Chapter 18 #2
As much as Hurst enjoyed working for the Duke he had always dreamed of owning his own estate.
A medium-sized estate near Longbourn, Purvis Lodge, had come on the market after the widow Purvis passed.
Her heir lived in Ireland, on a remarkably successful horse breeding estate, and had no need for the property or desire to manage one so far from his own.
It was a perfect situation for Hurst, an answer to his dream.
He had saved and invested most of the money he earned, so he had more than two-thirds of the price being asked for Purvis Lodge readily available.
The Duke, circumventing any attempt for Hurst to refuse his gift, paid the remainder of the price and purchased additional land adjoining the estate as a wedding gift.
The Hursts changed the name of the estate to Hurst Haven as soon as the deed was presented to them.
“Lulu, you are glowing,” Elizabeth said, as she took one of her friend’s hands in her own.
“How could I not be, Lizzy? I just married the love of my life!” Louisa gushed. “On a more serious bent, are you sure you want me and not Jane or one of your other cousins, or Gigi to stand with you?”
“It has to be you, Lulu! You were my light at the darkest time in my life. If it were not for you, I may have accepted I deserved no more than to be called Cinder-Liza, and then who knows what would have been had they broken my spirit? No, Lulu, you are the one to stand with me, and believe me when I say, Jane agrees fully. Please do not question it again!” Elizabeth assured her sister and friend.
“I suppose you do owe me,” Louisa teased with a smile, “Harold and I are delaying our wedding trip to attend your ball and wedding, after all!”
“That you are, sister of mine, that you are,” Elizabeth agreed, gratefully.
As both newlywed couples would attend the masque and the subsequent wedding, the Wickhams would spend their first few nights as man and wife in Netherfield Park’s dower house, while the Hursts would spend their first nights at Hurst Haven.
Once both couples had spent an acceptable amount of time at the wedding breakfast, they departed for their respective destinations, and were not seen again until the night of the masque.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The three children of Thomas and Fanny Bennet looked around the manor house with pleasure.
All the items Elizabeth had been forced to remove in order to protect them were restored to their rightful places.
Most pleasing of all was seeing the book room restored to its former state.
The three swore they could feel their father’s presence there.
Orion became Tommy’s horse, as Elizabeth would have the choice of available horses at Pemberley once they journeyed home after the wedding.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
For the masque, Elizabeth took her mother’s dress to the dressmaker in Meryton and requested she make wings and a mask to match the gorgeous gown.
The creative seamstress used the same light blue gossamer as the dress’s overlay with blue stones sewn in.
The wings would be secured by a loop to either side and threaded through almost-invisible slits added to the back of the dress near the sleeves; the fabric would loop under Elizabeth’s arms and over her shoulders.
The mask itself was fashioned to match the dress.
The local economy was booming, thanks to the flurry of activity at Longbourn and Netherfield.
The newly returned Bennets had acquired but a few clothes in Nassau, so they had much to buy.
The local tailor and dressmaker hired temporarily help to cope with their orders, though a lot more purchases would be made in London, where the family would be for the month of June before heading to Holder Heights and Glenmeade.
As the ladies sat in the tearoom in Meryton, they were approached repeatedly by residents wishing to see their Jane again and to commiserate with Elizabeth Bennet, as the perfidy of the Bingley women was now widely known.
Louisa, who was made known as a Bennet sister prior to her wedding, was not tarred with the same brush as Mrs. Bingley and her daughter.
“To be sitting with all of you here in Meryton is a dream come true. I would not, could not, allow myself to believe you were never coming back,” Elizabeth told the rest of the Bennet women.
“We never gave up hope of seeing you again, Lizzy,” Aunt Amy replied. “If only we had been saved before your father allowed despair to consume him.”
“As much as I love my late Papa, he was self-indulgent at the end. We all make choices; mine was to believe in hope, but he chose a different path. I wish he were here to see us all together, especially Tommy assuming his rightful place as the heir of Longbourn. I have to believe he and Mama are with us in here,” Elizabeth placed her hand over her heart, “and always will be.”
“Lizzy, is it true that the first time you saw William, you pelted him with an apple?” Allie asked.
“She did,” Georgiana giggled. “William says that was the day he started to fall in love with her.”
“Only my Lizzy,” Jane shook her head as she smiled and patted her sister on her hand.
“Have you started to read my letters, Jane?” Elizabeth asked, quietly.
“I started with the first one and am working my way forward chronologically. There are well over a hundred, so it will take me some time, but I will read them all. They are a good window into your lives while we were stranded on New England,” Jane explained her intent and belief.
“It was part of my affirmation you were all alive,” Elizabeth owned. “I do miss Lulu as she has been with me daily for years, but I have a feeling she is not missing any of us!”
“Cassie,” Allie turned to her next oldest sister, “you seem to be spending a lot of time talking to Richard.”
“You know I have an interest in the war,” Cassie hedged as she blushed furiously. “Allie, stop teasing me!” Cassie swatted playfully at her younger sister.
The ladies finished their tea and cakes and boarded coaches to return to Netherfield Park.
