Chapter 37
The Medford twins arrived in the late morning on the day of the ball. The older twin, Sydney, and heir to the family estate, related that he was courting a local lady, the daughter of the master of a neighbouring estate.
The younger twin, Ian, who was on his way to becoming a barrister, and Anne de Bourgh found much about which to speak. By the time he went to wash and change for the ball, the younger Medford twin had secured Anne’s first and supper sets.
Anne enjoyed that he never asked about fortune or property; he simply spoke to her as a person.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Netherfield Park was shining like a beacon in the middle of the darkness as the Bennet carriages approached the house. There were torches lining both sides of the drive all the way from the gateposts to the manor’s entrance.
Bennet, Lulu, Jane, and Lizzy rode in the forward conveyance while Mary, Kate, Lydia, and Anna—who had remained at Longbourn to get ready with her friends—were in the following one.
In Mary’s opinion, they could not arrive soon enough due to the fact that she had not seen her affianced all day thanks to the necessary preparations for the ball.
As they had been invited to arrive about an hour before the first guests, one carriage would make the journey back to Longbourn to convey the three companions who were waiting at that estate.
Hildebrand was waiting in the entrance hall when the Bennets arrived.
Each time she saw them together, the love flowing between Lulu and Thomas warmed her heart.
It was palpable; almost as if she could reach out and touch it.
She smiled when she thought how keen three men in the drawing room were for the Bennet sisters to arrive.
As soon as they heard the sounds of the arriving carriages, all three men had been on the edge of their chairs, ready to spring up as soon as their favoured lady entered the room.
She did not want to keep the men in suspense, especially as all of the sisters and Anna looked like princesses in their ball gowns and coiffures. Between Lulu’s and Anna’s lady’s maids, the sisters’ hair had been styled by one adept at doing so.
For a brief moment, she thought of Caroline.
How her niece would object if she knew that Charles intended to allow her much-beleaguered lady’s maid to have a trial with Jane as her mistress after they married.
The poor girl had needed the weeks since her mistress had been sent away to recover from the horrendous way Caroline used to treat her.
This night was not about anything as negative as Caroline, so Hildebrand pushed thoughts of her insane niece from her head.
“Lulu, Thomas, nieces, and niece-to-be,” she winked at Anna when she said the last, causing Lizzy to blush as well.
“Welcome, let us move to the drawing room where it is far warmer.”
As they walked, Hildebrand pulled Lulu into a hug. “Each time I see you, you look even happier than the time before. It makes my heart swell.”
“That is because every day, every hour, I find more reasons to love my husband. He is truly the best of men,” Louisa enthused. “Charles is the host; why is he not here to greet us?”
“Because of fairness. He elected to remain in the drawing room where William and Richard must wait for Lizzy and Mary,” Hildebrand revealed.
Before Louisa could respond, they reached the drawing room.
The three men in question remembered to greet all of the arrivals before attaching himself to the woman he loved.
Bennet approached his new aunt. “Aunt, Mrs Hill is very good friends with the local dressmaker. Her friend told her that Mrs Kingston ordered new ball gowns, in a rather indecent style, for herself and her daughters. As this is the only private ball in the area, I suspect they will arrive and try to enter without an invitation. If I know their conniving way, they will arrive a little late when the receiving line is no longer operating.”
“Your footmen-guards are here tonight, are they not?” Hildebrand verified.
“Indeed, Aunt, they are. They are at your disposal. What do you have in mind?”
Hildebrand told her new nephew what she wanted.
Bennet grinned. “I think that will work. I will speak to Biggs and Johns after I ask Darcy and Matlock if their footmen will join my men. I do not think they will refuse.”
“I dare say they will not,” Hildebrand agreed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Given that the ball was to celebrate the wedding as well as the engagement, Mary, Richard, and Lord and Lady Matlock joined the original four—Hildebrand, Bingley, Lulu, and Bennet—who would have been in the receiving line.
The courtships were well known; however, for the vast majority of attendees, this night was the first time they would learn of the engagement between Mr Fitzwilliam and Miss Mary.
