“As soon as Mrs Gardiner wrote to me, I made the request to Father. He was about to refuse my request to be away from the family over the festive season, when I explained it was to spend time with you, Eliza. You know how big the soft spot in my father’s heart for you is, so he gave his permission as soon as your name was mentioned.”
“Why do you think we encouraged you to go into Metting today?” Gweneth asked. “They overnighted at Matlock last night so they could be here with no more than two hours of travel and arrive while you two were not at the house.”
“You are not the only one who can plan a surprise, Lizzy,” Lydia stated pertly.
“Well I for one, am overjoyed to see all of you so much sooner than we thought we would,” Elizabeth enthused.
“The same is true for me,” Mary seconded. She turned to her next younger sister. “Catherine, we have heard about your sketching, have you brought some to show us?” she enquired.
“Sorry, Mary, but no. I did not think of it this time. When we come for the summer, I will bring a selection, as well as my drawing accoutrements so I will be able to capture the views in Derbyshire,” Catherine replied.
“The housekeeper will show all of you to your suites,and then we can meet back here in an hour in time for the midday meal,” Gweneth stated as she nodded to her housekeeper.
Elizabeth and Mary accompanied Charlotte and their younger sisters up to the first floor where the family suites were.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Miss Catherine and Miss Lydia are much closer to my age,” Georgiana enthused as the coach carried them towards the inn where they would change back to the rested team of horses.
“And Miss Mary and you seem to share a love of music,” the Colonel pointed out. “I can also see what attracted William to Miss Bennet.”
“What a surprise it will be when she walks into Pemberley. It is the last thing William will expect, I will finally surprise him,” Georgiana claimed smugly. For years the siblings tried to surprise one another and part of the game was trying to discover what the other’s surprise was. Her brother was better at discovering her surprises than she his, but not this year.
“I think all of the family will like Miss Bennet, in fact all of the Miss Bennets.” That the Colonel’s thoughts were of Miss Mary Bennet was another story altogether. All he admitted to himself was he would enjoy getting to know her.
When the coach pulled under theporte cochèreand into the inner courtyard, Darcy was waiting for them, arms akimbo. He was decidedly not amused by the peals of laughter and loud guffaws emanating from the inside of the coach. He could not fathom what was so amusing. On going into Lambton and seeing neither hide nor hair of his sister and cousin, he had been worried.
It had nothing to do with his not being able to discover what his sister’s surprise was.
Chapter 25
The two eldest Bennet sisters would not have believed what they had just been told about all of the changes their parents had made, and were making, over and above what Charlotte had written in her letter, had they not implicitly trusted the word of those who reported all to them.
They, along with the Gardiner parents and Charlotte, were seated in a parlour at Lambert Hills the day after the surprise of the Gardiners, Charlotte, and the two youngest Bennets arriving in Derbyshire. Elizabeth and Mary had chosen to share a bedchamber so Charlotte would have the second chamber in the suite. Elizabeth had found it amusing that Charlotte’s letter was dated to throw her off which explained why her friend arrived only two days after the letter was dated.
“Father sold his most treasured first editions?” Elizabeth verified. Nothing had proved her father’s determination to make changes more dramatically than the actions he had taken. This was no lip service to change. He was finally working to secure the future of his daughters and wife. She heard Jane’s voice in her head saying: ‘You see, God always has a plan.’
“In fact, you will be able to see them on Christmas day, I believe they are now ensconced in their new home, the library at Pemberley,” Gardiner related. “It is not only the money from your father which is building dowries for you and your sisters’ futures. Mr Bingley handed me a draft for twenty thousand pounds. It was his younger sister’s dowry, which he stripped from her. His instruction is for it to be equally divided betweenthe four remaining Bennet sisters. With his money and what your father has added, you are each approaching ten thousand pounds, and that is before I am able to increase the principle by reinvesting the dividends.”
“Charlotte, you wrote of the changes our parents are making, but I never thought they would be so far reaching. This is a complete change of the family. Please tell me I am awake and not dreaming this,” Elizabeth responded in wonder. She was about to add ‘if only this had occurred before Janey’s death’ when she heard her sister’s voice in her head again. ‘No more looking back, it is time to embrace the future.’
“What think you, Lizzy? Could it be time to return to Longbourn after Twelfth Night?” Mary suggested.
“Yes, I think you may be correct, Mary. This is so much more than I ever imagined,” Elizabeth shook her head. “Of one thing I am sure, Janey,” she lifted her eyes to the heavens, “is well pleased with the direction the family has chosen to take.”
“Catherine and Lydia are not the same girls as they were before Janey’s death,” Mary observed. “Mrs Perkins seems to have them well in hand. How is it she did not accompany you to Lambert Hills to watch over her charges? I would very much like to meet the lady who has wrought such changes in my younger sisters in so short a time.” Elizabeth nodded her agreement.
“Camile, Mrs Perkins, agreed your uncle and I, as well as you two, Charlotte, Tim, and Gwen were more than enough to watch over Catherine and Lydia, and it will allow her an intensive period of working with Fanny,” Madeline replied.
“Aunt Maddie and Uncle Edward, do you have room for us to travel back to Hertfordshire with you when you depart after Twelfth Night?” Elizabeth enquired after a nod from Mary.
“Lambert will lend us his older carriage if it is needed, but that may not be necessary,” Gardiner responded. He sawthe questioning looks from the four ladies in the parlour. “Am I the only one who remembers Bingley and the Hursts are travelling to Netherfield Park the same day we will depart? I believe his is a large coach, and he would agree to help convey some of us back to Hertfordshire.”
“In other words, Eliza, you will be returning home with us,” Charlotte stated joyfully. As much as she understood Eliza’s need for time and distance away from Longbourn and the Bennet parents, Charlotte missed her friend greatly.
“So it seems, so it seems,” Elizabeth agreed.
“There is one more thing I did not mention until now,” Gardiner related. “Regardless of the success or failure, you should be aware your father is pursuing a simple recovery to have the entail on Longbourn broken.”
