“If that man-boy tries anything with me, I will lay him out,” Elli insisted.
Those who had never lived in the Americas looked confused until Cousin Henry Taylor explained it was slang for to hit someone and knock the person senseless. Elli’s Bennet cousins did not doubt she would do so without a thought. Elizabeth picked up the pages once again.
The above being said, I am told that otherwiseMr Bingley is an honourable and amiable man. You should judge for yourself, but I do not think that some forewarning will go amiss.
Please write and let us know if it is convenient for us to take advantage of your hospitality.
Matlock
“You will not refuse them, will you, Uncle Henry?” Elizabeth questioned. “The Earl and Countess can have the suite on the second floor and there are more than enough bedchambers for their eldest son, Anna, and Mrs Younge.”
“I have no desire to reply in the negative. Lizzy, if you will write a letter in my name inviting them to stay as long as they choose, I will appreciate it,” Henry said.
“It will be my pleasure. As I always do, I will read it to you before it is posted,” Elizabeth responded. She excused herself and made her way to her great-uncle’s study and composed the letter for him. After reading it to Uncle Henry and receiving his approval of her wording, Elizabeth wrote a final draft, sanded it, and when dry, she folded the epistle, sealed it, and wrote the direction on the front.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Lady Catherine was seriously displeased. Her disobliging nephew refused to gratify her by coming to visit.
How dare he be so disrespectful as to accuse her of subterfuge in wanting him to come to Rosings Park? He even had the temerity to write that he would never gratify a compromise, even if it were between him and his cousin.
She was at her wit’s end. Andrew, too, had refused to come to Rosings Park, and as a last resort, when she had condescended to visit Richard at Rivington, she had been told he was away from the house, and even worse, they would not allow her to wait in the manor.
Richard once told her that if he ever agreed to marryAnne, his first action as the master would be to relegate her, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, to the dower house. Until she had been turned away from his estate, she had told herself she would be able to work on Richard. What was she to do now? It was then she had a brilliant idea. There was one man she knew who would do anything she ordered, whether he was single or married.
It was time to have her lackey summoned to come see her.
Chapter 19
“B-but your L-ladyship, I cannot perform my own wedding ceremony,” William Collins insisted. He hated to refuse his new patroness anything, but even he knew enough about church law to know his marriage would not be valid.
She had called for him and instructed him to marry her daughter. As much of an honour as it would be to have the beneficent Lady Catherine de Bourgh, peer of the realm, as his mother-in-law, if he attempted to do what she had ordered, he would be defrocked, and the marriage would be invalidated. He had attempted to explain this to Lady Catherine, but she kept insisting it would be valid if she decreed it was.
“I am bestowing on you the great honour of marrying the granddaughter of an earl and you refuse me?” Lady Catherine screeched.
“It would be my supreme honour to marry Miss de Bourgh, the Rose of Kent, but unless the rites are performed by another clergyman, the marriage would be invalid, as if it never occurred,” Collins explained as he bowed low every word or two. He did not even mention that no banns had been read, or no license issued.
Anne de Bourgh was used to being invisible. It was something she was grateful for in this case. Her mother and the buffoon of a clergyman who had been appointed by one who did not have the authority to do so, were arguing back and forth about selling her like a cow so Mother could retain control of Rosings Park. Her mother would exercise her control by making sure the ridiculous man did what she desired at alltimes.
Even if this pusillanimous fool agreed to do what her mother was demanding, Anne would never say her vows, and she would not sign the register. Regardless whether the simpleton bent to her mother’s will or not, the so-called marriage would never be valid. Contrary to her mother’s assertions that Anne would be devastated if Rosings Park devolved to Cousin Albert, she could not wait for him to take over the estate and banish her despot of a mother.
Anne waited until in frustration her mother dismissed her minion and in a huff walked out of the room all the while muttering how seriously displeased she was. There were some words about finding a clergyman to perform the ceremony. When she heard the study door slam, it was Anne’s signal to stand and make her way up the stairs to her bedchamber where her watchdog, Mrs Jenkinson, was waiting.
“I require a rest; you know how quickly I tire. Please come back in an hour and we will go for a ride in my phaeton,” Anne commanded in her best imperious voice which sounded much like her mother.
As Mrs Jenkinson was one of the sycophants her mother employed, she did not question Miss de Bourgh. She bobbed a curtsy and left the bedchamber. Lady Catherine would be pleased Miss de Bourgh was to rest. She went to her room in the servants’ quarters and picked at the keys on the old, out of tune, pianoforte Lady Catherine had placed there.
Anne locked her door and sat and wrote four letters. One each to Albert, Richard, Uncle Reggie, and William. She knew that the first two were close enough to reach her quickly—if they were home—while the other two were at their estates in Derbyshire. Albert lived in Canterbury where he practiced the law. Once the letters were written, she summoned her maid, Lettie. She had been with Anne for over ten years, and no matter how she behaved around Mrs Jenkinson, Lettie was loyal to Anne, and Anne only.
“Lettie, I need you to slip out of the servants’ entrance and take these letters to Hunsford. There are more than enough coins here to send them express. Please go now, my safety depends on you being able to get the letters posted,” Anne stated quietly so no one in the hall would be able to hear.
Her faithful maid nodded and took the missives from her mistress and hid them in the folds of her dress. She slipped out of the servants’ entrance from Miss de Bourgh’s suite and made her way down to the ground level. There was no one near the servants’ door, so she was able to leave unnoticed.
The two miles into Hunsford passed quickly. She paid two express riders, one to deliver the letters to Surrey and Kent and the second rider, the two epistles bound for Derbyshire. She purchased some ribbon in a colour Miss de Bourgh preferred, so if she were questioned about where she went, she had a perfectly believable reason for walking to Hunsford.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Thomas Bennet was not well pleased. His main source of entertainment, his wife, had become much calmer since the dratted Taylors had addressed all of her concerns and assured her she would never be destitute as he had intimated continually since early in the marriage. He had done so to see how much amusement it would bring. It had been years’ worth until a few months past that is.
