The new habits would be ready in another sennight. Elizabeth had not said anything to her sisters yet, but she had also ordered two of the same outfits for herself.
The little more than a half mile passed quickly for the walkers. They were soon shown into the sitting room at Lucas Lodge, where introductions to Lady Lucas and her four offspring were made. After partaking in tea, the younger crowd took a turn in the small park.
Charlotte was walking next to Eliza. “Your cousin, Miss Taylor, has an admirer,” she observed.
“She prefers being called Elli; our Taylor cousins are not sanguine with the miss and mister before their names. Where they were raised, things are far more informal. That being said, yes, it does seem that your eldest brother seems interested in Elli,” Elizabeth agreed. “It is far too soon to know if there will be anything between them; only time will tell.”
“If Mary had not already caught Mr Taylor’s…Roger’s eye, I would not have minded his eye falling on me. He is rather handsome and will be the master of Longbourn one day,” Charlotte stated.
Her friend had told her on several occasions that she was not a romantic. Hence, Elizabeth did not comment on the flippant manner in which Charlotte spoke of finding a spouse. She, and recently Jane, as well as Mary and Kitty, had vowed never to marry for anything but the deepest love and respect. From the little they had discussed the subject of matrimony; it sounded like the three eldest Taylor cousins also wanted to make love matches. Felix and Lil were not yet interested in discussing their future decisions regarding marriage.
Chapter 18
Gardiner arrived to see Henry as scheduled, and thanks to the note from Henry regarding his newly met great-niece, Lil, his daughter, Lilly, accompanied him. Eddy, who would be fifteen soon and was to begin his studies at Eton come September, had begged to accompany his father, who had agreed.
Fortuitously, the two youngest Taylors had arrived at the dower house with their father, so when the Gardiners arrived and introductions were made, they joined Kitty and the two Gardiner children outside in the garden. It was a warm day, and Cleopatra, who had been sunning herself, soon found her way onto Kitty’s lap. It did not take long for Eddy and Felix to lose their reserve and become friendly, and soon it was the same for Lilly and Lil.
Gardiner met with the two Henrys and Roger in the study.
“Uncle Henry has advised me to invest with you,” Taylor said after each man had a cup of coffee poured for him. “I understand that you consistently earn twice, or more, than what is brought in by the fund called the four percents, is that accurate?”
“Yes, what Bennet reported to you is accurate. I am not sure if he shared that he is a silent partner in my business. I have him to thank for the fleet of ships we own. Having them has greatly contributed to the profits of the business,” Gardiner related. “Like any investment, there is always the risk of low returns or even losing the money invested. It is why I advise clients never to invest anything they cannot afford tolose. That being said, not one of my investors has ever had a net loss. When I invest the funds which have been entrusted to me, I never place all of my eggs into one basket. That way, if one investment fails, it is a small portion and more than made up for by the ones that succeed.”
Henry Taylor was impressed that Gardiner was so candid about the possibility of losses. He trusted Uncle Henry’s word, but he wanted to look the man in the eye if he was to give over a portion of the money his family owned to Gardiner. “To begin with, I will place half of my available funds in your hands and the other half in the four percents. In a year I will reevaluate, and if things are as I expect, I will add more to my investment with you,” Taylor decided.
“You are using a sound strategy,” Gardiner stated. He stood and shook his newest investor’s hand. He did not mention it to Taylor, but he was not accepting new investors. However, being that his newest investor was Henry Bennet’s nephew, he waived that obstacle.
There was a knock on the door, and when Henry called out to enter, Mrs Bellamy did so. “Gentlemen, I wanted you to know that your offspring are all doing well together. Young Felix and Master Gardiner are chatting away as if they have been friends for years, and Miss Gardiner and Lil are very happy together.”
“Thank you, Mrs Bellamy,” Henry replied. “I did not doubt they would all rub together well.”
Before Gardiner departed with his eldest two, future visits were planned.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Catherine de Bourgh was becoming desperate. Her daughter would reach the age of five and twenty in August 1811, and no matter what she had attempted, none of her recalcitrant nephews had obeyed her orders to marry Anne and keep the estate out of the hands of Albert de Bourgh.
She had to try one more thing. She planned to beg Fitzwilliam Darcy to come to Rosings Park to assist with one who was threatening Anne’s wellbeing. Once he was at the estate, Catherine was certain she would be able to browbeat him into following her directives. It had always worked with her weak-willed sister, Anne. In the end, her younger sister had failed. She had not succeeded in having her nobody of a husband sign a marriage contract engaging Anne to Fitzwilliam. All of the time she had taken to make her weak-willed sister believe that Catherine liked her had been for nought. Now, she was staring at less than two months before Anne reached the age as stipulated in her damned husband’s will.
Failing being able to bend Fitzwilliam to her will, she would engineer a compromise between her daughter and her nephew.
Oh, how hard Catherine had battled to have her husband change his will. He had not agreed to leave the estate and his property to her; or for Anne to inherit at the age of five and twenty even if she was not married. Her husband had been well aware that Anne was very sickly and more likely than not would never be able to be a true wife to any man. Just in case, however, he had stipulated that the estate would not transfer to the de Bourgh nephew until Anne was five and twenty and remained unmarried.
It had been so frustrating that before Sir Lewis de Bourgh had gone to hell—she was certain that is where he was for failing to gratify her demands—he had left copies of his will with his executors, his de Bourgh nephew, and his solicitor. Hence, even had she been able to forge his signature reasonably well, she had no way of getting her hands on the other four copies and having them exchanged. She had even attempted to find the one in her brother’s study, but she had been discovered and had been unceremoniously ejected from his house. How dare her brother treat her thusly! After all, shewas only trying to correct a grievous miscarriage of justice.
Was there none in the family who cared for dynastic considerations other than herself? On the rare occasion she would become contemplative, Lady Catherine would admit to herself that her aim was to keep herself in charge of Rosings Park and all of those dependent on it. No sooner would she own that; she would push the unhelpful thoughts into the deep recesses of her mind.
She had another problem which was more immediate. The rector of the Hunsford parish, which was in Rosings Park’s advowson, had finally decided to retire. The man had been appointed by her late husband and had never followed any of her dictates to tell her what the parishioners said. He also refused to have her review and correct his sermons before he delivered them from the pulpit.
The problem was that technically she was not allowed to make the appointment. It had to be made by the executors before Anne married. If she reached the next birthday still single, at that time, the authority would then pass to the de Bourgh nephew. As long as Reggie and Fitzwilliam Darcy, who had taken over when his father had died, did not know, all would be well. Just then it struck Catherine. How would she hide this from her nephew if he answered her call like she was sure he would do? She would award the living to a man she approved of and instruct him to say he was the curate when her nephew was present. She needed a man who would do anything she told him to do, even honouring her word above the dictates of the church. Yes, that would work.
To that end, Lady Catherine wrote to the bishop in charge of the local seminary and asked him to send three or four candidates who had recently taken holy orders.
The first two she interviewed, who arrived together, were not amenable to the way she wanted to run the parish. She had sent them packing with a flea in their ears for not respecting her exalted position.
A few days later she had found the ideal man. He would defer to her in everything. His name was William Collins.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
