Chapter 22
Lord Matlock provided Phillips with all of the information and paperwork needed for the latter to send to the Court of Chancery to register Bennet as the legitimate heir to Rosings Park and de Bourgh house.
As no one had told Hattie Phillips the news was confidential, the Bennets’ good fortune, which included Miss Bennet being engaged to a viscount, was soon known throughout the neighbourhood.
It was made known just days before the regiment of the Derbyshire Militia departed Meryton.
Hearing about the Bennets’ newfound wealth made not a few officers disappointed that they had not become suitors to one of the Bennet sisters.
As he rode out of Meryton, Denny thought about his late friend, or at least a man he had thought was his friend, George Wickham.
Wickham being a debtor and seducer had been a great revelation, but the information that he had been convicted, and hanged for two counts of murder, had been no less than shocking.
Per Colonel Forster’s orders, Wickham’s name was never to be mentioned by anyone in the regiment.
Denny and his fellow officers found the order an easy one to comply with.
It was unsurprising when many of them discovered that Mr Darcy was nothing like Wickham had portrayed him.
Although that man had not been willing to settle Wickham’s debts of honour, any men who had lent money to the miscreant, along with all of the merchants in Meryton, had been paid in full by none other than Mr Darcy.
Sarah Lucas, Lady Lucas, was waiting for Fanny Bennet to come crow about all of her recent good fortune.
She knew by right that Fanny could rub in her face the fact Charlotte would never be the mistress of Longbourn, especially after the way Sarah had boasted about her daughter one day replacing Fanny.
She had known it was not well done at the time, but for many years, Fanny went on about how her daughters were pretty and Charlotte plain and, in more recent years, about how Charlotte was on the shelf.
When the opportunity to tweak Fanny’s nose had presented itself, Sarah had grabbed it with both hands and repaid Fanny for years of unintended and intended slights.
The question as to why Fanny did not come to crow as soon as the information concerning the entail was known was a mystery to Sarah.
Even more perplexing was that there had not been a peep from Fanny, when the connection to the de Bourghs was discovered followed by the announcement that Jane Bennet was engaged to a viscount.
If it were not for Hattie’s gossip, Lady Lucas would still be unaware of the change in the Bennets’ circumstances.
Charlotte and Maria had not said one word, and the former had only confirmed the truth of the matter after Hattie began to disseminate the information.
One good thing had come from Charlotte’s marriage.
She now had a fortune; granted, not a very large one; however, thanks to the returns Edward Gardiner was able to achieve, Charlotte’s annual income was not much less than Lucas Lodge’s.
While Charlotte lived with them for her year of mourning, she had volunteered to fund two kitchen maids, one more for the house, and another manservant.
Thanks to her daughter’s generosity, neither Lady Lucas nor any of her daughters would need to assist with work in the house or kitchen any longer.
Lady Lucas had received an invitation to have tea at Longbourn.
She was nervous that Fanny would throw the Bennets’ newfound wealth in her face as repayment for the way she had behaved when the engagement of Charlotte to Mr Collins had been announced.
Even so, Sarah Lucas was not one to be intimidated, so she went to take her medicine.
As Charlotte was in deep mourning, she remained at home, but Maria accompanied her mother.
When they arrived, Fanny was with a lady who Lady Lucas did not know; and Jane was seated next to a man, more than likely her betrothed.
Eliza and Mary were speaking quietly. Kitty and Lydia were seated on a settee with a blonde young lady, speaking softly among themselves under the watchful eye of Miss Jones and another older lady.
Something was very different at Longbourn.
There was a calmness Sarah Lucas had never experienced in this house.
Maddie Gardiner was not present, as Lady Lucas had heard the Gardiners had already returned to their home in London.
Fanny stood to welcome her guests. “Maria, would you like to join Kitty, Anna, and Lydia? I understand you know Anna from Kent,” she invited. “Elaine, may I introduce my friend, Sarah, who is Lady Lucas to you? And to you too, Jamey?”
Lady Elaine inclined her head to give permission. Hadlock nodded his head with a grin.
