“And here I was thinking you were a proper lady, squirt,” he teased her right back which earned him a playful slap on the should before she wrapped her arms around her brother and kissed his cheek.
“Are you joining us tonight at the Gardiners for dinner, squirt?” Richard asked.
“I would have, as I would have met Mr Bennet earlier than planned, but I am leaving this afternoon for Jersey House. I will be there for a few days with Gigi, Amy, and Retta. We are going to work on Aunt Sarah to see if she will allow Retta to come out a few months early and I will delay mine some so we can share the experience and a coming out ball,” Elizbeth explained.
“You just want to see Wes, I would wager,” Richard ribbed his sister who blushed and slapped him again, this time not too playfully and reminiscent to her days as a little girl she stuck her tongue out at her brother.
“Now Lizzy,” her mother smiled,“What has Itch done to earn such behaviour from a young lady of approaching sixteen?”
“He was teasing me,” Elizabeth said petulantly. It was easy to forget that even with her intelligence, playing and singing like a professional, Elizabeth was still a young lady of fifteen. The fact that she had fully developed womanly curves made it easy to forget how young she was.
“Go make yourself ready; has de Chambé packed your trunks yet?” Elizabeth nodded.“Good, Aunt Anne and Georgie will be here in a matter of minutes.” As soon as her mother was not looking, Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at Richard again before she went to get her outerwear leaving her brother guffawing and her mother looking on in question.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Tammy and Thomas Bennet were very pleasantly surprised on meeting the Earl and Countess of Matlock at the dinner at Gardiner House; they were down to earth and did not think too highly of themselves. In Bennet’s opinion, it boded well for his upcoming meeting with the elusive Lady Elizabeth. The Dowager Countess delivered her daughter’s regrets due to plans that had been made before arriving in London. They especially liked the Earl’s younger brother, Richard Fitzwilliam of the Royal Dragoons, who had a good sense of humour and was not afraid to display it.
The four Fitzwilliams found the Bennets very gentile and affable, and those who had not met her were taken aback at the beauty that was Miss Jane Bennet. She was talking to Perry and Marie’s mother, the Dowager Duchess, while Perry was staring at her in a besotted fashion while he sat with his sister and brothers-in-law, not hearing a word that they said. Richard would have pulled Perry’s leg if he thought that it would have been noticed.
“Once Perry is seen to dance with you at your ball, there will be many jealous ladies and their mothers and fathers. Perry has been a much sought-after match since his entrance into society, and that only increased after he ascended to the dukedom. There will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he is seriously interested in you, Miss Bennet, as he rarely dances, and when he does it is never a significant set or more than once with any lady or the same lady at consecutive events,” Lady Rose informed the young lady who she was certain would be her daughter-in-law if her besotted son had any say in the matter.
“Then I count myself very honoured, your Grace; I would not normally grant more than one dance in Town, as has been my practice since starting to attend local assemblies in Meryton since I was sixteen,” Jane replied.
“Please call me Lady Rose, Miss Bennet, I think we can dispense with my formal title,” the dowager allowed.
“In that case, Lady Rose, please call me Jane,” she replied.
It was not long before Jane and Marie were on an informal basis. Before departing Marie invited Maddie Gardiner, Tammy, Jane Bennet, and her mother to tea the following day. All accepted with pleasure.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
Jane and her mother, who had been at the modiste earlier in the day, were the first to arrive for tea. They were shown into drawing room to wait for Marie, who they were told would be there shortly as she was meeting with her housekeeper. Jane admired the portrait of the Fitzwilliams that had been painted some months before the late Earl had been murdered. She felt a chill as she examined it, especially the dark-haired girl that she assumed was Lady Elizabeth based on her one meeting those many years ago.
“Mama,” Jane called in a shaky voice,“Please come here; I need you to look at something.” Tammy joined her daughter, somewhat concerned.“Look at Lady Elizabeth, who does she remind you of?” Tammy looked for a while and then she recalled the portrait of her late mother-in-law hanging in the gallery at Longbourn in her mind’s eye.
“She does look somewhat like your late Grandma Beth, but that could be a trick of the light or just that she seems to have the same colour hair and a similar height. Besides, we have never heard of Lady Elizabeth being anything but the Dowager Countess’s natural daughter,” Tammy opined. Jane allowed that it was so, and they sat on a settee away from the portrait.
When Marie and Elaine joined them, they had no idea of the interest the likeness of Lizzy had attracted in their guests. Not long after Aunt Maddie and Lady Rose arrived. Lady Anne Darcy, who the Bennet ladies had not met before but heard much about from the Bingleys, arrived last. Disposed to like her already, they discovered that Aunt Maddie had grown up a few miles from the Darcy Estate, and she and Lady Anne remembered one another from Lambton.
Once that was discovered, it was the chief subject of discussion as the two shared memories of the area until they realised that the rest of the company was being left out. The two apologised, and then the ladies implored Lady Rose to tell them stories of her son’s childhood, an endeavour she was happy to indulge in without sharing too much of an embarrassing nature.
At one point Jane mentioned her two sisters, and when Lady Rose said that she thought that there was only one younger sister, Jane excused what she said as a slip of the tongue. Both Marie and Anne noted that Mrs Gardiner and Bennet shared a look that told them there was something that was not being said, but they did not feel it was their place to pry if the ladies chose not to share what had caused the look of pain that they had observed.
Soon the tea, cake, and pastries were served, and talk turned to the upcoming coming out ball. An offer to help with anything that Maddie Gardiner or Tammy Bennet needed assistance with was extended from the four titled ladies, and it was not hard to see that it was a sincere offer, not just something that they thought they should say.
“Everything is well in hand,” Maddie responded,“but I thank all of you and I promise that should I need any assistance, I will send a note around.” After a very convivial two hours, the visiting ladies departed for their own homes. As they had come separately from Maddie Gardiner, Tammy and Jane Bennet rode back to Portman Square in one of the Bennet carriages.
“Jane, my sweet daughter, I suggest that you do not mention your suspicions to your father regarding Lady Elizabeth. I know he has had questions before and after Lizzy being gone almost fifteen years, I would hate to see his hopes raised only to have them dashed again,” she held her daughter’s hands as she spoke.
“I know, Mama, I will say nothing to Papa; after all he will finally meet her after my ball,” Jane agreed.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
The girls who had stayed at Jersey House practiced pianoforte and harp pieces that they would play together at an upcoming dinner at Darcy House for the family, the De Melvilles, and the Ashbys. Lizzy would sing a solo and accompany herself on the pianoforte. She had a performance before the Queen at Buckingham House in two days. Queen Charlotte had invited Elaine, Anne de Bourgh, Anne Darcy, and Marie to tea that day, the latter being a cousin of hers. The monarch was especially pleased that Lady Elaine Fitzwilliam had returned to society and wanted to convey her sympathies in person.
As usual, the four friends provided a flawless performance the night of the dinner the highlight being Elizabeth’s song, sung in perfect Italian while she played. Once they had returned to Matlock House, Elizabeth laughed at the fact that another opportunity to meet Mr Bennet had been wasted. An invitation had been extended to the Gardiners and their guests by Lady Anne to join them for the dinner at Darcy House; however, Mr Bennet’s two eldest sons had arrived from school that day for an extended break. The older one was at the school of divinity at Cambridge and his younger brother was at Eton. It had been more than two months since the sons had been seen by their family, so a sumptuous welcome home family dinner had been planned in advance of their arrival at Gardiner House.
~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~
