Chapter 4
“Mama, why are we never included when our stepfather and his daughters travel?” Caroline Bingley whined. At twelve, she was even more homely than she had been as a younger girl. If one were to own the truth, she was simply ugly!
“He does not care about you, my child; he only cares about his own children. Have you not seen all they have, while we receive nothing?” Martha repeated her oft-told refrain, shifting the blame away from her own actions and onto someone else.
“As they are away, why can we not take some clothing and jewellery from their chambers?” Caroline asked.
“The doors are locked when they are away, Caro; there is no way to enter their bedchambers. Besides, Jane and Eliza usually take most of their possessions with them.”
“They have been away since June, Mama. Will they return?” Louisa asked between mouthfuls of biscuits. “And when they do, do we have to hate them, Mama?” the fifteen-year-old asked.
“You most certainly do,” Martha replied indignantly.
“It is because they are jealous of you that their father treats you so ill!” Before Louisa could challenge the logic of her statement, Martha changed the subject.
“I heard from your brother. He is with Uncle Jack in Scarborough for Christmastide. After Twelfth Night he returns to Eton for his final term.”
“It is most cruel of our stepfather to never allow Charles back at Longbourn, for all he wanted to do was prank that high and mighty Jane!” Caroline complained.
“Sister, do you forget what he was doing to us?” Louisa asked, aghast.
“I am sure it was a misunderstanding,” Caroline waved her sister’s concerns away. “Have some more biscuits, sister dearest,” Caroline added spitefully.
“Mama!” Louisa appealed.
“Now girls, you need to get along. Remember, we are the ones who are being ill-used. One day we will get our due, I promise you that!” Martha insisted.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Welcome, Papa,” Tommy threw his arms around his father.
The nine-year-old boy missed his father greatly but understood why he lived with Uncle James.
He was vastly pleased his two older sisters had been with him at Holder Heights, and for a stint at Holder House in Town, for the last six months.
Even better, Jane told him she would be remaining with him and not returning to Longbourn.
“My, my, Tommy. You are getting quite big, Son. Have you been attentive to all of your lessons?” Bennet asked after he hugged his son.
“I have, Papa. Phillip and I learn together. It is less fun when Jamey is at Cambridge, and I do not mind my girl cousins too much. Marie and Cassie are often with Jane while Allie and Lizzy are always together,” Tommy reported.
“What else have you been up to?” Bennet asked.
“The Fitzwilliams were here a few days before your arrival, Papa. Ewww, you should see the way the Viscount looks at Marie and she at him!” For his part, Tommy was certain that girls were very strange creatures indeed.
“Marie came out in October as she is eighteen already, and they are courting,” Bennet explained. “One day you will understand.”
“I will never court a girl!” Tommy exclaimed emphatically. “I forgot; Richard Fitzwilliam is a Lieutenant in the Dragoons! I want to be an officer when I am big!”
“He has a profession because he is a second son. You will inherit Longbourn one day, so you will not need a profession,” Bennet clarified.
“I would rather be in the army!” Tommy stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout.
“Where are Lizzy and Jane?” Bennet asked after he stopped laughing at his son’s antics.
“They are with our cousins in Marie’s sitting room, Papa,” Tommy informed his father. “May I go play with Phillip now?”
“You may, Tommy, after you collect your sisters and ask them to join me in my sitting room.” Bennet sent his son on his way with a playful tap on the posterior.
Not more than fifteen minutes later, Bennet was accosted by his daughters, who seemed most pleased to see him. “Papa, you always like to surprise us!” Jane chastised. “If we had known when you were to arrive, we would have waited for you in the entrance hall.”
“Did I not achieve my goal? Are you not surprised?” Bennet grinned.
“You had Tommy send for us, Papa?” Elizabeth asked after she received a warm hug from her father.
“Lizzy, you remember when I brought you girls here in June? I told you that you and I needed have a discussion. Jane has accepted that her place will be here until I find a way to rid us of that woman and her daughters. The son is forbidden to return, but given his obsession with Jane, I feel it is safer for her to be here,” Bennet told his daughter.
“Papa, are you ordering me to remain here with Jane and Tommy?” Elizabeth asked, her eyes downcast.
