Chapter 22 #2
Maria Lucas was walking down the main street in Meryton with her older sister and younger brother when she spied the two youngest Bennets riding.
She had to look again to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her.
Yes, they were riding, and fully looking the part of the elegant ladies they now were.
Kitty noticed her and led the five girls over to where Maria and her siblings stood.
The Lucases saw evidence of the Bennets wealth in the horses and the attire they wore.
Kitty, being the oldest Bennet, made the introductions, inclining her head toward each as she presented one to another “Maria and John, may I introduce Lady Tiffany Fitzwilliam, Lady Loretta De Melville, and Miss Georgiana Darcy; Tiffany, Loretta, and Georgie, please meet Master John Lucas, and Miss Maria Lucas. You all remember Mrs Collins from her time when she stayed with us in London?” The three girls all nodded that they remembered her.
“Their estate, Lucas Lodge, is one of the neighbouring estates and we all grew up together,” she informed them.
Everyone greeted each other. Like she had been at Rosings Park, Maria was a little intimidated.
The three Lucases recognised the Darcy name, but before her younger siblings could say something potentially rude, Charlotte interjected.
“Miss Darcy is the sister of Mr Darcy of Pemberley who I had heard so much good about from Mr Darcy and Colon…sorry, Mr Fitzwilliam on one of their visits to the parsonage at Hunsford, which was reaffirmed when I met you in Town,” she stated gently.
Georgiana blushed and looked down in embarrassment from the praise that the lady she had only met once before gave her.
“Fitzwilliam is indeed my brother and Richard is my cousin, though I am not sure that I warrant the praise that they may have given me.” She blushed as she met Charlotte’s eyes.
“Georgie, you remember that Charlotte is one of Lizzy’s dearest friends.
She was visiting her when she and William met again,” Lydia offered as the shy girl looked up.
Any friend of Lizzy’s was a good person to know in her opinion.
“Maria was visiting at the same time. Charlotte stayed at Gardiner and Bennet Houses for a while before she returned to Lucas Lodge, but she did not socialise outside of meals as she was in mourning for her husband, which is why you and Tiffany only met her briefly in Town.” It was then that the three visiting girls noticed that Mrs Collins was wearing widow’s weeds and all three condoled with her.
“Where are you riding to Kitty and Lydia?” young John Lucas asked. He was envious of the girls. He would have given anything to ride a horse such as any one of them was riding.
“We are riding to Longbourn to see how the house looks now that Papa is having it renovated.” Kitty did not mention that the renovated house would be one of the largest, if not the largest in Hertfordshire.
Knowing how small Lucas Lodge was, she did not want to sound like she was bragging.
“We promised not to be too long, so we will see you soon. We are staying at Bennet Park while the construction is under way.”
The two groups said their farewells and the five girls re-joined their escorts and chaperones and started the last mile of their ride that would take them to the Bennet’s main estate.
As they left, the two younger Lucas siblings were slack jawed.
Unlike Charlotte, they had not seen the Bennet’s wealth displayed openly before.
It was a revelation for them. The denizens of Meryton that witnessed the exchange drew the same conclusions that the Lucases had.
On arrival at Longbourn, the girls dismounted and the grooms led their horses to the stables to be watered and fed a little.
Mrs Nichols asked if she could assist them in any way.
The two Bennets explained that they would only stay a short while to see how different their home would be.
The housekeeper asked if they wanted any comestibles, but the ladies all demurred, as they would have dinner soon after returning.
Lydia and Kitty had been expecting a small change, but that is not what they discovered.
The original house was still intact facing the drive, but there were two new wings in advanced stages of construction that when completed would have the house look like an ‘H’ if viewed from above.
They had not envisaged the size of the portico that was being added to the front of the house to be so very large when their father had described it.
The house was also expanding toward the rear, and to the delight of Lucy Mills, the long time and very good cook, a much larger and modernized kitchen with all new equipment was being added with a separate scullery, cold room, ice house and pantry.
