“Gardiner wrote to assure me that the man is well able to support a wife and that he is known to him as an upstanding and honourable man. The man’s family is also known to Gardiner. In fact, you met the gentleman’s brother here when he helped rid us of that dastard Wickham. You do remember Colonel Fitzwilliam, do you not?”
“The earl’s son! I did not know there are two younger sons,” Fanny responded.
“His name is Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam, Viscount Hilldale, the heir to the earldom, not a younger son,” Bennet revealed.
“Good Lord! Jane will be a countess one day! I will go distracted…” Fanny stopped talking as she remembered Lydia and the surrender of her youngest’s virtue. “Oh, Thomas,” she wailed, “because of what I taught Lydia, as soon as it is discovered, Jane’s viscount will withdraw, and who could blame him?”
“Fanny, he knows, and he will not leave Jane because of it. Here, read Jane’s letter.” Bennet handed over the letter.
After drying some tears which had fallen, Fanny read the words on the page. She read the epistle twice to make sure she had seen what she thought she had. The words did not change. “After all he endured, I suppose I can understand why Lord Hilldale hid who he was until he knew he was appreciated for himself and not his position in society and his wealth.” Fanny paused. “Had the courtship occurred here, before you and I began to change, I would have chased the man away with the way I used to push Jane at every man, would I have not?”
“I will not prevaricate to you, Fanny. If examined, the behaviour of neither of us was very good. You may be correct about yourself, but my part would have been worse. I would have been amused and not stepped in to help Jane or temper your effusions because I wouldhave enjoyed the sport too much. I was a very selfish being,” Bennet admitted.
“It has been said more than once that we need to look forward and not back. Let us hope the next letter announces an engagement,” Fanny stated, almost stoically.
“Amen to that,” Bennet retorted.
Chapter 25
As much as Jane was in anticipation of Andrew’s call, she was also nervous. She had decided that she would give a hint of her feelings for him and that would, hopefully, prompt him to propose to her.
She was seated on the veranda looking over the sparkling water—caused by the sun on a cloudless day—of the lake towards Belle Isle with Aunt Maddie, Uncle Edward, and Lizzy. She smiled as she remembered Charlotte’s words that Lizzy had passed on to her when they had arrived home the night the Bennets and the Netherfield Park party had been at Lucas Lodge. It had been the evening they had met some of the officers of the Derbyshire Militia.
Lizzy had related a conversation she had had with Charlotte regarding Jane’s attachment to Mr Bingley. She had repeated something like the following: “It is sometimesa disadvantage to be so very guarded. If a woman conceals her affection with some skill from the object of it, she may lose the opportunity of fixing him as her husband. It will then be but a poor consolation to believe the world equally in the dark. There is so much of gratitude or vanity in almost every attachment that it is not safe to leave any to itself. We can all begin freely—a slight preference is natural enough—but, there are very few of us who have heart enough to be really in love without encouragement. In nine cases out of ten, a woman had better show far more affection than she feels. Bingley likes your sister undoubtedly, but he may never do more than like her if she does not help him on.”
Jane remembered her mortification at the time whenLizzy had conveyed Charlotte’s suggestion that she allow Mr Bingley to see how she felt before he spoke. It had been anathema to her, and she had refused to consider doing anything of the sort. It had not fit with her personal philosophy as it was then.
Everything was different now; she was no longer that timid woman who hid behind her mask of serenity. Rather, since she had begun to see the world as it truly was, Jane firmly believed that if she ventured nothing, she would not gain anything. She did not believe that Andrew would feel affronted, but until she did what she planned to do, she would not know. If he did take exception to her prompting him, then he was not the man she believed he was.
“Jane, dear, you look like you are deep in contemplation,” Maddie noted.
“I think my sister is impatient for a certain gentleman to arrive,” Elizabeth opined with a wide smile. She knew what Jane intended to do, but she would not mention anything. That was Jane’s to tell, not hers.
“What makes today different?” Gardiner queried. “After all, we see Hilldale almost every day.”
“Edward, do not tease our niece,” Maddie admonished playfully.
Gardiner lifted his hands in surrender. “Peace. I will leave our Jane to her cogitation and not try to pull it out of her.”
Thankfully, any further comments were cut off by the arrival of the man in question. As was his wont, Hilldale bowed and his courtesy was returned by his hosts. After greetings to all, Hilldale made for the open seat near the woman he loved.
Before he could sit, Elizabeth stood. “It is a fine day. Jane, would you not like a walk along the lake?” She prompted.
“I would,” Jane responded. She was grateful for Lizzy’squick thinking because she would certainly not give Andrew a hint in front of her aunt and uncle. She knew Lizzy would give them space to speak while still keeping them in her sight. “That is, if Andrew would like to join us?”
“Yes, I believe a walk would be just the thing,” Hilldale agreed. He so wanted to pay Jane his addresses, but he was determined not to rush her, especially seeing that they had only been courting for a fortnight.
Maddie looked at her husband and gave a quick shake of her head. “We will remain here,” Gardiner stated. He had understood his wife’s message.
Once Jane and Elizabeth donned their light pelisses, gloves, and bonnets, the three walkers set off towards the shore of the lake. Once there, they turned to walk away from the town. Elizabeth slowed her walk until she was sure she would not be able to hear what was said between Jane and Andrew.
Jane knew that procrastination would not make anything easier, so she decided that now was as good a time as any. “Andrew, when we both agreed to this courtship, you said you were close to falling in love with me, and I knew I was not far off at that point,” Jane began.
“Yes, thatwastruethen,” Andrew replied. His whole body tensed up. Could it be that Jane was about to indicate her readiness to hear a proposal?
“In my case, it is no longer a question,” Jane hinted.
Andrew stopped and looked into his beloved’s magnificent eyes. “Jane, you are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings have grown to become love for me since we began to court, tell me so at once. My affections have grown to become a deep and abiding love for you. Mine are even more than they were then, but if that is not what you feel, one word from you will silence meon this subject forever.”
