Chapter 21 #2
A pair of eyes watched their every move from behind a tree. Soon he would get his due. If only the brat were not with so many people. He would make no move with the hated Fitzwilliam and William Darcy among the party.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Of course I will accompany you to the coming out ball at Holder House for one of those foundlings,” Miss Bingley screeched.
“If they are so bold as to have a ball for one of the foundlings, who more than likely was born on the wrong side of the blanket, then I, with my impeccable breeding, class, and dowry of twenty thousand pounds, will not be turned away.”
As the Hursts would no longer have Caroline in their house, Bingley had rented a small house for himself. He was—unfortunately—after all her guardian.
“No, Caroline. You will not come with me! The invitation expressly states that it is for me, and me alone, no guest, no one to accompany me, and most definitely not you,” Bingley shot back.
“If I were you, I would be very careful about saying anything negative about the Carrington-Bennet sisters. They are counted as daughters as surely as if Lady Holder birthed them of her body. Aside from that, it is well known their late parents were married and their late father was a landowner from a long line of landed gentry, which means they are very much legitimate. Thanks to that knowledge about their birth family, they are not foundlings. Hence, denigrate them at your own peril because that is a sure way to ruin yourself in the society you so crave. So for the final time: NO! You will not be with me on the morrow when I attend the ball, as I was the only one invited.”
Caroline Bingley could not understand why neither her brother nor her sister would bend to her will.
With or without their assistance she would reach the heights of society.
Being able to attend the ball at Holder House had been a large piece in her plan to place herself before Viscount Hadlock.
She had planned to use her arts and allurements to ensnare him, but thanks to her brother’s intransigence she would have to find another way.
“You do not care about our late parents’ wishes for me?” Miss Bingley attempted one last time to manipulate her brother. That this stratagem had never worked before did not discourage her.
“That tired old lie again?” Bingley snorted derisively.
“You forget I had conversations with both Mother and Father before each was called home to God.
Like me, they never understood where these pretentions of yours came from, because as you well know, neither one of them ever encouraged this nonsense in you.
In fact, they were more than happy with their station as a tradesman and his wife.
Do not forget that much to your chagrin, Father made his wishes plain in his Last Will and Testament.
“You, and you alone, are the one who deludes herself that she will rise in society or that members of the first circles, not to mention those of noble birth, would be interested in you, the daughter of a man who was active in trade until the day he went to his eternal reward.”
“I have twenty thousand pounds. Also, I am of the utmost class and a highly desirable woman with all of the social graces,” Miss Bingley screeched.
“Surely they taught you at school that it is birth and not wealth which determines your place in society? No matter how much you try to ignore the fact or hold yourself out as a member of the gentry, your family has deep and abiding roots in trade. You, Caroline, are the daughter of a tradesman, and none of your pretensions will wipe that fact away. And you who read the society pages as if it is the bible, did not see that the Carrington-Bennets each have twice your dowry. I am sure you did, but you tend to ignore inconvenient facts.” Bingley could tell that his sister was furious; however, it was self-induced.
“By the by, if you do not want to lose more of your precious twenty thousand pound dowry, which is just above eighteen thousand pounds now, I would not break a single item in one of your temper tantrums.”
“Eighteen thousand pounds! My dowry is twenty thousand pounds!” Miss Bingley exclaimed in her high-pitched, shrill, grating voice. She had indeed read the amount of the foundlings’ dowries and pushed it aside.
“As you have been previously informed, our late father used to deduct money when you broke things at home, and I have continued the practice, which includes any time you overspend your allowance. It is not my fault you refuse to heed my words. Perhaps you will pay attention as you whittle down your dowry?” Bingley returned firmly.
“Remember, Father gave me permission to lower your dowry if your behaviour gets too far beyond the pale.” With no more to say, he exited his sister’s bedchamber.
As much as she wanted to break anything she was able to grab, not losing any more of her dowry took precedence.
She would find a way to work on Charles to restore her dowry in full and perhaps add to it.
It was unconscionable that a foundling had more than she did.
As what he said about being able to reduce her dowry did not fit her desires, she ignored her brother’s words.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Around the same time that Charles Bingley was admonishing his sister, the Carringtons—the parents, Jamey, and Jane—were on their way to St James’s Palace.
