Chapter 15 #2
Longbourn was a merry place that summer.
Jane was ten and becoming more beautiful by the day.
Bennet could not but be proud of his compassionate and caring daughter.
James was an ardent rider on his new pony that had been presented to him when he turned five.
If he had been allowed, he would have slept in the stall with his pony, but his parents had to draw the line somewhere.
Both William, almost eleven, and John, on his way to being nine, were very proficient riders of the cobs their father had presented them.
The twins were not happy that they did not have their own ponies yet, but they would always forget that particular grievance when their papa would allow them to sit in front of him when he rode Jupiter.
Tammy Bennet was always there on her mare Callisto to make sure that her husband would never exceed a trot.
Invariably, the twin not sitting with her husband was being led on one of the ponies by a groom.
At times when Bennet saw Kitty sitting on a pony, he would see Lizzy, but just as fast he would push the illusion out of his head.
His fervent prayer he recited each and every day was twofold.
That Lizzy be well cared for was the obvious one, but in his other prayer he beseeched God to allow him to see his Lizzy at least once before he was called home to Him.
It had been almost two years since Cheryl Long had renounced gossiping and then become a mother to Mandy and Cara, now eight and six, respectively.
At first Tammy had been wary of Cheryl even though she had accepted her apology, but as they built trust between them the two had become fast friends and over the course of these two years the friendship had deepened.
Cheryl had been accepted into the close group of friends that included Hattie Phillips, Lady Sarah Lucas, and Mrs Emily Goulding.
The group met once a fortnight to discuss the foundation on whose board they each sat to ensure that there was enough funding for both teachers to accept as many children as wanted to learn, and the clinic, under the auspices of Mr Jones, that had taken on a new physician and a nurse.
One afternoon, Tammy was sitting under a big oak tree in the park at Longbourn with Cheryl and Sarah watching their younger children play under the supervision of Jane and Charlotte Lucas, who was now approaching her sixteenth birthday and locally deemed out.
They watched as the curate, Mr Pierce, who would soon be offered the living as the incumbent had decided that it was time to retire, cross the park back to the church.
He was returning from a meeting with his soon-to-be patron when he noticed Miss Lucas and walked toward where she and Jane were standing.
He bowed to both, then asked Charlotte something and her response was to nod while a blush bloomed on her cheeks.
Charlotte was not pretty like Jane, but then few were.
Even her younger sister Mariah was prettier, but she was by no means plain or homely.
The three mothers, seeing the interaction and Charlotte’s reaction, reached the conclusion that the young curate had just requested a set, possibly the opening one, from Charlotte at the upcoming monthly assembly.
“If Mr Pierce is interested in Charlotte, that will be a very good match for her,” Lady Lucas opined. “He is a good and kind man, and I am sure that they would do well together, although there is no hurry for her to marry.”
“Very true, Sarah,” Tammy said, “It has been a while now that I have noticed Mr Pierce looking upon Charlotte with favour.”
“I too have noted such,” Cheryl agreed. The three friends saw Mr Pierce resume his walk toward the church as an excited looking Charlotte approached them.
“What did Mr Pierce have to say for himself, Charlotte?” her mother asked as if they had not guessed.
“He requested that I dance the opening set with him at the assembly next week, Mama,” Charlotte responded, and her blush bloomed anew.
“Was that all he requested?” Sarah asked her daughter who was looking everywhere but at her mother.
“H-he did request a second set, Mama, and asked me to let him know on the evening when we dance the first, which other set I have granted him,” Charlotte reported as the blush spread to her neck.
Charlotte soon returned to where Jane was playing with the younger children feeling as if she was walking on air. She could not believe that the man she admired above all others outside her family had requested her hand for two sets ahead of the assembly.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When Caroline awoke the next day, she was not at all pleased with how things had gone the previous evening.
The Darcys were polite but paid her no special notice, and she could not understand why the mousy little daughter and the second son garnered so much attention from their parents.
She had been told by Louisa that, based on her lessons at the seminary, she thought that young children were to be seen and not heard.
The irony that the Darcys felt that she should thus be was completely lost on her.
The night before she had found out that cousins were arriving today.
At first, she was most put out that the hosts would give notice to others while she was at Pemberley, that is until she found out that an Earl, a Countess, a Viscount, their Lady daughter, and oh yes, an inconsequential second son were the expected guests.
She then considered this to be the best of news.
She would be able to impress a peer and his family, and besides, capturing a viscount would be far more in line with her due than a plain old mister.
The Fitzwilliams and Anne de Bourgh went directly to their suites in the family wing after greeting the Darcys, thankfully out of the company of their guests.
All had heard William’s telling of his time at Netherfield, so they were well prepared for the expected behaviour of the three Bingley females.
Lizzy and Anne shared a suite and were about to join the family in the drawing room when there was a soft knock on the door.
Anne stood and slowly opened the door wondering if the infamous Miss Caroline would have the temerity to wander around the family wing uninvited. Thankfully, it was Gigi.