“No Lizzy, I am not ordering you. However, I would feel better should you remain with Aunt Amy and Uncle James. You are a highly intelligent young lady, and I am sure that you understand the reasoning behind my request.” Bennet sat back and allowed his daughter to cogitate.
“I do understand, Papa,” Elizabeth said carefully after a minute or two.
“Unless you order me to stay here, I would like to return home. You cannot do everything yourself, Papa. That woman has not a clue how to be the mistress of an estate or how to help the tenants when needed. I know I will only be twelve in March, but I also know that I am willing and able to help you. Those interlopers will not chase me from Longbourn!”
“As I promised, I will not order you to stay with my cousins, Lizzy. Your willingness to help me warms my heart. You may return to your cousin’s daughters, and I will see you at dinner,” Bennet released the girls.
Not long after, Bennet was sitting with his cousin in the latter’s study. “Port, Cousin?” the Earl offered.
“You know I will never refuse good port, James, thank you,” Bennet responded.
“So Lizzy responded as you believed she would?”
“She did. Truth is, she made some valid points. I will need a certain amount of help, and she is a most capable girl.” Bennet raised his glass in toast to his younger daughter.
“We are both blessed with a surfeit of intelligent children. In that, we are fortunate.” The Earl took long swallow of his port.
“I know we cannot change the past, Thomas, but you know my opinion. You should never have married the woman; even had she been found naked and riding you astride in your bed! It was the greatest mistake you ever made! You never consummated the marriage, did you?” Bennet shook his head.
“Why not an annulment, for goodness sake?”
“She is a widow, so not a maid. It would be my word against hers. My honour will not allow me to do that. I have drawn certain lines in the sand, and should she cross one of them, I will divorce the woman,” Bennet related, with some anger.
Allowing his honour to rule in this case had in fact been the worst mistake of his life.
Bennet’s cousin changed the subject to one more palatable. “I received a notice some days ago that we have inherited a rather extensive estate, a plantation I believe they call it, near Kingstown in Jamaica. Who would have thought I would have property in the British West Indies?”
“I was not aware we had a relative in that part of the world,” Bennet stated.
“We do not. It was a branch of Amy’s family, and we are the only remaining cousins, so it fell to us by default. I understand from the information given to us there is an effective overseer who has held the post for going on ten years.”
“Does the plantation keep slaves?”
“I do not know, but I am writing to the man in charge to tell him, if there are slaves, they are to be freed immediately and I will pay them as servants going forward. In addition, I am authorising five and twenty pounds a year in back pay for all former slaves if they are being used at the plantation. I abhor the practice and will not have it attached to my name,” the Earl stated emphatically.
“You are to be lauded for your principled stance. If only all members of the empire practiced the same! Even though the practice is outlawed in England, I am disgusted at those who bring in indentured servants, which is merely slavery with another name. How sad when making money trumps humanity,” Bennet opined.
“I suppose I will have to go see the place at some point,” the Earl stated, as he refilled both glasses.
“Do you have an idea when?” Bennet asked.
“Jamey has two more years to complete Cambridge and then his Grand Tour. After the terror in France, I am not sure the son of a peer should visit that country, so I suppose I will have to negotiate with Jamey. In short, it will be about three years. It will be before Phillip and Tommy are to attend university, so it will be the ideal time,” the Earl laid out.
“I assume that, by then, Marie will be Viscountess Hilldale? While relaying his aversion to girls, Tommy shared that Marie and the Fitzwilliam heir are courting,” Bennet cleared up for his cousin.
“Tommy’s information is correct. As much as we like the Fitzwilliams, we did not push the two together; they came to it on their own,” the Earl explained.
“Cassie will be too young to be courting yet, so one of my daughters will be with Jane. If we go at that point, we will time it to return in time for your eldest’s coming out. ”
“The Darcys, the Duke of Derbyshire and his family, are to join us in two days. Have you met Lord Robert yet?” the Earl asked.
“I have not, but I remember Lizzy telling me about them some years ago,” Bennet replied. The two talked for a while longer until retiring to change for dinner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Duke of Derbyshire was about to follow his children into his travelling coach when a most unwelcome visitor pulled into the internal courtyard. There was no missing his sister-in-law’s carriage and four.
“Why are you here, Lady Catherine?” Lord Robert demanded, when the uninvited woman descended from her conveyance.