Chapter 4 #2
As he got older, James would be trained in estate management.
He would one day be the master of Longbourn; Tom would inherit Bennington Fields.
Bennet made Jane, his oldest, the heir to Netherfield Park.
As there was no entailment on the property, it would be Jane’s when she turned five and twenty or if married before that age.
Mr Pierce was having his fortnightly meeting with his patron. After they had completed their discussion of parish business, he remarked, “Young William seems to have a passion for the Church. He asks insightful questions and is able and willing to study the teaching of our Lord and His Son.”
“I have provided him with a lot of reading materials, and I am thankful that he has understood that Fordyce’s drivel is just that. That man must have been spurned more than once to unleash his vitriol against the fairer sex in the guise of moralistic sermons,” Bennet opined.
“You will hear no argument from me Bennet; as you know, I prefer to write my own sermons rather than look to the words that others have used in the past,” Pierce offered.
“Do not get me wrong, I study the words of many, Fordyce included. Although they have provided me no enlightenment, only amusement, I incorporate their ideas into my sermons from time to time, but the words are always my own. If William chooses to follow the calling that I believe he feels, in my opinion, he will be the kind of clergyman that any would be proud to offer a living to.”
“Your words mirror my own feelings,” Bennet agreed, “I will always be grateful for the fact that I was able to show him the love and support that he had not had since my beloved sister passed away.”
The men shook hands and Mr Pierce walked back towards the parsonage; on his way he greeted the group playing on the grass under the watchful eyes of Jane Bennet and Charlotte Lucas. He greeted them with a bow and then continued on his way toward his home.
“I did not realise that it was so hot that your cheeks turned red, Charlotte,” Jane teased her friend.
“Jane!” Charlotte swatted at her friend as her cheeks turned crimson.
Luckily, none of the others in the group, which included the rest of the Bennet siblings, Franny Phillips, Mariah Lucas, and the two Long girls, noticed how embarrassed Charlotte was or there would have been more than Jane who would have teased her.
“You did not tell me how your dance was with Mr Pierce at the assembly last week,” Jane pointed out to her friend.
“Dances Jane, not dance,” Charlotte got a dreamy look in her eyes, which Jane, at eleven years, could not understand.
“We danced the first, and I must say that he is noticeably light on his feet and that mine were never trodden on. At the end of the dance, before he returned me to my mama and papa, he requested the final set with me.”
“He likes you Charlotte,” Jane stated in her innocence, “I have heard Mama say that a gentleman will not request more than one set if he does not like the lady.” Charlotte’s face flamed anew as she thought how much she hoped that it was true because she knew that she held the new vicar in a tender regard.
She would be sixteen soon; it would be only another year after that until she came out fully after she turned seventeen.
“Just think, if you marry Mr Pierce, we will always be close to one another,” Jane bubbled with excitement.
“It is a big if,” Charlotte returned, “you never know what will be in the future.” The two dropped the subject and returned their full attention to the playing children.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After a week in working as a scullery maid, the only lesson Caroline Bingley had learnt was that she hated the work.
She blamed everyone for her current plight and accepted no culpability in anything that had befallen her.
If anything, it made her more determined to gain the levels of society that she craved so she could look down her nose at all of the naysayers.
She had learnt that the other girl on scullery punishment, Miss Thatcher, had been at the school for six months and had attempted to escape three times, but she did not get far at all.
As they were washing the dishes, Caroline looked at the sixteen-year-old; she was prettyish in a coarse way and had light brown hair and green eyes.
“Why do you still attempt to escape? You have been apprehended each time and it costs you a month in this blasted place,” Caroline pointed around the scullery, “and wearing this infernal burlap.”
“La, it is worth it to get back to my Denny,” the girl answered.
“Denny?” Caroline asked?
“Yes, he is an Ensign in the Militia. They are quartered in the town of Ledbury. My father’s estate is Ledbury Heights.
Denny is so dreamy, and I love him so. We were to run away to Gretna Green to marry, but my father caught me when I tried to leave the house and sent me here,” Miss Thatcher relayed the story as if it were the most romantic tale ever written by a romantic novelist.
“How is it that it is so hard to escape from the old crone’s clutches?” Caroline asked.
“The old crone? Oh, you mean the horrid old headmistress. Did she not tell you how far you would have to walk to get to our nearest neighbour?” asked the bemused young lady.
“That was true?” Caroline was stupefied; she had told herself that it was just something that the students were told to discourage them from trying to escape.
“As much as it vexes me and tries my nerves, yes, it is true!” Miss Thatcher harrumphed.
“Then why do you keep trying to escape?” Caroline could not understand why the older girl kept placing herself in a position to be treated as a servant.
“Because I love him and I do not believe the stories that my father told me that he has dallied with many girls in the town and has run up many debts,” her fellow punished explained.
It was then that Caroline realised that she would have to change tactics.
She had read about the actresses on Drury lane who could make one believe the roles that they were portraying.
She would have to play a role; act, and convince all that she had changed, and then when she was out of this disgusting place, she would enter her rightful place in the upper circles of society.
She would marry the Darcy heir or his cousin the Viscount, no matter how she had to achieve her goals!
