~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Reggie, Tiffany will be seventeen soon and we need to replace her companion,” Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Matlock, told her husband, Lord Reginald Fitzwilliam, the fifth Earl of Matlock.
Lady Tiffany Fitzwilliam was their only daughter, almost seventeen, a gift from God—born more than thirteen years after their second son, Richard, a Colonel in the Royal Dragoons. The couple had believed there would be no more children after Richard, but miraculously, a little more than twelve years after his birth, Lady Elaine found herself with child again. Eight months later and after a difficult confinement, Tiffany joined the family.
As their only daughter, she was indulged, but not spoilt. Lady Elaine wanted Mrs. Annesley as her daughter’s companion but, given what she knew of her niece Giana’s experience in Ramsgate, she had taken a step back and not competed for the lady’s services. She had been hired as Georgiana’s companion by her nephew, William Darcy.
“You have my agreement, my love,” Lord Reggie responded. “I am sure you will find someone soon.”
“Knowing our Tiffany, it should be a younger and more active sort. Even though she did not dislike Mrs. Brookes, our daughter felt restricted by how little the lady was able to do physically. It was a relief for Tiffany when she retired two months ago,” Lady Elaine mused.
“Perhaps when your committee meets in a fortnight, you can ask the ladies if they know of anyone who you would be willing to interview,” Lord Reggie suggested.
“That is a good suggestion, Husband. If I have not found a companion by then, I will do so,” Lady Elaine decided.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Thomas Bennet stood in the doorway of the bookseller on Meryton’s High Street. He saw his favourite daughter exit the post, Mr. Wickham say something to her, and in the blink of an eye, her leg shot up and kicked the man in his nether region. He watched as she barked something out at the writhing man, smoothed her skirts, and with as much dignity as she could, boarded the conveyance.
A little before the officer approached his daughter, Bennet had noticed an expensive carriage pass with Miss Bingley sitting in the forward-facing seat closest to him with the proud Mr. Darcy seated opposite her. The caterwauling by his wife caused by the closing of Netherfield and Mr. Bingley’s leaving the area not to return was the reason he had escaped the house to visit his favourite store in Meryton. His wife and, to his great surprise, his outwardly mild-mannered and serene daughter, Jane, had both blamed Elizabeth for Mr. Bingley’s defection. After hearing Jane’s suggestion to his wife, he now knew she was not the person she pretended to be.
There was no logic to their vitriolic complaints against Elizabeth, but that did nothing to stop their bemoaning, blaming her, and vilifying her. His daughter, when she had begged him not to give into his wife, had said something about Jane not being as she seemed. Until he had seen Jane’s performance and heard her words this morning, Bennet had dismissed his second daughter’s opinion. Elizabeth had disclosed information about Jane which had shocked him to the core.
He knew his cousin was not a man who could make his Lizzy happy, but he hoped her refusal to marry him, even in the face of his order to do so would let him off the hook. When he had given in to his wife to try and preserve the peace, as he always did, Elizabeth’s words cut him to the quick and, worse, they were true.
He had hoped against hope his Lizzy would return home and comply after his wife forced him to agree to banish her, but he knew it was a vain hope. Unlike him, Lizzy had strength of character and will.
As he watched the post pull away, he feared it would be the last time he would see his second daughter.
Chapter1
October 1810
“Mr. Bennet,Mr. Bennet!” Mrs. Frances Bennet screeched as she burst into the sanctuary of his study. “Have you done as I instructed? Have you called on Mr. Bingley yet?”
Bennet tamped down his first inclination to make sport of his wife and deny he had done so. It was not worth the diatribe which would result. “Yes, Mrs. Bennet, I went this morning as yourequestedI do.”
“Well, what have you to tell? He is to marry Jane you know, a single man of fortune must be in want of a wife,” Mrs. Bennet stated with surety. “How can any man resist the beauty of our eldest daughter?”
“If you already decided he is to marry Jane, why do you not inform him of such and start planning the wedding?” Bennet asked sarcastically. He knew full well the sarcasm would be lost on his wife.
“You vex me so, Mr. Bennet. That is not the way it is done,” Mrs. Bennet replied, missing his mocking tone as he expected she would. “Will Mr. Bingley be attending the upcoming assembly?”
The quarterly assembly would be held in two days, on Friday evening. It usually was well attended by the four and twenty gently bred families of the neighbourhood, plus others who lived between Meryton and St. Albans. The only problem was ladies usually outnumbered the men, which had birthed the practice of each lady sitting out at least two sets to ensure no one who wanted to dance would not be afforded the opportunity.
“He did mention that his sisters and a friend—or perhaps friends—would be arriving this afternoon,” Bennet shared with his wife. He knew the thought of more possible targets for his wife’s desire to see her daughters well married would distract her.
“Oooh,” Fanny Bennet fluttered her silk handkerchief in excitement, “what a good thing for our girls if he brings several rich men from Town.” With that, Mrs. Bennet left his study, as he had hoped she would, so she could share the intelligence with other like-minded gossips, especially her older sister, Hattie Phillips.
Bennet sat back in his comfortable desk chair. He was the epitome of ‘decide in haste, repent at leisure.’ He had met Frances Gardiner when she was seventeen and a stunning beauty. Being so blinded by her looks and that she was willing to share her favours with the unexperienced Thomas Bennet, four and twenty at the time, he had accepted what she offered. Bennet had paid no attention when she manoeuvred him into an extremely compromising position.
Hattie Phillips, recently married to her father’s law clerk, came upon Bennet being kissed by her sister on cue, with their father in tow. By the time he found out the compromise was staged, it was too late to do anything about it. He had proposed and she had accepted. They were married within ten days.
Fanny gained what she wanted?to be the mistress of an estate. Even better, her husband was weak-willed, permitting her to batter him verbally until he gave in to her. As the years passed, it took less and less to impose her will on him. To save himself from losing time with his precious books and port, Bennet simply gave in, not wishing to waste his time by fighting her.
Bennet’s only defence was distraction, which he employed whenever he could. Sometimes it was like distracting an upset child who forgets why they were upset when something shiny is dangled before their eyes.
It always hurt him how Fanny mistreated their second daughter, Elizabeth, for the crime of being born a girl and not a boy. During her pregnancy, Fanny had told one and all her second babe would be a boy.
