Chapter 32
It was a very excited and impressed group of Bennets that moved back into Longbourn.
They hardly recognised their much larger renovated house.
The front facade looked familiar, but that is where the similarities stopped.
Inside nothing was the same. The builders had essentially gutted the house and started anew.
Excited Bennet daughters explored their new suites with glee while Lady Longbourn was meeting with the housekeeper about all of the additional servants that were required.
The Bedfords remained at Bennet Park to give the Bennets time to settle in.
They were joined by Darcy and their son as they swapped abodes with their fiancées.
Bennet issued both of the Park’s senior servants, who had switched between houses, a large bonus for their flexibility and their stellar work while they were at Longbourn.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At the same time that the Bennets were moving back into Longbourn, an express containing three letters arrived at Lucas Lodge.
Sir William handed his wife the one addressed to her as soon as he realised the missive was not for him. Lady Lucas was most confused when she saw the request from Charlotte on the front of her letter: ‘Read this after Papa reads his letters.’
When he opened the one addressed to himself, he was surprised when a third letter in a hand that he did not recognise was enclosed. He cleared his throat and started to read Charlotte’s letter aloud for his wife’s benefit:
Pemberley
Derbyshire
10 July 1812
My dear Papa, and if you are reading this aloud as I suspect to dear Mama, I hope that you are both seated, as my news may be of a shocking nature.
As I have shared with you, I had neither affection nor respect for my late husband. I do not like to denigrate the dead, but you both now know what he was so I do not feel the need to elaborate. Having said that, I wanted to make you both aware I am shortening my mourning period to six months.
“William, I know she was unhappy but what will others say?” Lady Lucas asked with no little concern. She was concerned that there would be negative repercussions for Maria who was almost of a marriageable age.
“Let us complete the reading my Dove, then we may have more information to understand her decision. I will remind you that a full year of mourning is not a rule. It is done by many, but not all. For some it is longer; for others shorter. Now do I have your leave to continue reading?” he asked with a little irritation evident in his voice.
He had come to disagree with his wife’s opinion that any marriage was better than none once he discovered what his daughter had truly suffered.
Sir William continued reading once his chastened wife nodded.
Besides the fact that it does not contravene any rules of society, I have been lately persuaded that any mourning period should be commensurate with the actual feelings for the deceased person.
In that case, I would have mourned a few weeks, or less, not months, but I confess there is another reason for my choosing this path.
I am to be married on the twenty first day of September, which is just above six months since the man I was married to passed. Please have the banns read in Meryton at least three weeks before that date.
I am now in half mourning. The truth, Papa, is that I have only felt relief, not any grief since his passing. The very hour he was gone I could not but thank God for the gift of calling my husband to account for his deeds, or misdeeds as it were.
As a widow you know I neither need your consent nor your blessing, but I would appreciate having them both. If you cannot accept that I, for the first time in my life, am doing that which makes me happy, then I am sorry Papa but I will not alter my course.
More than my heart is engaged and I will not be careless with the love I have now found, as it is truly the most precious of gifts.
With much love,
Your daughter,
Charlotte
P.S. The enclosed letter is from my betrothed, and he is a very good man.
“Well,” normally a loquacious man, Sir William stared at the letter quite stunned into silence. “Let us see what our, evidently, future son has to say for himself,” he said as he opened the short missive from his daughter’s betrothed.
The Parsonage at Pemberley
Derbyshire
10 July 1812
Sir William and Lady Lucas,
I know that it is normal and accepted that a groom to be would request consent and blessing from the father of his betrothed. As my Charlotte has stated, we need neither, but I, like my beloved, would appreciate having them.
You must know that I have come to love your daughter and will always be sure that she is well protected and happy.
I pray to God above that you accept my Charlotte’s decision and that soon I will have the pleasure of meeting you and the rest of your family.
With respect,
Patrick Elliot, Vicar of Pemberley, Kympton and Lambton
“As long as he loves and cares for my daughter, I cannot see an objection to him,” Lady Lucas said, while almost forgetting that she was holding her own letter from her oldest child.
“What does yours say, Sarah? Let us hear it and then we can decide how we will react to this momentous news.” His wife’s hands were shaking as she opened her missive and began to read it to her husband:
Pemberley
Derbyshire
10 July 1812
Dearest Mama,
I am sure that like Papa read my letter to you, you are reading this to him.
As that is the case, I want to assure you both that I am marrying for love.
His name is Patrick Elliot and he hails from Shropshire.
He holds the livings of Pemberley, Kympton (yes, the one that man lied about), and Lambton.
He was previously married and has a delightful five-year-old daughter, Grace or as we lovingly call her, Gracie, with whom I am already very close and love like a daughter; she accepts and loves me as her Mama.
You and Papa will become grandparents; my brothers will be uncles and Maria an aunt the very day I share vows with my husband.
His first wife passed over three years ago after a long illness, and like I once was certain that I would never fall in love, neither did he believe that he had the capacity to love again.
We were both proven wrong and love each other deeply. He is not marrying me for my fortune, as we never discussed wealth or lack thereof until after he had proposed and I had accepted. As it happens, he has far more than I, plus an estate, Riverdale, in his home shire.
He is the third son of a Baronet, Sir Everett Elliot, whose estate is but five miles from my betrothed’s.
His mother is Lady Ilene and he has no sister.
His oldest brother, the heir to Elliot Dale, is living at and running the estate with his father.
His middle brother has read the law and practices as a barrister in Liverpool.
Besides his fortune, which by happenstance is invested with Gardiner and Associates as mine is, the three livings leave him with a very healthy annual income.
I share his situation with you, Mama, so you can rest easy.
I have found love, and without looking for it, I have also found security.
In the end I will still be mistress of an estate one day, and already have a child to love and be a mother to.
We hope and will pray to God Almighty for more blessings.
My wish is that you partake in my joy and not worry about what people will say about the length of my mourning period. As I told Papa, I am now officially in half-mourning.
As much as I love and respect you, if you cannot reconcile with my decisions, I will cease all contact with you; it is your choice.
I would miss and always love you, Mama, but it will not cause me to defer my happiness now that I have found it.
If you are struggling with my determination, take a moment with Mary Bennet and ask her what she would do if anyone threatened to cease contact unless she gave up her Marquess.
Rank and wealth are not what matters, and I now understand why the Bennets have always espoused that they never were.
Your loving, and in love, daughter,
Charlotte
P.S. If you have not heard already, Eliza is marrying Mr Darcy and Mary’s betrothed is a cousin to Queen Charlotte, though again, that would not factor into her answer, in this I can assure you, mother.
Once the shock of the postscript wore off, Sarah Lucas ruminated for a minute, recalling the abject misery that her oldest had suffered to become mistress of her own home. Lady Lucas reached a decision.
“We will support her fully, William!” She said in a tone that left her husband no doubt about her resolution to carry her point.
“I will not lose my daughter over this, and I, we, will do nothing to hamper her joy!” She would go and wish the Bennets joy over the news about Eliza later when they were to call on Longbourn, as she had heard that the family had taken up residence at that estate again.
“To what are you referring, Mama?” Maria inquired as she had just returned from the haberdashery in Meryton. Before Sarah could answer, Lucas interjected to answer his wife.
“Yes, Sarah, I agree we will embrace her joy and offer any support she needs or wants and we will assist even when she says she can do it on her own. Not only that, but we will invite her to marry from Lucas Lodge so there are no questions as to our support. I am sure the Bennets will support us, and if they do, no one will dare raise a voice against our girl or us.”