Chapter 25
As busy as they all were, the day of the pre-wedding ball was upon them and the three men were no longer alone at Bennet Fields. The Bedfords, their two daughters and their husbands and children arrived two days previously. The Jerseys had arrived with their son and daughter in tow that same day.
Not long after, Anne de Bourgh, her betrothed Ian Ashby, and his family had arrived. The party included Lord and Lady Ashbury; Ashby’s brother and his wife, Lord and Lady Amberleigh; and lastly his soon to be one and twenty-year-old sister, Lady Sarah. That evening before dinner, Andrew’s best friend Lord Harold Smythe, the Earl of Granville, also arrived. At a large dinner that night, the aforementioned Earl was introduced to all of the Ashbys. He had met the Earl in the Lords, but had not as yet had many dealings with the man.
At first Lord Granville thought that Lady Sarah Ashby was just another pretty debutant with an empty head who would try and impress and entrap him like so many before her, which had led to him being jaded. It did not take too long for him to see that his assumptions were very wrong. Although pretty, she was definitely not empty headed and did nothing to court his good opinion. If anything, she did not seem very impressed with him. She was well read, broadly educated rather than narrowly as most ladies were, and was not afraid to contradict him when she disagreed with him. She could quote Descartes, Kant, Voltaire, Smith, Machiavelli, Plato, and Socrates with ease, and was familiar with the current works of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel. She took issue with some principles ascribed to ‘absolute idealism’ that the three espoused, but found their work interesting.
He found himself enchanted and appreciated that his friend had kept his word. Other than an introduction, there was no matchmaking, no innuendo, not a hint for a walk in the gardens, nothing. The Earl of Ashbury was at least as wealthy as his friend was, so money could not be incentive for her, and Lady Sarah had a healthy dowry of fifty thousand pounds so there was no pressing need for her to marry. For the first time that he could remember, possibly ever, a lady had captured his attention.
Although she did not outwardly show it, the debonair peer impressed Lady Sarah Ashby. Unlike so many that she had met in her two seasons in town, he had no interest in or need of her sizable fortune. ‘He seems to be interested in me as a person not just as an adornment, and was very respectful of my point of view,’ she thought. She felt a kindred spirit in Lady Elizabeth Bennet who had read the same books as she had and more to boot. Other men had classed her a ‘blue stocking’ when they were actually intimidated by her intellect, but the Earl of Granville seemed to revel in debating her and probing the logic behind her positions, just like Lady Elizabeth had experienced with Mr Darcy. They had related very similar experiences with inferior men trying to prove their superiority to themselves.
‘Best of all, he showed no censure or disquiet when I contradicted his own positions on more than one occasion,’ Sarah Ashby remembered with no little pleasure. Before everyone parted that night, Granville had requested and been granted the first and supper sets by Lady Sarah. He did not care that his dancing the first would send shockwaves through theTon, or that a tidal wave of gossip would ignite when he danced a second set with the same lady.
The following day Darcy’s cousin, the Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived with his family along with the rest of the invited friends and family who needed a place to stay. The Darcy party included his wife Grace, his two sons, Paul eighteen and Joshua fifteen, and daughter Mary Faith, who was but twelve. A small number of acquaintances and officers that Fitzwilliam was friendly with from his days in the army, including his former commander General Grant Atherton, planned to arrive the morning of the wedding. The General and the majority of the other hosted guests would return to town the same day. Most of the soldiers could not be spared from their duties for too long, but wanted to be there to see the former Colonel get leg shackled. Once they met his betrothed, there was a unanimous opinion that none of them would object to being caught in the parson’s mousetrap with such a woman, or any of her sisters for that matter. Pity that the three eldest were taken and the three youngest were not yet out.
There had been hunting for the men, teas and visits for the ladies, and a lot of boisterous playing for the children. Lady Longbourn was careful to include her local friends and acquaintances in all of the events leading up to the marriage.
