“Mr Bennet, may some of us meet with you in your study?” Lord Hilldale, as the eldest of the cousins, requested.
“Do not tell me you are here to speak to me about thehands of any of my silly daughters,” Bennet riposted. He did not miss that no one else in the drawing room appreciated his humour. “This way, my Lord.” He led the way and Darcy and the two Fitzwilliams followed behind him.
In the drawing room Mary and Miss Darcy discovered they had similar tastes in music, Kitty and Lydia were soon speaking to Lady Rebecca about fashion, Jane and her fiancé had their heads together, leaving Elizabeth and Charlotte to speak with the Hursts. Fanny Bennet surveyed her drawing room with contentment. She did not miss the chaos which previously marked this room only a few days past.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Bennet seated himself behind his desk and indicated the chairs in front of it, there were two, so the Colonel moved a third one closer. “You asked to speak to me,” Bennet commenced once all three of his guests were seated.
“Mr Bennet we appreciate your time as we are well aware of theworkyou are deferring to meet with us,” Lord Hilldale responded.
As much as he loved to use sarcasm in making sport of others, Bennet was not sanguine when it was aimed at himself. These were not men to be trifled with so he bit his tongue and other than a slight incline of his head, he did not respond.
“We understand Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth came to see you the other day to report a conversation they had overheard,” Darcy stated.
He could not fathom why these men desired to speak of his Lizzy’s fanciful imaginings, especially not the man who had slighted her at the previous assembly. He knew the man had been unable to apologise thanks to his own intervention. “Yes, my two eldest daughters repeated a fantastical story and then seemed missish when I did not charge off and confront the officers based on the fiction they told,” Bennet responded dismissively.
“Mr Bennet, what you were told was as non-fiction as can be. Mr Wickham has left a trail of ruined young ladies in many towns in the realm. Especially when he is motivated by revenge, as he was due to Miss Elizabeth’s failure to spread the lies he told her about my cousin, he is most dangerous,” the Colonel related. “It is by His Grace alone that two of your daughters and Miss Lucas happened to be on the top of the hill and were able to hear the two miscreants. Had they not been made aware of the true nature of the libertine; it is a certainty that Miss Lydia would have been meddled with and then all of your daughters would have had to share in her shame.”
“And yet, Lydia was not ruined,” Bennet crowed triumphantly. He was quickly tiring of the men; there was no amusement to be had.
“Only because of Miss Elizabeth’s brilliant mind,” Darcy asserted.
“What know you of the mind of one who istolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt you? Why should I listen to you who never apologised?” Bennet smirked.
“I have apologised, and would have the same evening had Miss Elizabeth allowed it. How is it you did not approach me at the dinner with the officers and demand I apologise? Had you done so, I would have told you that your daughter would not allow me to say anything past the barest of civil greetings. It does not take a great intellect to recognise your daughter’s intelligence,” Darcy averred.
Knowing how he had encouraged Lizzy to turn the other way if the man approached her, Bennet was well aware what Mr Darcy said was the truth. It was a pity he had missed the proud man humbling himself before his Lizzy. “What did Lizzy do?”
“Do you remember the page you signed?” Darcy queried. Bennet nodded. Darcy went on to explain how Miss Elizabeth had the men arrested. That was after Sir William and MissLucas convinced the merchants in Meryton to offer no further credit to the soldiers. “It is due to his incarceration he was unable to meddle with your daughter. You should know the scoundrel does not take ‘no’for an answer. If he wants to bed a woman and she refuses, he takes what he wants by force.”
“We just felt you should be aware nothing Miss Bennet and Miss Elizabeth told you was a fiction or exaggerated, in fact if anything, they may have understated the danger,” Lord Hilldale stressed. “If not for His Goodness, you and your family would have been embroiled in an all-encompassing scandal from which none of you would have been able to hide.”
“If you desire proof of our assertions, it can be provided,” the Colonel stated. “From my time in the army I can tell you that inaction can cause more harm than the incorrect measures at times.”
Listening to home truths was not his favourite activity, which led to a scowl rather than a derisive grin on Bennet’s face. “I see my failures have been great indeed,” he spat out. “So this is your opinion of me! This is the estimation in which you hold me! I thank you for displaying your disdain for my prowess as a parent. My faults, according to what you think of me, are heavy indeed! I have no need for you to insert yourselves into my family’s business.” Bennet waved the men away. He had heard enough. He needed some time to read and drink his port to restore his humour.
Shaking their heads at thoughts of the most indolent man any of them had had the misfortune to meet, the three made their way back to the drawing room.
Chapter 24
When the three men returned to the drawing room, both of her guardians noticed Gigi’s absence. Elizabeth saw the way both men were looking around so she stood and approached them. “If you follow the sounds of the pianoforte, you will find Mary and Gigi. They got lost in a discussion about their favourite composers and then your ward requested Mary show her the sheet music she has,” Elizabeth reported.
“Seeing that I am more musical than either of you, I will go make sure our young cousin is well, as I am sure she is,” Lord Hilldale volunteered. “There are more than enough of us here so giving the companions a half day was not an error.” Andrew was aware after his perceived failures regarding Ramsgate, even with the profligate libertine securely in a gaol cell, William was even more overprotective than was his wont when it came to Gigi.
So far, other than the master of the estate, Andrew was quite impressed with the comportment of the Bennets. Contrary to both William’s and Bingley’s warnings, there had been no fawning or blindly agreeing with what he said. He had expected a display of bad behaviour from the mother and her two youngest daughters. He surmised the great shock received when Wickham’s intents had been revealed, was the genesis of the behaviour he had so far observed in the three ladies.
Although it was true he had learnt and still played the pianoforte—though not as often as he would have liked to have done—Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam had an ulterior motive for being the one to make sure Gigi was happy.
He had been searching high and low to find a lady who was compatible with him. He was looking for one who was genuinely God-fearing, who was as committed to the precepts of Christianity as he was. He was not looking for a woman who was putting on a pantomime of her character to catch a viscount without caring a whit for his interests.
With a few innocent questions, he had learnt the lady would be nineteen in May upcoming. He was one and thirty, not ancient, but twelve to thirteen years her senior. If she was mature, as he hoped she was, the difference was meaningless to him, but if he was too old for her, there would be nothing he could, or would do to convince her otherwise. The Viscount knew he was getting far ahead of himself. He knew nothing of her yet, beyond what he had been told of her interests and her age. All he could hope for was His hand had guided His humble servant to this place, and placed Miss Mary Bennet before him for a reason.
When he entered the parlour which housed the upright pianoforte, he was charmed to see Miss Mary and Gigi sitting side by side giggling as they worked on a duet. He cleared his throat.
“Andrew!” Georgiana exclaimed. She turned to her bench mate, “Mary, did I not tell you that Andrew plays the instrument?”
“You did. Will you play for us, my Lord?” Mary requested shyly.
