The day before the ball, the two eldest Bennet sisters went to visit Charlotte. They were not alone. The men who were courting each of them accompanied them to meet their respective suitor’s best friend.
Seeing that it was just past a fortnight after birthing Sarah, Charlotte would not be able to attend the ball, which was why the sisters wanted to see her that day. It also meant that Uncle Frank would not be at the ball. Even though Charlotte had given him leave to attend, he refused to do so without her.
Phillips was sitting with his wife, holding his new daughter in his arms while little Lawrence played with blocks on a blanket spread out on the floor.
“Charlotte, it is my pleasure to introduce you to Mr Charles Bingley, the man who is courting me, and Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is courting Lizzy. Gentlemen, our best friend Mrs Charlotte Phillips.” Jane did the honours.
“Even without knowing you gentlemen, I can tell you have good taste as far as a woman goes,” Charlotte teased.
“Charlotte!” Jane and Elizabeth chorused as they both blushed.
“Excuse my jest,” Charlotte responded unapologetically. “I have always known that it would take very good men to capture the attention of a Bennet sister. I see Mary did notcome with her suitor.”
Phillips handed Sarah back to Charlotte and then led the two men out to the office in his home before his teasing wife embarrassed them some more.
“Mary is at Longbourn with Kate and Lydia. They are entertaining Mandy and Cara Long, Miss Darcy, and Maria. Yes, your brother is calling as well because Mandy is present. He is spending time with Mr Fitzwilliam. Papa and Lulu were in the study when we departed. Our new aunts, Elaine and Hildebrand, along with Marie, a new cousin, are putting the finishing touches on the ballroom at Netherfield Park,” Elizabeth reported.
The previous day, Wednesday, the Bennet sisters had moved back into Longbourn with the official end to their father’s and Lulu’s honeymoon. Seeing the two together, the general opinion was that the honeymoon would never end.
Elizabeth stood and extended her arms. Charlotte nodded and passed her sleeping daughter into the arms of one of the ladies she intended to ask to be a godmother.
“Charlotte, when will you be churched?” Jane enquired.
“In a week from today. I am fully recovered and ready to proceed with my normal activities. I do not need four to six weeks like society ladies do. As it is, I have not been only attended by women, so I have already broken with the traditions.” Charlotte paused and looked at her friends. “I wanted to ask you two a special favour. Will you both stand as Sarah’s godmothers? We intend to ask Johnny to be the male godparent.”
“Of course, we will,” Jane responded as Elizabeth nodded her agreement emphatically.
The men soon returned and Phillips was pleased, but unsurprised, that his nieces had accepted the role ofgodmother to his daughter.
After tea and biscuits, during which time Charlotte came to see how well each man suited his respective Bennet sister, the four callers departed. Before they took their leave, Jane and Elizabeth promised to return on Saturday to give Charlotte a full report regarding the ball.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Fitzwilliam knocked on the study door where he knew Bennet and his wife were located. It took a few moments before he was bade enter. When he entered the study, it was easy to note that Mrs Bennet was blushing and Bennet would not look directly at him, so he behaved like he noticed none of it.
“Bennet, Mrs Bennet, please pardon my interruption, but I have to make a request,” Fitzwilliam stated.
“Go ahead,” Bennet allowed as he schooled his features.
“I need your permission to have a private interview with Miss Mary.” Before Bennet could react, Fitzwilliam continued. “I am well aware that we have been courting for less than a month, but when you know you have found the woman of your future life, you know.”
“I know you did not pursue Mary for her dowry because when you asked for the courtship, you were unaware she is an heiress. Aside from her fortune, do you also have something to bring to the marriage?” Bennet questioned.
“I do. All the years I was in the army, Father gave me an allowance,” Fitzwilliam revealed. “Every penny was deposited into my investment account with Gardiner and Associates. I never spent all my pay, so the surplus was invested each month. Then, when my Uncle Robert was called home, he left me a legacy of ten thousand pounds in his will, which more than five years ago also was added to my investment account.All of that, thanks to your brother-in-law’s investment ability, means I have an amount just slightly less than Mary’s dowry. By leaving that money and Mary’s dowry with Gardiner and Associates, we will have an annual income of between five and six thousand pounds.”
“The fact that you saved everything you were able to since you joined the army speaks to your prudence and that you are not a spendthrift.” Bennet paused and looked at his wife lovingly. “Lulu and I have been speaking about what to do with Netherfield Park. Rather than let it out until we have a second son who reaches his majority, we would like you and Mary to live there and manage the estate.” Bennet held up his hand to forestall a protest. “This is not charity. You will be responsible for the estate and the dependents on it, and you will pay half of the annual profit to me. That will be kept in an account to do with as Lulu and I chuse. “If we have no second son, when Mary is thirty, she will become the owner of Netherfield Park.
“Before you ask, I did speak to Darcy and Bingley. As you well know, the former has multiple estates already, and the latter would like to purchase an estate near Pemberley so that Jane and Lizzy would not be separated by a great distance. Unless you and Mary cannot live anywhere but in Derbyshire, the estate is yours for at least the next one and twenty years.”
“Thank you, Bennet and Mrs Bennet, that will allow us to build a good amount in order to provide any future children with a fortune of their own. Well, I suppose that is if Mary accepts me,” Fitzwilliam accepted gratefully.
“Richard, we are almost the same age, and you will be Thomas’s son, will you not call me Louisa or Lulu?” She requested.
“It would be my pleasure.” Fitzwilliam bowed to the lady. “May I address Mary?”
“Yes, you may. Good luck, although I do not believe you will need it,” Bennet allowed. “You wait here; Lulu and I will leave and send Mary to you. No more than ten minutes, the doorwill notbe closed, and Biggs or Johns will be outside in the hallway.”
Fitzwilliam heard heavy steps in the hall outside of the open door and correctly assumed that one of the huge footmen was in place. It was only moments after he heard the man take his place that Mary entered the study. First, he set the door about three-quarters closed, then he helped her to take a seat on the settee and he went down onto one knee before her. He took each of her hands into one of his own. Before he spoke, he just revelled in the touch of the silky, soft skin of her hands on his rough hands. The look he was seeing told him that she was more than ready to hear what he was about to ask.