There they met the Fitzwilliams, Darcys, sans Anna; and with Lady Marie Russell, who was in the company of her companion, Mrs Annesley.
As Charlotte had never been presented, she remained home with Lizzy, Mary, and the rest at Holder House.
Due to the fact that Jane was the adopted daughter of the Earl of Holder who did not bear the title of ‘Lady’, she was called into the presentation chamber after any other daughters of earls had made their curtsies before Queen Charlotte.
This was not something which bothered Jane in the least. No matter how much she felt she was, she knew she was not of Mamma’s body.
When the Lord Chamberlain read her name, as had been discussed, Jane walked alongside her mother, not behind her. Edith had decided they would enter thusly to show everyone from the royals down that her daughter was her equal and did not walk behind anyone.
Both mother and daughter sank into a full, deep court curtsy. They expected, like all of those who had been presented before Jane that morning, that Her Majesty would incline her head, they would stand and back out of the presentation chamber.
“Rise, Lady Edith and Lady Jane,” the Queen said.
“Your Majesty remembers that his lordship and I adopted our daughters so they did not have the honorific before their names, does she not?” Edith verified.
“Indeed we do, Lady Holder. We are not so far in our dotage to forget things like that,” the Queen replied with a smile, showing she was not upset.
“We have heard what wonders your daughters are, and as they exude nobility regardless of their more humble births, we have decided that from this day forward they will be known as Ladies Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary, daughters of the house of Holder.”
This was the last thing Edith had expected, and she had to fight to keep the tears at bay which were threatening to fall. “On behalf of my husband, my son, and my daughters, I thank you for this great honour.”
Queen Charlotte inclined her head. “We had been told your daughter was a great beauty, but it seems the reality is even better than we expected based on those reports. We hear that the other two Carrington-Bennet daughters are also very beautiful; is that correct?”
“As a mother, I am biased, Your Majesty, but in my opinion they are all handsome girls,” Edith replied as evenly as she was able to.
Her Majesty turned towards Ladies Matlock and Anne. “Is Lady Edith being modest? Are Ladies Elizabeth and Mary also beauties?”
“They are, Your Majesty,” Lady Anne responded.
With her task achieved, the Queen inclined her head to the two ladies before her as a sign of dismissal.
Edith and Jane curtsied deeply again, as was required if the Queen addressed one directly. They backed out of the presentation chamber flawlessly. It did not take long before the rest of the family members who had accompanied Edith and Jane reached the antechamber where the two ladies awaited them.
“How? Why?” was all Jane could manage.
“Paul, did you apply to the royals for this?” Edith asked. “Surely you would not without telling me?”
“No, Edith, I neither did nor said anything which would have resulted in our daughters being awarded the honorific they would have if they had been born to us,” Holder denied. “That being said, I cannot think of three girls who deserve to bear the title of ‘Lady’ more than our daughters.”
“One of Her Majesty’s ladies in waiting did ask me some questions about my nieces some days before Jane’s birthday,” Lady Elaine admitted. “However, she approached me, not the other way around.”
“I had a similar experience with one of the ladies in waiting,” Lady Anne added.
She looked at her bewildered niece. “Jane, dear, this does not change who you, Lizzy, and Mary are. The only difference will be how those outside of the family address you. Just like I am Aunt Anne to you, you will all remain as Jane, Lizzy, and Mary to us. The same way it is for us, you may grant the privilege to address you by your familiar name to anyone you chuse.”
Seeing nods from all of those in the antechamber, Jane relaxed considerably. She supposed it was something associated with the time she and her sisters had been left in Hyde Park, but Jane did not like sudden change.
When they all reached Holder House and informed Lizzy and Mary of the change, they had been a little apprehensive at first like Jane had been.
Once teasing began, led by Charlotte, the mood lightened considerably.
There was much ‘my lady’ing’ among the younger group until Jane, Lizzy, and Mary refused to respond to anyone who did not use their familiar names without their honorifics.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The next day, three separate individuals were displeased when they read the royal announcement conferring the honorific on Ladies Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary Carrington-Bennet.
They did not know one another, and their displeasure was caused because of very different reasons.