“Can I assume that you will want to visit Pemberley when you visit Snowhaven?” Darcy smirked at Andrew when all Bennet could do was nod.
As all good things do, the evening came to an end with plans to meet at Gardiner House on the morrow, when an announcement for the Times would be drafted and the long-awaited face-to-face chess game played.
Jane had no qualms about her and Perry’s announcement being overshadowed when the paper was read by one and all. One, she preferred to share her joy with those she loved, and for the news that one of her greatest prayers had been answered, that their Lizzy had been found? That was worth all the overshadowing in the known world.
Before they departed, Bennet approached his second daughter.“Lizzy, I did not want to overwhelm you, but would you allow me to hug you for the first time in over fifteen years?” he requested with moisture in his eyes. Elizabeth simply nodded and walked forward into her birth father’s embrace. It just felt right to both of them and for Bennet, it was the fulfilment of a wish that he never thought would be granted in his lifetime.
Chapter2
After the younger children were in their beds for the night, the adults and the older children sat in the family sitting room at Gardiner House still trying to assimilate everything that had transpired on this most momentous of days.
Looking at her oldest daughter with concern, Tammy said,“Jane, I am sorry that so much attention was taken from yours and Perry’s news.”
“I was thinking about that at Matlock House whenLizzyrequested we make the announcement, Mama, and I have no regrets. Today was a miracle. When I saw how Papa was staring at that portrait, I knew, and when Lizzy entered the room wearing Grandmother Beth’s cross, all doubts I had were swept away. I would have my news overshadowed today with us being reunited with my sister no matter the day,” Jane exhaled slowly to keep her emotions in check, as the joy and heartbreak of so many missed chances could be overwhelming if considered closely.
“Father, now that you have found Lizzy, how come she will not live with us?” James asked carefully.
“That is a good question, son,” Bennet nodded. His thoughtful and studious son always had the most carefully considered questions which, as this one did, had many levels to both it and the answer.“Let me explain it thusly, James. Imagine, son, that tomorrow you met a man or woman who said they were your birth parent. How would you feel at the prospect of leaving the only family that you knew, that loved you, that you came to by no fault of your own or theirs?”
James contemplated his father’s hypothetical question.“I would feel like someone was trying to rend me from the only family that I knew and loved, I suppose,” James replied slowly, as the longer he considered it, the more he internally rebelled at the thought.
“This is the exact reason that I can never demand that Lizzy come live with us. She has a family, one that by the grace of God rescued her after the demented woman’s paramour discarded her in the forest. He did not kill her as he was asked to do, but if Lizzy’s brothers had not discovered and rescued her, he would have killed her, even if not by his own hand,” Bennet explained.“As I said, I could never cause Lizzy the trauma of being torn from the family that loves her. Instead, I suggest we consider it a blessing that they told her she was found and not their natural child and loved her the more for it, so today was not rife with anguish and sorrow while we would naturally feel such happiness as we never thought to have.”
“I am beginning to see that it is not as easy as I had hoped, Father,” James nodded slowly.“I think I will thank the family of our sister when I get the opportunity. You are right, today could have been much harder.”
“It amazed me that Lizzy remembered my name,” John offered to the conversation,“I hardly remembered her at all.”
“That is expected, John, as you are but three months older than Lizzy,” his mother told him.
“We are considered cousins of hers, correct Mother?” William asked.
“For now, at least.” Bennet nodded in agreement with his wife.“At some point in the future,ifall are in agreement, then the true relationship will be revealed.”
“We need to send an express to Frank and Hattie,” Gardiner turned to the business of matters of the closest concern.“Hattie always felt guilty that she could not do something about her sister. She, in particular, will be overjoyed to know, then eventually see for herself, that Lizzy is well and happy.”
“I will write the express if you are willing to send one of your couriers at first light,” Bennet agreed, and Gardiner nodded as it was too late to send one that evening. He had no doubt that Bennet intended to write the missive before he went to bed so that the courier could depart in the morning with no delay.
“Do you remember when we met Lizzy about ten years distant at the warehouse, Aunt Maddie?” Jane asked.
“My goodness, yes, I do remember now. You said that you felt you knew her, and we dismissed it as impossible!” Maddie stared at Jane in all wonder one would have when such seemingly impossible things are proven.
“We came close to her several times over the years,” Bennet sighed with longing for the time lost with his daughter.“I have been playing chess with, and of late being routinely beaten by, my daughter for nigh on two years without knowing it! I do not believe that was a coincidence; somehow we were fated to meet again, and serendipity brought us all together in one place today.”
“Thomas, you do know what this means, do you not?” Tammy asked with a smile.
“What is that my love?” Bennet could not fathom what she was hinting at.
“Your days of eschewing the Town are well and truly over!” Tammy laughed at the look of horror on her husband’s face.
“Your wife has the right of it, brother. Do you not think that the time has come for you to look at acquiring a townhouse?” Gardiner pointed out.
“You know Papa, if you are interested in purchasing one, Perry mentioned that his mother was thinking of selling the townhouse on Grosvenor square she inherited from her mother as she has not used it in some years, and it just sits empty with a skeleton staff. It is but three houses away from Matlock House,” Jane revealed to her family.
“Please ask your betrothed, Jane,” Bennet sighed with resignation.“If it is for sale, may we view the house at his convenience?”
“That will be my pleasure, Papa,” Jane kissed her father’s cheek as she headed to her chamber to dream about the man that she loved.
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