Chapter 2 #2
“I do not believe so, especially if a certain gentleman is not obtuse,” Anne replied coyly.
“But that is a discussion for another time!” She exclaimed with finality as Elizabeth was about to ask more questions on the subject, and the collective inhales said others would, too.
She steadfastly ignored Aunt Anne, Marie, and Mother Elaine, as they were far more observant than the men who were now looking at her in surprise, concern, and confusion but for Andrew.
“You have to know that no one will push or pressure you, Lizzy. You may get to know your birth family at your own pace, and you will be the one to decide how much or how little of a role they will play in your life. We will support you no matter what you decide, even if you choose to go live with them in the future,” Elaine told her daughter with all sincerity, although the thought of that eventuality hurt her heart.
But just like her late husband had put their protection above his own, she would do the same for her daughter.
“You do not want me to go and live with the Bennets, do you, Mama?” Elizabeth asked, her look of hurt breaking her mother’s heart anew.
“No, my darling daughter, you misunderstand; that is most certainly not my desire. All I am saying is that it is up to you, and I will always love you, regardless of what you feel you must do. You are my daughter, and that will be so irrespective of where you reside.” Elaine relaxed as she saw her daughter do so when she realised what her mother was actually saying, rather than what she thought she had heard.
“You will not be rid of me so easily, Mama,” Elizabeth lightened the mood she had helped darken.
“Even were you to try to leave us, Georgie would just hunt you down and drag you back,” William teased his cousin.
“And I would help her!” Richard added.
“It is time for the Darcys to go home, but if Georgie and Alex are sleeping upstairs, will you have someone escort them across the square in the morning?” Anne asked Marie.
“Of course, Aunt Anne,” Marie waved off the question as they all knew the answer.
“Or you can come back and break your fasts with us.” After hugs from the Darcy men and a kiss from Aunt Anne, and a footman confirmed that the two younger Darcys were asleep, the three made the short walk across the square.
“What are the chances?” Anne asked as they walked toward home. “Not only the times that we know of that there has been contact or almost meetings, the Bingleys are Bennet tenants, and Lizzy has been playing chess with her father via the post for a long time now!”
“It is fate, Anne,” George opined. “God works in mysterious ways.”
“As long as my…eh hmm… our Lizzy does not get hurt,” William added. He was glad that it was dark to cover his embarrassment at the slip, not catching the knowing look his parents shared.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Perry and Lady Rose arrived at Gardiner House before ten, after the note that they received requesting that they both attend the Bennets. After greetings, Jane explained why they had requested the meeting. “Papa has decided…” she started.
“With some prodding from his family,” Bennet interjected.
“Well, perhaps a little suggestion was made, possibly,” Jane allowed with raised eyebrows, “that it is time for the Bennets to purchase a townhouse…”
Lady Rose smiled and finished Jane’s thought for her, “You would like to know if my townhouse on Grosvenor Square is truly for sale?”
“Yes, Lady Rose,” Bennet responded, “Jane informed us that she believed you and Perry had discussed selling it.”
“Jane was correct, and if you want it after you see it, it is yours,” Lady Rose agreed.
“Thank you. Mayhap we will have time to view the house after we meet with our new family today,” Bennet returned.
“With all the revelations yesterday, did you inform Mama that we have chosen a date for the wedding, Papa?” Jane asked.
“You did mention a date, did you not? I am sorry, Janey, with everything that happened, my brain is a little addled, so I forgot; what date have you and Perry chosen?” Bennet asked, somewhat embarrassed that he had allowed something that important to slip his mind.
“We chose Monday, the sixteenth day of January, Papa, as you stipulated that I must be eighteen before we marry. On that day, I will be older than eighteen,” Jane challenged her father.
“I did say that, did I not? I have no objection to that date, do you, Tammy?” he asked his wife before giving final approval.
“No Thomas, I see no impediment to that date. Where do you want to marry from?” Tammy asked, knowing that with Perry’s standing in society, he may want to marry from Town.
“Wherever my betrothed wants to marry will be perfect for me. So long as I am marrying Jane, I care not where,” Perry gave his betrothed a look that reflected how besotted he was.
“I have always dreamt of marrying from Longbourn,” Jane offered her preference.
“Then it is settled, we will marry from your home, my beloved fiancée,” Perry said as he lifted her hands and kissed them. Just then the butler handed his master the morning papers.
Gardiner opened the paper and found the announcement of the engagement of the Duke of Bedford to Miss Jane Bennet of Longbourn.
Lady Rose let a girl-like giggle escape.
“My son does not let the grass grow under his feet, does he?” Bennet relayed how his soon to be son-in-law had the announcement ready in his pocket when he came to propose.
“Speaking of which, do you have time to discuss the settlement before the Fitzwilliams and Darcys arrive?” Perry asked, withdrawing a document from his pocket. “I would like Jane to be included if it is all the same to you, Bennet.”
“Why am I not surprised that you arrived armed with a draft settlement? No, I have no objection to Jane being present. In fact, I was about to say that I would like my wife with me as well,” Bennet responded and the four of them adjourned to Gardiner’s study.
Before Perry could open the document, Bennet held up his hand to gain the attention of the other three. “Tammy knows this, but Jane has a dowry that now stands at fifty thousand pounds thanks to my brother Gardiner, and she is also the owner of Netherfield Park.”
“Papa, that is far too much! I thought my dowry was half that amount. You did not give me Lizzy’s portion as well, did you? What about Netherfield for William or John?” Jane was concerned that she was getting too much to the detriment of her siblings.