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
A few days after the four Bingleys settled back into Netherfield, invitations were sent for a dinner to be held two days hence to most of the four and twenty principal families in the area.
On the night in question, Netherfield was glowing with all torches lining the drive and extra footmen and maid hired for the day to make sure that all of the guests would be attended correctly.
The invitations were for six and once all the guests were assembled, Mr Bingley rose and asked the men to follow him to the billiard room; it was unprecedented that there should be a separation of the sexes prior to dinner, but nobody commented although many wondered what the reason was.
It soon became very evident to the ladies, some of whom shook their heads to make sure that they were hearing correctly.
“I requested that my husband lead the men out of the drawing room as I wanted to take this opportunity to apologise, publicly, to all of you for the way that I, and my older daughter Louisa used to behave, for the lies that I told about our station.
It has come to my attention, in the most painful way, that reaching for that which is out of reach and pretending that I am what I am not has had disastrous effects on my family and especially my youngest, Caroline.
“All I can do is beg your forgiveness on behalf of myself and my oldest daughter and hope that you allow me to start anew and prove to you that the epiphany that I had did not lead to a transitory change, but a permanent one. I have discovered that true happiness is being who one is, not what one envies and covets.” Martha Bingley finished her speech and waited for the harsh judgment that she believed would be levelled against her that she was prepared to accept as fully justified.
Tammy Bennet, after talking quietly with Sarah Lucas, Hattie Phillips, Cheryl Long, and a group of the more influential ladies in the Meryton area, stood to respond as she was the acknowledged leader of the group.
“Mrs Bingley, let her who has never erred cast the first stone,” Tammy looked around the room to see if anyone wanted to contradict her; none did.
“It is not hard to see that you are truly contrite and sincere in your apology and the difference in the attitude of both your daughter and yourself have been noted. As such, on behalf of the ladies here gathered, we accept your apology and are indeed willing to begin again.” When Tammy had completed her speech, there were many voices raised in agreement.
Martha and Louisa visibly relaxed, beyond grateful that their neighbours were willing to give them a second chance.
In the billiards room, Nichols and four footmen handed out port and wine glasses, while Oscar Bingley explained why his wife had requested that he lead the men out and let them know what she was telling their wives.
The men were impressed that Mrs Bingley was willing to acknowledge her follies and humble herself before the large group of ladies.
Dinner was a very light-hearted affair and conversation and wine flowed freely. Martha Bingley could not believe how generous the ladies that she had tried to treat like savage nobodies were with her, and she pledged to herself to make sure that she would always be worthy of their regard.
The next day, a group of the older children from Lucas Lodge, Longbourn, Netherfield, and Graham Phillips met and spent the afternoon together.
Louisa was contented to be readily accepted now that she had dropped her unfounded airs and graces.
She found that she liked Charlotte Lucas a lot and the two spent a lot of time talking.
Charles Bingley was sitting with Jane Bennet, Graham Phillips, and Franklin Lucas telling his friends about the very brief time he had been at Pemberley and how his extended stay had been cancelled but he had never seen a more magnificent estate before.
“I just remembered,” Charles informed his friends, “Darcy just wrote to me and told me that his young cousin, Lady Elizabeth Fitzwilliam,” hearing the name Elizabeth, Jane paid extra attention, then told herself there was more than one Elizabeth in the world, “had been attacked and very seriously injured but was starting to make a recovery.”
It gave Jane chills that she had dreamt of Lizzy being in trouble and the young girl that Master Bingley was telling them about had been in such a bad way.
She dismissed her thoughts as pure coincidence and returned to listen to the story.
During her reverie, she had missed his description of her looks and her long raven tresses.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day that Lizzy had been dreaming of had arrived; Mr Finch was to examine her and if he were happy with what he found, he would change the splints on her leg to allow her knee to bend and that would mean that she would be permitted to be pushed in the bath chair.
The restrictive splints had come off her arm two days previously, and now only her arm below her elbow was splinted and her arm in a sling.
Mr Finch was more than pleased with what he found and happily changed the splints on her leg. While Elizabeth was being helped into a day dress for the first time since the attempt on her life, the surgeon met with her parents.
“She still has a long road ahead of her, but I firmly believe that other than scars on her arm and leg, Lady Elizabeth will make a full recovery,” he informed her parents with professional pride.
“Does that mean that my darling girl will walk again Mr Finch?” a hopeful mother asked.
“Not only walk your Ladyship, but I also believe that some months from now you will not be able to stop her running.” The surgeon looked on as joy and pleasure suffused the faces of his young patient’s parents.
“There are not enough words to thank you, Finch, or money to compensate you for what you have done for my sweetling,” the Earl stated, his voice gruff with emotion.
“You do know, do you not, Reggie, that the boys will be fighting over who will get to push her bath chair,” Elaine smiled happily.
“They will have to push Biggs or Johns out of the way first!” the Earl grinned with joy.
So it was, on the tenth Day of August in the year 1799 Lady Elizabeth Fitzwilliam was allowed to leave her bedchamber for the first time since that horrendous day almost two months previously.