Chapter 34
Holder sent the announcement to the papers with more than enough time for it to appear in Tuesday’s editions.
The evening of the engagement saw a large and happy group at the celebratory dinner held at Holder House.
There were many toasts made to honour the newly engaged couple.
During the separation of the sexes, William had to suffer a fair amount of ribbing from the men in attendance, some of it on the ribald side, although no one crossed any lines with Lizzy’s father seated at the table with them.
Darcy and Holder agreed to send notices to the holders of the livings in their parishes so the banns would begin to be called and would be completed long before the date which had been decided for the wedding.
In the drawing room, a subject Elizabeth would have rather not have participated in, was being discussed.
Mamma and Mother—as she had been asked to call Aunt Anne—were discussing all the shopping Elizabeth would need to undertake with Aunts Elaine and Maddie.
Marie, Charlotte, and Jane were adding suggestions as well.
She knew the purchases were all necessary to add to her trousseau, but that did not mean that Elizabeth needed to enjoy her least favourite activity.
The plan decided upon was that between visits to the modiste and all the other stores, Elizabeth would attend some Ton events so that no one could accuse her and William of hiding away from society.
The advantage of being at some balls, even one evening at Almack’s, was that Elizabeth could dance the three significant sets with her William.
The more men, either family or close friends who attended, the fewer sets she would have to suffer men who would think they would have a chance of drawing her away from William.
Not even a royal would be able to convince Elizabeth to break with her beloved affianced.
In early April, they would go to Netherfield Park so that those in the neighbourhood could wish the engaged couple happy.
They would remove to Holder Heights after mid-April, Edith hope with enough time because Charlotte was due to deliver in April or May and she would be at Hadlock.
She would communicate with Mrs Steveton by epistle regarding the arrangements for the wedding.
She prayed that her first grandchild would not be born before they departed for Holder Heights.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The next day there were many groans when the notice of the engagement of Lady Elizabeth Carrington-Bennet to Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy appeared.
Most of those moaning over a lost opportunity were not ladies lamenting the engagement of the Darcy heir; they were men vexed at losing a chance with Lady Elizabeth and her extremely attractive dowry.
When Lady Elizabeth was seen at the modiste accompanied by her mother, future mother-in-law, the Countess of Matlock, another lady, rumoured to be another aunt, Lady Jane and the Viscountess of Hilldale, it was understood that they were shopping for her needs once she married.
Word had reached the Ton that the only reason the Viscountess of Hadlock was not with the entourage was that she was not in London and large with child.
By the time the Carringtons, Fitzwilliams, and Darcys attended the first ball after the engagement, other than two men who needed an infusion of funds to prop up their failing holdings, the other men retired from the field graciously.
Thankfully all Elizabeth’s sets were taken before either man could secure a set.
During the ball, both men were invited to meet Lord Holder.
Standing behind him were Biggs and Johns, looking like they were hungry, and the two fortune hunters were their aperitif.
The two were told that their situations were well known, and if either of them approached Lady Elizabeth in any way, the next meeting would be with the two huge footmen and some of their men.
The two never came near Lady Elizabeth again.
For both Elizabeth and William, the highlight of that first ball after the betrothal was of them dancing the first, supper, and final sets together.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
While the families were enjoying London—except for Elizabeth when excessive shopping was involved—the London papers were distributed throughout the country as was the norm. They arrived in Yorkshire on Friday morning and Cornwall by late Friday.
If she was still the person she had been when Caroline Bingley read of the engagement of her brother’s other friend, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, to Lady Elizabeth Carrington-Bennet, she would have had a tantrum for the ages.
As she was now, the news hardly caused her to react at all.
The only thing she wondered was whether Charles would attend the wedding.
Thanks to the shock she had received when she was about to be sent to Bedlam, Caroline Bingley no longer worshipped at the altar of the false gods of societal advancement and raising her rank.
Since she had turned away from her obsessions, Caroline had at last found contentment in her life.
She was very close to Aunt Hilderbrand and Uncle John now.
The same could be said for her four cousins, especially Angela.
Her relationship with Charles was good, and better still, Louisa had come to see her, and when she had decided that the changes were genuine, she had allowed Caroline back into her life.
She knew not what the future held for her, but of one thing Caroline Maleficent Bingley was certain was that, it was a much brighter future than it had been when she had been deluding herself about high society.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
On Saturday morning, George Wickham did what he always did: he read the society pages in Tuesday’s newspapers which had just arrived in the town near where his regiment was encamped.
“Bloody hell!” Wickham exclaimed loudly when he read the notice.
“No, no, no,” he lamented as he read about the engagement of that damned foundling to none other than William Darcy.
He looked up and saw many patrons in the inn’s public dining area staring at him.
“Just some bad news,” he explained as he left the inn.
He had thought he had time to perfect a plan to carry her away to Gretna Green.
Now, he needed to improvise; he would not allow a prize to be snatched from him again.
Karen had done something wrong during her interview and made it worse by shopping on him.
Later, he had read the article where a clerk, who had helped prepare the settlement for Fitzwilliam and the older foundling, had revealed that the dowry was around seventy thousand pounds.
That was an amount which would set him up for life, and Wickham was not willing to allow it to be stolen from him.
There was nothing for it. He needed to leave the militia and ride north.
The facts that his contract would not allow him to resign his commission for another year, he owned no horse, or was very low on funds were not limiting issues for Wickham.
He had heard something about desertion in the time of war being punishable with death, but he was sure that only applied to the regulars, not the militia.
He knew that Saturday night all his brother officers who were not on duty would be at a soirée at the commanding major’s residence. Wickham had intended to be there, but now, the event presented an opportunity.
Once he was certain all the officers were either on duty or at the gathering, he slipped into their quarters and relieved them of any purses or items of value he found.
He then made his way to the regiment’s stables and put on his most imperious look as he approached the two privates on duty.
“Major Tremain has ordered me to ride to the Lord Lieutenant of Devonshire with an important dispatch.” Wickham tapped the leather pouch slung over his shoulder, the one containing the loot he had stolen from the other officers.
“I need the best horse; the major told me to take his own stallion, Samson, so I would arrive there swiftly.”
“But, Lieutenant, Major said no one may ride ‘is ‘orse,” the one private said.
“I have my orders, but if you would like to disturb Major Tremain while he relaxes so you may verify the truth of my orders, go ahead. I will wait while you waste time,” Wickham bluffed. He was relying on the fact the major lost his temper quickly if disobeyed, and these soldiers knew it.
The man who had spoken looked at the other, who shrugged. Neither of them wanted to face Major Tremain’s wrath. They led the bay stallion out of his box and saddled him.
Soon, Wickham was galloping away in the direction of Devonshire. However, once he was out of sight and away from the town, he turned north.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Wickham had not paid attention to much his late father taught him, but he had paid heed about how to care for a horse and how much he could push one and still be safe.
As such, it took him eight days to reach London.
It had been about three hundred miles to ride, and he had ridden less than fifty miles each day.
So he would not look suspicious; he had remained for the two Sabbaths at inns, as would be expected of a fine upstanding gent like Lieutenant Lucas was.
Since deserting the militia, he had taken his father’s name as his family name to throw potential pursuers off his track.
In addition, which had also added time to his journey, he kept off the mainly travelled roads to London.
Between the blunt he had relieved from the officers in the regiment and the sale of the various items he had taken, like fob-watches and rings, he had more than enough money to rent a room at an inn in Seven Dials.
He did not know what happened to Karen’s boarding house, but Wickham was aware that was not an option for him.
For all he knew, the house on Edward Street was still being watched, which was why he was in this run-down inn.