tries to foist on her daughter, Anne will not live another full year.
“Knowing that you would not accept what you call charity, and the rest of us all term as caring, your late uncle made you the heir to Rosings Park. You are to inherit in the event that by the time she reaches the age of five and twenty, his daughter is not able to manage the estate, and has no prospect of marrying. If she is called home before that age, you are the one and only heir to the de Bourgh estate, town home in London, and the fortune.” Matlock paused.
“Why do you think my sister has been even more vocal of late, since Anne reached her majority, about her imaginary engagement with William? If Anne marries, Catherine believes William will carry Anne off to Pemberley, even though your Aunt Anne and Uncle Robert are yet hale and healthy. It is all about trying to save her position as the mistress of the estate.”
“As the sole heir to an estate, I am not permitted to join the regulars, am I?” Fitzwilliam confirmed.
“Hence, I said ‘cannot’. You are free to join the militia if you chuse. I am sure Derbyshire’s Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Devonshire, would be more than willing to appoint you with a commission,” Matlock responded.
“Father, you know I have no interest in the militia. If I were to be an officer, it would have been a real officer, not one strutting around the towns in the realm pretending to be a soldier,” Fitzwilliam insisted.
He calmed himself. “Unlike Andy, William, and Jamey, I was never taught anything beyond the basics of estate management.”
“That part is easy. In addition to myself, you will spend time with Andrew, Jamey, Holder, and both Darcys. Any one of those five will assist you. You learn quickly, so I have full confidence in your ability to assimilate what you need. When the sad day comes and you inherit the estate, you will be more than ready,” Matlock predicted.
Fitzwilliam accepted that the path he thought would be his was not to be. He would be a landowner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As his father had predicted it would, Richard Fitzwilliam’s life changed forever in June, less than a year after the conversation where he learnt he was the heir. For the preceding months, he had thrown himself into learning all of the nuances of estate management.
Most of his lessons had been with his Uncle Robert Darcy. In addition, he had spent weeks before and after Easter with the Carringtons at Netherfield Park working with Holder and the steward, Jessop.
The lessons in Hertfordshire had been very valuable to him because the topography and soil was very similar to what he would experience in Kent.
The added advantage was the close proximity of his four female cousins, chief among them Lizzy, who would assist him with information from any of the books she had read on estate management.
It still amazed him how she could recall anything word for word from a tome she had perused.
When he needed help understanding estate ledgers, then Jane was there to assist him.
Mary and Anna did not help with his learning, but he nevertheless greatly enjoyed being in their company.
While he was near Meryton, he had Phillips as a resource when he had any legal questions.
When at Netherfield Park, Fitzwilliam got to know his cousins’ younger sisters and their brother as well.
Knowing how timid Kitty and Lydia used to be, he was impressed by how far they had come in the years since they had been adopted by Phillips and his wife.
The boy, Lawrence, was a good little fellow but rather impish.
As he got older, he greatly enjoyed pranking his sisters and others.
Thanks to all of the help he received in his training, by the time word reached his father that Anne de Bourgh was close to the end, as much as he wished it was not at the cost of her life, Fitzwilliam was ready to take over the management of his estate.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
June 1803
More than ten months after the conversation between Matlock and his second son, with her family—except for her mother—sitting with her, Anne de Bourgh slipped away from the mortal world and entered God’s Kingdom.
Unfortunately for Lady Catherine, her brother and brother-in-law had been made aware of how dire their niece’s situation was by the steward and Mrs Jenkinson—Miss de Bourgh’s companion—ignoring the demands of Lady Catherine that they not mention a word to anyone.
As such, Matlock, Darcy, their wives, and sons had arrived at Rosings Park a day before Anne had succumbed to her maladies. They were grateful they had been able to farewell Anne on her journey to everlasting life at His side.
“You must all leave my estate,” Lady Catherine had blustered the day after her daughter was laid to rest in the de Bourgh crypt next to her late father.