Chapter 18
By the time Bennet, Fanny, Elizabeth, and Charlotte moved to Hurst House, the three who were being presented had been practising for some weeks already, under Mrs Annesley’s watchful eye.
Jane stood in for the Queen as she received the curtsies from the three debutantes.
The truth was that Fanny would be presented separately from Elizabeth and Charlotte.
She would be in the group of married women, who were making their first, or in many cases, second curtsy before Her Majesty, as the majority would have done as debutantes.
Bennet was in attendance to accompany his ladies to meet Jane’s suitor’s family. He had believed what Hilldale had said about his family’s acceptance of Jane, but Bennet felt he would be derelict in his duty were he not to see for himself.
If there was a hint of mistreatment of his daughter, he would terminate the courtship, and they would leave the earl’s house.
Two days after the move to Hurst House and a fortnight prior to the Queen’s drawing room to be held at St James Palace, a note was received to inform the Bennets that the Fitzwilliams had arrived at Matlock House in Grosvenor Square.
Andrew had been in residence at Hilldale House in Portman Square since the date he knew the lady he was courting was to arrive in London.
The invitation to take tea at Matlock House included the Bennets, Miss Lucas, and their hosts.
“Is it certain that Lord and Lady Matlock want to meet me as well?” Charlotte verified.
“I have known Hilldale and his family since we were both at Eton. I can promise you that if Lady Matlock wrote your name down, Miss Lucas, she intends for you to attend,” Hurst confirmed. “They may be noble, but they are people just like us, and they do not put on airs and graces.”
“In that case, I will not insult her Ladyship by not attending,” Charlotte responded.
“Good. I would not have gone had you not been invited,” Elizabeth insisted. She noted the look Jane was giving her. “It would not have been to insult the Fitzwilliams, but I invited Charlotte to join me in London, so what kind of friend would I be had I been willing to abandon her?”
Understanding what Lizzy meant, Jane relaxed. She was falling in love with Andrew—it had been some time now that she had felt tender feelings for him—and would hate for there to be any kind of conflict between the families.
Looking at his second daughter, Bennet felt the pride well up in his chest. Lizzy’s loyalty to those she loved was one of her traits he respected greatly.
He looked across the room at Hurst. Would they have been here had it not been for the nudges Hurst had given him to make changes and to begin treating Fanny with respect?
More likely than not, the answer was no.
“It is time for me to depart for White’s. Bennet, are you sure you would not like to accompany me?” Hurst offered again.
“No, I will remain here with the ladies. Remember, before Tommy’s arrival, I was the only man with many ladies, so this will be nostalgic for me,” Bennet demurred. “And are you not meeting some of your young buck friends? What would an old man like me do there?”
“Thomas Bennet, you are not an old man!” Fanny insisted.
“Papa was jesting, Mamma,” Jane explained. “He was not denigrating himself.” Jane looked at Mr Hurst. “Please give my regards to Andrew.” She blushed as she made the request.
“It will be my pleasure,” Hurst returned. He kissed his wife’s cheek and then his mother’s before he left the drawing room.
While he was donning his hat and gloves, he heard the pitter-patter of small feet behind him. He turned to see his daughter, who would be two in some weeks, running with abandon towards him, her ringlets flying behind her.
“Up, Papa, up,” Tisha demanded as an out-of-breath nurse arrived.
Hurst pulled his darling girl into his arms. He kissed her, and she returned the favour with one of her moist kisses to his cheek. “Papa must go out, but I promise I will come spend time with you and Arthur when I return. Go to Nurse now.”
Once she was on the ground, Tisha pouted but obeyed her father, walked to Nurse, and held out her hand to the woman.
Nurse looked at the master apologetically for allowing little Miss Tisha to escape her. She relaxed when the master waved her concerns away. “Master Arthur is at his lessons with Mrs Pinkston; he will come down to have tea with the ladies in an hour,” Nurse stated.
He would have preferred to remain with his wife and children, but Hurst knew he would see them later. As soon as the butler told him the coach was waiting, he left the house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As they had planned, Hurst and Fitzwilliam arrived ahead of the other men.
“Do you have anything for me to do?” Hurst enquired after he had greeted his friend.
