Chapter 7 #2
“Why, Franklin, why would you do this to our best friends in the neighbourhood?” Sir William asked plaintively.
“Because the toffs all deserve it after what the likes of you did to me at Oxford! Jane was supposed to be mine, and this one,” he pointed at Perry malevolently, “steals her from me, so I decided that the sister would do. I cannot help it if the little doxy is yet…” Whatever he was about to say was stopped as both Will and Richard hit him with all of their force in his midsection, the blows connecting at the same instant as if intended and Franklin fell to his knees gasping for air.
Richard lifted his head by his hair so that the spluttering man would be able to see his eyes.
“If you ever so much as look in my sister’s direction again, I will call you out, and I promise you that will be the last mistake you ever make!
Do I make myself clear?” Franklin nodded his head while still gasping for air.
“Whatever happened to you at Oxford was not right, Franklin, but neither is your blaming nor disdaining anyone who is highborn because of it. My daughter had never done anything to offend you, so direct your venom at the ones that wronged you, not at innocents. What you did in retaliation is the way that a coward would react. Is it not much easier to hurt an innocent while hiding behind a rumour than face the ones who actually wronged you?” Bennet stated.
“Lucas, I trust that you will take care of this.”
“You have my word, Bennet,” a much-saddened Sir William promised.
Lady Sarah Lucas had been standing in the doorway after shooing her younger daughter and son back into the house.
She had felt that something was not quite right with her oldest son, but she never suspected he was this deep into his delusions.
She hoped that his actions would not cause her to be shunned in the neighbourhood.
Frank’s first reaction was to scoff at Mr Bennet’s words, but then, as his breathing slowly returned to normal and with the pain from his mouth and stomach as a vivid reminder, Franklin Lucas felt shame like he had never felt before.
“Mr Bennet has the right of it; I acted as a coward does. I will not bother any of you again; you have my word on that. I will go back to the inn as I am now and tell the men that I was talking out of turn and what I said was all untrue,” he offered in contrition.
“As much as I appreciate your willingness to attempt a repair of what you have wrought, I believe that we will not be able to put the cat back into the bag. We will have to decide on the best way forward,” Bennet stated thoughtfully.
“Gentlemen, let us to Longbourn to consider how to handle this, unless either you or the Colonel have an objection, your grace.” Bennet looked at both Fitzwilliam men.
The men standing with Bennet nodded in agreement and started to mount their horses.
“Lucas, know that I do not hold you and the rest of your family responsible for your son’s actions; I hope that his words here were not just words, but that he is sincere in his desire to correct his behaviour. ”
“I swear on my life, Mr Bennet, I am,” Franklin stated unequivocally.
“If not, it will be your life,” Richard murmured loud enough that those around him could hear, and all knew he was not joking. Bennet mounted after shaking his friend’s hand to reinforce his words of not blaming him, and the men headed down the drive back to Longbourn.
When they arrived at their destination, Andrew pulled Bennet aside.
“We need to have a family meeting that includes all who will be affected. I can tell you that my sister will not react well if we make a decision behind closed doors without including her, as it affects her more than any of us,” Andrew told his new uncle.
“Then a family meeting it will be,” Bennet resolved.
He was sorry that a matter of business had called his brother Gardiner and his family back to town a few days earlier, but he expected the Gardiners to return before the funeral service the next day.
Gardiner was a highly intelligent man, and Bennet would have enjoyed his and his wife’s perspectives on the way forward.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Franklin, do you realise that you could have ruined us all if Bennet had not been so benevolent?” Sir William demanded once he, his heir, and wife were in his study with the door shut. “Charlotte is well married, but do you have any idea what you would have caused for Mariah and John?”
For the first time in many years, Franklin Lucas wept openly, and his mother hugged him. “I am so sorry and ashamed of my actions,” he repeated until he calmed down.
“We are sorry that you had to endure what you did at Oxford. Why did you not tell us?” Sarah Lucas asked.
“I felt that as a man I had to find a solution on my own. I know now that I should have sought your counsel, seeing how terribly I have behaved. In my mind, I held all of the first circles responsible for the handful at Oxford who tormented me. I knew that Jane Bennet had a large dowry, and with it I would no longer be poor; I would be accepted, and when she accepted the Duke just after rejecting me, something in me snapped. It was only today, when I literally had the sense knocked into me, that I woke up to what I have been doing and planning. I am deeply ashamed of myself and horrified at my own actions.” His parents glanced at one another and neither doubted that Franklin was contrite and had seen the error of his ways.
“The mark of a true man, my son, is not that he never makes a mistake, but how he goes about fixing his mistakes and taking the responsibility for them. We will wait to hear from Longbourn regarding their decisions, and then we will help in any way that they see fit,” Sir William stated resolutely, and his wife and son agreed without reservation.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After dinner, all of the family except for the youngest members in the nursery met in Longbourn’s largest drawing room.
Mr Hill was instructed that they were not to be disturbed, and after the door was closed Andrew and Bennet informed those who did not know of what Franklin Lucas had done and the confrontation at Lucas Lodge.
