The End of Volume 1
The journey to London had been far more arduous than the Duke of Bedford had hoped it would be.
Rather than arrive before the sabbath, they had finally arrived at Bedford House on Russell Square on Monday afternoon, the eighteenth day of February.
The stop for the sabbath had helped the Duke fortify himself for the last leg of the journey.
The Duchess was terribly worried about her husband. He was sweating more than she had ever seen, and he tired so quickly. As much as she wanted to deny it, she knew her Sed would not be with her in the physical world for many more months, or weeks for that matter.
On Tuesday morning, a runner was dispatched to the offices of Norman and James with the instruction to invite Mr. and Mrs. Bennet to a meeting at their earliest convenience.
The runner returned with the message that the express would be on the way to Longbourn by the time that he relayed his message.
The couple were gratified the Regent had agreed with his cousin’s suggestion and request. As hoped, the patents naming Thomas Bennet as the Marquess of Birchington and Earl of Meryton were waiting for them at home, along with the patents for the new Marquess’s second son to be named the Viscount of Netherfield and heir to the earldom of Meryton.
The third Duke’s failure was now fully realised. Not only was a Bennet to carry the Bedford line forward, but the Bennet earldom had been revived. All that was left was a note from Sir Randolph informing them of the date and time of the meeting.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Priscilla Bennet entered her husband’s study with a questioning look, amused to find him equally bemused when she walked in to see he was staring at an express.
“Is it bad news Thomas? Not one of our children?” Priscilla asked as she had imagined the worst on the way to the study, as all mothers do.
“No, no, my love, nothing like that. We need to hie to Town again; on the morrow I think,” he said as he handed the express to his wife who read it.
19 February 2011
Norman and James, Inns of Court, London
Mr. Bennet:
In this matter I am representing another client, who I am not at liberty to identify yet. It is requested that you send an answer with the courier to let me know when you can meet me here at your earliest convenience.
All I am at liberty to say is that this meeting will greatly affect you and all of your family for, I believe, the better.
Sincerely,
Randolph Norman, Sir
“I agree, Thomas, we must to London. Should we bring Mark and Esther with us?” Priscilla asked.
“Yes, of course. With Jane and Lizzy at the Gardiners, they will not object to a few more Bennets.” Bennet hated not knowing what this momentous thing was that would affect his family, but it was only a day or two, and if he trusted those he had long done business with.
If they said it was for the better, he would put faith in that.
And all would be known in but a day or two.
The courier returned to the law offices with the answer, and another was dispatched immediately with the information to the Duke. The meeting was set for Thursday morning.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Mama, Papa! What brings you all to Town?” Jane asked when her parents and siblings entered the drawing room at Gardiner House close to midday on Wednesday.
“We have a meeting at Norman and James,” Bennet answered honestly.
Given that their father had meetings with his barrister and solicitors from time to time without prior notice to them, neither of the two older Bennet sisters gave the surprise visit another thought.
“When will Andrew return to Town?” Priscilla asked.
“Around the time Lizzy departs for Hunsford, Mama,” Jane replied dreamily as she thought about her suitor.
At Broadhurst, Jane had recognised she had fallen in love with Andrew and was fairly certain he felt the same about her even though neither had made a declaration to the other.
She believed that, had he not been called away to deal with the issues at his and his father’s estates, she would already be betrothed; now it was down to the details as their hearts had already determined their paths.
Rather than feel missish about his absence, she respected Andrew’s devotion to duty and looked forward to sharing them with him.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After dinner, the Bennet and Gardiner parents were seated in the latter’s sitting room. “You have no idea what this is about?” Gardiner asked as he held up the note.
“None whatsoever,” Bennet owned.
“There is no point in us speculating,” Priscilla pointed out. “We will know soon enough as we are to be at Sir Randolph’s chambers at ten.”
“As usual, Cilla, you make eminently more sense that I,” Bennet kissed his wife’s hands. Not long after, they went to bed and talked about nothing at all though they shared all in their hearts.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When the Bennets were shown into the meeting room at Norman and James, they saw Sir Randolph sitting at the head of the table.
