Chapter 9
“We must go introduce ourselves, Mama,” Caroline Bingley demanded. The four residents of Longbourn were seated at the dinner table.
“Oh yes, my girl, that is what we will do,” Martha Bennet gushed.
“Far be it from me to stop you, Mrs. Bennet, but you may find yourself tossed out of Netherfield Park for that impertinence,” Elizabeth smiled.
“Shut up, Cinder-Liza! What do you know?” Caroline spat out at her stepsister.
“Of the two of us, stepsister dearest, which one of us grew up a gentleman’s daughter? Which of us do you think would know the protocol for visiting a new neighbour?” Elizabeth asked, amused at the pinched look mother and daughter sported.
“As you seem to know all the rules of it, Cinder-Liza, elucidate for us,” Martha ordered.
“Use my correct name, and I will consider it,” Elizabeth returned.
“Tell me, Eliza,” Martha tried again. Not being able to strike the chit was most annoying as her stepdaughter had no fear of her at all.
“That is not my name, and well you know it,” Elizabeth pushed.
“Elizabeth! Are you happy? Now tell me what I want to know,” Martha almost whined, and Caroline, pouting that her stepsister had managed to humiliate them once again, turning the conversation to her advantage.
“Under normal circumstances, when the new arrival is of equal or lesser rank, the man of the house would call on his new neighbour. However, as a duke is far above any in this area, it is his prerogative to initiate contact and request introductions. If I were to have my guess, then his Grace may make an appearance at the upcoming assembly in Meryton so he can meet a good number of the residents in one controlled area,” Elizabeth explained.
“However, if you do not believe me, then please go right ahead and show up at the Duke’s estate uninvited and introduce yourselves.
I would wager you never get close to the front door. ”
For all her bluster, Martha was aware she knew not the ways of the gentry in general and the Ton specifically.
She hated to do so, but she decided that, in this case she had to assume that her stepdaughter was correct.
She and Caroline stood, without a word to Elizabeth or Louisa, and exited the dining parlour with their noses in the air.
“Is everything you told my mother true?” Louisa asked. She did not doubt her friend, she simply did not know.
“It is, Lulu, every word,” Elizabeth assured her friend.
“I know how much you dislike my mother and Caroline, especially for that derisive moniker she gifted you—Cinder-Liza indeed! So why did you stop her from being thrown out of Netherfield Park?” Louisa was confused; she thought her mother and sister’s humiliation would have amused her friend and all of those in the neighbourhood.
“Firstly, no matter how much I dislike them, I would not want to see them be humiliated in such a fashion, and second, as your mother’s last name is Bennet and connected to Longbourn, I have a selfish reason for not wanting my family name and estate to be the subject of neighbourhood gossip.
Heaven forbid if word reaches so called polite society in London! ” Elizabeth explained.
“What do you mean your estate?” Louisa asked.
“The one I live on silly, that my family has had for generations,” Elizabeth hedged.
“Do you really believe the Duke and his party will attend the assembly?” Louisa wondered.
“I do think there is a good chance, but I may be wrong,” Elizabeth owned.
“Mama had purchased new gowns for Caroline out of her widow’s portion, but she told me she has no money to spare for me,” Louisa lamented.
“Meet me at the dressmakers at eleven Louisa, and we will make sure you have something to wear; we have a few days yet,” Elizabeth assured her friend.
“Elizabeth, I did not tell you so that you would acquire a dress for me,” Louisa protested.
“I know you did not, Lulu, which is the exact reason why I am doing it! I will not be gainsaid, so you had better grin and bear it!” Elizabeth smiled, as she saw acceptance on her friend’s face.
“And when Mama asks me where a new dress came from?” Louisa asked with concern.
“Your mother only worries what her other daughter wears, and that sister of yours is far too self-centred to notice what you are wearing, so I believe all will be well,” Elizabeth soothed.
The sad thing was, what Elizabeth said, was true.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Tommy was on watch at the top of the hill when he spied a sail.
