“I am doing as well as can be expected while I am at home for this one, Eliza.” She patted her large belly. “My son is asleep. When he is fully awake, Nurse will bring him to us,” Charlotte replied. She rested her hand on her swollen belly as her child kicked her at that moment. “That was a strong kick!He or she is much more active than Lawrence was during the end stages of that confinement. It makes me think I am to be blessed with another son, although as long as the babe is healthy, I care not.”
“My prayer is for both you and my new grandchild to be well,” Lady Lucas stated when she re-entered the sitting room. “And you may have a daughter, one who is as active as Eliza here is.”
“Is Uncle Frank in his office?” Jane enquired.
“No, I believe he is at Haye Park seeing Mr Goulding,” Charlotte replied. “He told me he would be home in time for dinner. I do have some news,” she remembered. “Frank told me that a regiment of soldiers, from the Derbyshire Militia I believe, will arrive in Meryton on the fifth day of November. With the officers in attendance at the assemblies while they are being hosted here, there will no longer be a shortage of men.” Charlotte looked at her friends meaningfully. “Frank told me he will warn your father that not all of the officers are honourable gentlemen, and there may well be somefortune huntersamong them.”
“I will have to watch Maria and her five thousand pounds.” Lady Lucas turned to the Bennet sisters and added, “Thanks to my William investing with your Uncle Gardiner, her dowry has grown. You girls are lucky you only have two thousand pounds each, so you would not be a target for some mercenary man.”
“Yes, the Bennet girls are lucky,” Charlotte agreed. Like her friends, Charlotte fought to keep a straight face. She was well aware of the truth of the dowries each Bennet sister would have, but her husband had asked her not to share it with anyone else, especially not her mother and father, both of whom enjoyed gossiping. She well knew that if some poor officer heard the truth, her friends and their sisters would be targets, although their footman-guards would keep any menwith ill-intent away from the Bennet sisters.
“That reminds me. Jane, as you are Longbourn’s hostess, we are having a soiree at Lucas Lodge on Tuesday upcoming at six in the evening. You are all invited, of course. The colonel of the regiment and three of his officers who are scouting for a good place to locate their encampment will be present to meet some of our friends. I will return to Charlotte’s home the next morning, unless I am called away before then,” Lady Lucas related. “Do not be concerned. A certain objectionable family will not be invited.”
“I do not believe that we have any engagements that day, but I will verify with Papa and inform you either way. Thank you for inviting us, Lady Lucas,” Jane responded.
Jane and Elizabeth did not tarry too long so they could return home to prepare for the dinner with those from Netherfield Park.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Louisa Bingley was enjoying the dinner at Longbourn as much as she had ever done so before. It was not the food or so much the intelligent company that surrounded the table, rather it was the fact that to a person, the residents of Longbourn treated her as they would anyone else. No one stared at her uncovered birthmark, from Mr Bennet on down to the footman who had opened the door of the coach when the three Bingleys and Mr Darcy had arrived.
She smiled to herself when she remembered how Charles had interrogated his friend on the return from Longbourn. He was placated when not only did Mr Darcy assure him that all was forgiven, but he turned over the invitation for dinner.
Aunt Hildebrand had sent an affirmative reply forthwith as all those invited agreed that they wanted to attend.
Before dinner, Louisa tried her hand at playing chess against Lydia—she had been invited to call all of the Bennet sisters by their familiar names, not just Lizzy—and like many others before her, she discovered just how good the youngest Bennet was at the game.
When they went in for dinner, she was seated to Mr Bennet’s right while Aunt Hildebrand was on his other side. Much to his delight, Charles was seated next to Jane, who had Mr Darcy on her other side. Lizzy was next to Mr Darcy. The three younger girls were seated in the middle of the table; the two companions seated with them. Louisa was impressed by the good behaviour she was seeing.
As much as she found the intelligent conversation to her liking, Louisa was very much looking forward to after dinner, once the three men joined the ladies in the drawing room. Mr Bennet had promised to have the board with the game of chess they had been playing via the post situated in the drawing room when they would be able to complete their game in person. As much as she enjoyed playing chess, Louisa knew that she was far more excited about sitting across the board from Mr Bennet than she had ever been about any previous game she had played.
After dinner, Jane led the ladies to the drawing room and left the three men to their port and brandy. No one at Longbourn—including Papa—enjoyed the smell of cigar smoke, so it was not one of the after-dinner activities offered to visiting men.
Jane had tea waiting for the ladies. She poured for the Bingley ladies after asking for their preferences. Kate and Lyddie delivered the full cups.
“If it is not indecorous to ask, may I enquire why Mr Bennet has not married again?” Hildebrand asked. She was very interested in the reply, but she was aware that Lulu wouldalso like to know the reason.
“You have heard Papa tell of how he was compromised, have you not?” Jane asked.
Both Bingley ladies nodded their heads.
“He was about to request a courtship, or possibly more, with the lady he loved the morning after the night that the then Miss Gardiner compromised him,” Elizabeth carried on. “The lady Papa loved was the daughter of Mr Bingley’s landlord, Mr Morris.
“At some point, Mr Morris wrote to Papa to inform him that his daughter had married; it took her five years to get over not being the one to marry him. If that was not bad enough, her father wrote in 1802, five years after the event, to inform Papa that his Melissa, her children, and husband had all perished in a smallpox outbreak in Cornwall.”
“Jane and Lizzy, you need not tell any more if it is too private or painful,” Louisa stated. Her heart was crying out for the pain Mr Bennet had suffered.
“The story is well known,” Jane revealed. “Papa wanted anyone who thought they could compromise him to know that after what he suffered, he would never give in to one again. It has had the effect Papa intended.” Jane paused. “Did you know there is an entail in favour of heirs male on Longbourn?”
“No, we had not heard that,” Hildebrand said.
“As we have no brother, when Papa goes to his final reward, may that be many decades from now, the estate will go to a distant cousin,” Elizabeth disclosed. “The man sent Papa the most ridiculous letter inviting himself to Longbourn. He is to arrive next Thursday. I tell you this to highlight Papa’s determination not to marry unless he finds a lady he can respect and love. As much as he will hate to have our estate devolve to a buffoon, he would rather that than marry forconvenience. He told us he lived through one forced marriage with a complete absence of friendship, not to mention love or even respect. He would rather the Bennets lose the estate than suffer through another empty marriage.”
Louisa’s emotions had swung from one extreme to the other during the retelling. They had plummeted to the depths when she had thought Mr Bennet was resolved never to marry again for any reason, but then, they had soared. There was a chance. After all, they were well on their way to being good friends, and although she had never experienced it before in her life, Louisa believed that friendship breeds respect, and once both are present, love can grow.
She was distracted from her thoughts when the three men joined the ladies. While Louisa joined Mr Bennet across the chessboard, Mary went into the music room after a footman opened the double doors connecting the two rooms and she began to play. Before the game continued, Louisa listened to Mary’s playing; she sounded like a virtuoso. She looked at Mr Bennet with raised eyebrows.
“Did I not mention that Mary is an exceptional pianoforte player?” Bennet queried.