He had not seen Fitzwilliam since his father’s funeral and missed seeing his friend.
When the man who had taken over from his late father had told Hurst he was to take as much time away as needed, it had been greatly appreciated, which had allowed him to remain at Winsdale for the full year of his mother’s mourning.
“Not at the moment. We have been too efficient because since we have captured not a few French spies and some fellow countrymen who had succumbed to financial reward to commit treason, Boney’s men have been far more circumspect lately about placing any spies in England,” Fitzwilliam reported.
“The best part is they know not who it is who is bedevilling them and catching so many of their men here. We still have no idea who the man is behind most we have caught, but that will change one day.”
“You will be at Matlock House for the tea on the morrow when your parents meet Jane, will you not?” Hurst queried.
“Unless something of import keeps me at Somerset House, I will be. Why?”
“I know you are not looking to settle down yet, but there is a lady I want you to meet. I will not push you two together, but Louisa agrees that you two would suit very well.”
“Who is this paragon?”
“Her name is Miss Charlotte Lucas. Her father owns a small estate next to Longbourn, and she is the best friend of both Jane and Lizzy Bennet. She does not have any exceptional talents like her friends, but she is very intelligent and sensible, and I think you will find her very pleasing to your eye. All I will do is make the introduction; the rest is up to you.”
“I am not averse to meeting her. Who knows what will be? By the by, Hurst, Darcy has begun to think that what he believes about you may not be true. When he was at Winsdale for the funeral, anything he had heard about the paucity of your estate went out of the window. He also noticed that you were never once in your cups or asleep on a chaise or settee in the middle of everything.”
“Perhaps I will tell him that I refrained then in honour of my father,” Hurst proposed.
“That would work, as William revered his father, my late Uncle Robert, so he would believe that of you as well,” Fitzwilliam agreed. “On a different subject, will the one who is so good at chess be at Matlock House?”
“Yes, Lizzy is here. She is to be presented along with her mother and Miss Lucas. Why do you ask?”
“Father fancies himself a chess master and is convinced Andy allowed her to win. William has not mentioned his own humiliation by her, and I think he would rather forget it. I hope Father will challenge her to a game or two.”
The two men fell silent when they heard voices they identified coming from outside the door. The door opened and Hilldale, Darcy, and Bingley entered.
By the time the other men greeted him, Hurst had a glass of brown-coloured liquid in his hand.
He did not miss how dejected his brother-in-law looked.
Hurst knew why. He was still on the much smaller allowance for another year until he turned five and twenty.
Now that she had reached her majority, Caroline had commanded that he bring her to London, and as before, she left it to him to pay for the rent and the costs to staff a house.
He had leased a terraced home in Bloomsbury again, right next door to the one he had rented before.
The last was necessary because the embargo on Miss Bingley being hosted in any Hurst house had not been rescinded, and as Bingley would not, or could not, separate himself from her, he too was not welcome.
“So, Andy, Mother and Father are to finally meet Miss Bennet on the morrow,” Fitzwilliam ribbed as he clapped his older brother on the back.
Hurst did not miss the moue of distaste which flashed across Darcy’s face when Fitzwilliam spoke of Hilldale’s pursuit of Jane Bennet. He placed his glass on the table and crossed the parlour to stand next to Darcy. They were away from the others.
“Do you have a problem with Miss Bennet for Hilldale, Darcy?” Hurst asked quietly so no one else could hear.
“When I met her, I saw no attraction to Andy; she is too low, and from what I have heard, has no dowry to speak of and has connections in trade,” Darcy stated in sotto voce so that the Fitzwilliam brothers and Bingley would not hear him.
“Darcy, you saw her more than four years past for a brief moment. Most of that time you were being thrashed at chess by Miss Elizabeth. At that time, Miss Bennet had no interest in Hilldale, and he knew that at sixteen she was too young to be considered as anything other than a young girl he met,” Hurst shot back so only Darcy could hear.
He did not like being reminded of how spectacularly he had been drubbed by the then fourteen-year-old girl. Darcy ignored the inference; he knew Miss Bennet not at all. “The rest of what I said is still true,” he insisted.