Page 26 of Her Favourite Daughter

They were seated in the sitting room of the suite they shared, battling one another over a chess board.

“I would have enjoyed serving in the army if it were not for the fact that Rosings Park, Fitzwilliam House, and the fortune will be my property without any restrictions on my next birthday when I reach my majority,” Fitzwilliam mused. “I am not unaware of my good fortune, even if it came at the expense of Bethie being kidnapped.”

“Your good fortune did nothing to cause Lady Bethany’s fate. That was the evil of our late and former aunt and uncle. Thanks to your father and the late Duke of Leeds making the request of His Majesty, the estate and all of the de Bourgh holdings were given to you rather than going to the Crown. Either way, the late Mr and Mrs de Bourgh would have lost their property,” Conyers stated. “I for one, and I believe my parents, Giana, your parents, your brother, and sister all feel the same. It is a good thing given the clouds of war that the Corsican tyrant unleashed on the continent when he forced the king to declare war in May. The Treaty of Amiens[8] ended up being meaningless.”

“I agree with you. That is why I would have enjoyed the army. Going into battle against the French to give Boney a bloody nose would have been glorious. I have known since the end of 1791 that would not be my destiny,” Fitzwilliam acknowledged. He remembered something. “Could you believe how bold as brass the steward’s son was claiming that his late mother told him that Uncle Robert promised to send him to study for a gentleman’s education? Also, what was he thinking trying to pay attention to Giana? I am very pleased that your father sent him away with a flea in his ear. What a man of eighteen has to do around a girl of eight, I know not.”

“Father left George Wickham in no doubt about what would happen if he approached the area around the house, and especially Lady Georgiana. Mother detests Wicky. She has ever since the late Mrs Wickham attempted to manipulate Father into becoming Wicky’s godfather,” Conyers mused.

There was a knock on the sitting room door. Carstens, Conyers’s valet, opened the door and admitted a man who was in his first year at Cambridge. Charles Bingley, the son of a tradesman, was a man who the cousins had come to know at the university. He and Fitzwilliam had become friends first. It had taken Conyers a little longer to accept Bingley, as he was wary of one so far below him. His attitude was thanks to his experiences with Mrs Wickham and George Wickham. He ascribed their behaviour to all of those at those levels of society.

“Fitzwilliam and Darcy, I mean Conyers, why are you two hiding in your sitting room when it is time to go to one of the taverns and enjoy some liquid refreshment?” Charles Bingley enthused.

“You are free to go enjoy yourself with that rowdy crowd,” Conyers stated before his cousin said anything. “You know I prefer peace and quiet, and I do not like crowds of people, especially those with whom I am not familiar. If I require anything, we have some wine and brandy on the sideboard.”

“There is another reason for my call. I received a letter from my mother and she invites you two to be hosted with us in Scarborough for part of the summer,” Bingley revealed.

“I thank you, but no,” Conyers responded.

“Bingley, have you forgotten what happened when I invited you to Snowhaven for Easter?” Fitzwilliam reminded his friend. “The invitation was unambiguously for you only, yet you arrived with your mother and younger sister. At the time, did I not explain that it was unacceptable, and then I had to send you all away? If this pains you, I apologise in advance; however, since that time, as I told you then, I have no desire to meet your mother and younger sister, the screeches about a dowry of twenty thousand pounds notwithstanding.”

“That was badly done by my mother,” Bingley admitted as he hung his head. “I was unable to stand up to Mother even as Caroline advised against joining me, but my mother insisted and ordered my younger sister to do so. Caroline is fully aware that it is very gauche to speak about her dowry like that. The truth is she used to be under Mother’s influence, but as she matured she realised that Mother’s way was not good.” Bingley hung his head. “I should have resisted her attempt to join me. Since my father passed away, I have had a hard time in my role as the head of the family, as I have not reached my majority yet. I suppose I should lean on my Uncle John more. He is my late father’s younger brother, and a man of good sense.”

“In that case, we will reserve judgement regarding your younger sister, but I for one have no interest in being in your mother’s company,” Conyers said. “You are welcome at Conyers Run for part of the summer, but please remember the invitation is for you alone, especially as my parents will be at Pemberley and I will have no hostess at my estate. Before I forget, did you not say that your older sister is recently wed?”

“Yes, I did. She married a fellow by the name of Harold Hurst. His family owns an estate, Winsdale, in Surrey,” Bingley responded. “I thought he married Lulu for her dowry, but the truth is it is a love match. That was something else which made Caroline see that my mother’s advice was wrong. Mother had always preached marrying for standing and fortune. Instead, Caroline saw how happy our older sister is, and that is what she wants for herself.”

Conyers did not comment. As much as he wanted a love match like his parents, he believed he owed it to the Holderness Earldom to marry a titled lady with exceptional connections and an impressive fortune. After all, his father was the first Darcy in his line to hold the title so notwithstanding his parents not agreeing with him, Conyers had come to believe it would be his duty to strengthen the line with a noble bride.

“In that case, I will come to your estate in mid-July. That will allow me time in Scarborough to make sure all is running smoothly,” Bingley decided after he remembered the invitation Conyers had issued before he had asked about Lulu. “Fitzwilliam, will you be at your cousin’s estate as well?”

“Yes, you will find me at Conyers Run as I intend to enjoy my last carefree summer before Rosings Park becomes mine,” Fitzwilliam replied.

As much as he jested about it, Fitzwilliam was aware of everything happening at his estate. Any time Father or Uncle Robert called at Rosings Park, if he was not at school, Fitzwilliam joined them in their inspections of the estate and the discussions with Kingston, the steward. Since he had begun his studies at Eton, most summers were passed in Kent. That way he could learn how to manage his estate.

Fitzwilliam House on Berkeley Square was leased out until he began to think seriously about finding a wife, which would not be for another five to ten years. There was a rather significant fortune, most of which Father and Uncle Robert had put under the management of a man, Edward Gardiner, with an excellent record in investing.

At least not being a relatively poor second son, when he did begin to seek a wife, he would not have to consider her wealth or lack thereof.

Chapter 10

1807

When Fanny had asked her husband if they should tell Lizzy the truth of her birth when she turned twelve, Bennet had suggested that instead they wait until she was sixteen. He could not tell Fanny that it was because he had a niggling suspicion, one he was doing everything he could to ignore, that Lizzy was the one mentioned in the papers in 1799.

Because of that decision, Elizabeth sat frozen in place in Papa’s study the day after she had turned sixteen. What she had just been told by Mamma, Papa, Grandmama Beth, and Aunt Penelope could not be true, could it?

She had not been born to Mamma; rather, her mother had found her as a little babe in the woods near the town of Gainsborough, in the county of Lincolnshire. Who was she? Why had she been alone in the woods and not with the mother and father who bore her? The questions galloped through her head like Jupiter, her mare, did when she was given her head. Elizabeth had received her on her fourteenth birthday.

“Why are you telling me this now? Am I to be cast out?” Elizabeth demanded, her question driven by the hurt of discovering she was not a Bennet.

“NO!” Was chorused by all four adults.

Fanny approached her second daughter and threw her arms around her. “Lizzy, that is the farthest thing from the reality. We decided to tell you when you reached this age so you would know the truth of how you came to us.” She paused and looked Lizzy in the eyes. “You remember everything, do you not?”

“I do,” Elizabeth responded.

“Your father, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and I have known since we all first met you. Have you ever been treated as less than your sisters and brother?” Fanny challenged.