Since they were betrothed, William and Elizabeth should not have been residing in the same house, but it was decided that, with the number of chaperones and the imminent wedding there was no point in making changes.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The night of the masque, Netherfield was ablaze with the light of thousands of candles, while the drive was lit with torches. “Lulu! Harold! It is so good to see you two. How go things at Hurst Haven? Or have you been too busy to notice?” Elizabeth arched her eyebrow.
“Lizzy, you are incorrigible! We have been enjoying our new home, thank you very much,” Louisa replied with a huge smile. “My goodness, Lizzy! How well you look in your mother’s dress. Are you wearing the glass slippers?”
Elizabeth lifted her hem slightly to show her sister the slippers on her dainty feet. “Louisa has the right of it—you look like a fairy princess with those wings, Lizzy,” Jane told her from her other side.
“I must admit, I am excited to dance with William tonight. It will be the first time we have danced since we were betrothed. I had the pleasure only once, at the assembly he attended right after we discovered the connection between us,” Elizabeth stated, dreamily.
“Do not forget, my Elizabeth, you have promised me the first, supper, and final sets,” the deep baritone voice she loved said from behind her.
“Forget about the pleasure of dancing with you, William? I would sooner call my former stepmother a wit!” Elizabeth turned and smiled as she saw her betrothed’s waistcoat matched the colour of her dress.
William had always thought his betrothed a beauty, but the vision he saw before him this night exceeded all his expectations. He counted himself as the luckiest of men to have been accepted by the phenomenal woman who stood before him, with her impertinent and challenging look of expectation.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
It was not the time to speak of it, but Mrs. de Bourgh, formerly known as Lady Catherine, and her henchman had paid the ultimate price at the end of a rope, two days ago.
The day before the executioner at the Tower had earned his money by beheading the two Bingley women.
The Duke had been told, right up until they had knelt at the block, the delusional women held to the belief their duke would come and save them.
It had been the last thing they had thought of in this world.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The receiving line formed. It consisted of the Earl and Countess of Holder, Viscount and Viscountess Glenmeade, Elizabeth Bennet, and His Grace Lord William Darcy at the head of the line, for it had been decided the ball would celebrate the betrothal as well as the recovery of the Bennets.
Once all the guests had arrived and the receiving line disbanded, William and Elizabeth took their place at the top of the line forming for the first set.
They were followed by Jane and Jamie, the Holders, the Matlocks, Marie and Andrew, Cassie and Richard, Georgiana and Phillip, and Allie and Tommy.
Georgiana was allowed to dance with family only.
Given how many men who counted as family were present, Georgiana would dance practically every set.
Bingley, who had been at his sister’s wedding and the subsequent breakfast, had been invited to the masque; surprising everyone, he danced the first set with Charlotte Lucas.
It seemed that out of general notice, Charles Bingley and Charlotte Lucas had spent time together while he was helping the Duke and since his return for his sister’s wedding.
Phillip had requested and was granted the supper set with Georgiana, but both of her guardians agreed as she was not out yet, she would not dance more than two with any one person. The decision to grant two had been cogitated on by both before agreeing.
Richard Fitzwilliam had been much pleased to have been granted the three major sets by Lady Cassandra Bennet.
He planned to seek an audience with her after his cousin’s wedding to request a formal courtship.
His heart was well on its way to being lost to the middle Holder-Bennet daughter, and unless he was mistaken, it was the same for the lady as well.
Allie was almost three years older than Tommy, but they had become extremely close while on New England.
They had always been close as cousins, but the last few months, unbeknownst to any of the rest of the family, their feelings had changed from familial to romantic.
They had discussed the fact Tommy would begin Cambridge in September, and there could be no declaration until he reached his majority and completed his studies.
They both agreed anything worth having, was worth waiting for.
Karen and George Wickham, who could not have looked happier, danced as many sets together as propriety would allow.
Their love seemed to deepen with each day they spent together.
After the wedding, William had given them use of Seaview Cottage near Brighton for their honeymoon, as William was taking Elizabeth to Ireland and the two estates owned by the Darcys on the Emerald Isle.
As they danced the first set, Elizabeth looked up at her handsome betrothed. “Come now, William, we cannot go a half hour complete and not talk, what will people say?” Elizabeth asked mischievously.
“I am at your disposal my love; name a subject and I will pontificate on it,” William returned, with a dimple-revealing smile.
“I will never repine accepting my uncle’s suggestion to remove the vermin before the ball. It is so much more pleasant this way,” Elizabeth opined.
“You will hear no argument from me on that, Elizabeth,” William replied.
The rest of the dance passed in companionable silence.
Before they knew it, they had danced the supper set.
Once everyone was seated with their food, the Earl of Holder stood and made the official announcement of the marriage of his son Jamie to the former Miss Jane Bennet.
He then announced, for the few who were not aware of the fact, his ward Elizabeth Bennet had accepted the proposal of the Duke of Derbyshire, Earl of Lambton some weeks ago, and they would marry two days hence.
After the cheers died down, everyone returned to their meal, and the rest of the ball passed as would be expected.
Both couples accepted many wishes for their future felicity from their long-time neighbours.