Vol 1, Chapter 10 #2
Not a minute later Mrs. Hurst entered via the same route her sister had with a candle in hand. “Mr. Darcy! Caroline! What is this?” Mrs. Hurst had tried her best to feign surprise.
“Of what are you talking, Mrs. Hurst?” Darcy had asked from behind the woman who almost dropped her candle. “Why are you in bed with my valet, Miss Bingley? The poor man will now be forced to marry you!”
Both Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst had begun caterwauling, which had brought Bingley and Hurst bursting into the chambers. “Caroline, what are you doing in a bed, undressed, and with Darcy’s valet?” Bingley demanded.
“I thought, that is to say, Mr. Darcy invited me here,” the shrew had lied.
“So, I invited you, and you climbed into bed with my valet?” Darcy had turned to Bingley.
“Carstens and I will leave these chambers. Get that,” he had pointed at Miss Bingley, “out of my bed and out of my chambers. I depart at first light, if not sooner! And Bingley, you and I will talk in Town!” With that, Darcy strode out of the suite with his valet in tow.
A half hour later he had returned to find it empty.
Darcy was tired; he had slept less than an hour. There was no getting back to sleep when he returned to his bed, so in the end he departed as soon as dawn began to break. It was time for an ultimatum—either Bingley took Miss Bingley in hand, or there would be a break between them.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Fitzwilliam family was sitting in the family sitting room when a note from Mr. Gardiner was delivered.
Lord Hilldale,
I have consulted with my niece’s father. He has no objection to you calling on his daughter, so long as propriety is maintained at all times. My niece was informed of your request and has agreed to accept your calls.
Her arrival date is on Monday coming. She will be accepting callers as of Tuesday morning.
Mr. Bennet asked that you not mention this to Mr. Darcy for now; my niece will be able to explain his reasoning should you require an explanation.
EG
“I wonder what my cousin has done this time,” the Colonel asked, grinning affably. His cousin was an honourable man, but awkward in social settings. His pride also tended to lead him to make gaffes in uncomfortable situations.
“Andrew will find out when he sees his Miss Bennet,” Lord Matlock opined.
“She is not my Miss Bennet, Father. It does seem hopeful, though, that she is willing to accept my calls,” the Viscount replied, satisfied with the contents of the note as he was truly making strides toward allowing them to get to know one another better.
“I, for one, salute her father for canvassing her opinion on the matter, rather than making a decision and presenting a fait accompli to Miss Bennet,” the Countess approved.
“Based on the few times that I was in company with the lady, I got the idea that she is not one to accept others making decisions for her without her input. I remember seeing her giving a man a set down at Haven House once when he dismissed her opinion because of her gender. She looks serene, but she has a quiet strength,” the Viscount recalled.
“Do not mess it up, big brother,” the Colonel ribbed.
“Speak to me when you are courting a lady, baby brother!”
“Touché, Andrew, touché!” The Colonel admitted defeat.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Cyril, I received a letter from Cilla,” Lady Sarah De Melville, the Countess of Jersey, informed her husband.
“What does our youngest have to say for herself?” Lord Jersey smiled at the pleasant news.
“They are all well. Our grandchildren are looking forward to seeing us. Oh, Catherine de Bourgh’s ridiculous parson is betrothed to poor Charlotte Lucas; she will still be one of the party, however.
Young Darcy was in the country and slighted Lizzy!
Before you ask, Priscilla has promised to tell us more when we see her, but admonishes you not to call him out,” the Countess teased.
“Mark cannot wait to see Tom again; Priscilla says he is pining for his big brother. This is most interesting…” the Countess went silent as she read the next passage.
“Sarah! Do not tell me something is interesting without telling me what it is,” the Earl scowled with mock censure.
“There was nothing to tell until I read the rest of the letter complete. You are as impatient as Mark sometimes, Cyril. Young Hilldale is to call on Jane. She arrives at the Gardiners’ later today.
Evidently, they have met before, and Jane had thought with her poor connections and lack of fortune a viscount would not consider her.
