“If I have to wear that hooped monstrosity to be presented, I would rather forgo the honour,” Elizabeth chirped as she watched Janey trip over her train on her first attempt to back away from thethronewith her mother in the role of the monarch.
“Miss Lizzy, you will survive it, just like Miss Janey will,” Mrs Annesley stated kindly. “You are not the first, nor will you be the last, debutante to complain about the Queen’s choice of presentation dress. And you are correct; it is an honour to make your curtsy before Her Majesty.”
“Mamma, were you ever presented?” Jane enquired.
“No, Dear, I was not. Even though I have learnt much about the ways of the gentry, I do not believe I would have enough confidence to face the Queen and not fall over my feet and the train,” Fanny replied.
“Mrs Bennet, if it is something you want to do, it will not be any trouble to coach you so that you would be able to back out safely,” Mrs Annesley offered.
“I am not sure…” Fanny began but was cut off.
“Mamma, will you learn with me in two years? It will give us both time to get used to the idea,” Elizabeth proposed. “I know the dress is expensive, even with Uncle Edward supplying all of the fabric. Will I be able to use Janey’s dress when I amforcedto face the Queen?”
“I am not sure, given your disparate heights and bosom sizes,” Fanny responded. “Let me think on what you asked, Lizzy. I will speak to your father and see. Perhaps, I will join you when you are presented.”
“Actually, Mrs Bennet, Miss Lizzy has a clever idea. The dress can be shortened for her and a good seamstress can add some fabric in the bosom area which will look like the gown was always designed that way. It is a waste for something which will never be worn again after the presentation,” Mrs Annesley mused. “If the additional length is not cut but sewn into the hem, it is possible the same dress will suffice for all five Bennet sisters.”
Mrs Annesley’s ideas placated Elizabeth. No matter how wealthy they were or were not, she hated to waste money.
“As soon as the presentation is done, I will be well pleased to travel home. I miss the younger four,” Fanny sighed. “Tommy is a mix of your father and me, and he has your eyes, Lizzy.”
Before he was six months old, the youngest Bennet’s eyes had taken on the same emerald-green colour as Elizabeth’s. His hair had lightened to be the same golden blond as his mother, Jane, and Lydia, but in his face, he was every bit his father. Except for the eye colour and lighter hair, he looked just like Bennet had at the same age.
He was understandably the apple of Longbourn’s residents’ eyes—family, staff, and servants alike. His birth meant that as long as he reached the age of eighteen, the Bennets would remain at the estate, and there would be no major upheavals. That he was as impish as Elizabeth had been at the same age was seen as something laudable. It had not been quite the same when Elizabeth had been growing up.
“Come, Miss Janey, try again. I promise you, like every debutante before you, you will do this without any issues,” Mrs Annesley encouraged.
By the time the three Bennet ladies and Mrs Annesley moved to Hurst House, a sennight before Jane’s presentation, Leticia Hurst was impressed by how well Jane was able to walk, make her curtsey to the fictitious queen, and back out without incident.
On the five and twentieth day of June, when it was Jane’s turn to enter the presentation chamber, it was almost anticlimactic. By then the actions she needed to perform were almost automatic. After the Queen complimented her on her beauty, Jane backed out flawlessly.
In the group of watching courtiers was Lord Andrew Fitzwilliam. His fascination with Miss Bennet had not waned more than two years after first meeting her. At sixteen, she had been too young to think of pursuing her. At eighteen, she was still on the young side, but much closer to being mature enough to court. ‘Another two or three years, and Her Majesty is correct; she is a beauty, both inside and out,’ Hilldale thought as he watched her back out of the presentation chamber. He was not one of the men in society who would ever connect himself to one barely out of her childhood.
The fact that the Bennets were connected to the Hursts was an advantage. He would be able to rely on Harry when the time came to get to know the Bennets better.
Regardless of how many debutantes had thrown themselves at Hilldale, he had not met one who attracted more than his passing notice. That had been the case until he had seen Miss Jane Bennet at Gardiner’s offices more than two years past. Unlike most women in high society, Miss Bennet was not ashamed of, nor did she hide, her exceptional abilities with numbers. After the Bennets had left that day, Hilldale had requested that Gardiner show him the ledger on which Miss Bennet had been working. Without her notations, it would have taken him days—if ever—to reveal the errors. It had taken her less than half an hour! Yes, she was so much more than a pretty, no, extremely beautiful, face.
The day after the presentation, Fanny and Elizabeth departed for Longbourn. Jane remained with the Hursts and Mrs Annesley to attend a few balls before following her mother and sister home.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Louisa, Harold, Arthur and Leticia, who was called Tisha—using the diminutive form of her name to differentiate her from her grandmamma—were all happy at Winsdale as the newest member of the family kept growing bigger and stronger. The name was chosen because Tisha’s grandpapa called her grandmamma Lettie.
Shortly before Tisha turned six months old in November of 1807, the four Hursts set out from Winsdale and made for London. The plan was to meet up with Bingley and Caroline—recently nineteen—along the Great North Road at an inn in Sheffield, which was in the West Riding, just before entering Derbyshire from Yorkshire. They would travel together from there. Harold had demanded they meet in Yorkshire because he was sure that had it been somewhere in Derbyshire, his sister-in-law would have screeched and screamed her demands to stop at Pemberley. Of course Bingley would have tried to placate her by supporting her.
As it was, there were no stops planned within twenty miles of Pemberley. Thankfully, they had Holcomb, Biggs, and Johns with them in case Caroline became unmanageable.
As they had planned at the Golden Goose Inn, Louisa called Charles over to come and see his nephew and meet his niece.
Harold made for the Bingley coach before his sister-in-law could alight.
“What is it you want? Why did we stop here, so close to Derbyshire? We must continue on to Pemberley so I may call on the Darcys…” Miss Bingley closed her mouth when her brother-in-law shot her a dangerous look, not one she was used to from the drunken, indolent sot.
“We have no invitation to Pemberley. Raise this again and I will have your brother return you to Aunt Hildebrand and Uncle John forthwith, and if he refuses, I will have some of my men convey you home,” Harold threatened.
“Who are you…” Miss Bingley began to demand before she was cut off again.
“I am your secondary guardian after Uncle John. As he is not here, my word is law as far as you are concerned. Do not test me, you will not enjoy the results,” Harold growled.
