Chapter 21
Even though her body was used to walking and riding, after a full day of shopping Elizabeth was exhausted. She had always disliked being measured, poked, and prodded, and having it done to her in London was no more pleasant than it had been in Meryton.
Although Elizabeth understood the need to buy new clothes appropriate to her station, she was quick to point out that she was not yet, in fact, out in society, so she did not need as much as a debutante would.
Mother had countered the argument by pointing out that because of the fact she was a duchess, the normal societal rules about how to dress before entering society did not apply.
Once she accepted that fact, Elizabeth submitted, but with no good cheer.
A stop at Gunter’s to indulge her sweet tooth had made her feel better, even with all of the attention she was garnering.
As soon as she entered Leeds House, Elizabeth made directly for the library, which was thankfully very well stocked with a few thousand books.
She was aware that while the ladies of the party had been on Bond Street, Papa and Cousin Clem had been ensconced in the library.
She found them yet there when she entered.
“Enough shopping for you for one day, Lizzy,” Bennet enquired with a grin.
“If I were never to visit another modiste’s shop, it would be too soon,” Elizabeth insisted as she flopped down into a comfortable leather wingback chair. “Where are Mr Bingley and Cousin William?”
“Bingley took William to Boodle’s, where Hurst will be, to meet some of their friends,” Collins related. “They should return soon.”
The Hursts had moved to Hurst House that morning.
“While we were at Gunter’s, Aunt Anne told me that when I officially enter society I will have to wear a hideous hooped dress and be presented to Her Majesty like all other debutants,” Elizabeth complained.
“If I am meeting Their Majesties in a little more than a sennight, why do I have to be presented when I come out?”
“Those rules are set by the queen,” Bennet replied. “As a mere duchess, I am afraid you have to follow them like everyone else. You do have an advantage with your rank; you will be the first one presented, even ahead of duchesses who gained their titles via marriage.”
“That is something, but I will still have to wear the hooped monstrosity that was described to me,” Elizabeth retorted.
“Did Amelia introduce you to any members of high society?” Bennet queried.
“Yes, Mother did. I met the Duchesses of Bedford and Hertfordshire and the Countess of Jersey, among others. When people nearby heard who I was, there was much whispering behind fans and hands. By the time we reached Gunter’s, word of who I was had reached there.
Hence, I am sure that by the morrow the gossip sheets will have tittle-tattle about me in them,” Elizabeth reported.
“Mother and Aunts Elaine and Anne opined that it may not be the worst thing. The sooner society quenches their thirst for information about me, the sooner the gossips will move onto some new and interesting topics.” She paused for some moments.
“I know this is my birthright, but does it make me a bad person that there are times when I wish I was nothing more than Elizabeth Rose Bennet, the second daughter of a country squire?”
“It does not make you wicked, but in my line of work, I do see the phenomenon of people wanting to be what they are not every now and again,” Collins stated.
“Thinking of what may be is not evil; it is only when one attempts to move from thoughts to action. When one attempts to take what they want without regard to the legality or the harm they will cause, like Mr and Mrs de Bourgh did when they put their thoughts into action, it then becomes criminal depravity.”
“Do not misconstrue my meaning; I am very happy to have met more family members. Never will I regret coming to know Mother, my Darcy cousins, or the Fitzwilliams. It is just…I suppose I wish I were no more than the daughter of a gentleman, or even a duke, but not a duchess in my own right.”
Bennet placed his book on the side table, stood and came to kneel in front of his middle child—he would never stop thinking of her in that way—and took her hands in his own.
“Lizzy, I would be surprised if you did not think about the subjects you mentioned. Until Mamma, Grandmamma Beth, Aunt Penelope, and I told you that you were not born of Mamma’s body, you were perfectly happy and secure with your place in the family and the world around us.
That began to change with the revelation we made.
“I will freely admit that part of my reason for not wanting to tell you how you joined the family earlier was selfish.