“Elaine and Jamey, I present to you Lady Sarah Lucas, Charlotte’s and Maria’s mother,” Fanny introduced.
“Sarah, Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock, and Jane’s affianced, Lord James Carrington, Viscount Hadlock.
Lord Matlock, his younger son, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Mr Darcy, who you met when he was first in Hertfordshire, are in the study with my husband. ”
In that instant, Lady Lucas was well pleased she had not admonished Fanny for not allowing her to request the introduction. She had never met one noble before, never mind, two of them.
Then, she remembered how Fanny addressed the countess with her familiar name; it seemed much more had changed at Longbourn than Sarah knew.
“Lady Lucas, how is Mrs Collins with her mourning?” Lady Elaine enquired.
“Charlotte is resilient, Lady Matlock. She is concentrating on her year of mourning now. When she approaches the end of her half-mourning, then she will begin to think about what to do for her future,” Lady Lucas replied.
“I found her to be an estimable and intelligent lady,” Lady Elaine stated. “Please convey my and my family’s regards to her.”
“It will be my pleasure to do so, your Ladyship,” Lady Lucas responded.
It was very strange. Fanny Bennet had not mentioned anything connected to their new wealth.
Not only that, but other than introducing Jane’s betrothed, nothing about the engagement and Jane’s good fortune or that her gaining such a match was connected to her beauty was mentioned.
Lady Lucas felt most disconcerted because she knew not who this calm Fanny was; someone who had all of a sudden seemed to have learnt to behave with decorum.
She had heard that the Bennets employed Miss Jones to educate Kitty and Lydia.
Given how the two girls used to behave like unruly flirts, the last thing she had expected was to see any improvement in their behaviour, never mind the vast difference she was seeing.
With the reputed wealth the Bennets had inherited, Lady Lucas had expected to see their dresses bedecked in lace; but no, other than the two youngest being appropriately dressed for girls not out, Fanny and her older daughters looked, as far as their clothing went, very much the same.
In addition, the fact that the two youngest Bennets were back in was something else that had shocked Lady Lucas to her core.
The more time she was in company with this altered Fanny, the more confused Lady Lucas felt.
Fanny rang the bell, and soon, Mrs Hill and one of the maids brought the tea tray. As she knew how Sarah liked her tea, she did not need to ask for her friend’s preferences. Before everyone in the room was served, the four men joined them.
Bennet introduced the two men she had never met before to Lady Lucas.
As she sipped her tea, Lady Lucas could not but think how her husband would have enjoyed being present.
Like her before this day, he had never met anyone from the nobility.
There was another shock based on what Sarah Lucas observed of the interactions between Eliza and Mr Darcy.
They seemed to be enjoying one another’s company.
Had he not insulted her, and did she not dislike him intensely?
About a half hour after tea, those resident at Netherfield Park took their leave. Over the next few minutes, everyone drifted out of the drawing room except for the two friends who in the past used to revel in being rivals.
“Sarah, now that it is just us, I must beg your pardon. The way I used to behave was insupportable. Yes, I had the fear of the old entail hanging over my head, but that in no way excuses the mean things I used to say to you, especially about Charlotte,” Fanny said sincerely.
For a few moments, Lady Lucas was too stupefied to respond.
Whatever she had expected to hear cross Fanny Bennet’s lips, an apology was not it.
Then she owned that, to be honest, she owed Fanny one as well.
“Of course, I forgive you. We have been friends for too many years to do otherwise, especially when I could hear that your words were genuine. That leaves it for me to make amends as well. I know how much the prospect of losing Longbourn haunted you, so the way I boasted when Charlotte became engaged to Mr Collins was both wrong and unseemly.” She paused as she cogitated.
“I have heard about the good fortune you and your family have had of late. All I know is that He would not allow it unless you truly deserved it.”
“I pardon you just like you did me. I am quite at a loss with all of the changes. I would have been quite content with just the end of the entail, but now my cup runneth over,” Fanny stated. “I assume that Charlotte has told you about Rosings Park?”
“She has, but William reported all about its magnificence when he returned in March,” Lady Lucas acknowledged.