As soon as the door was closed, Fanny knew she needed to placate her husband. She stood and approached him regardless of the foreboding look on his face. She was about to reach out to take his hand when she began to speak. “Now you see what kind of people…” Whatever else she was about to say was lost when she was knocked back onto the settee when her cheek was caught by a glancing blow from a fist. No matter how bad things were between her and Mr Bennet, he had never raised his hand to her. Edward had come close today, but he had not hit her. She had been married less than ten days, and her new husband had just struck her. “Why?” was all Fanny could manage. She was in such a state of shock she had not allowed herself to cry yet.
“You lied to me and left me to be humiliated by your brother and his wife. You are lucky I did not do more. Do not ever lie to me again, do you understand?” Collins hissed. The release of his frustrations had helped somewhat.
Fanny was thinking about excuses, but she knew that if she used one, there was a good chance her husband would strike her again. In that moment, it hit Fanny that in aligning herself with Clem Collins, she may have made a worse mistake than when she compromised Mr Bennet. She had to go to speak to Edward when she could. Surely her brother had not meant what he had said to her, had he?
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“I spoke to the coachman; he has sent ahead to ensure there are horses to swap every two hours. At this pace, we will be in Meryton on Saturday,” Phillips told his wife as they departed from the second stop they had made so far that day.
“It is hard to believe we will never see Thomas again, and what of those darling little girls? I remember a few times Mamma, Papa, and I called at Longbourn after they were born. What little beauties the older two are. We never saw the babe; Mary you said?” Agatha watched as her husband nodded. “I am sure she will be just as pretty as her older sisters.” She paused. “Did Mrs Bennet not know that Mr Gardiner would be their guardian if Thomas went to his final reward?”
“As far as I know, no. Bennet never spoke to her more than absolutely necessary.” Phillips paused. “Agatha, I need to inform you of something, which may answer a question you had regarding why Bennet never pursued you.”
“Tell me, Frank. I do not pine for him. Had I not been in love with you, I would not have accepted a courtship, not to mention an engagement. However, I would be prevaricating if I said I never asked myself why he seemed to withdraw from me. I know that the then Miss Gardiner compromised him, but I always wondered why he did not refuse to marry her.”
“You know that Mr Henry Bennet, Bennet’s late father, was taken before he turned thirty, do you not?” Phillips watched Agatha nod. “He had a disease of the heart…” Phillips explained that right before he withdrew from her, Bennet discovered he had the same ailment. “After seeing his mother waste away from a broken heart, he felt he could not subject you to the same fate. You have the right of it; he could have refused to gratify Gardiner’s demands…” He told the rest of the story.
“Am I to understand that he married her because he did not love Miss Gardiner, hence, he cared not what happened to her after he was gone? Further, it was his one chance to keep the estate from that brutish distant cousin of whom he spoke?”
“You are right.” Phillips cogitated about the best way to say the next. “Bennet’s selfless sacrifice when he walked away from you ended up with me finding the love of my life. When we make decisions, we never know what the ramifications will be. All I know is that I will forever be grateful you did not have an understanding with anyone when we got closer and that you are now my wife.”
“I too do not have any regrets, Frank.” Agatha snuggled up to her husband and felt secure in the welcoming circle of his arms.
Chapter 10
Her brother’s statement notwithstanding, Fanny sought him out once her husband had walked into Meryton to frequent the tap room in the Red Lion Inn. She found the Gardiners in the drawing room.
Gardiner looked up when he heard the door open. When he saw it was his sister, his look hardened. “Is this not a room which you are forbidden to enter, Mrs Collins?”
“Edward, my husband hit me. He was angry that I bent the truth about who compromised whom,” Fanny wailed. “You must save me from him and make sure he never strikes me again.”
“You will address me as Mr Gardiner,” he instructed. “Just like you were told when you compromised Bennet, and you did not like the results, you have made your bed, and now you must lie in it. That being said, I think that men who lay their hands on a woman are lowly cowards. However, as he is legally your husband, he may do with you what he will. The only thing the law does not allow is for him to murder you. After what you have done, do you truly expect sympathy from me? Where are my wards?”
No matter what, Fanny knew she could never tell the truth. She was sure that if she did, Mr Long would arrest her, and she would rot in gaol or worse. She turned to the woman her brother married. They had not been introduced properly yet, and she cared not. “You see what kind of man you have married? He will not defend you, just like he refuses to help me,” she lashed out.
“Yes, he would!” Maddie exclaimed. “When you harmed the girls who are our wards, you forfeited any of your brother’s assistance or goodwill. I married a man I love, not for selfish motives like you did with both of your husbands. Edward would protect me with his life, as I would do for him if it was needed. That is what love is. Love is when the needs of the one you adore come first, and you care more about them than yourself. You and that man you tied yourself to love no one but yourselves. Are you so delusional that you think you can do what you have done, treat people the way you do, and any of us would show you sympathy? As my wonderful husband told you, you made your choice; and now you have to live with it.
“That your husband hit you disgusts me. No matter what you have done, I do not wish such a fate on you. However, it was not us who married the man without knowing him. Had you waited a few more days, your brother would have told you about the kind of man with whom you have aligned yourself.”
“You would not have listened to me, is that not so?” Gardiner spat out. His visage softened as he turned to his wife. “You see, my love, my former sister always thinks she knows best; a little thing like provable facts would not deter her.” Gardiner turned back to Mrs Collins, his face hard once again. “Even now when you come to me for help, you will not tell me what you did with Janey, Lizzy, and Mary. You disgust me, Mrs Collins! Before you go, know this. If we ever find evidence of what you did, you will be prosecuted in a court of law, and no one will save you from the consequences of your actions. Now begone!”
Fanny withdrew without another word. Edward hated her! She had not done anything so bad, had she? All she had done was make sure she would have enough allowance to get what she needed. How could that be wrong?
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Edith, what will we tell anyone who asks what the girl’s surnames are? We cannot give them the Carrington name…” Holder held up his hand to stall his wife’s protest. “… yet. If we do not discover any of their family, and no one comes to claim them, we will adopt them. Although, as I am sure you are aware, they will not be given the honorific of Lady even though they will have the Carrington name, and other than by blood, we will be their parents.”
“I care not about the honorific as long as the girls become ours,” Edith insisted.
“You need to temper your expectations and realise that no matter how remote the chance is, as time passes, someone may yet come and claim them,” Holder said lovingly. “Now back to the question of a family name?”
“We will not follow the tradition for foundlings by naming them by where they were discovered.Mygirlswill nothave the family name of Hyde Park, Rotten Row, or Shrubs! Why can we not use Carrington until we adopt them? There is no law against that, is there?”
“Then, how about Flora?” Holder jested.
“Paul, I was not joking. If they are to be called anything, I want it to be our family name. Now tell me, is there a law?”
“Of course, there is no law. I only worry for you, my darling Edith. If some family emerges and claims them, think how much more difficult it will be if we use the Carrington name. You must know I will always want you to be happy, and I could not imagine how it would break your heart to part with the girls.”
