Page 33 of Her Favourite Daughter

“You know Amelia. She hates to make assumptions,” Lady Elaine opined. “Will you write the reply or should I?” She picked up the letter and turned it over. “No wonder it took so long; she posted it rather than sending a courier.”

“I will scribe the invitation and make sure she knows that she never has to ask again. She is always welcome at any of your or our homes,” Lady Anne said.

Within an hour, a Darcy courier was on his way. He would reach Hornby Castle at the latest on Saturday, so he would have the Sabbath to rest before making his way to Pemberley.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

“Lizzy, you may be a duchess!” Kitty exclaimed. The five Bennet siblings were in James’s room to speak about the day’s revelations.

The Bingleys and Hursts had returned to Netherfield Park. Cousin William had joined them to spend more time with his betrothed. Cousin Clem’s letter was with an express rider, and he and Cousin Ophelia were with Mamma, Papa, Grandmama Beth, and Aunt Penelope. Once the guests departed, the Bennet siblings wanted to discuss all they had learnt.

“Even if I am, I will still be the Lizzy you know and love,” Elizabeth insisted. “As I said earlier, there is nothing anyone could ever do to break the bonds of family between us.”

“That is no less than I would expect from my much younger sister,” James teased.

“You are barely eight months older than me,” Elizabeth shot back, and in a display of her ladylike qualities, she stuck her tongue out at her brother.

“Now that is not very duchess-like,” James shot back.

“That is enough, you two,” Jane commanded. “Not everything needs to be a competition.” She looked at both with an arched eyebrow, daring them to gainsay her. “That is better. I agree with Lizzy; we will always be siblings regardless of whose blood flows in our veins. Besides, until it is confirmed, we do not know if Lizzy is this Lady Bethany Osborne.”

“Mary, you have been very quiet,” James observed.

“Jane, it is almost sure,” Mary opined evenly. “If Lizzy is not Lady Bethany, I will eat all of my bonnets. There are far too many coincidences, and I do not for one moment think they are that. What is going to happen is going to happen, and our sitting about speaking of the possibilities will not change it.”

“I believe Mary has the right of it,” James agreed. “If you are a duchess, perhaps one day you can throw me in the path of rich ladies,” he jested.

“And why would I want to subject any of them to you?” Elizabeth teased right back. “You know how much I envy you, do you not, James?” Seeing her brother’s sceptical look, Elizabeth elucidated. “In a little more than two months, you will begin your studies at Cambridge. No matter how intelligent I am supposed to be, I will never be allowed to attend the school all because I am a member of the supposed weaker sex.”

When James had begun his time at Eton, Elizabeth had demanded that she should go as well. Her logic was simple. She and James had been taught by Father and other masters, always together, so why could she not attend school with him? It had taken much explanation from her parents before Elizabeth accepted the truth. James opined that the masters and other students at Eton would not admit Lizzy because they knew she would be a better student than all of them. For a while, the explanation had placated her, and the demands to join James had ceased without too much pouting.

As he looked at the sad look on Lizzy’s face at being denied another level of education, James could not but feel sympathy for his sister. To have the gifts and intelligence she had, only to be denied the chance to broaden her horizons, must have been galling for Lizzy.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

In the drawing room, the four Bennet adults were trying to come to terms with the new reality regarding Lizzy’s birth and who her parents were.

Fanny was feeling deep guilt that she had drawn the conclusions she had, which resulted in them leaving the area without a word about the discovered babe. She kept asking herself how she would have felt had someone found one of her children and kept her or him for so many years without saying a word.

Bennet was feeling far more guilt than his wife. He had agreed with Fanny’s interpretation of the fragment of the disgusting note she found on the dead man because he knew that Fanny had been overjoyed at discovering the girl. She insisted that the babe was a gift from God, and he had accepted Fanny’s surmise about who wanted to harm Lizzy without challenging her conclusions.

That culpability was nothing to what he felt regarding his choice when he had suspected who Lizzy was in February 1799. For eight years, he had ignored his conscience and selfishly extended a mother’s pain. If Lizzy were Lady Bethany Osborne, he would need to throw himself at the Dowager Duchess’s feet and beg her forgiveness. He did not want to imagine Longbourn or their family without Lizzy. All depended on the response to the missive Collins had sent.

~~~~~~~/~~~~~~~

In the morning of the second day of July, an express rider arrived at Seaview House. He handed the epistle to the butler and received his coin. He was told to make his way to the back of the house, where he would be given food and drink and a chance to rest his mount.

The butler carried his salver into the dining parlour, where the residents were breaking their fast. He proffered the tray to Lord Matlock and then withdrew.

Matlock was not expecting anything by express, so he looked at the direction. “It is from Collins, the rector of the Hunsford church. It was written at his cousin’s estate in Hertfordshire.”

“I am his patron now. Should he not address parish concerns to me?” Fitzwilliam closed his mouth. “Did you say from Hertfordshire?”

“Are you so addled that you forgot Mr Collins and his family are with the relations they pass some of each summer with?” Hilldale ribbed. He turned to his sire. “Why would Mr Collins write to you here?”

“I suppose if you give your father some time to read the epistle, he will be able to answer that question,” Lady Elaine opined.

“Anne, Holderness, if you would prefer, I will wait until after the meal to read the missive,” Matlock offered. He saw two shaken heads. He broke the unknown seal with a raised ‘B’ surrounded by some ivy leaves. He began to read. As he did, the shock of the words made his face lose some of its colour.