Once the two Sovereigns had boarded their royal coach and all of their retinue either in their carriages or on their horses, they were off. Becca knew she would have much to tell her parents when they arrived.
When she reached home with the children, Becca related the happenings to Thomas and Mother. They were greatly amused, especially at Lizzy being impertinent to the Queen and Her Majesty being charmed by her, impertinence and all.
The next day there was a stream of local ladies who called. Becca made sure they understood she wanted to be known as Mrs Bennet, and those who had been invited to use her familiar name were still to do so.
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Marie and Will had still not been gifted with more children, but Connie had. Like Becca before her, she had delivered twins, but identical daughters—Felicity and Harriet—in April 1795, and a son and heir—Ian—had been delivered in October 1797.
Other than the local population being a little more cowed by theDevons,by the time the newest Bennet was born on the penultimate day of January 1798, things, with regards to how the local population related to the Devons and their family, were just as they had been before the Queen’s unintentional slip.
The sixth child to be gifted to the Bennets was a girl, and she was named Elaine Catherine for her mother’s godmother and Grandmama Beth’s late sister. She was called Ellie by all of those in the family.
As excited as they were that another sibling had been born, the twins, who would be seven in March, thought only of the pony each would receive on his or her birthday. Jane had received hers on her seventh birthday, almost two years past, and she had named her Butterfly. After almost two years of riding Butterfly, it was as if Janey had been born in the saddle.
Just like had occurred with Jane, a month before their birthday, Bennet would take Henry and Lizzy to Haye Park tolook at the ponies the Gouldings had for sale, so they would be able to choose one for themselves.
As they had discussed in April 1795, the Bennets had purchased the quarter share of Edward Gardiner’s business he had offered them. Based on two years’ worth of dividends so far, they had not regretted that decision for an instant. In April of the current year, they would also receive a return for the third year.
Chapter 8
In 1799, Richard Fitzwilliam, age seventeen, entered Cambridge, one school year before Andrew would graduate from the same university, which he did in April of 1800. At the beginning of October 1800, his cousin, Fitzwilliam Darcy, began at the venerable institution of higher learning.
Over the years, the Fitzwilliam brothers had continued to call the Darcy heir Fitz. He would have preferred William, but they explained there were too many in the family already. Eventually he accepted the name.
It was sad that Fitz had never met the Bennets. The cause for that was the protracted illness suffered by the late Lady Anne Darcy. Her death, soon after her dream of a second child was realised, turned the Darcy men, who had always been taciturn, bordering on reclusive, into hermits. Lady Anne’s death occurred on the fourth day of March 1796, two days after the birth of a daughter, Georgiana, who was called Giana by all who were close to her.
Thankfully, before she succumbed to her fate, Anne Darcy had extracted promises from her husband and son that they would not blame her daughter for her death. As hard as it was for them, both Robert Darcy and Fitz mourned Lady Anne, but kept their vow to her and made sure that Giana was loved.
At the start of the 1802 school year, Robert Darcy sent his orphaned godson, George Wickham—whose father had been the steward at Pemberley—to Cambridge to receive a gentleman’s education. Also commencing his studies at the university that year was Charles Bingley, the son of a very well-off tradesman.
In order to stop his Uncle Robert from trying to force Fitz to share living quarters with the parasite who was Wickham, Richard had organised it so he and his younger cousin would share a suite.
In Richard’s opinion, Uncle Robert had a major blind spot when it came to George Wickham. His uncle was wilfully blind to Wickham’s avaricious, profligate, dissipated behaviour.
No matter how many times he had been told of the seductions, theft, and vicious propensities of his godson, Uncle Robert had refused to see it. Not even the fact that before his parents had passed away, young Wickham was not welcome at any Fitzwilliam or Cavendish property seemed to break through the older Darcy’s delusions with regards to his godson.
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In the summer of 1800, the family, which included a four-year-old Giana Darcy, had congregated at Snowhaven for part of the summer. The two Darcy men, however, had gone north to Glen Morgan Heights in Scotland as they did every summer. It was the first time the youngest Darcy met the Bennet girls, and although she did not remember their family name, she loved spending time with the three older Bennet sisters, especially Lizzy, whose middle name was the same as Giana’s familiar name. At two, Ellie was too young to play too much with the older children, although she was often with her older sisters and brothers. Neither Henry nor Tommy Bennet paid the girl any attention. They were at that age when any girl who was not their sister was ignored.
Robert Darcy had cajoled his brother-in-law Matlock, against the Earl’s better judgement, into allowing an almost seventeen-year-old George Wickham to come to Snowhaven so he would not be alone at Pemberley.
It soon became evident that George Wickham was captivated by Jane Bennet, who was one of the most beautiful girls anyone had seen. Although Jane was but a girl of eleven at this point, he had heard talk she had a large dowry. She was not comfortable around young Wickham and had told that to Henry and Lizzy—who were both nine—so whenever Jane ventured out, aside from a footman, the twins, and more often than not, others were with her.
One day Jane was admiring some wildflowers and had not noticed the others had moved on ahead. Wickham must have been following, waiting for her to be on her own. He had approached her, pulled her to himself, and tried to kiss her. Unfortunately for him, the twins realised Jane was not with them and came flying back with Richard and a footman in their wake.
One second Wickham had been trying to force his lips on Miss Bennet, and the next he was lying on his back, the wind knocked out of him.
The twins, led by Lizzy, had launched themselves at him, and their shoulders had connected with his back. A dazed George Wickham stood up and saw what had hit him; he was about to aim a kick at the nearest twin to himself, the impertinent girl, when a fist connected with his chin and his world went black. Richard, who at eighteen was rather strong, had arrived.
It went without saying that Wickham was ejected from Snowhaven. When Robert Darcy returned to Pemberley, his godson had poured lies in his ears, so when Matlock told himwhat had occurred, he discounted most of it. The upshot was a ban on Wickham ever setting foot on Fitzwilliam or Cavendish land again. His actions had ignited Lizzy’s ire to the extent that she told everyone she hated the boy who attempted to hurt her Janey. She vowed if she ever saw the miscreant again, he would be sorry.
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Richard was fully aware that Wickham would have been sent down from Eton without Uncle Robert interceding on his behalf. His Darcy uncle was the only one who could not see an education was the last thing Wickham would get at Cambridge.
Knowing Wickham’s trick of claiming to be Fitzwilliam Darcy to gain credit, Richard and Fitz had visited every store in the area, telling them that if they issued credit to one claiming to be Fitzwilliam Darcy, or using his real name, George Wickham, they would not be responsible for the debts he would leave unpaid.
