Now that they were at Holder Heights, Edith wanted to give the girls time to acclimate to their new home. Children were resilient, but with what these girls had suffered being abandoned in the park the way they were, she allowed for the fact that they may need more time to get used to their surroundings than children who had not been through what they had. At least for Mary, her routines had been disturbed for only one day; but now her world was as it should be again.
Edith knew that the key was Jane, because at this point Lizzy’s moods mirrored Jane’s. When the latter was calm and happy, so was the former.
Paul had not said so in so many words, but Edith knew that her husband had completely opened his heart to the girls. He would keep seeking their family, but he did not want them to leave the Carringtons any more than Edith did.
It warmed her heart to see the way that Elaine and Anne had taken to their roles of aunts and surrogate mothers-to-be of the three girls. Since the instant Lizzy had demanded that Anne pick her up, the little girl had become Anne’s favourite even if she would never show open favouritism to Lizzy. Elaine’s favourite was all three girls. Edith smiled as she thought how all three of them would want to shop with and for the girls each time they were in London. They would never be spoilt, but they would never want for anything.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Lying with you has been so much better than when I was forced to do my duty tohim!” Fanny prevaricated. Her husband was not as good to join with as her late husband had been. She knew she could never tell Clem that. He needed her to flatter him at all times. Her husband had not shared what her allowance would be, so she must keep him happy so that he would give her the amount of quarterly pin money she deserved.
Before Collins could respond, the door flew open and banged against the wall with great force. Both he and his wife jumped back in fear.
“Frances Jane Bennet, where are my wards?” Gardiner growled as he stalked across the room to where his sister sat. She had lost all her colour as soon as the door slammed open. “Do not think I believe your cock and bull story regarding Janey, Lizzy, and Mary! You had better tell me their location, or you will be very sorry.”
“Her name is Mrs Collins, and you may not speak to my wife in that fashion,” Collins blustered. “We are legally married, and unlike that weak cousin of mine, I did not have to compromise your sister to have her marry me!”
Hearing what her husband said made Fanny lose the rest of her colour. Why did Clem say that?
“If you believed my sister’s lies, you are more of a simpleton than Bennet thought. She was the one who compromised Bennet, you dullard. She had chased after him from the time she was fifteen, and he had shown nothing but disdain for her,” Gardiner shot back. “Go ahead, ask her; she knows she cannot lie with me standing here.”
Collins spun and glared at his wife. She did not deny that what her brother said was the truth; all she did was look away, as she could not hold his eye. His wife had just committed the worst sin against him she could. She had humiliated him before her brother, a woman who he did not recognise, and some of the servants. He wanted to punish her there and then, as was his right, but looking at the brother, Collins could see the man was fitter and stronger than himself.
“Did she lie about her dowry as well? She told me it is five thousand pounds,” Collins wanted to know. ‘If she dissembled about that too, she will be very sorry,’ he thought.
“No, in that, she did not mislead you.” Gardiner answered the question narrowly, purposefully not mentioning what would happen when the will was read. “I assume my sister was so intent on making sure she remained in this house that she was too much of an imbecile to demand that there be a settlement drafted before she married you. You are both disgusting. Marrying less than a fortnight after your husband.” Gardiner glared at his sister. “And your cousin,” he speared Collins with a look of pure disdain, “was called home to God. Tell me, how are you being received in the neighbourhood?”
Both Collinses looked away momentarily. They had dismissed Mr Pierce’s warnings, but they had been completely shunned. No one was at home to them; there were no callers at Longbourn, and the merchants would not allow them into their shops. The only way they could make purchases was to send servants into Meryton to do it for them, and it was only for coin. Not a single tradesman would extend credit to Collins regardless of what estate he would eventually be master of.
“I had to marry because of the unfair way our late father and that cruel husband of mine treated me. I hope he is in hell where he belongs,” Fanny screeched.
“The treatment was commensurate with your dishonourable actions,” Gardiner interjected.
She looked at the woman she assumed was her brother’s wife. “Can you not see what kind of terrible man you have married in my brother?” Fanny sneered. “Just wait, he will treat you just as badly as well.”
“If you want to see the worst kind of woman, look in the mirror. I married the best of men,” Maddie shot back. “You disgust me.”
Fanny looked back to her husband to defend her, but he said and did nothing.
The things that Fanny said and what he believed she had done led Gardiner to reach a decision. “You are no longer my sister, and as such, I will never acknowledge this man as my brother. Now,Mrs Collins, I will ask one more time, where are my wards?” Gardiner demanded.
“What do you mean that my daughters are your wards?” Fanny enquired nastily, ignoring Edward’s question.
“What do you think it means? Surely you cannot be so much of a simpleton as not to understand what the word implies. I am their guardian. Now, I demand to know where my wards are!” Gardiner said in a low voice with barely controlled fury.
She knew that she could never admit to the truth. All Fanny had to do was keep to what she had told the magistrate. “It is as I told Mr Long; I was coming to see you after Mr Bennet died. Even without knowing you were to be their guardian, I felt they needed to be with you, so I made for London. At a rest stop, the coachman drove away with them in the carriage.”
“Liar! You forget; Fanny, I know you, and I know when you are prevaricating. Tell me the truth now,” Gardiner demanded. His sister cowered, and Gardiner came as close to striking a female as he ever had. He could not, though, and even as she shrunk back in fear, his sister did not change her lie.
A maid entered the parlour and whispered to Mrs Hill. “Mr and Mrs Gardiner, your chambers are ready for you,” the housekeeper stated.
“You will not remain in my house,” Collins insisted as his wife nodded.
“Do I need to remind you that until Mr Phillips arrives and reads the will you are not the master here, and as I amsureyourvery honestwife told you, Mrs Hill is the acting mistress. We have permission from the estate’s mistress, and that is all we need to remain here for now,” Gardiner retorted. “As such, there is nothing you may do until the will is read.”
If Collins had been angry at his wife’s lying to him, he was now that much more furious, as he was humiliated again. He was standing, his hands made into fists, looking for a release of his anger.
“Lead on, Mrs Hill,” Maddie sang.
