The trial of William Clem Collins was the first one called that Monday morning. His Lordship had been warned of the foul odour from the accused, and he, like others in the court, had vinaigrettes close by their noses.
The Lord Judge received the confession, the letter which the accused had owned he had written and the affidavits from some of those in Meryton and the magistrate of Hatfield. After less than a half hour, the judge charged the jury to deliberate. They were out of the courtroom for only a few minutes before returning with a unanimous verdict of guilty.
His Lordship nodded to a clerk who handed him the black cap, which he placed on the top of his powdered wig. As the accused had been convicted of two counts of attempted murder, the Lord Judge handed down a sentence of death by hanging.
At first light the next morning, on the final Tuesday of November, the condemned man was pulled, pushed, and carried to the gallows. It took six large men to get the snivelling, crying, moaning, obese man up the stairs. The hangman had ensured an extra sturdy rope was to be used, given that the prisoner weighed more than twenty stone.
Thanks to his excommunication, Collins was not attended by a clergyman to give him last rites. In his last seconds of life after the rope and hood had been put in place,Collins wondered if hehadlost his life over a lie.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
With the trial over and the sentence carried out, Colonel Forster administered the forty lashes to former-lieutenant Wickham. As soon as Mr Jones determined his back was sufficiently healed, Wickham would begin his odyssey.
He would be taken to Portsmouth where his chest would be branded and then be placed on a ship bound for Van Diemen’s land.
All of Wickham’s attempts to gain clemency failed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
With Mr Pierce’s son, daughter, and their families, as well as the Bennets, Bingley, and the rest of the residents of Netherfield Park as witnesses, Hildebrand Bingley resigned her maiden name for that of Pierce. The wedding occurred on Saturday, the final day of November. They were married by the rector of St Alfred’s who came to his friend’s church to perform the service. A common licence was used, as there was not enough time for the banns to be read.
In a reversal of normal roles, the night before the wedding it had been Louisa who had given her most beloved aunt the pre-wedding talk. She had spoken in generalities, never referring to anything between herself and Thomas.
Hildebrand had gone from being only an aunt to being a stepmother, a stepmother-in-law, and a step-grandmama. She knew she was past having her own children, but that did not stop her from getting very close to her new family. The wedding breakfast was held at Longbourn. Given the proximity to Christmastide, the newlyweds would defer their honeymoon until the spring, when they intended to visit Scarborough so Hildebrand could introduce Christopher to herextended family who lived there. She still owned her house in the city, so once they arrived, that is where they would reside for the month they intended to be there.
Pierce gained nieces and nephews. When the three Bennet sisters married, he would gain more. It was a little strange for him that his patron’s daughters whom his Hildebrand considered nieces, had already become his nieces, and even stranger still, Bennet was married to his new niece, making him his patron’s uncle.
He supposed it was less confusing than it would be when his Bingley nephew married Jane Bennet and became both a nephew-in-law and son-in-law to Bennet.
With Hildebrand’s marriage, Charles was left without a hostess. That conundrum was easily solved as Elaine, Marie, and Anne all volunteered for the role as they all planned to remain until the triple wedding. Marie would be the hostess, but she had two who could step in if needed.
Before she fell asleep the night of her wedding, Hildebrand decided she was not at all sorry she would not leave the mortal world as a maiden.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
With each passing day in December, the three engaged Bennet sisters became more excited about the approaching weddings.
During the first week of the month, there was a journey to London. Aside from shopping—gowns and dresses were ordered from Madame Chambourg, Lady Matlock’s modiste—to add to their trousseaus, the three brides-to-be also visited the London house she and her husband-to-be would occupy when in Town.
Elizabeth had been very impressed with Darcy House, not because of its size or value, but rather, she could see it wasa home and not one built to impress but to be lived in. She had heartily approved of the understated elegant design of both the décor and the furnishings. The only change she had asked for was for the paper in the mistress’s chambers to be changed. She preferred more muted tones than the pink and peach the late Lady Anne had chosen for herself.
Jane had toured Bingley House in Curzon Street. The only chamber she asked to be completely made over was the one Miss Caroline Bingley used to occupy. Everything within was gaudy and ostentatious and did not fit Jane’s ideas for decorating in the least.
The third house viewed was the former de Bourgh House, now renamed Fitzwilliam House. Although Fitzwilliam and Mary had both attempted to demur, Anne had insisted that it was a wedding present. She had accepted a courtship with Ian Medford, who owned his own house in London. It was not in as fashionable an area as her house on Berkeley Square but knowing that her suitor would not want to give up the house he had inherited from his mother, Anne had decided that a second house was not needed and had made it a wedding present to Mary and Richard.
When she had asked them if they were to insult her and reject her gift, as Anne had known they would, Mary and Richard relented.
Unfortunately, the house had been decorated by Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Her style made Miss Caroline Bingley’s décor seem understated. They had mentioned how long it would take to completely redecorate. Uncle Gardiner came to look at what was in the house. He had told them that even though everything Lady Catherine had used in the house was in bad taste, there were many who enjoyed that kind of ostentation, and he was sure he could sell everything and deliver more than enough funds to redecorate and refurnish the house. As one of his wedding presents, he insistedthere would be no commission paid to his company when everything was sold.
After their experience with Anne’s gift, Richard and Mary simply thanked Gardiner for his generosity.
By the time those who had travelled to London returned to Hertfordshire on the first Friday in December, there was only a fortnight left before the triple wedding.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
By the Wednesday before the wedding, Louisa Bennet realised she had missed her courses, which should have begun almost a sennight previously. Since they had visited her the first time, she had never previously missed one, and they were as predictable as the sun rising in the east.
As excited as she was about the probable meaning, she did not want to say anything to Thomas until she missed at least one more month’s indisposition.