“What will we do, Andrew? I thought that I had more time before the world knew of my true connection to my birth family,” Elizabeth asked.
“As did we all, Sprite,” Andrew responded sympathetically.
“We do not have to decide today, and Mr Bingley’s funeral is on the morrow. If you want to think about this and what you prefer, Lizzy, we can revisit the topic after we return from Netherfield,” Bennet offered.
Elizabeth took a moment to consider the new situation.
“No, Uncle Thomas, there is no need to wait. The reason I waited to reveal my true connection was to allow me time to know my birth family without the scrutiny of others, especially the Ton. It seems that young Mr Lucas has taken that decision out of our hands. I do not see another option. We need to announce the truth before the rumours take hold,” Elizabeth proposed.
“We could try and contain the news to Meryton and its environs,” Frank Phillips suggested.
“Given how much interest there is in Lizzy, I am sure that the rumours will be sold or leaked to a London gossip rag,” Jane opined the practicality, despite the distastefulness of the possibility.
“My betrothed is correct,” Perry added in support of his love, “I do not believe that we can bury this here and hope it does not spread.”
“Then we will send a notice to the Times,” Andrew resigned himself to the prospect of the Ton’s reaction.
“I have a suggestion,” Lady Rose spoke for the first time.
All eyes turned to her. “Allow me to write to my cousin and have her and the family make a royal announcement. That way no one will be able to question that there is not full support of the families and make everyone aware that any who try to use the news against us would be rendered mute.”
“My mother’s plan has merit,” Perry agreed.
“What about in Meryton?” William Bennet asked, “not only did Franklin state the true connection, but he also lied about why Lizzy is not living here.”
“My Hattie will make sure that the truth is well known,” Frank Phillips waved that off as it would take but a moment to correct.
“Let us see if he was sincere,” Will had a thought. “Lucas said he was willing to tell everyone the truth, so as soon as we announce that the Bennets are in fact Lizzy’s birth family, let him tell one and all that he lied about her being forced to live as a Fitzwilliam.”
“My son has a good suggestion,” Anne Darcy agreed.
“He had better do whatever he can to fix what he broke,” Richard bit out, “or I can go speak to him again.”
“I do not believe that will be needed, Richard,” Bennet said with a grin as he visualised Franklin Lucas prostrate on his back. “I believe that his contrition was sincere.”
“It will not only be Hattie,” Tammy Bennet stated emphatically.
“The rest of us, and our friends who know the truth, and I am sure that Sarah Lucas will be very vocal as well. We will all make sure that the truth is known, so if anyone repeats the nonsense about why Lizzy is not with us, they will be looked at with all the ridicule a liar deserves.”
With the decisions made, Lady Rose sat and wrote her note to the Queen, and as soon as she finished, a Bennet courier was sent racing toward London, to Buckingham House.
“Jane’s wedding is in January and all of you are invited; why not stay and spend Christmastide with us?
” Tammy suggested. “It will allow us all to get to know one another much better away from the scrutiny of the Ton in London.” After brief discussions, all three visiting families accepted the invitation with pleasure.
“Are you well with all of this, Lizzy?” Georgiana asked quietly as she sat next to her best friend and cousin.
“I am, Gigi. We always planned to make the true connection known; it is just a little sooner than I expected. But as we will be away from Town until January, I hope that by then something new will fix the Ton’s attention.
” She squeezed Gigi’s hand and nodded that she truly did agree that this was the right course forward.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The day of the funeral was bitingly cold; the night before there had been a light dusting of snow, which was exceedingly early for Hertfordshire.
Mr Pierce’s service was brief at St Alfred’s, the church packed to full capacity with the visiting and local men.
After the final prayer of the service, Oscar Bingley’s body was moved for the last time, and he was lowered into the grave where he would slumber for eternity.
The Gardiners had arrived barely an hour before the funeral.
He would have hated to miss the service.
Oscar Bingley had become much more than a partner in business; he was a friend who Edward would miss.
Now was not the time to discuss the future of their business ventures, but at some point, he would need to talk to Oscar’s brother, Paul Bingley, about their future endeavours.
Franklin Lucas gave his condolences to Charles Bingley and his family then excused himself.
He would keep his word and refused to make Lady Elizabeth or any of her family uneasy with his presence at Netherfield.
The men all climbed into the waiting carriages and made their way to the Bingley estate where the women were awaiting them.
Martha was most thankful to be surrounded by all of the support that she had.
In addition to her friends from the neighbourhood, her mother, sisters, and sister-in-law were very attentive to her needs.
As Martha sat with her mother next to her, she was well pleased that she had insisted that her surviving parent, now seventy, come live with her rather than alone in the house where she had grown up.
Her siblings had supported Martha in her request and had promised to visit as much as possible. As they pointed out to her, they had her company in Scarborough for many years, so they could not begrudge Martha wanting their mother with her, and had expected the request to come.
Some three hours after the service and internment, it was just family who remained at Netherfield, and they sat around in groups discussing the lost Bingley patriarch.
Before the group residing at Bennington Fields departed, Charles announced that the solicitor would be at Netherfield on the coming Monday to read his father’s last will and testament.