“No, Mama, that was Mary’s decision, and Rich agreed with her,” Becca returned. “Thomas will have the announcements delivered to the various papers so they will appear on the morrow or the next day at the latest. Mary wanted to be sure no one doubted that she is not available before the night of her ball.”
“Is Mary more sanguine with practising for her presentation than Lizzy was?” Lady Anna questioned. “I remember being concerned Lizzy would make a comment about thehooped monstrosity, as she put it, to Her Majesty on the day of her presentation. Thankfully Lizzy curbed her desire to do so.”
Beth and Becca smiled as they remembered how bitterly Lizzy had complained but then had acquitted herself with aplomb.
“Mary does not love the dress, an opinion which she has in common with almost every debutante, but she is far less vocal about her opinions than Lizzy was. But then again, Mary has always been more circumspect,” Becca mused.
“Your brother, sister, and their families must know of the joy from this day, and not just by a note. To that end, I shall be inviting Marie and Will, as well as Connie and Harry, to a celebratory family dinner tonight,” Lady Anna decided. She looked around the room. “Thankfully most of their children are already present.”
Darcy was not envious of Richard as he watched his cousin and his fiancée speaking to Aunt Elaine and Uncle Reggie. Even though he would have loved to have been engaged to Elizabeth already, given that he had only met the woman he loved mere weeks ago, and Richard had known Mary all of her life, it was as it should be that he was in a courtship and his cousin was engaged. Besides, had Elizabeth not said that she would soon be ready to hear a proposal from him? As pleased as Darcy was with being in an official courtship with Elizabeth, the prospect of an engagement in the not too far distant future thrilled him.
What his uncle had said about his late parents’ approbation of his match with Elizabeth had greatly warmed his heart. If only they had been alive to meet her and to see what a good young woman Giana was becoming.
How much of his happiness did he not owe to Richard? It was Richard who took him to task and made him re-evaluate his character. Had he been full of improper pride when he met Elizabeth in Meryton, he might have been blind to her resemblance to his aunt, or dismissive of her based on inaccurate assumptions. Worse, he would have uttered those vile words he was about to say. The way Richard shook his worldthat day had led directly to his current happiness. In the end, even in the potential darkness of Ramsgate, there had been light.
Now they just had to get past bearding the dragon in her lair, and then he would spend the next few months in Elizabeth’s company.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
When the announcement of the engagement of Miss Mary Bennet to the Honourable Colonel Fitzwilliam appeared in theTimes of Londonin the Friday morning edition, there were many unhappy men who had planned to secure her notice, and sets at her ball, as a prelude to calling on her afterwards.
The rumours had her dowry from the mid-twenty thousand pounds to above thirty. Several of the men who had hoped to attract Miss Mary Bennet’s attention needed such a cash infusion into their estates to make up for unwise investments which had gone bad or losses at the tables. Anyone who was desperate enough to effect a compromise thought of other matrimonial targets as soon as the huge guards came to mind.
Debutantes and their mothers were not worried by the news. The Colonel was the son of the Earl and Countess of Matlock, but he had no wealth or property of his own. What did bother them was an entry in the society pages which told of a courtship between Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy. Although not titled, his wealth and estates made him a prime matrimonial target. If only the Bennets were not so well connected; but they were.
By Monday morning, the same day that the three Fitzwilliams and a Darcy were departing London for Rosings Park, the London papers with the engagement announcement in the social section, which also mentioned the courtship, reached Scarborough.
Bingley had been busy selling off all of his holdings so he would be able to leave England for the New World. Just like the Duke had predicted, word of the actions he and Caroline had attempted had reached this far north. He had been going back and forth about whether or not to have Caroline join him and had not reached a final decision yet.
He had been out making the final arrangements to sell his stake in his late father’s business when he entered the house to discover his sister unleashing a full-blown tantrum. When he walked into the drawing room of the house he had leased on a short-term basis, the papers from Town were shredded and strewn all around the room.
Once his sister calmed down enough that she was able to speak somewhat coherently, he learnt about Miss Mary’s engagement and Miss Elizabeth, Miss Bennet’s now, courtship with his former friend. Of course, Caroline blamed them for the ruin she had brought on her own head.
It was the last straw for Bingley. His younger sister had not the capacity to change. His decision was made.
The next day he visited a solicitor in the town to make arrangements for the remains of her dowry to be released to her. If he were to make a fresh start in the Americas, it would be without the millstone, which was his younger sister, around his neck.
Chapter 28
Both Richard’s and Liam’s thoughts were back in London as the coach they were seated in travelled towards Rosings Park. Each man was thinking of the woman he loved and hoping the stay in Kent would not be of a long duration. They did not even register that a stop had been made at the Bell in Bromley until they heard laughter from their travelling partners, who were vastly amused by their besotted son and nephew.
By the time they all alighted to use the privy as needed and have a warm drink, the coachman, with the aid of the two footmen, was already unhitching the team that had pulled the conveyance from Matlock House.
Matlock was not in the habit of using horses from inns along the way. It was why a replacement team of four had been sent ahead to the Bell on Saturday. They would be hitched to the carriage as soon as the other team was safely in the stables. That way, by the time they returned, either in a day or so or even later that same day, the two matched pairs being taken to the stables would be more than rested to make the return trip to Grosvenor Square.
“Enough moping about, you two,” Matlock boomed as he clapped his son on the back. “What use will you two mooncalves be in sorting out whatever mess Catherine has made if you walk around lost in your dreams of your lady?”
The two men looked suitably embarrassed at being called out for their inattention to their travelling partners.
“Let the boys be, Reggie,” Lady Elaine suggested. “Surely you remember what it was like to be at the start of a new relationship with one you love? If memory serves, you behaved similarly when we began to court.”
“You spoilt my fun, Elaine,” Matlock stated as he put on a fake look of disappointment. He raised his hands in surrender. “I will not rib them about missing Lizzy and Mary any longer. I need them to be able to assist me, which, if I continue in this vein, they may not be of a mind to do.”
“Richard dear, did you say that everything with your resignation and selling out will be completed by the time we return to London?” Lady Elaine asked to introduce another subject.
“Today all will be done. I am looking forward to having the pleasure of informing Mary about the completion of my leaving the army. I will miss the camaraderie I shared with my fellow officers, even the soldiers, but I do not regret resigning. I realised it was time.” Richard was thinking about his beloved again.
His mother gave up; there was no distracting her son.
