Chapter 18 Letters
"Madeline, we have received a package from Captain Fitzwilliam. I think you should read the letter that accompanied it," Edward Gardiner said to his wife as he entered the drawing room.
Looking up from her needlework, Madeline Gardiner smiled at her husband. "I am always happy to read about the adventures of our good captain," she said, accepting the folded paper.
"It is not only adventure but a request this time. You will see," Edward said, taking a seat on the sofa next to his wife. She opened the paper and read.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner,
I send this missive hoping it will reach you safely and find you well and happy.
I want you to know that I treasure your friendship for much more than the aid you have so often given to me and my father in our quest to keep secrets from a certain relative.
That said, I wish to request a favor from you once again.
I hope you will not mind, especially since it involves someone who is dear to us both.
First, let me explain. You know that my unit is currently serving on the border between Portugal and Spain although, for security reasons, I cannot tell you exactly where.
It is interesting country and very beautiful in its way.
The countryside is different from England.
However, I have found that, just like at home, one can sometimes find treasures when one stops in a small village and truly looks around.
I have gained some fluency in the local dialect.
Enough to get by for most purposes, at any rate.
Because of this, my commander often sends me ahead with scouting parties or to arrange for housing or feeding the troops.
On my way back from one such expedition, I ended up in a small village, one very like the many small villages that dot the back roads of England.
The inhabitants of this one, fortunately, were friendly towards the English.
As I stopped by one building to ask which was the local equivalent of a public house, I found myself in the workshop of a master craftsman.
He worked in gold, creating delicate filigree ornaments that his son would take to the larger towns to sell in less dangerous times.
I was amazed by the beautiful piece on which he was working and asked if he had any finished items to sell.
He told me he generally only made works commissioned by known customers now, but that he did have something that had been completed for a customer who was no longer able to make the purchase.
When you open the package, you will see why I simply had to buy it.
No matter what the original purchaser may have intended, there is no doubt in my mind that this set was made for Lizzy.
With a little bartering that sometimes stretched my linguistic skills, I was able to come to an agreement on a price he would accept and that I could afford.
I carried this little box containing my purchase with me until the time came that I could turn it over to a reliable courier.
Today seems to be that day. Now comes the favor I wish to request from you.
Lizzy's sixteenth birthday is coming up soon.
I want the contents of the box to be a gift for her on that day, which I know will mark her coming out in Meryton society.
We all know, however, that I cannot give this to her.
First off, propriety forbids it. Even if it did not, such a gift would excite expectations on Mrs. Bennet's part that neither Lizzy nor I would care to fulfill.
Furthermore, if any word that I had made her such a gift reached my aunt, no amount of play-acting could allay her suspicions.
Even if I sent it through the hands of Mr. Bennet, the source of the gift would come out.
Therefore, I am asking if you will present this birthday gift as if it came from you.
Please. What is important to me is that Lizzy receives it.
You may tell her the truth if it can be done without anyone else knowing, but only in that case.
May I rely on your friendship to do this deed?
I am hoping the answer is yes. Of course, I will not know until I hear from you next, so please write soon and tell me all about the festivities for my dear near-sister.
Best wishes,
Richard Fitzwilliam
As she finished reading, Madeline looked at her husband. "Have you seen what is in the package?" she asked.
"No," he replied with a smile, pulling a carefully wrapped box from his coat pocket and handing it to her. "I was waiting for you."
From another pocket, he pulled out a penknife and handed it to her.
Carefully, she cut the twine securing the paper wrapping.
Removing the wrapping, she found a delicate box made of very light-colored wood that had been carved with a chain of roses around the sides and one large one in the center of the lid.
"The box itself would be an elegant gift," Madeline said. "If I know Lizzy, she will consider it a treasure on its own."
"I agree," said her husband, "and if that is just the package, I cannot wait to see what Captain Fitzwilliam considers to be the true treasure."
"Do we dare?" Madeline said mischievously, holding the box out in her open hand. "Perhaps our eyes will be blinded by the beauty within."
"We must chance it," he answered. "After all, how could we carry off credit for the gift if we give it to Lizzy sight unseen?"
Madeline used her fingernail to unfasten the delicate latch on the box. Carefully, she lifted the lid.
"Oh, he was so very right about this belonging to Lizzy," she gasped.
"She will love it," her husband agreed. He took the box so that she could use both hands to carefully lift the contents.
It was a set comprised of a necklace and earbobs created of gold filigree, beautifully formed and richly decorated.
Madeline carefully drew the primary piece out of the box.
The necklace was sized to lay comfortably with the focal point resting just below the notch at the base of the neck.
The central pendant of the necklace was a small shield ornately shaped like those often found on funerary hatchments.
Centered within the shield was a diamond formed by four thin bars of faceted jet.
Centered within the diamond was a rose carved from a single, deep-red garnet.
The pendant was suspended from each of the upper corners of the shield.
Short, delicately twisted lengths of chain alternated with filigree roses designed to lay flat against the neck and be displayed to best advantage.
The earbobs were each formed by a smaller garnet rose fixed to a tiny gold shield suspended from a twist of chain.
"There was no way he could give this to her himself," Edward said, gently touching the garnet rose in the necklace.
"And no way, once he saw it, that he could not," Madeline agreed.
"How will we explain giving this to her?" he asked. "Jane will be jealous and the other girls may expect similar gifts when their sixteenth birthdays roll around."
"We will think of something. We have to. This belongs to Lizzy."
Edward nodded, already busy considering ways to explain the elegant gift. At least they still had almost a month to work it out. Madeline was too busy admiring the fine workmanship of the necklace to worry about the whys and hows. She would set her mind to the problem later.
~o~
Richard looked through the small packet of letters that had finally reached him after weeks in transit.
That was the way of things out here. He might go for several days without anything and then get all his letters in a single batch.
He examined the handwriting on each missive.
Hmm, one from his father, one from his godfather, one from Will and one from his cousin Anne.
He decided to open the last one first. Letters from Anne often involved problems with her mother.
Best to get the bad news out of the way.
Dear Richard,
I hope you are well and as safe as is possible, cousin.
I worry about you off on foreign shores leading your men from battle to battle.
Most of all, I wish you were back here. It may not be safe with Mother around, but at least there would be no one shooting at you or swinging a sword at your neck.
Do try to stay alive, please. I hate to think of what Mother would accomplish without you available to oppose her.
Life here at Rosings goes on as it usually does.
I know I have said this before, but please thank your father again for having put Mrs. Jenkinson and Polly in Mother's way when she was hiring my governess and personal maid.
It is so nice having two people I can trust so close to me.
I think I should have run mad stuck living under Mother's rule without their help.
It sometimes amazes me how much Mrs. Jenkinson and I have been able to manage without Mother even suspecting.
One can hide all manner of studies under the guise of a French lesson, it seems, if the one you are trying to fool does not speak French.
We even managed music and dancing lessons under her very nose, figuratively speaking.
I may have only ever played the ratty old pianoforte Mother installed in Mrs. Jenkinson's room so she could "practice" and prepare to perform for company, but I can play.
Most of the practice Mother's informants heard was me learning, while Polly stood guard at the door.
Your father's idea of sending me the phaeton while insisting that driving out would be good for my health was simply brilliant.
With Mrs. Jenkinson, Polly or both as companions, I can go anywhere in the neighborhood and often find a secluded glade in which to learn the latest dance steps without being discovered.
I even sometimes meet my neighbors, under careful chaperonage of course, which makes life a little more interesting and fun.