“Gardiner told Andrew the story that is widely reported about our grandchildren, and Andrew did not care! It seems our Jane has at last found a suitor she is interested in and who is pursuing her for herself. Priscilla asks that we do not reveal the connection to the Matlocks yet. It is up to Jane’s discretion if and when to disclose all, unless she wants to surprise him at Broadhurst,” the Countess concluded.
“Will we see our granddaughter before we depart Town for Broadhurst?” the Earl asked.
“Yes, the Gardiners are bringing her to the dinner the night before we decamp for Essex. Wes and Marie and their families will be in attendance as well, so we will be a merry party.” The Countess thought for a moment and then added, “The Matlocks may have to be included, depending on the status of Jane’s connection to Andrew at that time. ”
“Matlock has always desired a closer connection to me; it seems his wish will be granted,” the Earl chuckled.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jane was sitting in the drawing room at Gardiner House with her Aunt Maddie the morning after she arrived when the butler announced Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam and showed the Viscount into the drawing room. Lord Hilldale bowed to the ladies who had stood and curtsied.
“Welcome, my Lord,” Mrs. Gardiner offered refreshment. After they drank tea, Mrs. Gardiner excused herself to attend to household matters. They were chaperoned, as Mrs. Ponsonby sat in the corner of the room unobtrusively but paying close attention to her charge.
“It is good to see you again, Miss Bennet,” the Viscount opened.
“And you, my Lord,” Jane responded softly.
“We could make a lot of inconsequential small talk, Miss Bennet, but I will not sport with your intelligence. I know from your Uncle Gardiner that you were apprised of my request to call on you, were you not?”
“Yes, Lord Hilldale, I am aware of the purpose of your call, and I would not have been home to you had it not been my choice to accept it,” Jane replied evenly.
“Allow me to confirm that you still wish to proceed even after being informed of the reported amount of both my dowry and state of my connections.”
The Viscount noted that Miss Bennet had stressed the word reported but decided if she had something to tell him, she would in her own time and way.
What had been reported was of no matter as it was of little to no consequence to him.
“As I told your uncle, I need neither. What I do need is a woman of impeccable character, one who is more interested in doing good rather than of giving that impression. I was holding out for a lady who is not a wilting flower, who has an inner strength, who is generous of spirit, caring, and compassionate. The fact that you are the most beautiful lady that I ever beheld is a true bonus, but it is the rest of these attributes that hold the true attraction for me. The times we have been in company, never have you simpered or fawned over me. When you have an opinion, you defend it. And I saw at Haven House when you know you are right, you are not easily cowed, not even by a large boor of a man.”
‘This man could not have said more welcome words to me if Lizzy had written directions for him.’ Jane’s heart started to accelerate with pleasure and her blush revealed it doing so. ‘He is a man who knows what he wants, and it appears that he wants me.’
“Miss Bennet, I will not prevaricate and tell you that I am in love with you yet, because I am not. I do, however, already respect many of your qualities and abilities therefore I do you, and you are the first woman who has ever aroused this level of interest and hope for me. I have never taken this step before, and humbly request that you grant me a courtship so we may find out if my belief that we will be truly compatible is correct. Since we last met, I have hoped for nothing as much as this, and if and when you agree the time is right, we will end this courtship in its natural conclusion with us being betrothed to be married.” The Viscount’s request demonstrated the sincerity of his feelings for the lady.
In hearing his honesty, Jane knew she had to tell him the truth before she accepted his courtship. If they were to move forward, she wanted to make sure there would be no secrets between them so the Viscount could gain the relationship he hoped for.
“My Lord, from the first time I met you, I felt an attraction toward you as I have none other, but I convinced myself that naught would come of it given what you and society believed was the gulf between our ranks, fortune, and connections. You see all of me unlike others before you who only saw my looks.” Jane smiled when he shook his head to indicate that she need not tell him that which she did not feel comfortable sharing.
“I feel it important to tell you the fundamental truth of my family’s wealth and connections.
It is true my late mother was the daughter of a solicitor, and two of my natural uncles are in trade.
What you, and society at large, do not know is my father remarried two years after my mother’s untimely death—to Lady Priscilla De Melville. ”
“We are going to Broadhurst for Christmas!” the viscount exclaimed in his surprise, the information whirling his mind as he attempted to keep up with all she was sharing.