‘Putting up with my friend’s sisters is penance for my stupidity,’William told himself.‘It took Lizzy a few months, but thankfully I have earned her trust again in full measure. How I will miss all of the family; yes, I deserve this penance!’
The door was opened by a liveried servant. Luckily, Charles Bingley had told his friend the truth of their situation so that any attempts by his sister or mother to intimate that the estate was theirs, that they owned it, or that they owned a different one, would be met with the scepticism that it deserved. William had met Mr Bingley at Eton so as soon as they were inside the house, he requested that his friend introduce him to his mother and sister. The younger one had tried to sink her talons into his arm as they walked into the house, but Darcy had put his hands behind his back in time which had left her grasping at empty air.
After the introductions, but before the fawning could begin in earnest, Mr Bingley thankfully suggested that the young men go up to their chambers to wash and change. He informed the young man from Derbyshire that his valet, Carstens, had arrived the previous day and was waiting for him in his chambers. Caroline huffed in frustration that she had not been allowed to show the guest to his chambers, ignoring the fact that her brother had done just that.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The family had all settled into their chambers at Rosings and then met back in the main drawing room. When Reggie’s sister had been mistress of the estate, the house had been full of gaudy baubles and the most uncomfortable furniture bought to make a statement—meant to impress and not for the comfort of use. Once Lady Catherine had been banished to the dower house, with his wife and sister Anne in charge of the effort, they had completely redecorated the house. The‘throne,’well the chair his sister thought was a throne, had been banished to the dower house along with her.
The house was now a liveable home; not a museum of discombobulated extremis. The Earl had used his new business contact, Mr Edward Gardiner, to sell all off the ostentatious and gaudy pieces that his sister had favoured in her decorating“style. Reggie had been very pleasantly surprised when, even after commission for selling the items was deducted, a particularly good percentage of the original outlay was received and had been added to the budget to refurbish the house.
Anne de Bourgh was incredibly happy to be back at her childhood home, especially without her mother there to spoil the convivial atmosphere which, for the first time she could remember, infused the whole house. When her mother ran the house with her iron fist, the house had been joyless, the servants went about their duties head down and not daring to make a noise or be noticed lest the mistress unleash her vitriol, which often times included physical abuse. Uncle Reggie had hired a new housekeeper and butler, as the previous two had retired from their positions as soon as their pensions had been restored. The couple had worked years past the point that they would have preferred but were forced to remain in service without the pension that Sir Louis had promised them because the former mistress kept it from them. The old couple had not known that had they applied to the Earl, he would have overridden his officious sister and told them the truth of the matter.
Aunt Anne and Aunt Elaine had interviewed a number of well-qualified candidates and had decided on a couple, Tess and Colin Firth, who were in their early thirties. Elaine had joked with her sister that the only reason that she picked the Firths was that the new butler had a passing resemblance to her husband, George. The Firths had proven themselves to be well suited for the positions and the atmosphere in the house, of the whole estate actually, was the opposite of what it had been during Lady Catherine’s reign of terror. The servants went about their assigned tasks with a spring in their step and the house was once more alive.
The tenants had noticed the biggest change. With Lady Catherine’s edicts and interference, she had made their lives very unpleasant and threatened all sorts of repercussions if they complained about her to her brother’s steward, Mr Brian Mason. In her desire to control all, she had created a climate of fear that kept a good majority of the tenants from reporting legitimate issues. The very day that the former great lady was exiled to the dower house, the lives of the tenants had changed in the positive. After hearing from one tenant about the way that the mistress used to terrorize them, the steward made sure to speak to each tenant family to let them know that she had no authority and that he was the only one on the estate who did. Once word got out of the new circumstances, the four empty tenant farms were quickly applied for and filled.
Luckily, his sister had not been allowed to appoint a pastor for the Hunsford living when it opened up, so Reggie had found a young curate who served at the Ashbury Church in Surrey and came highly recommended by his friend, Lord Maxwell Ashby, the Earl of Ashbury. Reggie had interviewed Mr David Bamber who turned out to be everything that his friend had said in his letter of recommendation and nothing like the sycophantic and obsequies clergyman that his sister would have found. Mr Bamber spoke very well, and the family all enjoyed his sermon and the Easter service.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
After Easter services in the church at Longbourn, William Darcy thought that he was having an optical illusion. He had left the church just ahead of the Bingleys after the curate, Mr Pierce, had concluded the service. As he was standing and waiting for his friend, trying to hide from the insipid and cloying Miss Caroline, he saw the lady he now knew to be Mrs Bennet walk out of the church, a child holding each hand. There was a boy on the left, but when he saw the girl on her mother’s right, she reminded him so very much of Lizzy, until she looked up at him and he saw the greenest eyes staring at him.