At one of the teas Lady Lucas took a private moment and looked around. She was sitting in a drawing room with a Duchess and her two daughters, a good number of Countesses, a Baron’s wife, two Viscountesses, and a number of wives of baronets. In addition, there were a good number of untitled members of theTon, and Grace Darcy, wife of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The inclusion of the local ladies like herself, who were in actuality so far below in station to the guests, reinforced for Sarah Lucas that her friend was indeed unaffected by her precipitous elevation.
The local ladies were well received and not looked down on or made to feel inferior, which enabled them to relax and enjoy the tea with friends, old, and new acquaintances.
Both the Park and the Fields were near capacity but were able to accommodate all of the guests that needed to be housed. The preparations for the ball had been made, and there was more than enough white soup and food that not a single guest would go hungry. The Bennet Field’s ballroom glistened as the servants had polished every surface and made sure that every speck of dust was banished.
The housekeeper and butler, who were on staff when the estate was still Bennington Fields, had watched in awe as the Bennets had razed the old house to the ground then built the new, much larger manor house on the soon to be former Miss Jane Bennet’s estate. During the rebuild, all retainers had been paid in full and put to work around the three estates owned by the Bennets until the new Bennet Fields was ready for their return. The two stood now taking in the sights before them. Neither of them had ever imagined that he or she would ever see such an event at a house in which they served, as it was so far from town.
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The morning of the ball Gardiner, Bennet, Andrew and Reggie Fitzwilliam had travelled to Bennet Fields to meet with Bedford, Jersey, and their respective sons, and Darcy, Richard and Ashby (Anne’s betrothed). Andrew had requested permission to invite his friend Harry Smythe to join the meeting and had met with no resistance. Gardiner had informed the group that the company had acquired the rights to develop the steam engine beyond the current scope of use in industry and mines. They had retained James Watt, a steam engine pioneer; Richard Trevithick, who had built the first steam locomotive in ‘02; and George Stephenson, who was developing applications for steam locomotives to transport freight and passengers over distances with much speed on rails of steel. Additionally, they had also retained,SirMarc Isambard Brunel, who was working on steam to drive ships and whose son at six showed a great aptitude for engineering and followed his father around as he worked.
Gardiner explained that they had a number of locations for each man to lead a team of engineers and other scientists to work on the transportation of the future. Each man was offered an opportunity to invest while these emerging technologies were in their infancy. Not one of the men present demurred and each invested heavily. None could imagine the returns that their investments would create in the not too distant future that would make returns to date look like a pittance.
Later that afternoon, Darcy felt abnormally satisfied with himself as he lay resting in his chamber while Carstens fussed with his clothing for the ball in the dressing room. ‘She agreed to THREE sets without blinking,’ he reminded himself again. The smile that had emerged since Elizabeth had consented to the dances returned, ‘andif that is not a positive sign for the future, then God help me I do not know what is.’
In chambers down the hall from Darcy, Lord Hugh Rhys-Davies was thinking about his Mary. ‘I wish that the two months was over!’ he thought as his impatience built. ‘I understand why Bennet set the two months, but I wish it were over. How I love her, and she has disclosed to me that my love is requited. Only a little less than a month to go. My desire for her increases each and every day along with my love. I can see that she will be as passionate for me as I am for her, and in my opinion, we cannot say our vows before man and God soon enough so we do not have to part again.’
While two men dreamed about when they could propose, Richard was dreaming about his fast-approaching wedding day and the wedding night thereafter. They had managed to steal a number of not so chaste kisses during which his hand had brushed her breasts more than once, and he would have had to be blind to not see her nipples harden in response. They had been self-regulated so that they never came close to anticipating their vows. That being said, he could not wait to make her his in every way. There was no doubt that the morning after they had consummated the marriage would find two very satisfied newlyweds. It was not self-aggrandisement; he was secure in his abilities as a lover.
In his younger days he had, unlike his chaste cousin William, visited courtesans. He had never had a mistress, and he would be faithful to his vows and never have one. Regardless of the mores of theTon, his family and the Darcys did not believe that a man had the freedom to take a mistress once married. Because they married for love and love alone, there were none besides their wives.