“Another pirate, I am sure,” Tommy said in exasperation to Parrot, who was eating a banana.
Tommy opened the spyglass and pointed it at the vessel.
It took him some seconds to see the ensign of the Royal Navy flapping in the wind from the quarterdeck of an English man-of-war.
Tommy pulled the canvass off the enormous pile of wood, splashed some water onto the top pieces as Uncle James had instructed to make more smoke, and struck the flints to the kindling. He was so excited the first two tries failed to produce a spark, but the third one did.
As gently as he could, he blew on the small embers that settled into the dried grasses and twigs. Within thirty seconds, he had flame, and he gently pushed the burning kindling to the base of the tower of wood that they had collected, with the kindling there quickly catching fire.
Within five minutes, the flames took hold and a thick plume of black and white smoke rose towards the clear blue sky. On the beach, the family and the two remaining crew members saw the smoke, and they all dared to hope as they had not allowed themselves for some years.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
HMS Charger was a six and thirty gun frigate of the Royal Navy.
She was charged with a patrol area among some of the unknown and believed to be uninhabited islands of the Bahamas chain.
She had been sent to this particular location as a pirate ship had been found, chased, and ultimately sunk in the area.
Captain Nevin Sandiford had commanded HMS Charger for over five years and he, his crew, and his vessel had been stationed in Nassau for just over a year.
They had been on this patrol for over three weeks and had a few days left on the patrol before returning to port.
They had stopped at a few uninhabited islands to take on fresh water and the crew had foraged for fruits and wild vegetables.
Fishing was a daily occurrence. It seemed like a normal day of seeing no quarry when the man in the crow’s nest yelled, “Smoke ahoy!”
The Captain pointed his spyglass, as did his executive officer, a Lieutenant-Commander, and a sub-Lieutenant who was on watch.
Sandiford looked at the hill from which the smoke was emanating and saw a boy or young man waving a Union Jack!
He dropped his sight line to the beach, and there he saw a group of people, men, and women all waving furiously.
“Make for that island with all speed, Mr. Chandler,” the Captain ordered his executive officer.
“I see a reef line, steer south-west. There is a break in it where we will anchor and launch the long boats.” The Captain turned to the junior officer, “Have a contingent of Marines at the ready, Mr. Barlow,” he commanded.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As soon as Tommy saw the ship change course towards them, he took off down the hill as fast as he safely could.
By the time he reached the beach, the warship could be seen plainly with the naked eye, and he joined the group rejoicing on the beach.
After more than three years, their odyssey was about to come to an end.
Some were kneeling and offering thanks to God, others were hugging each other, and not a few of their number, men included, were crying tears of joy.
His sister and her betrothed were hugging one another tightly, unashamedly crying tears full of so many emotions one could not fathom separating them one from the other.
Soon, they would be able to marry. Poor Parrot was squawking, not at all sure what all the noise and excitement was about.
“What is she?” Phillip asked the carpenter, who was standing next to him on the beach.
“She be a frigate, six and thirty guns, I believe,” the ecstatic man responded.
It took about two hours until the ship’s sails were lowered, and she anchored outside of the reef line near the gap.
The group on the beach watched in wonder as four longboats were lowered, and then men, some sailors and some in the uniform of the Royal Marines, scrambled down the netting that had been lowered down the side of the hull and smartly took up positions in the longboats.
Eight oars were raised in each boat, four on each side, and then as one they were lowered into the water, and again as one as the men started rowing. It took about twenty minutes for the four boats to reach land. An officer approached those on the beach.
“Lieutenant-Commander Chandler at your service, executive officer of HMS Charger. Who is in charge here?” he asked. The marines standing behind him had their weapons shouldered but were ready for anything.
“I am Lord James Bennet; Earl of Holder, and I am in charge of this group of survivors of The West Indies Trader. We have been here since August 1805. We have the ship’s log that we were able to save.” The Earl did not miss the looks of shock and surprise on the faces of the officer and the men.
“Your Lordship, everyone believed The West Indies Trader was lost with all hands,” Mr. Chandler shared.