Hence, congratulations and wishes for felicity flowed as each family passed the happy couple.
Most were able to keep their equanimity when they were greeted by an earl and countess.
In the ballroom, the younger crowd from the Hilldales down to Lydia stood in a group watching the room fill up.
Elizabeth could not wait for the dancing to commence, when she would dance the first two dances with William.
They had danced once at Lucas Lodge, but this was to be the first time they would dance since she had accepted a courtship from the man with whom she admitted she was in love.
She was well aware that William was doing everything so as to not make her feel pressured.
If he said nothing on this magical night, then she would have to find some way to prompt him.
She felt some envy that Mary was already engaged.
Not because she begrudged Mary her happiness; Elizabeth did not, not even in the smallest measure.
She just wished for herself to join that state as well.
She was aware that Jane had similar feelings, although she had a suspicion that Jane would be engaged by the end of the ball.
Now, all she needed was the first set to be called.
As it got closer to the time for the start of the ball, the number of arriving guests slowed to a trickle. Soon enough, there were no more. As planned, the line ended. Before she entered the ballroom, Hildebrand nodded to Mr Nichols. He knew what he needed to do.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Julius Kingston did not think his wife’s machinations would be successful, but on the small chance they were, he joined her in the carriage with his three daughters as they travelled to Netherfield Park.
If she was successful with only one of his homely daughters marrying a rich man, it would be a double advantage.
He would be rid of one of his useless daughters, and he would gain a source of ready income to stop Kingston Hall from being seized by debt collectors.
Drusilla did not know that he still gambled and had lost far more than he could ever pay, so he had put up his estate as collateral.
He had been sure he would win everything back; he had not.
“Now you girls know what to do; as soon as you see the men I have picked for you, you compromise them,” Drusilla reminded her daughters.
“Yes, Mother,” they chorused.
“Why are the men who Florinda and Lucinda will have are rich, while I will have poor Mr Lucas?” Anastasia, the youngest, complained.
“Your sisters are older so they had the first choice,” Drusilla spat at her youngest. “You will do as you were told. Remember, while your father and I convince the butler we lost the invitation, you three are to go directly to the ballroom. At that time, they will have to allow us in to find you.”
“Yes, Mother,” the sisters chorused again.
“Julias, why are we stopping here?” Drusilla demanded of her husband, who shrugged his shoulders. She saw they had stopped at the gates, far from the house. “Drive on, or you will be sacked with no reference!” She screeched at the coachman after opening the window closest to her.
The one door was wrenched open, and the Kingstons saw one of the huge men who guarded the Bennet chits.
“You were not invited,” Biggs growled. “Yir driver will turn an’ you leave!”
Before Drusilla could react, the big man slammed the door, and he and others began to direct the driver to turn the carriage back the way they had come.
While the men were directing the driver, Florinda and Lucinda, who were both determined to have the rich men who were interested in two of the Bennet sisters for themselves, slipped out of the door closest to them when the carriage almost came to a halt during the turn.
They hid themselves in the bushes to wait until the men watching the retreating carriage made their way back to the manor house.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Hildebrand felt like a young lady again as she danced the first with Mr Pierce, or as he had invited her to call him in private, Christopher.
When he had called earlier, he had explained that although he was set on his course, he had sought his children’s blessing for him to chuse another wife.
They had told him that he had been alone for too many years, and he deserved every happiness.
He had proposed to her, and she had accepted.
All she had asked was that the date they were to marry did not interfere with Jane and Charles’s plans to do so.
He had told her that after waiting years since his wife passed, another few weeks, or even a month or two, was nothing. She would share her news with Lulu and Charles after services on Sunday upcoming.
As they danced the first, Jane and Bingley were silent, revelling in the company of the other. During the break between the dances, Bingley leaned close to her ear. “Jane, may I have a private interview with you before supper?” He requested.
“Yes, Charles, I would very much like that,” Jane responded breathily as the excitement built.