However, your mother helped me see that disclosing the truth to you before you had reached a level of maturity where you were able to assimilate the information and understand that we loved you no less because of it, was very important.
Amelia opined that had you met her before you were ready, it could have harmed you in ways none of us wanted to see.
In the end, it seems that my decision not to investigate my suspicion was a good one, even though in all honesty, it is not what I considered at the time.
“You already had to reconcile yourself with the fact you are not a Bennet by blood, and then the truth of who you are exploded on us when we least thought it would.
With that discovery, you went from being Miss Elizabeth Bennet of Longbourn to Lady Bethany Osborne, suo jure Duchess of Leeds.
Not only that, but you were told how you own, or will when you turn one and twenty, around nine estates, multiple homes and a fortune which makes you the fourth richest non-royal in the realm.
“Now, Lizzy, answer me this: Who would not be disconcerted learning all you did, even one at my age or older? You learnt all this at the tender age of sixteen! I do not know too many, if any, others who would have been able to hear everything you have of late and not slip the bounds of reason. It is my opinion that so far, you have reacted with far more aplomb than those double and triple your age would have been able to.”
Elizabeth sat and cogitated on her papa’s words for some minutes. “Thank you, Papa. Your words are very comforting to me, and I will keep them in mind any time I feel overwhelmed by my new situation.”
Amelia had been about to enter the library when she had heard Bethie’s first statement.
She was not proud that rather than walk away, she had listened to the conversation.
She was happy that she had when she heard the replies of the two men, especially what Thomas had just said to Bethie.
She felt an unending pool of gratitude to Thomas for the wise counsel he had given her daughter.
She had already believed that he had been an excellent father to her, but hearing his words made that belief become fact.
If Francis could not have been the one raising and educating Bethie, then she was pleased and grateful in the extreme that it had been Thomas.
Of course, Amelia wished that she had been the mother who had watched Bethie grow from one stage of life to the next, but there was no doubt in her mind that Fanny had been an excellent mother for Bethie.
Rather than enter the library, Amelia made her way to the drawing room.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Two days after that first foray to London’s shops with the group of ladies, the gossip sheets could not print enough information about Her Grace, Lady Bethany Osborne.
The veracity of the information was unimportant as long as they could have something to say about the recovered duchess because there was a voracious appetite to read anything regarding Lady Bethany, which increased the purveyors of gossips’ circulation.
Wickham read the reports with glee. At last, he had some information about Lady Bethany so he would be able to begin to make his plans.
His thoughts were drawn from making plans when a couple entered the shop.
The owner had left some moments before, which meant that Wickham had to pay attention to the clients in the store.
Until he was ready to execute his plans, he needed the employment, so it would not do for his employer to return and find him ignoring customers. He was paying them scant attention until he heard one of them say, ‘Osborne’. From then on, he listened intently and moved closer to them.
“All we know from the gossip sheets is that Leeds House is occupied again,” Karen Younge hissed at her brother.
‘Why had the dunderhead complained about not getting closer to the Osbornes?’ Wickham wondered silently.
“Sorry, Sister, it just be waitin’ is not summin’ I enjoy,” Clay returned contritely.
“We will get our revenge, but we have to have a good plan before we move against them,” Karen Younge whispered near her brother’s ear. “Now say nothing more; all we need is someone to hear and then shop on us.”
“What if the person who heard you also wants a way to get close to the Osbornes?” Wickham asked nonchalantly.
He saw the fairly large man move towards him.
“Peace, I believe our aims may be aligned. There is no value to me in shopping on you to the runners or magistrate. What you do is not my concern, and also, I have no love for that family and want to make sure they pay me funds they owed my late father. When he passed away, I went to collect what was owed, and they refused to honour their word to him and pay the debt.” When he heard revenge, Wickham guessed that the brother and sister had a grudge against the Osbornes.
Hence, he made himself sound like a victim as well.