“IfI decide to marry again, I will keep that in mind, Your Majesty,” Elizabeth jested back.
“Where will you live until that occurs?” the Queen questioned.
“It is not something I have thought on, but I suppose I would prefer Castlemere,” Elizabeth related. “I found the area and the people to be much to my liking.”
The Queen looked to Ladies Matlock and Anne. “Are not your husband’s estates close to the one the Duchess mentioned?” the Queen wondered.
“Pemberley is but two miles away, Your Majesty. We share a boundary fence with Her Grace’s estate,” Lady Anne confirmed.
“And Snowhaven is a little more than ten miles distant,” Lady Matlock added.
The Queen looked at the Darcy heir. She had not missed the tender way he and the Duchess looked at one another from time to time. “It is well you have made good friends,” the Queen turned back to Elizabeth. “We are well pleased you and your sisters are all safe from that man.”
“As am I, Your Majesty, as am I,” Elizabeth responded.
The Queen ordered some tea and cakes. As would be expected there was enough to feed an army. Once tea was drunk and some slices of cake consumed, the Queen and the Prince of Wales stood, received their bows and curtsies, and then exited the drawing room.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
That afternoon one Clem William Collins presented himself at Mr. Philips’s law offices in Meryton.
“I thought you would be older,” the clerk stated when he saw the man who was barely twenty sitting before him.
“My honoured father passed away a little over a year past. It is only my mother and me now,” Collins informed the clerk. “As much as I appreciate my inheritance, I know not how to manage an estate.”
“There are many in the neighbourhood who would assist you,” the clerk replied. “I do have a question. The only Bennetremaining at Longbourn is the former mistress, Mrs. Frances Bennet, what will you do regarding her?”
“My mother will be the mistress for now. I will decide what the best course of action is regarding Mrs. Bennet after I have met her,” Collins mused. “Is not one of my distant cousins a duchess?”
“Yes, the second daughter of the late Thomas Bennet is the Duchess of Hertfordshire, and if you have read the news recently, you will know her husband is lately deceased,” the clerk responded.
“Does that mean I am her and her sisters’ guardian?” The idea of being the protector of a duchess appealed to Collins.
“It does not. That was all spelled out in the articles of the marriage settlement. She and her four sisters are, for now at least, under the guardianship of their two uncles.” The clerk quickly dispelled the notion Collins would have any authority over the Duchess or her sisters.
There was no missing the way Collins’s face fell at learning the last. “I suppose I should go and introduce myself as the new master at my estate…how do I get there?” Collins wondered.
The clerk imparted the information Collins needed to reach Longbourn. Soon he was on his way in the gig in which he and his mother had arrived.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Charles!” Caroline Bingley shrieked. “I hear the Darcys have returned to London. When will we see our friends?”
Bingley knew telling Caroline how disinclined the Darcys and their family were to be in her company was not worth the tantrum which would follow. “Mayhap we will see them at DruryLane this evening.Much Ado About Nothingis being performed and I know it is one of Darcy’s favourites.”
“Then you must go and acquire tickets right now,” Miss Bingley commanded. “As soon as he sees us he will invite us to the Darcy box, of course.”
Bingley obediently ordered his coach to go to the box office to acquire the tickets his sister demanded. Anything was better than her whinging.
Chapter 30
“You are gifting us dowries ofhow much!” Jane exclaimed with the volume of her voice rising. It was hard enough to comprehend her sister’s wealth, but this was far too much.
“Was I not clear? You will each have one hundred thousand pounds,” Elizabeth repeated. “Once word gets out, every fortune hunter in the land will be after you…”
“And you, Lizzy,” Madeline interjected. “You know it is true.”
“I suppose it is,” Elizabeth mused. “Do not forget, I will always be with John, Brian, and Albert when I am not at home, and I have asked them to find more men of their quality to guard not only me but my sisters as well.” She paused as she remembered what they had been discussing. “Uncle Frank is having the conditions of the release of the dowries written in such a way that a fortune hunter will not benefit from even one penny. Moreover, if some man is dishonourable enough to convince one of you to elope, other than the one thousand pounds you would have received from Mrs. Bennet’s portion, you will receive nothing.”