“Oh, I am so pleased that you two are here to protect me from those strange Bingley girls,” Georgiana said as she hugged each of her cousins.
“We have heard all about them,” Anne laughed.
“How is it that Will and Itch’s friend is so pleasant and his sisters are not?” Lizzy wondered aloud. “I suppose there is only one way to find out; let us go meet the fearsome creatures.” Lizzy made herself and her cousins giggle.
“Are you coming with us, Gigi, or are you going to return to the nursery?” Anne asked.
“The nursery.” Georgiana answered without hesitation. The Bingley sisters made her feel uncomfortable, especially the younger one.
Johns, who was on duty outside the girls’ suite, watched as the two older girls escorted Miss Darcy to the nursery then he followed them down the grand staircase and took up station outside the drawing room.
The two girls entered hand-in-hand, followed closely behind by Andrew and Richard; and a minute or two later Lord Reggie and Lady Elaine arrived.
Three of the Darcys and all five Bingleys were already present.
Caroline was already in a snit due to the fact that she had been denied introduction to the high-born family members when they arrived, and they were staying in the family wing rather than also being in the opposite side of the house.
She noticed the older of the two girls that entered was nice looking but nothing special, but then she noticed the petite dark-haired girl.
Caroline was loathe to admit it, but she was the prettiest girl she had ever seen—other than possibly Jane Bennet.
The two walked up to Mr and Mrs Darcy and were welcomed warmly with hugs.
So, the little one was the Lady Elizabeth about whom she had heard so much.
She made a habit of reading the gossip sheets from town and she could not believe the small girl in front of her was the one that was the toast of the Ton.
Caroline’s envy reached new heights: then she remembered something that she had read once that the vaunted Lady Elizabeth was a foundling.
She noticed the way that the two young men and the older couple behind them were staring at her with what seemed to be disdain when such adulation was being shown to a nobody. How could anyone disdain her?
After the introductions were made, during which all of the Bingley ladies’ sycophantic fawning was on full display, Lizzy and Anne excused themselves to go up to the nursery to play with Georgiana.
“Yes, children do belong in the nursery and should know their place,” Caroline said as the two were about to exit the drawing room.
Lizzy and Anne stopped and turned to face the girl with the pinched expression.
Mr Bingley was about to stand and drag his daughter out of the drawing room and even Mrs Bingley had the good sense to look mortified. Mr Bingley noticed the Earl shook his head then with an incline indicated that Mr Bingley should keep his seat.
“Excuse me, Miss Caroline,” Lizzy said with steel in her voice, “did you have something to say for yourself?” Her family had seen Lizzy angry before and knew all of the signs to indicate she was; hands on her hips, her voice low, and her eyes were blazing.
The youngest Bingley had done herself no favour during the introductions when she attempted to be condescending to Anne and Lizzy.
“Ehm, I just thought it was proper for you to return to the nursery, Miss Eliza,” Caroline said snidely.
“That is Lady Elizabeth to you, Miss Caro,” Elizabeth said coldly, “and who exactly are you to make any comment about where my cousin or I should be?”
Caroline then saw the looks that she was getting from everyone in the room, even Louisa looked horrified.
Never one to back down, and never having been accused of good judgement she tried to bluster her way out of the situation.
“A child as young as yourself would not understand how things are supposed to be,” she said with her nose in the air.
“If I am a young child, what does that make you? An old woman?” Elizabeth shot back.
“No matter your age, it is painfully obvious that you have never learnt to behave among your betters! The Earl and Countess are my parents, Mr and Lady Anne Darcy are my uncle and aunt; you the daughter of a tradesman, have no say over what I do or when I do it!” Caroline blanched, it did not help that all of the censure was directed at her and none to the little pretender.
“At least I am not a foundling…” Anything else that Caroline was about to say was lost as her father stood and dragged her out of the room before anyone else could reach her.
Mrs Bingley realised that the people in the drawing room had the power to ruin them in society before they ever got a foothold, and at long last she had the epiphany that she had done her daughters no favours with her constant harping about joining the top levels of society.
Mr Bingley entered the silent drawing room a half hour later.
“Come Mrs Bingley, we need to pack as we are departing within the hour.” Then Oscar Bingley turned to the family, “Mr Darcy, Lady Anne, I thank you for your hospitality, but I find that it is urgent that we head to Yorkshire. Your Lordship, your Ladyship,” he bowed to Reggie and Elaine, “on behalf of my family I offer my sincerest apologies.” Then he turned and bowed to Elizabeth, “You deserve an apology most of all, Lady Elizabeth.”
“I thank you Mr Bingley, but you did nothing,” Elizabeth said magnanimously.
The Bingley family departed Pemberley within the hour. Caroline, rather than looking at her behaviour, was wishing that she had never met the foundling Eliza; everything was the pretender’s fault!
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
George Wickham had had enough. He was tired of acting as if he were not a Darcy son, and he was sick of suffering the degradation of manual labour. His adoptive father had whipped him for the last time! It was time for action, not words.