The End of Volume 2 #2
Not needing the funds from leasing the two townhouses on Grosvenor Square any longer, the Duke had not renewed either lease.
As Hilldale House in Hanover Square was smaller but still a nice size, the Duke and Duchess gifted one of the homes to Jane and Andrew, who renamed it Hilldale House.
The original townhouse was presented to Charlotte and Richard, who named it Fitzwilliam House.
The second townhouse was renamed Meryton House and made part of the Earldom of Meryton.
The last thing the Bennets needed were more townhouses.
As the Rhys-Davies had begun to develop the area that would become Russell Square in 1761, they had reserved four enormous townhouses for themselves, which did not include the one on St. James Square or the one on Portman square.
Of the four homes on Russell Square, one was Bedford House, Tom’s Birchington House, was to the left of the Duke’s and Duchess’s house.
One of the remaining two was designated for Esther, and the last on Russell Square was unassigned.
It would be held for the first grandchild that did not have his or her own.
While the Darcy’s travelled for their honeymoon, Gigi was staying at Bedford House with Esther, quietly sad that Tom had returned to Oxford for his final year.
Esther was also feeling a sense of loss, as Robert Jamison too had departed for university.
The consolation for the two young ladies was that both Maria Lucas and Ally Carrington resided at Bedford House with them.
Now part of an extremely influential group of peers which included Lords Jersey and Matlock, the Duke attended sessions in the House of Lords each day.
Among other things, the three took up the push for the abolition slavery in all British colonies.
Mr. William Wilberforce, a member of the House of Commons, was the driving force behind this effort.
Notwithstanding their antipathy towards the mores of the Ton, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, surrounded by their extended family, attended a fair number of the events of the little season.
They even held a ball at Bedford House, and members of polite society waited with bated breath for this most desired invitation to arrive.
Those who received them salivated over them, and those who did not cursed the Bennets for excluding them.
With Lady Sarah De Melville assisting her youngest daughter in the planning of the Bedford Ball, it was by anyone’s standards a roaring success, unintentionally deepening the feelings of ill use by those who did not receive an invitation.
As was always the case for much coveted occasions, it was easy to forget that as large as Bedford House was, it did not have the space for every member of the Ton to be accommodated.
Charlotte and Richard stayed at Fitzwilliam House for the first time and found the house more than fit their needs.
It would be a squeeze with her family and guests visiting, but Charlotte already knew what her father soon would, which was that the Duke had slipped a clause into the management contract of Bennington Fields that the townhouse on Portman Square was the Lucas’s for as long as the Fields was managed by a Lucas for the princely sum of one pound per annum.
Sir William had always dreamed of a house in Town but had always been reasonable enough to know it was beyond his reach.
He would find out soon enough his long-time friend had made another of his long-held dreams a reality.
As the month anniversary since the wedding approached, the family was in anticipation of Elizabeth’s and William’s return from their adventure on the Iberian Peninsula.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Darcy was standing behind his wife; his arms wrapped around her as The Rose approached her dock on the Thames.
If the two had been felicitous before they departed on their wedding trip, then they were in utopia on the return.
During their two and a half weeks in the Kingdom of Portugal, they had seen much and had trunks full of gifts safely stowed in the hold.
Once the ship was made secure, Elizabeth and Darcy thanked the captain, officers, and crew for taking such good care of them, then they walked down the gangplank to the quay.
As they had on the first trip to London, and the one from London a month earlier, they felt the sensation of the rise and fall of the ship once they were back on dry land.
“That was the most enjoyable trip, husband dearest, but I am not unhappy to be back on English soil once again,” Elizabeth said as they seated themselves in the Darcy coach.
“It was, my love, and when the little tyrant is finally defeated, you will see the rest of the continent, that I swear to you,” Darcy told his wife as he leaned over and captured her lips.
“I can never get enough of you, William,” Elizabeth whispered breathlessly when he pulled away.
“It is no different for me,” Darcy vowed quietly, capturing her face in his hands, and kissing her slowly to reinforce his promise with proof.
On their arrival at Darcy House, they were met by Charlotte and Richard who had come to make sure the house was opened for them. Charlotte was beaming as she had just missed her first month’s courses but would not mention a word to anyone outside of Richard for another two months at least.
Georgiana was conspicuous by her absence, but her brother and new sister laughed when informed she was shopping at the Harding, Howell, and Company department store with the ladies of the extended family as they would see everyone at a family dinner to be held at Bedford House that evening.
A sennight after returning, Elizabeth, Jane, and Esther received their invitation from Queen Charlotte, and delighted the Queen and her daughters who were in attendance with their musical prowess.
As was usually the case, Elizabeth closed the performance.
She sang a German folk song she learnt especially for the Queen.
At the end of the performance, there was an almost unheard of occurrence in the Queen’s drawing room; she and her daughters gave a standing ovation.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Priscilla was sitting alone with her husband in the study at Bedford House the day after the dinner. The younger members of the family were visiting with Elizabeth and William at Darcy House, leaving the Duke, Duchess, and Dowager Duchess to their own devices.
“Can you believe how our life has changed, Cilla? We have two daughters married, and if young Robert has any say in the matter, it will not be too many years until he carries Esther away,” Bennet stated wistfully.
“And to all this we must include the fact that we also gained the most wonderful relation in Aunt Rose.”
“Without her help and support, the transition would have been much harder for me.” Priscilla agreed thoughtfully.
“Do you know, I often imagine that Lizzy or Jane will walk through the door at any minute to join us when we are in the drawing room like they used to at Longbourn, Thomas. I know how happy both of our older girls are with their husbands, but I do miss seeing them daily. Does that make me selfish?”
“No, it makes you a mother, and one who loves all of her children. It is natural to miss one’s children when they are taken from their parent’s home in matrimony.
I too miss them. Neither you nor I would ever have stood in the way of their happiness, that indeed would have made us selfish, but it does not mean that we do not miss them,” Bennet stated as he pulled his wife close and kissed her soundly causing her toes to curl.
“All of this,” Priscilla swept her arm in a circle pointing towards the house beyond the walls of the study, “came to us all because an evil man’s machinations failed in spectacular fashion one hundred and fifty years after his death.
I have a feeling that were he alive to see the results of his actions that his heart would seize, and he would die again! ” Priscilla smiled at the thought.
“And all of these connections were unknown to us. But now it is our family’s duty to continue the Bedford line, and I make a solemn promise, that this is the last time that any of us mention the third Duke!” Bennet kissed his wife again and then led her from the study towards their suite.
The End of Volume 2