1 October 1811
Netherfield Park
Near the market town of Meryton
Hertfordshire
I am scribing the words as your sisters dictated.
Wendell
Brother,
Elaine and I are fully aware that you dislike travelling away from Glenmeade unless there is no choice.
This, Brother dearest, is one of those times.
We cannot go into detail in writing, but believe us when we tell you that you will not be sorry if you answer our call and come hither.
All we will tell you, yes, is it is to do withELLIE!
Please, Stephen, make all haste. We promise you that you will not be sorry if you do.
Hoping we will see you soon. With our sisterly love,
Cilla and Elaine
He had almost resolved not to go, convinced that it was that they had discovered a grave for her. He did not think he would survive seeing irrefutable proof that his vivacious niece, the one Adelle loved as she would a daughter, was dead.
Before he was about to write the refusal, he allowed himself to examine the tone of the letter. It was not one of sadness, and if it was a grave, would his sisters not have said so? As he went over possible scenarios in his mind, his interest became engaged.
In the end, he did take up his quill and write a reply, but rather than a refusal, it was to let his sisters know that he would be hours, or at most, a day behind his response.
Feeling a will to live more than he had since Adelle had passed away, Granger issued orders to his surprised staff and servants that he would be travelling first thing in the morning. If his coachman changed horses frequently, he would reach this Netherfield Park on the evening of the third day.
For the first time in many years, Stephen Granger was excited about something.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Since Jane and then Eliza had come out, it was the habit of the two eldest Bennet sisters and Charlotte Lucas to meet the morning after the assembly while her mother would spend time with her friend, Fanny Bennet.
Charlotte’s curiosity was fully ignited due to the note which had arrived at Lucas Lodge the morning after the assembly before mother and daughter had walked to Longbourn as they intended to do. There were already questions, what with Eliza doing something Charlotte had never before witnessed, fainting, and then the Bennets, Phillipses, and the Netherfield Park party all departing minutes later.
The note asking the Lucas ladies not to call until further notice had only added to the mystery.
When the Lucases had discussed the request while they broke their fasts that morning, all were very inquisitive as to what had occurred, but not one of them had an inkling as to what had caused the request to be sent.
After the meal, Charlotte had walked around the estate’s small park as she went over the happenings from the previous night at the assembly. She stopped as she remembered something. That overdressed Miss Bingley, who as the daughter of a tradesman, thought she was above all of the residents of the area, had been asking about Eliza.
It was no secret, but as soon as Mrs Long had mentioned that Eliza was a foundling, the Bingley woman had looked elated. She had not remained to hear Mrs Long explain that Eliza was as much a Bennet as any of her five brothers and sisters and that the belief was that she was gently born.
Charlotte had watched as the shrew had approached Messrs Fitzwilliam and Darcy and their aunt, Lady Catherine, if memory serves. She had seen the woman speak to the men; the two had exclaimed something before Eliza fainted.
As she went over what she had observed again and again in her mind, Charlotte came to a conclusion. Did the men know who Eliza really was?
It was pure speculation at this juncture, so Charlotte hoped that the embargo on calls to Longbourn—during the morning calls other friends in the area had reported receiving the same request—would be of short duration so that her suspicions could be confirmed or denied.
No matter how much she wanted to know, Charlotte’s main concern was for Eliza, who she counted as the best of friends.