“Your concern is admirable, but all three of my daughters have a similar amount. They all started at the point you mentioned, but your uncle has done very well for us. As far as Netherfield goes, do not forget that your brothers are determined to forge their own paths. William will be ordained in a few short years and John would like to become a barrister. James has Longbourn and Tom Bennington Fields, so that only leaves Netherfield. As my oldest daughter, it is yours,” Bennet laid out his reasoning, to which his wife had long agreed.
“Both William and John have a legacy of twenty thousand pounds, well, that was what it was when I established it, though I am sure it too has grown, thanks to Edward.”
Perry placed the document into Bennet’s hands. As Bennet read, he let out a low whistle. “I knew you were wealthy, but I had no idea of the extent.”
“It is not something we flaunt,” Perry responded matter-of-factually.
“With the two hundred and fifty thousand pounds I am settling on Jane, I have no need for her money or property. The final draft will state that whatever she brings to the marriage will remain under her sole control. There will be large portions settled on each daughter, and if we have more than one son, each will have an estate not part of the ducal entail and a large legacy as well.”
“Papa, I want you to sell Netherfield,” Jane was adamant.
“I am sure that after so many years living as tenants, that the Bingleys would love to purchase it; I know they have been looking for an estate to purchase. I want none of the proceeds of the sale, whatever it is. I want it split between William, John, and Kitty.” Jane had hardened in both tone and resolution, which told her parents that she was firm in her decision and would not be dissuaded.
“That is very generous of you, my daughter,” Tammy was not surprised by Jane’s generosity to her siblings but touched, nonetheless.
“My dowry will be under my control, will it not?” Jane confirmed. Both Perry and her father nodded. “Then I want all the money from my dowry donated to Mama’s charitable foundation.”
“Jane, that is too much,” Bennet started to say.
“No Papa, it is not!” Jane returned firmly.
“Based on what I see here,” she pointed to the draft settlement, “we are wealthy enough for many lifetimes, so I dare say that we will survive without my dowry, and it will do so much good for those who have so little. I have five-thousand-per-annum pin money, for goodness’ sake.
Were I to get a new wardrobe every season in the most expensive of fabrics, I will never be able to spend that, never mind more! ”
Bennet knew when it was time to withdraw from the field of battle.
Perry noted the changes for his solicitor to amend the final draft and Bennet wrote a note to Oscar Bingley requesting that he attend him at the Gardiners’ house that evening.
He was about to send it when Gardiner told him that his wife suggested they invite the Bingleys for dinner that night, so Bennet wrote a new note.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
At the same time, as members of the Ton were breaking their fasts, there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as what they had all seen at Miss Bennet’s coming-out ball but hoped what they were mistaken about was made official.
The most eligible bachelor in the realm would not be theirs!
Rumours abounded that, although the Bennets had eschewed Town, they had decent connections, but nothing exceptional.
They were supposedly very wealthy, which had made the matchmaking mamas nervous, so the only thing they had left to decry about the match was that she was a ‘Miss’ and was not titled.
In the coming days, they were to find out that the Bennets’ connections were far more than decent.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The courier had departed Gardiner House for Meryton with the dawn.
The Phillipses were enjoying their morning meal when their housekeeper brought them an express and said that the Gardiner courier was waiting for a response.
Hattie instructed that the courier be fed and relaxed in the kitchen until the master had written a response, then she and Franny looked at her husband expectantly.
“Hattie, you are not going to believe this,” Frank stared at the missive with disbelief. He simply handed it to his wife, who let out a shriek of joy once she had read the most important part of the missive.
7 November 1806
Gardiner House
Portman Square
London
Brother and Sister,
I pray you are seated when you read this. We have been reunited with Lizzy!
This is not a joke; it is truly so! We suggest that you make haste and join us at Edward and Maddie’s home.
Wait until you hear of all the coincidences.
Please DO NOT share this news with anyone else yet, other than the Hills, if you will; make a quick stop at Longbourn on your way.
Your brother,
Thomas
“Mrs Hester!” Hattie called at the top of her voice. “Please have our trunks packed, we depart for London as soon as may be. Sooner than may be if you can!” The housekeep bobbed a curtsey and left to instruct the maids. “Frank, I will write, telling them that we will arrive later today.”
“I will pass it to the courier once you have finished, Hattie.” Frank Phillips valued his life too well to even think about trying to gainsay his wife.
Franny sat in stunned silence. She had heard about a cousin who had been stolen away, but never imagined that she would meet said cousin in her lifetime.
“Oh, I cannot forget to write a letter to Graham at Oxford,” Hattie stated as she fluttered her handkerchief nervously on her way to the escritoire.
The courier was on his way back to London but a half-hour later.
The Phillipses were on the road within two hours with a quick stop at Longbourn, which produced tears of joy from the long-time housekeeper and, uncharacteristically, Mr Hill himself cried as he soothed his wife, the shadow of grief the elder Bennets and staff had suffered silently for so long finally gone.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The Bingleys were enjoying breaking their fast at their townhouse on Gracechurch street when a footman in Darcy livery delivered a note inviting them to dinner at Darcy House two days hence. The Hursts received an identical invitation around the same time, and both were accepted with pleasure.
As they were folding their napkins, the butler brought a second message from Gardiner House with an invitation for dinner that evening, and it too was accepted.
When Charles read the engagement announcement at breakfast, he found that he did not feel the regret he thought he would.
He realised then that he had not truly been in love with Jane Bennet and wondered at her ability to understand him better than he had understood himself.