With much love and missing you very much,
William
Georgiana was sad her brother would not be joining them for Christmastide, but she understood why. In her opinion, which was of course not biased, he was the best of brothers, landlords, and masters.
She immediately wrote back to her brother expressing her sorrow for Mrs. Black’s death and requesting he pass on her deepest sympathies to the grieving father and family.
Georgiana warned her brother he would need to arrive a little earlier, as Richard was to marry towards the end of February; she told him to expect a letter about the wedding from Richard.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Elizabeth listened as the Fitzwilliams expressed their understanding of Darcy’s reasons for not coming to London for the festive season and lauded him for putting others ahead of his own desires.
Her feelings for Mr. Darcy had already undergone a massive change from the way she felt about him in Hertfordshire. As she listened, she had to admit the qualities everyone attributed to him seemed to be accurate. He was the opposite of what she had imagined him to be when she was still a Bennet.
He was honourable, caring, honest, a good brother, and an excellent master and landlord. It struck her that, ever since she had the discussion with Tiffany and Giana about his letters from Netherfield Park, she had begun to admire him.
Her admiration was growing. She was not willing to give it a name yet, but she did think about him at various times of the day when she was not occupied, and he had begun to intrude on her dreams.
She understood why he would not join them for Christmastide, but she was sad she would not see him. She looked forward to Charlotte’s nuptials as she expected he would not wish to miss his cousin’s wedding. Lizzy knew that they were as close to each other as brothers-by-blood would be.
Charlotte had asked Elizabeth to stand up for her at the wedding and Richard had written to Mr. Darcy with a request to do the honours for him. Elizabeth was not sure what their first meeting would be like, but she knew she anticipated it.
Chapter 19
After the Countess, who insisted Charlotte should call her Mother Elaine, verified the Lucas family would be alone at Lucas Lodge for Christmastide, she extended an invitation to them, which had been accepted gratefully.
Elizabeth could not think of anyone who deserved the love and happiness Charlotte was enjoying more than her best friend. She and Charlotte were sleeping at her parents’ house but spent almost every day at Matlock House. On the days they were not there, Richard escorted Tiffany and Giana to visit Gracechurch Street.
Elizabeth thought not at all about her former family, except she worried about Mary and Kitty. Both had always been lost due to all the attention Jane and Lydia used to garner. Even her attempt to follow and emulate Lydia, did not earn Kitty any approbation from her mother. Elizabeth was sure that all of the attention Mrs. Bennet used to lavish on Jane, was now directed to Lydia. She wasted no thought at all on her birth parents.
Thoughts of Elizabeth’s former sister, Jane, only arose when she wondered how it would be when she saw Jane at Rosings Park for Easter. She and her parents would join the party traveling into Kent to claim the estate from Lady Catherine, thus putting an end to her reign of terror in Westerham.
She had never been happier in her life. She was surrounded by a loving family, the best of friends, and had complete acceptance for who she was. During the relatively short time Elizabeth had been a Gardiner, her self-esteem had been repaired fully. She no longer suffered her birth mother’s voice constantly berating and denigrating her. Fanny Bennet had unintentionally done her the greatest of favours the day she banished her from Longbourn and the Bennet family.
Elizabeth smiled as she thought about how the Bennets would react when they found out who the new owners of Netherfield Park were—her mother and father. After about a week of being a Gardiner, Elizabeth had switched from ‘Aunt’ and ‘Uncle’ to ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ when addressing the Gardiners. She would not use Mama and Papa, as those appellations reminded her of her Bennet birth parents.
Other than the proximity of Longbourn to Netherfield Park, the estate’s location was ideal for Gardiner. His children would be raised in the country and he would be able to travel to London in three or four hours when needed.
The sale had been completed quietly, with Uncle Phillips acting as the agent. Aunt Hattie had been asked not to disclose the identity of the new owners of Netherfield Park, for obvious reasons. An unintended benefit fell to Mr. Bingley. Any unused lease funds he had paid were returned to him after the sale was closed.
As a family, they discussed whether or not Mrs. Bennet would arrive, uninvited, once she heard who the new owner of Netherfield Park was, and they decided her arriving at their new home was as certain as the sun rising each morning.
If she attempted to enter uninvited, that action would lead to the consequence of her being turned over to the authorities for trespassing, as she had received her final warning when she invaded Gracechurch Street.
Charlotte pointed out to Eliza how much of a welcome she would receive in Meryton. She also assured her friend if Mrs. Bennet tried to approach her in the town, she would have more people willing to help her ward off the unwanted woman than would be necessary.
Richard entered the drawing room, snapping Elizabeth out of her reverie. He held a letter in his hand. “It is from William,” Richard informed those seated in the drawing room.
“What does he say?” Georgiana asked.
“Here, Giana, read it aloud, there is nothing that needs to remain private within,” Richard stated as he handed his ward the letter.
18 December 1810
Pemberley
Richard,
