Chapter 12 #2
“As he should have. Lydia is difficult, mainly because of her mother’s indulgence, although I must not ignore my culpability in not disciplining my youngest. Well, what’s done is done.
I am heartened that both your mother and I take the ducal legacy seriously, and from now on, we will act to bring the family up in a manner befitting our new station, even if we do not hold on to the Dukedom for long. ”
Everyone in the room gasped.
“Papa, what do you mean? Do you have health concerns we do not know about?” Elizabeth interjected before anybody else could venture a guess.
“My quick-witted Lizzy! Thank you for worrying about my health. God willing, I have no expectation of expiring soon.” The Duke smiled at his favorite daughter.
“Gardiner, you are experienced in scheming and treachery in business dealings, while I find the whole situation irksome.” He shook his head in distaste.
“In an inheritance such as mine—a presumptive heir distantly related to the deceased Duke—there are bound to be some who claim their right to inherit precedes mine. The fourth Duke’s mistress, who allegedly had been secretly married to her patron, claimed the entire dukedom for her son, who may not exist as the babe has not yet been born.
A nephew descended from the fourth Duke’s eldest sister contends that the fourth Duke quite presciently had executed a last will and testament only days before his sudden death.
In this hitherto unknown will, the nephew was named primary beneficiary of the Duke’s legacy outside of the entail—specifically, the enormous fortune created in his canals.
Who knows, any day now a man may step forward claiming to be my older brother back from the grave to take the Dukedom from me! ”
No one laughed at the quip. The room was quiet while everyone pondered the disclosure that could spell a very short-lived ducal tenure for the former Mr. Bennet.
At length, Elizabeth said, “It seems unlikely the fourth Duke would have deprived his own progeny of the majority of his wealth in a new will if both claims were true.”
“Brava, Lizzy. That is what Mr. Darcy realized as well.”
On seeing the puzzled look on Elizabeth’s face, the Duke explained, “I accepted Lord Fitzwilliam’s invitation to ride with them back to town, which was far more appealing to me than my returning to the manor house and be besieged by the womenfolk gathered there.
Lord Fitzwilliam, skilled parliamentarian that he is, somehow coaxed me to unload my worries regarding the reading of the will.
Perhaps I am not yet used to this new reality.
I had no qualms about telling such sensitive family secrets to virtual strangers.
Well, Mr. Darcy can be considered an acquaintance, and he was the only person I knew in this strange new world.
I knew his uncle by his reputation, which is one of justice and high-mindedness.
I chose to ally with them when I felt out of my depth.
“By the way, Fitzwilliam took great pains to explain that Mr. Darcy’s marriage to his cousin was nothing but a marriage of convenience to keep a valuable estate in the family. Mrs. Darcy is not expected to live past a few months at most.”
“Papa, why do we need to know this? The Earl’s family affairs are his own. He was not under duress. He had no need to ‘unload his worries to virtual strangers,’ did he?” Elizabeth asked rhetorically, using the same words her father had just used.
The Duke smiled at the sudden obtuseness of his clever daughter.
He said, “Fitzwilliam has an unmarried younger son, and a nephew who will not be married for much longer. More importantly, I have five comely daughters at home, all with substantial dowries, and I am eager to marry you to…,” He paused to look at Jane and Elizabeth meaningfully, “families of good standing lest you fall into the trap of fortune-hunters. So, I believe the Earl has sufficient motivation to help me win my inheritance battle. Should he succeed, I may just hand over two of my daughters to be his daughter- and niece-in-law. His son is a war hero, and his nephew must be acknowledged to be exceptionally handsome in face and figure. With the additional estate gained through marriage, and an imminent inheritance of a rich barony held in abeyance by the Darcy siblings and a great aunt, Darcy may become richer than either his uncle or I. He also seems honorable and extremely clever. One stern look from him and the crowd was scared away, but when he was with only his uncle and me, he dropped his scowl, and I dare you to find a more pleasing object of manly beauty to gaze upon—a veritable David! Lizzy, you will like him once you know him better.”
“What? You jest, papa! I am pleased that you have found allies in your fight for the inheritance, but I shall not be a bargaining chip in any of this!”
Lizzy had always been allowed to speak her mind with her father, so the family was not surprised to hear such a response from Lizzy. However, Jane was glad her father had not tried to match her with Mr. Darcy, whom she found unapproachable.
The Duke was diverted. He said with mirth, “First an irrational determination to hate the gentleman, and now this vehement objection to my first attempt at matchmaking. Lizzy, do you not think that the lady doth protest too much?”
“Papa!” That was all Elizabeth could do to express her exasperation at her father’s insistence on imagining something between her and the haughty gentleman from Derbyshire.
Everyone in the room burst out laughing, as no one had ever seen Lizzy without a witty comeback.
That evening, the family sat down for their first dinner at Northampton House. They were served two full courses with ten extravagant dishes in each course, including fish and venison, all pleasingly presented on fine china and silver in the family dining parlor.
Her Grace, who had regained some of her erstwhile spunk in the interim, once again felt like an imposter.
As Mrs. Bennet, she was renowned for setting the finest table among the four-and-twenty genteel families in her neighborhood in Hertfordshire.
If this dinner was an ordinary family dinner, what could possibly best it?
What would Cook, or was it Monsieur So-and-So, think of her as mistress of this house?
She could not even conceive of planning a large dinner party, let alone a state dinner—was a duchess not expected to host such?
Perhaps in those extravagant staterooms on the first floor with the portraits of Thomas’s ancestors—kings and all—looking down at the table, sneering at her ignorance of high society menus?
She lost her appetite despite the fine table before her.