However long you deem that I need to stay at Dark Hollow and learn, I will do so gladly, and I will never, ever attempt to run away again. A month working in the scullery is a very effective teaching tool.
I love and appreciate you both very deeply.
With much love,
Your very repentant daughter, Lydia
“Well, I never,” said the writer’s mother as she took the letter from her husband to read the words again to make sure that she read them correctly. Her rereading confirmed that she had not misread the letter. “I had hoped that our dear girl would learn, Thomas, but this change is beyond my comprehension and so much more than I hoped for,” Fanny offered softly as she shed tears of joy knowing that her youngest would not be lost to them.
“All that she writes is confirmed by the weekly reports that the school sends me. Let us see what the headmistress says.” He read the succinct missive quickly. “She recommends that Lydia complete the current term, not a full year as she had originally recommended. It seems that Lydia has made the most drastic and genuine change that the lady has seen in her years running the school.”
“When will you go collect my baby, Thomas, and will she go to Kitty’s school next term?”
“We, not I, will go and collect her on the fifteenth of June, the final day of the term. I have a feeling that her sisters may want to accompany us as well.”
In this supposition Bennet was correct. Lydia had expressed her contrition to all of her sisters, with a little variation to each. When their father mentioned that her parents would travel to collect Lydia at the end of the term, all four of her sisters requested to travel with their parents and said request was granted with alacrity. Kitty was filled with joy that her younger sister would join her at Greenlake School for her final term at the start of the new school year in August.
The Gardiners, who had also been invited to dine at Matlock House, joined the Bennets an hour prior to the time they would all make the short walk. When they were told about the redemption of their youngest niece, they expressed their unqualified approbation.
A few minutes before the stated time, Mr Smythe, the Fitzwilliam’s butler, announced the Bennets and the Gardiners to the family who had already been joined by the Darcys, Anne de Bourgh, and Ian Ashby. Introductions were made between those that were not already acquainted; soon everyone was seated.
Anne, who was sitting next to Jane and Elizabeth, looked at the two ladies, and then at the younger sisters who had their heads together with her younger cousins Georgie and Tiffany. ‘How can there be so much beauty in one family, Lady Mary is not quite as pretty as the others, and even she is not lacking in any way! I have never seen Richard and William in love before, look at the mooncalf stares that they direct at the two older Bennet ladies. Oh William, only you could have put your foot in it like was told to me over tea. I pray that you redeem yourself. Yes, Lady Elizabeth would be perfect for you.’
Anne’s courtship with Ashby was announced and they graciously accepted congratulations from the assembled party. Anne, normally not very loquacious, cleared her throat and then stood to gain the attention of the room, blushing because Ashby was always focused on her.
“My congratulations on your elevation Lord and Lady Longbourn, and to you as well Sir Edward and Lady Gardiner. I also am very pleased to reacquaint myself with Lady Elizabeth and meet her sisters whose beauty was heard of even in Kent when her Ladyship was there with us.” She smiled directly at Elizabeth.
“You have our thanks for your wishes,” Bennet and his wife inclined their heads toward Miss de Bourgh, after which the Gardiners expressed their thanks.
“If Lady Catherine had been here, she would have had a conniption. It would have killed her that you and your family are nowaboveher, Lady Elizabeth,” Anne said insotto voceas she leaned toward the second Bennet daughter.
“I believe you are correct, Miss de Bourgh. That woman did think very well of herself. No more ‘Lady’ please. I am Elizabeth or Lizzy,” she smiled at Anne.
“Only if you call me Anne,” Miss de Bourgh agreed happily. Jane, who had only met her that evening, joined her sister in requesting that she be called by her familiar name as well.
As the three young ladies chatted, Lizzy watched her new friend. ‘There is far more to Anne than I ever thought when I met her at Rosings Park. It is another lesson that I am too quick to base my sketch of character on first impressions, which I now know can be very wrong. It was not just Mr Darcy who displayed pride and prejudice, I did so as well. Going forward, I will not make that mistake again. I believe that Anne will become a good friend and perhaps a cousin one day. Oh my, where did that come from?’ She chose not to examine her thoughts right then, but she could not miss the way the man was looking at her. Now that she knew that he was not looking to find fault, she identified his appraisal for the love and longing that it was, and she found that this knowledge did not displease her.
“Lady Jane, if it is not reserved, may I have the honour of being granted your first set at the upcoming ball?” the former Colonel asked quietly when he leaned toward Jane from the armchair he had claimed as it was closest to her save Elizabeth’s sitting with her on the settee.
“You may have it, Mr Fitzwilliam, as I have not been asked to reserve any sets yet,” she answered softly and blushed very becomingly.
“May I be so bold,” he asked as he leaned a little closer to her, “to ask for the supper set,” his heart pounded when she nodded her acquiescence, “and the final, which I understand will be the waltz.” He held his breath.
“I have no objection at all, Mr Fitzwilliam, but are you not worried about the statement that three dances will make and how tongues will wag?” Jane responded, blushing a very deep shade of red.
“It will make the exact statement that I want to make, Lady Jane. Do you have an objection to such a statement?” he stated resolutely as he looked directly into her eyes, waiting for her to reply. Her answer would determine his future happiness.
Jane carefully considered the question knowing exactly what he was really asking, and it had nothing to do with dancing. ‘I find that there is no objection at all. Oh Lord, I have fallen in love with this man. He is nothing like the fickle Mr Bingley. He has a spine of steel and is resolute, and I am sure that if anyone ever tried to influence him against me, that he would not be moved. I hope that he declares himself soon.’
Richard watched nervously, hoping he had not pushed the woman that he ardently loved too hard. He saw the emotions wash over her normally serene countenance and then she seemed to relax, as if she had made a decision. Her eyes were shining. He could only surmise it was in his favour as she did not take back her gift of three dances and he almost wanted to declare himself in the drawing room.
“I find that I am truly pleased to be seen to dance three times with you, Mr Fitzwilliam, and am not concerned by what others may think or say.” She met his eyes so he could not misconstrue her response. Looking into her perfect blue eyes and bursting with love for the woman sitting next to him, he requested and was granted a private interview on the morrow at eleven o’clock in the morning.
As her sister watched the beatific smile and the radiant glow that Jane displayed after her hushed conversation with the second Fitzwilliam son, Elizabeth decided that a serious sisterly talk was in order before they retired for the night.
Darcy watched the interplay between his cousin and Lady Jane, and as much as he was happy for his cousin as the love that the two had for each other was rather easy to see, now that he knew what to look for in the lady, he was also jealous. Not of his cousin, but of the happiness that he was about to attain. ‘I do not begrudge Richard his happiness; it is not that at all! If I had not been such an idiot, a hypocritical one at that, I could already be experiencing the unbridled joy that I see before me. It is I who was to blame, so it is right that I feel the effects. Lady Elizabeth is no longer indifferent to me, of that I am sure. I have to stay steady on my course to correct my past mistakes and my arrogant, prideful behaviour. Hopefully one day I will find the happiness that it seems Richard has with the only woman that I will ever be prevailed upon to marry.’
What Darcy did not know, could not dare to hope for, was that Elizabeth Bennet was far more than ‘not indifferent’ to him. She was not in love with him, but she was closer than she had ever been. He had previously secured the opening and the supper sets from her and she had told him she would not dance the final set with him. What he did not know is that if he plucked up the courage and asked now, she would have given him a positive response. He felt that he did not want to push her too hard and possibly damage the friendship that they had built since the disaster at Hunsford.