As he looked, he noticed more differences than similarities and he chalked it up to coincidence. He imagined that a family that had lost a daughter would show sadness, but the Bennets exuded contentment. He did hear the mother address her older daughter who walked out with three brothers, by the name Jane. He forgot that Lizzy used to speak of an‘Aney though had he thought about it, it would have been a possible incantation of the name Jane to a child of but one. As the boys walked past, he heard the names James and William, which caused him to smile, even though his given name was Fitzwilliam. The group was out of his hearing before one of them addressed John by his name, which may, when combined with Jane, have jogged his memory.
One evening he and his friend were enjoying a game of billiards, and thankfully Mr Bingley had banished the annoying Miss Caroline from the billiards room.“How is it that we have not socialised with your neighbours, Bingley?” William asked as his friend straightened up from taking his shot.“From what I hear, your landlord has land that rivals Pemberley in size and income, I would have thought that it would be hard to keep your mother and sister away given how they feel about raising their status.”
“It would be true except…” Charles informed William about the way his mother and sisters had lied about their position in society and how they had been publicly exposed.“They claim that there is no one worth their notice, but the truth is that they are too embarrassed to go out in local society. Well, my mother is, at any rate. Caroline only sees that which fits what she chooses to believe, so she thinks that the‘savage nobodies’, as she calls them, would be privileged to be in her company.”
“Does she not know that, other than the local merchants who are actively engaged in trade, she is lower than all of the rest of the locals?” William asked in disbelief.
“As I said, Caroline only sees what she chooses to see,” Charles said as he stroked the white ball softly with his cue causing it to sink his target into the corner pocket and winning the game.
“That is game to you, Bingley,” William conceded. It was not often that his friend beat him at billiards or any of the other sports that they partook in, which made the victory all the sweeter for the victor.
That afternoon the two young men joined Mr Bingley as they rode over to the Long’s estate. It was a group of men and young men that gathered at Longmeadow for a female-free evening as the ladies were congregating at Longbourn. William met Mr Edward Gardiner, who recognised the names when they were introduced. The Gardiners had arrived on the ninth day of April, just three days before Easter Sunday, and barely in time for Good Friday. As their first daughter, Lily, had been born towards the end of February and the doctors had recently opined that his beloved Maddie and new-born would be allowed to travel.
“You must be Mr George Darcy’s heir if you are a Darcy from Pemberley,” Mr Gardiner said.
“I am, sir. I understand that both my father and my uncle, the Earl of Matlock, are investors in your company,” William responded respectfully.
“Yes, we have been in business for a year or so,” Gardiner acknowledged. The two were joined by Gardiner’s brothers Bennet and Phillips. Not long after Sir William and his heir joined the group.
“What university does your family attend, Master Darcy,” Bennet asked always willing to talk about the Cambridge-Oxford rivalry when a Lucas was nearby.
“We have been Cambridge men for as long as it has been a university sir,” Darcy responded, seeing the sardonic grin that the man was throwing in the direction of the rotund knight and his son.
“None of you Oxford men,” Sir William asked hopefully.
“I am afraid not, Sir William,” Darcy said while Bennet smirked.
“Well, Oxford is a capital institution,” Sir William said, somewhat peevishly.
“It is, sir,” William acknowledged,“just not as good as Cambridge.” The last produced guffaws from all the men except for Sir William and his son.
“Lucas, you know how I enjoy ribbing you,” Bennet said, as he brought his mirth under good regulation.“I am sure that Oxford is a fine university,” he said to placate the normally loquacious knight.
There was something about the young man that Bennet liked; he seemed particularly intelligent. When he mentioned that he had a good collection of first editions, the young man from Derbyshire waxed eloquently about the library at Pemberley and the collection that had started with his ancestor who had come to England in support of William the Conqueror. He told Bennet that his father was a bibliophile and that he was sure that if Mr Bennet were ever in the area of Pemberley, that he would be welcome to come explore Pemberley’s library.