In the tiny chance that love faded, it was still not done. The Darcys went even further, they believed what was good for the goose was good for the gander. If they expected to marry a maiden, then the women that they were marrying ought to receive the same from the men. At least one of Darcy’s ancestors had chosen to anticipate his vows. Society considered her a fallen woman, and however happy they were, their marriage was still used as a cautionary tale to this day.
Granville was relaxing in his chamber, reposed on the bed with his hands behind his head. That day he had more chances to speak to the enchanting Sarah Ashby. Being hosted at the same house made for many opportunities to ‘run into’ the enthralling woman. The more he got to know her, the more he liked what he saw.
Yes, she was pretty, had an enticingly voluptuous figure, blonde hair, and striking green eyes, but she was so much more than just her looks. She was no empty-headed debutant who could hold her own on just about any subject, and even exceeded his knowledge in some. She played chess, reportedly very well, and their discussions were ample evidence of her education and of how she applied what she had read. She was not quite at the level of the Bennet daughter that Darcy was courting, but she was close. Yes, he felt that he had finally found a lady that he would like to know better.
All three housekeepers and butlers, a large contingent of maids, and more than half of all the footmen from the other two estates were at Bennet Fields the day of the ball, the first one held since the present-day house was built. The whole house, not just the ballroom, was shining with the chandeliers throwing reflections on the walls and floors that looked like many small rainbows. As Fanny Bennet, Lady Longbourn, a Countess, inspected the ballroom and environs an hour before the first guests were to arrive, she marvelled at the change that her life had undergone in the preceding months.
‘Was it but April when Thomas revealed all to me? It seems like this is how it has always been. How far have I come from my constant worries over the future? Hedgerows indeed! Who would have believed that Fanny Gardiner would one day be a Countess?’ she asked herself as she walked among the tables where the revellers would eat their sumptuous supper. ‘If someone had told me that all of this, the elevation and the immeasurable wealth would be a reality, I would have had them consigned to Bedlam. But here we are and it is all very real.
‘Thomas should not have let me believe that we were poor and would be destitute if he passed, but then again had I behaved better, perhaps he would not have been scared to trust me with the truth. Look at my girls now, without any pushing or machinations like I used to believe were needed, they are all happy. I had almost spoilt Lydia beyond redemption, but look at her today. She is as well behaved and proper as any of my six girls, yes six!
‘What a blessing we have been given with Helen, as both she and Lydia work together to become shining examples for younger girls to follow. My Jane will marry in but two days to a fine, upstanding man who adores her. Lizzy and William, now that is one that even as I was, I would not have conjured up. My middle daughter Mary, what a young woman she is and will soon be a Marchioness and one day a Duchess. Mary the daughter that I overlooked and, in my blindness, called plain. It is so fortunate that she forgave me and loves me dearly. Kitty is her own person now; no longer a follower who once would jump, asking how high, when anyone would command her to do so.
‘Yes, I have so much for which to be thankful. It was the right thing to do to ask the local ladies to be on the board of the charity that we are funding, and when I asked Sarah Lucas to be co-chairwoman with Hattie and me, she was elated. Yes, the free clinic and hospital, school and orphanage will especially help the population of Hertfordshire and Meryton, and look at all the well-paying jobs that we will provide.’ Fanny had a lot to be proud of. The once selfish and vain woman was taking much more pleasure from giving than she ever experienced from taking.
As she suspected, everything was done to perfection, so she left the ballroom to go complement the housekeepers and butlers with a request it was passed onto the servants with the promise of a bonus of a pound each for their efforts.
The participants in the receiving line were ready about ten minutes before the first of the guests were set to arrive. Bennet and his wife stood at the head of the line, followed by Lord and Lady Matlock, and then last but not least were Jane and Richard. Fanny and Elaine decided to keep the receiving line short so that each arriving guest would not have to get through an interminable round of greetings causing a delay for those behind them.
