“I knew you could not be so intelligent for nothing,” Lady Elaine said softly as she began to drift off. She kissed her husband and was asleep within a minute.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The wedding was a small affair, which fit the marrying couple perfectly well. Aside from members of the three families, only some staff and servants attended the ceremony.
His new brother, against whom he had won twice and lost once in chess, stood up for him, while Connie had the supreme pleasure of being Becca’s maid of honour. The service went as expected, as had been prescribed inThe Book of Common Prayersince it was authorised in 1549, fifteen years after Henry VIII made himself and his heirs the head of the Church of England thanks to the Act of Supremacy.
The newly married Mr and Mrs Bennet took quite a while to sign the register, but no one commented on their swollen lips when they exited the registry. The wedding breakfast, a very lavish meal for a small group, was held at Hardwick Hall.
After an hour, Becca went to change into travel attire, and after farewelling their extended family, the newlywed Bennets departed for the Cavendishs’ house in the lake district, where they would spend three weeks. Waiting for them was a new, large, and comfortable coach and four, another present from the Duke and Duchess. Rather than complaining that it was too much, Bennet accepted the gift and thanked his parents-in-law graciously.
Beth was the last one to hug her son and daughter after she kissed each one on the cheek. She then stood with her new friends—she had become almost as close with Elaine as she felt to Anna—and everyone waved until the conveyance was out of sight.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
In London, when the notice of the wedding of Lady Rebecca Cavendish to a ‘T Bennet’ was published, there was much gnashing of teeth of those who had thought to claim her massive dowry for themselves. They were the same men who had held out hope that the engagement notice had been an error.
The second announcement told them how wrong they had been.
Chapter 6
1790 – 1810
Although they were confident in their love when they had married in July of the previous year, Becca and Thomas Bennet had had no idea how much their love for one another would increase daily. That is not to say they never disagreed; with two such intelligent people, it was certain to occur, and it did, although very rarely. Rather than cause a fight, they would employ their logic and eventually reach a compromise which satisfied both of them.
Beth Bennet was in her element. Her son was beyond happy; she loved Becca no less than had she been a daughter of her body, and Janey was growing as would be expected. Her relationship with Anna and Elaine had only strengthened as had the bonds between the three families.
The only thing lacking—so far—was more children. With so much love to give, there was enough for as many children as He deigned to bless Becca and Thomas with.
As much as Becca was praying for children of her body, it never diminished the way she related to Jane. Quite the contrary, Jane was as loved as she would have been had she been Becca’s family by blood, and she was treated as such by all of the Cavendish and Fitzwilliam family members.
The Bennets had been very pleased for Marie and Will when the former had delivered a son in January 1790. He hadbeen named William Francis. They looked forward to meeting their nephew when they spent time with the family in summer upcoming.
Both Becca and Bennet had prayed to be blessed with another child, and for almost the first year of their marriage, their prayers were not answered. The first month Becca missed her courses was at the end of June 1790. She was hopeful but decided to say nothing to Thomas until she missed one more month’s indisposition. By the end of July—when they were at Holker Hall in Yorkshire with the Cavendishes and Fitzwilliams—there had again been no courses. Becca had taken great pleasure in telling her husband what she suspected. Once they had calmed down from expressing their pleasure at the news, they had decided not to mention anything to the family until the next month’s cycle was missed.
The night before they were to depart for the south, Becca and Bennet sat in their bed. “Thomas, even though the time for my third set of courses is still a sennight or so from now, I think we should inform Mama, Papa, and Mother of our strong suspicion.” Becca rested her hand on her belly, which was not showing any signs of her state yet, as she said, “As much as I love Mother, I would prefer for all of our child’s grandparents to be told at the same time. As we depart in two days, the morrow is our last time to do so, unless we wait two months until my parents and sister travel to London.”
“As long as you are sanguine with informing them now, I have no objection, my Love,” Bennet responded and emphasised his point with a languid kiss. “If we are to inform the grandparents, then I suggest we include Aunt Elaine and Matlock as well.”
“That is a good idea. Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie are after all my godparents, so they will be additional grandparentsto our children,” Becca agreed. She cogitated for a moment. “Have you seen how good and patient our young Fitzwilliam cousins are with Jane? She has rudimentary verbal skills and is still a little unsteady on her legs, but that has not discouraged them, and they are so gentle with her. As I expected her to be, Connie is a doting aunt. That reminds me, her coming out will be in November. It is perfect as it will allow us to fulfil our promise to her. Had her ball been scheduled for the season, it may have been too hard for me to travel to Town, or anywhere else for that matter.”
“Then we are agreed; we will inform our parents, aunt, and uncle, of our suspicions in the morning. They would see Marie and Will and tell them when they stopped at Longbourn on the way to London from Woburn Abbey, her parents’ main estate in Bedfordshire.
After they expressed their physical love for each other, the Bennets fell asleep in one another’s arms, like they did every night.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“None of you look very surprised!” Becca exclaimed indignantly once she and Thomas had broken their news.
“We are all very happy, but we have seen the glow of your beingenceintefor about a month,” Lady Georgiana stated with a wide smile. “As hard as it was for us, we did not say anything to you until you were ready to tell us your news. Do not forget that when you tell Connie, she will be both surprised and joyful. She will be well pleased you two will be able to attend her coming out.”
Becca relaxed at her mother’s explanation. Thomas took her hand closest to him and gave it a squeeze of encouragement.
Bennet had not told his wife this yet, but he was somewhat nervous about the first time he and Becca would be seen in London as man and wife. He was sure there would be much debate about the ‘inappropriate’ match the daughter of a duke made with a nobody country squire. That was a worry for another time. Now was a time of joy to celebrate the coming expansion of their family.
As predicted, when Connie was informed she would be an aunt for the third time, she was ecstatic. The fact that Becca and Thomas would not be stopped from keeping their word to her, as they would have been forced to remain at Longbourn if her sister had been close to her lying-in, made Connie’s joy complete.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