To his left was an older couple who Bennet did not know, but a memory stirred for Priscilla though she could not place it.
The chief solicitor, Mr. James, was also present, along with two clerks and a man that neither Bennet recognised.
“May I introduce the Bennets, your Grace?” Sir Randolph asked, and the man he referred to nodded his head.
“Your Graces, it is my honour to introduce Mr. Thomas and Lady Priscilla Bennet. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, their Graces, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, Lord Sedgwick and Lady Rose Rhys-Davies.” Bennet bowed and Priscilla curtsied.
“Lady Rose, it has been well over twenty years. I did not recognise you,” Priscilla relayed as she and her husband sat.
“Think nothing of it, Lady Priscilla. I see you are looking well,” Lady Rose returned.
“Why are we here, Sir Randolph?” Bennet asked when he saw the greeting had concluded, more confused now than he had been when he had received the express from the barrister.
“All will become crystal clear, Mr. Bennet. I believe that you should start by reading this letter. It is a faithful copy of the original that is extremely old. We have it in document preservation if you need to see the source.” Sir Randolph nodded and a clerk placed the copied letter in front of the Bennets, who together read it in silence.
12 October 1670
Longfield Meadows
Yorkshire
If you are a direct descendant of Tom and Karen Bennet and you are reading this letter, then the worst has come to pass and there are no more heirs who bear the name Rhys-Davies. I am sure that this will come as a shock to you, so allow me to explain fully.
My name is Sedgwick Rhys-Davies IV, the forth Duke of Bedford.
I had, no, I have a brother who was born Thomas Rhys-Davies.
Our late mother was Esther Elizabeth Rhys-Davies, née Bennet.
She was the only child of the last Earl and Countess of Meryton, Lord Thomas and Lady Horatia Bennet, who both died in 1651.
As I am sure you know, the earldom died with the last earl.
We were happy, my brother Thomas, sisters Amelia and Elizabeth, and I growing up.
For some reason, known only to him, the third Duke who was my father, did everything in his power to separate me from Thomas, starting when he sent me to Eton at the age of thirteen.
From that point on, I almost never saw my brother.
When it was his turn to go to school, my father sent Thomas to Harrow.
Where I attended Cambridge, he was at Oxford.
As I grew older, my father took every opportunity to denigrate Thomas in my eyes and mould me in the image that he wanted me to fit.
To my everlasting shame, I succumbed to my father’s manipulation for too many years.
For me, the last straw was when my father claimed that Thomas had stolen an inheritance from our mother’s father that was supposed to be mine. Like my father, all I saw was the supposed theft and that I would not be receiving my due.
The next and last time I ever saw Thomas, who was calling himself Tom (I believe because my father hated that shortening of his name), was at our mother’s funeral where I treated him like an enemy and not as I should have—as a brother.
When I first went to Eton, I would write to Thomas and he to me. Suddenly the letters stopped, and my father told me that he had begged Thomas to write to me, but my brother refused as he was jealous that I and not he was the heir.
Over the years I started to note behaviours in my father which I could not reconcile.
He bartered my sister Amelia to an aged Earl for money.
He told me he disowned my brother, but for his own reasons never filed the paperwork to make the break irrevocable.
My youngest sister Elizabeth disappeared one day, and my father hardly lifted a finger to try to recover her.
He told me that had someone tried to ransom my baby sister back to him, he would refuse to pay!
He bribed me with her dowry being retained in our coffers, so I overlooked his callous reaction at that point.
I still feel mortification at succumbing to his manipulations so easily.
In the year after his death, when I had Tom investigated, I discovered that Elizabeth was alive and well, living with Tom and his wife in Hertfordshire.
My father was taken from us in May of 1669. Some months after his death, I was searching through the attic for something from my childhood for my son whose wife was with child, their first child, when I discovered a trunk buried in the corner at the back of the attic.
It contained all of the letters that I posted to Thomas, he to me, and also between my mother and brother. Once I started to recognise the cruelty in my father, I suspected that he had intercepted the letters. Thomas had never refused to write to me, and my father had lied!