“For the most part, Lizzy was a cheerful child. At leastonce the fragments of memories from her past no longer haunted her. That is not to say she did not get into mischief, she did…” Fanny told of Lizzy’s propensities to push limits and how once Jane got older, there was a stage when she had preferred the company of her brother and his friends to her sisters and theirs.
The more Fanny spoke, the more blanks regarding Ellie’s formative years were filled in.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Although she had claimed she would accept her punishment of being the daughter and sister of a tradesman once again, Caroline Bingley was determined to discover if the dire predictions had been true.
It was only a day since the assembly, when all of her carefully laid plans had been spoilt by that damned foundling who, as luck would have it, was somehow related to Messrs Fitzwilliam and Darcy! Surely word would not have reached London yet, and if it had not, she would be able to spin a story to counteract anything which was said about her and hersupposedruination.
In the late afternoon, Miss Bingley slipped out of the Hursts’ home and flagged down a hackney cab on Curzon Street. She gave the driver the direction for Miss Grantley’s house. Seeing that herfriendwas one of the foremost gossips in society, Caroline would use Miss Grantley to get her tale spread in London.
It was not the time for calling on friends, but it had to be done if Miss Bingley was to avoid joining her brother to begin their journey north at an ungodly hour on the morrow.
When the hackney stopped at Grantley House, Miss Bingley alighted. The house was on Cavendish Square, which, while not in Mayfair, was less than a mile from that most desirable area of Town. Miss Grantley never missed an opportunity to point out that her home’s address was a muchmore fashionable address than Hurst House on Curzon Street. Miss Bingley would suffer Miss Grantley’s airs and graces on this day, as she intended to use them for her own good.
Miss Bingley, her nose in the air, marched up to the double front doors. She picked up the knocker and allowed it to fall. As she would expect, the Grantleys’ butler opened the door. But he kept it blocked, which did not allow the caller to enter the entrance hall.
“Madam?” the man drawled condescendingly.
“Take my card to Miss Grantley. She will hear of your rudeness,” Miss Bingley hissed.
The door was closed. Almost ten minutes later, it cracked open again. “Miss Grantley did not think you would have the temerity to darken her doorstep ever again. She told me to tell you that she will never be at home to a ruined woman who attempted to compromise Mr Darcy.” The butler dropped the torn card onto the top step and closed the door forcefully.
How had word reached London so speedily? Not only had the news been received before she arrived in Town, but it was evident it had been spread throughout society. Miss Bingley lost her colour when she saw the few walkers in the square looking at her with supreme disdain. The hackney cab was not waiting, as she had been sure herfriendwould have sent her home in her carriage. There was nothing for it, she had to walk until she could hail a hackney to return her to Hurst House.
As she walked, those who had witnessed her humiliation at Grantley House cut her. It took ten excruciating minutes before Caroline found a hackney.
She tried to keep her features schooled, but it was rather difficult. She owned the truth; she was well and truly, irrevocably ruined. Why had she not listened to Louisa? And how had word spread in London so fast?
What Miss Bingley did not know was that first thing that morning, at Lady Catherine’s behest, a courier was on his way to London to deliver messages to the patronesses of Almack’s, the Duchesses of Bedford, Devonshire, and Hertfordshire, as well as the wives of some lesser peers. The notes contained information about Miss Caroline Bingley’s attempted entrapment of her nephew and her pretentious behaviour with a request to make sure the disgusting actions were known far and wide in society.
The missives had reached the recipients before they broke their fasts that morning. Hence, when some of the ladies received calls and others made them, the news began to spread. Given the ever-widening circle of those who had been made aware of the news, it had reached Miss Grantley by the time the Bingley conveyance was halfway between Meryton and London.
Before Caroline Bingley had made her call to Grantley House, her fate had been sealed.
That evening Miss Bingley packed without complaint and intended to be ready at whatever time Charles desired to depart in the morning. She realised that she would never be welcomed back into the level of society she had craved for so very long.
Chapter 18
Barnabus Wendell, called Barney by most, could not imagine why he had first received an express to return to London, and then another to travel to the town of Meryton in Hertfordshire, and a third for him to come to the estate of Netherfield Park near that town.
The only thing he could think of as he prepared to leave his friend’s estate in the morning was that it had something to do with the lady, a Miss Bennet, in whom David had mentioned being interested. He seemed to remember something about her being from the area of Hertfordshire where he would be travelling. The letter mentioned that Uncle Stephen, who since Aunt Adelle had passed almost never left Glenmeade, had been asked to come as well.
The years that had passed since Aunt Adelle and the babe she had been attempting to birth had been called home to God had not dimmed Uncle Stephen’s mourning. Barney was worried Uncle was only forcing himself to live until he reached the age of thirty in less than four years. It was at that age that Uncle Stephen would sign Glenmeade over to Barney. Uncle had not demanded that he take the Granger name. Rather, he said it was enough that Barney had Granger blood in his veins.
When Ellie was taken and murdered at some point, something had died in Uncle Stephen. He had loved his niece fiercely, so he had taken her loss almost as hard as Mother and Aunt Elaine had. Then, when Aunt Adelle, along with the babe, had been taken in childbirth a few years after Ellie, Uncle Stephen had all but lost his will to live.
Once Barney had become his heir after Richard receivedRosings Park, Stephen Granger had wanted to make Barney the master when he turned one and twenty. When his sister and brother-in-law had objected it was too soon, Stephen had attempted the same when his nephew was about to turn five and twenty. Again, he had been put off. In the end he had to settle for thirty.
His sisters were well aware he would not give up while he was master of Glenmeade, which is why Cilla and Wendell had not agreed to an age less than thirty, something with which Barney had wholeheartedly agreed. Everyone in the family held out the hope that by the time Barney reached that age, Stephen Granger would have moved past his melancholy. Unfortunately, to date that had not occurred. In the less than four years left before Barney became the master, the family intended to try what they may to convince Stephen not to give up.
‘Rather than speculate, I will know when I arrive at the mentioned estate,’ Barney told himself as his thoughts returned to the present.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Stephen Granger had debated with himself, going back and forth, many times since the express from his brother-in-law on behalf of his sisters had arrived.
Not for the first time did he unfold and reread the missive.