The stables were a temporary structure as the old stables had been torn down and a new, much larger one with a proper carriage house was almost ready.
The foreman explained that the new family wing would include a very spacious master suite and have six additional suites, all with shared sitting rooms as well as four single bedchambers.
Instead of the former four small guest chambers, there would now be thirty suites with sitting rooms and sixteen single guest chambers in the guest wing.
In place of the old drawing room that faced full west and got very warm in the afternoons in the summer, there would now be four of varying sizes, a music room, a formal library, and a ballroom.
In addition to the master’s study, there would be one for the mistress as well.
The Bennets used to have but one dining room, now they would have a breakfast room, a smaller family dining room, and a large formal one.
Like the Darcy House setup, the walls between the three dining rooms and the ballroom could be removed as needed.
The park was to be made much larger and land added so that Longbourn would, in the end, be quite a bit larger than both Bennet Fields and Bennet Park.
The girls walked around the existing park and then around the back where the new stables were.
If they had had more time, they would have walked up to Oakham Mount.
They could ride there another day after the horses had a decent rest. The party of fourteen collected their mounts and started the three-mile return to the Park.
As Charlotte and her two youngest siblings returned home from Meryton, Lady Lucas asked if any of the Bennets had ‘condescended’ to lower themselves to be seen in Meryton and Charlotte rolled her eyes.
‘My mother will allow her envy to drive her to do or say something in the environs of Meryton or directly to the Bennets and ruin over thirty years of friendship because she cannot reign in her jealousy. She will be shocked how different Lady Longbourn is, who now shows no sign of airs or graces. She is so much more pleasant to be around and infinitely more sensible. Not once when I stayed with them did I hear a word emanate from her mouth that hinted at being a boast or gossip. Mama dearest, you are the only one playing this game, and you are going to lose badly.’
“But Mama,” a confused Maria said, “we met Kitty and Lydia in Meryton and they were as they always were to us.”
“Wait until they are with some of their high society friends, then they will unceremoniously ignore you who are so far below them,” the bitter woman spat out.
“They were with three friends today, Mama,” John pointed out. “Two Ladies who are daughters of Earls and Miss Darcy; that Mr Darcy who was in the area last year; his sister. We were introduced to all.”
“I-it must have been impossible to avoid you, and I am sure that they were all haughty towards you!” she professed though she was suddenly not as sure of her assertions.
“As much as I hate to contradict you Mama, please remember I told you that the Bennets were nothing like you have claimed they would be when I was their guest in London,” Charlotte said as some exasperation threaded into her voice.
She had long been tired of this pointless, one-sided competition.
As much as she hated to critique her mother, the time had come when it could no longer be avoided.
“Maria and John will attest to the fact that the two Bennets were riding with a large group and it was them that came to us, not the other way around.
“There was no hesitation as we were introduced to their companions, and all three we were acquainted with were friendly and gracious; two of whom I had met briefly in Town. As if we needed further proof of the lies of that blackguard Wickham, Miss Darcy is not at all proud as he claimed. If anything, she is shy. You may be bound and determined to degrade the Bennets out of envy, but I am not. After Jane’s wedding, I will be leaving Lucas Lodge and going with Eliza to Dovedale, Sir Edward’s estate near Lambton in Derbyshire.
I have accepted her invitation to stay with her until my year of mourning is behind me.
” Charlotte saw her mother was about to retort so she quickly continued.
“You bemoan the fact that I will never be mistress of Longbourn. It is not because you wanted it for me, but because you wanted to lord it over Lady Longbourn, who is supposed to be your friend, Mama. It pains me to enumerate all of these things, but do you not see that the only person you are hurting is yourself? Do you want to destroy the lifelong friendships that your children enjoy with the Bennet sisters? Do you know that I am wealthy now because of the one smart thing that my husband ever did in his life thanks to the Bennets?”
“W-w-w-what do you mean Charlotte?” Lady Lucas stammered, now very disquieted.