That night, the last they would be maidens, Becca spoke to both of her daughters together. Lizzy and Mary had chosen to hear ‘the talk’ together rather than separately. Becca emphasisedthe advantage they had of having a love match and how important communication, in and out of the marriage bed, was.
She did not gloss over the fact that there would more than likely be some pain the first time they joined with their husbands and possibly some bleeding, but she made sure they knew it would only be the first time. The last thing she wanted was for her daughters to fear that which was beautiful between a man and woman in a loving relationship built on mutual respect.
Her detailed information erased all of the fears her daughters may have had and left them in anticipation of the consummation of their marriages.
Elizabeth and Mary both woke at dawn. Jane would be attending Elizabeth as her matron of honour, while Ellie—who was beyond excited to have this honour at her age—was standing up as Mary’s maid of honour. Since Jane married, the next two Bennet sisters shared a suite. For Jane, the night before her sisters’ weddings was the first night she had not slept in the same bed as Andrew since they had married. He was at Netherfield Park with Richard and Liam and was doing the honours for both grooms.
Minutes after Jane and Ellie arrived in the suite, Becca led a maid carrying a tray into the sitting room. Once the tray was on the sideboard, Becca first summoned Lizzy and then Mary.
There were pots of hot chocolate and tea. To sate their hunger were rolls, muffins, and some apple-cinnamon pastries. For the rolls there was butter, jam, and honey.
“Mama, I thank you for these treats, but I do not think my nerves will allow me to eat,” Elizabeth claimed. Mary nodded her head in agreement.
“Lizzy, and you too, Mary, it is at least four, possibly five, hours until the wedding breakfast. Believe me when I tell you, it is imperative you eat something. You do not want to swoon from hunger, or have your bellies rumble, during the ceremony, do you? Ask Janey how thankful she was she followed my advice the day she married,” Becca insisted.
“I did not realise how hungry I was until I listened to Mama,” Jane added.
The brides sat and were soon munching happily. Between them they almost drained the pot of hot chocolate. “Mama was correct,” Mary owned sheepishly. It was Elizabeth’s turn to nod.
Becca gave her daughters a knowing look. She rang for the maid, and once the tray was removed, she kissed each of her daughters on their cheeks and left the suite. Elizabeth and Jane entered the former’s bedchamber while Ellie followed Mary into her rooms.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Richard and Darcy were both mesmerised when their respective brides, each on one of Bennet’s arms, followed their attendants into the nave of the church.
In Darcy’s mind, Elizabeth had never looked more beautiful as his eyes locked onto her magnificent emerald-green ones. Across from him, Richard was thinking a very similar thing about his Mary.
Bennet led his second and third daughters to their grooms, who had been prompted by Andrew to step down and meet them. He lifted Mary’s veil, kissed her forehead and placed her hand on Richard Fitzwilliam’s forearm. While the latter led his bride to the position Mr Pierce had indicated, Bennet repeated the process with Lizzy. With a sigh, he made for the pew where his family was standing. Like at Jane’s wedding, hismother was on the aisle, so he slipped past her and took his place between her and Becca.
The rector signalled the congregants to be seated. He paused for a moment and began the liturgy to marry Mary and Richard.
Elizabeth and Liam mouthed the vows to one another as Mary and Richard said them. Then Mr Pierce turned to them. Soon enough the individual parts were over, and the parson was reciting the final benedictions. When it was complete, a cheer rose up from the assembled witnesses. The two couples and their three attendants made the short walk to the registry and signed the register, fulfilling the last legal requirement to be married.
Towards the end of the service there was a disturbance from outside, but whatever it was, it was short-lived. The couples being married had noticed none of it. Becca and Bennet looked at one another and were not concerned. Biggs, Johns, and some of their men would make sure there were no interruptions.
While the newly married couples were accepting good wishes from their family and close friends, Bennet slipped out to speak to his guards. He returned to the nave in time to congratulate his daughters and new sons. Soon they began the walk back to the manor house. “You will not believe who attempted to interrupt the weddings,” Bennet told his beloved.
“Well, it cannot be the murderess; she has paid for her crimes already, and that Bingley fellow left England,” Becca puzzled.
“Yes,hedid, but that shrew, Caroline Bingley, did not. She blames us, especially Lizzy, for her downfall, and she came here armed with a pistol to exact her revenge on Lizzy. Johns and another man tackled her before she got near the church. They gagged her and have her well secured, and she is on theway to the town gaol. I will speak to your father and Matlock. That menace needs to be transported,” Bennet related.
“Papa will sign the order with the greatest of pleasure. That day she attempted to compromise Henry; he did warn her what would happen to her if she ever attempted aught else. As she will not need her dowry where she is going, I will suggest Papa have it given to Mrs Hurst for her future children.” Becca shook her head. “Enough about the harpy; we have a celebration to attend.
Bennet looked at his wife with love in his eyes. “You may not have been my first Mrs Bennet, but you, Lady Rebecca Cavendish Bennet, are second to none. Yes, let us go and enjoy the feast and see our daughters off.”
“A much better thing with which to be concerned.” Becca rested her head on her beloved’s shoulder as they entered their home.
Epilogue
Rosings Park, Easter 1822
As she sat on the shaded veranda at Mary and Richard’s estate, Becca smiled as she remembered that the redecorating of both the house at the estate and the renamed Fitzwilliam House on Berkeley Square in Town had taken upwards of six months. The smile was because Mary and Richard had resided at Netherfield Park for a good portion of that time, so even though she was a married woman, Becca and Bennet had the pleasure of Mary’s presence only three miles from Longbourn.
Since Mary and Richard had moved into their redecorated—all traces of the late Catherine’s gaudy, tasteless décor had been removed—and renovated manor house at Rosings Park, they had hosted the family for Easter each subsequent year.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
In the ten years since Mary and Richard married, they had restored Rosings Park to its full potential after they had cleaned up the messes that the late murderess had left them with. In addition to being respected by all of the tenants, of whom the mistress of the estate took prodigious care, Richard had begun a horse breeding programme.
