July 1802
“Richard you cannot join the army, or any other branch of the military for that matter,” Matlock stated evenly. He had ordered his son to his study at Snowhaven as soon as they arrived back from the ceremony at Cambridge.
“Sir, did you not tell me that the choice of profession was mine? What, other than your order, is preventing me from joining the Dragoons?” Fitzwilliam responded stubbornly. “Do not tell me that you, Uncle Robert, and Holder will purchase me an estate or gift me one of the existing satellite estates. I will not take charity.”
“You are too proud for your own good, Son,” Matlock retorted and his son looked away. “I never said may not, I said cannot! Quite without charity, you are the heir to an estate, Rosings Park. Even before the scarlet fever, Anne de Bourgh was never a strong and healthy person, and her late father knew that very well. You may not know it, but she is one and twenty, and from what the doctors who have examined her tell, and I do not mean the quacks Catherine tries to foist on her daughter, Anne will not live another full year.
“Knowing that you would not accept what you call charity, and the rest of us all term as caring, your late uncle made you the heir to Rosings Park. You are to inherit in the event that by the time she reaches the age of five and twenty, his daughter is not able to manage the estate, and has no prospect of marrying. If she is called home before that age, you are the one and only heir to the de Bourgh estate, town home in London, and the fortune.” Matlock paused. “Why do you think my sister has been even more vocal of late, since Anne reached her majority, about her imaginary engagement with William? If Anne marries, Catherine believes William will carry Anne off to Pemberley, even though your Aunt Anne and Uncle Robert are yet hale and healthy. It is all about trying to save her position as the mistress of the estate.”
“As the sole heir to an estate, I am not permitted to join the regulars, am I?” Fitzwilliam confirmed.
“Hence, I said ‘cannot’. You are free to join the militia if you chuse. I am sure Derbyshire’s Lord Lieutenant, the Duke of Devonshire, would be more than willing to appoint you with a commission,” Matlock responded.
“Father, you know I have no interest in the militia. If I were to be an officer, it would have been a real officer, not one strutting around the towns in the realm pretending to be a soldier,” Fitzwilliam insisted. He calmed himself. “Unlike Andy, William, and Jamey, I was never taught anything beyond the basics of estate management.”
“That part is easy. In addition to myself, you will spend time with Andrew, Jamey, Holder, and both Darcys. Any one of those five will assist you. You learn quickly, so I have full confidence in your ability to assimilate what you need. When the sad day comes and you inherit the estate, you will be more than ready,” Matlock predicted.
Fitzwilliam accepted that the path he thought would be his was not to be. He would be a landowner.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
As his father had predicted it would, Richard Fitzwilliam’s life changed forever in June, less than a year after the conversation where he learnt he was the heir. For the preceding months, he had thrown himself into learning all of the nuances of estate management.
Most of his lessons had been with his Uncle Robert Darcy. In addition, he had spent weeks before and after Easter with the Carringtons at Netherfield Park working with Holder and the steward, Jessop.
The lessons in Hertfordshire had been very valuable to him because the topography and soil was very similar to what he would experience in Kent.
The added advantage was the close proximity of his four female cousins, chief among them Lizzy, who would assist him with information from any of the books she had read on estate management. It still amazed him how she could recall anything word for word from a tome she had perused. When he needed help understanding estate ledgers, then Jane was there to assist him. Mary and Anna did not help with his learning, but he nevertheless greatly enjoyed being in their company. While he was near Meryton, he had Phillips as a resource when he had any legal questions.
When at Netherfield Park, Fitzwilliam got to know his cousins’ younger sisters and their brother as well. Knowing how timid Kitty and Lydia used to be, he was impressed by how far they had come in the years since they had been adopted by Phillips and his wife. The boy, Lawrence, was a good little fellow but rather impish. As he got older, he greatly enjoyed pranking his sisters and others.
Thanks to all of the help he received in his training, by the time word reached his father that Anne de Bourgh was close to the end, as much as he wished it was not at the cost of her life, Fitzwilliam was ready to take over the management of his estate.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
June 1803
More than ten months after the conversation between Matlock and his second son, with her family—except for her mother—sitting with her, Anne de Bourgh slipped away from the mortal world and entered God’s Kingdom.
Unfortunately for Lady Catherine, her brother and brother-in-law had been made aware of how dire their niece’s situation was by the steward and Mrs Jenkinson—Miss de Bourgh’s companion—ignoring the demands of Lady Catherine that they not mention a word to anyone.
As such, Matlock, Darcy, their wives, and sons had arrived at Rosings Park a day before Anne had succumbed to her maladies. They were grateful they had been able to farewell Anne on her journey to everlasting life at His side.
“You must all leave my estate,” Lady Catherine had blustered the day after her daughter was laid to rest in the de Bourgh crypt next to her late father.
“Catherine, do you truly think that things will be as you want them because you issue imperious commands?” Matlock mocked. “Your daughter has barely begun her eternal sleep, and you are back to trying to wrest the estate and everything else from its rightful owner. You know as well as I do that Richard is master here now, and you, Sister, are the former mistress!”
“NO!IT IS MINE!” Lady Catherine screamed as loudly as she could.
“Yet, the will states differently. Unless you accept the reality, you will not even be allowed to inhabit the dower house here. In that case, you will be taken to a cottage in the Outer Hebrides, and from there you will never return,” Matlock barked back.
If she were not at Rosings Park, Lady Catherine would not be able to put things to rights. “I will move to the dower house,” she stated bitterly.
“Catherine, if this is one of your harebrained schemes to gain control of Richard’s estate, not only will you fail, but to the Hebrides you will go,” Matlock threatened when he saw his sister’s calculating look.
As was her wont, Lady Catherine blocked her brother’s words from her consciousness, as they did not fit with her desires.
Much to her consternation, Lady Catherine’s trunks and valises were searched before her departure from the mansion. All the de Bourgh jewels she had secreted within were removed. She had meant for them to provide her with capital to execute the brilliant plans she intended to make. She was seriously displeased. All she had now was her measly jointure.
