“We will depart on Wednesday as we originally planned,” Matlock announced after conferring with Darcy. “We will leave you at Cambridge,” he looked at his son and heir, and then, at his younger son and William, “and you two at Eton, on the day we had intended to do so, and we will continue on to London.”
Lady Elaine ordered champagne served to celebrate the excellent news.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
“Agatha, please read this and tell me if my eyes are only seeing that which I want to see?” Phillips requested.
An express had arrived from Gardiner in the late morning on Monday. In and of itself, it was not out of the ordinary, but the words were those he had given up hope of ever reading. That led to him ringing for Hill and requesting he tell Mrs Phillips she was required in the study.
“Frank Phillips! Your eyes are as good as anyone’s. That being said, hand me the missive, and I will read it.” She took the paper from her husband and sat in one of the armchairs before the desk. She began to read.
4 January 1800
23 Gracechurch Street
London
Phillips:
I have seen Janey, Lizzy, and Mary. Not only are they all well, but they are thriving.
They were discovered by Viscount Hadlock, then 8, and his parents, the Earl and Countess of Holder. By the Grace of God, they had been in Hyde Park for no longer than 12 hours…
Gardiner went on to describe how he and Maddie had been invited to Holder House, and everything they had seen there. He also explained how Phillips’s letter led to the realisation the search for family had been in the wrong county.
You will, I am sure, not condemn me for transferring the guardianship to Holder. I would have been as selfish as Fanny used to be before her change of heart, had I demanded to have the girls come live with me, thereby separating them from the only parents they have ever known. I could not nor would not do that. Maddie agrees with me completely.
We will be involved in their lives as aunt and uncle, and also, Maddie and I have been added as godparents for all three of the girls and Lord Hadlock as well. Lord and Lady Holder have told us we can see the girls whenever they are in London, or we are near one of their estates and they are in residence.
Regarding estates, Holder wants to arrange to see Netherfield Park. He told me of his determination to purchase it, especially now, so that his daughters will know where their family lived. He will write to you anon to set up a date to visit the estate, one convenient to both of you. The whole family (except for the viscount, who will be back at Eton for his final year there; he is 16) will come to Hertfordshire.
Wait until you meet the sisters; each of them is exceptional, and so much beauty in three girls is astounding. Jane looks very much like a younger version of Fanny. It is much more than physical; they are wonderful girls, inside and out. The Carringtons are educating them far beyond the traditional subjects young ladies are expected to know.
The girls are very keen to meet their younger sisters. That, of course will be up to you and Agatha as to how and when such a meeting occurs.
With regards to you and Agatha,
Gardiner
“Yes, Frank, your eyes were not deceiving you. Edward saw the Bennet sisters, and it seems that soon so will we,” Agatha said after placing the epistle down on the desk.
“I know it was not Fanny’s intent at the time, but it seems she ended up giving them a good life. If only she had thrown off her selfishness before she left them in Hyde Park,” Phillips responded. “There is nothing we can do to change the past, so there is no point harping on it. I look forward to seeing them when they come to see our estate with Lord and Lady Holder.”
“Kitty and Lyddie are not aware of their three older sisters. I will explain it to them without casting their late mother as the villainess she used to be,” Agatha mused.
“What do we tell our neighbours, if anything?” Phillips wondered.
“The truth,” Agatha answered simply. “Mr Long, who you remember was the magistrate at the time, will be relieved. You have heard him say how his failure to retrieve the Bennet sisters is his greatest regret from the time he served in that role. We have kept the way Fanny and that man died from everyone. They have all accepted that it was no more than a tragic accident. Thanks to word having spread about the way that monster used to treat Fanny, I know there were many in the area who felt no remorse at his end. There was a level of sympathy for what she suffered, but most still remembered her as the selfish woman who refused to mourn Mr Bennet.”
“In that case, with the truth, we need to inform the neighbourhood that Fanny reformed some months before theaccident,and her information helped Gardiner discover his nieces,” Phillips opined.
“Will you accompany me to tell our daughters about their sisters who they will see soon?” Agatha enquired.
“Indeed, lead on, my love,” Phillips replied.
Kitty was in the schoolroom with Miss Anita Jones, who had been employed as the governess for the Phillips children. Miss Jones was the doctor-apothecary’s older sister who had never married. She had come to live with him after the lady to whom she was a companion had passed away. She was very well educated, and when Agatha heard Miss Jones was looking for a position as either a governess or companion, she and Frank had employed her. In a year or two Lyddie would join the lessons, and when Lawrence reached the age of five in October 1803, he too would be taught by her.
“Miss Jones, may I have Kitty join us for a little while?” Agatha requested.
