Page 82 of Her Favourite Daughter

With all the shopping completed, and very tired of all those trying to gain an invitation to the wedding, the extended family returned to Hertfordshire. They would remain in residence there until ten days before the wedding. It was not only the betrothed couple who needed to be away from London society for their own peace of mind. None of the members of the family were immune from those importuning them to exert their influence to gain them access to the wedding and breakfast; hence, everyone was pleased to be away from Town.

The Ronsons were in possession of the information of what Ladies Amelia and Fanny wanted done in their absence to prepare for the celebration, and any questions would be resolved by courier.

It had been suggested to Conyers that for propriety’s sake he should reside at Netherfield Park. That was overruled by both members of the engaged couple, who said that the less than one mile between Longbourn’s dower house and the mansion were more than adequate to satisfy propriety.

Each morning, with John and Brian as escorts, Bethany would ride out towards the dower house on Jupiter. There, William would be waiting for her atop Zeus, and they would go galloping across the fields. More often than not, they would ride up to the summit of Oakham Mount. Once dismounted, John and Brian would care for their horses as the couple took seats on the flattened boulder to watch the sunrise.

They revelled in their closeness and invariably had the fingers of the hands closest to one another interlaced as they sat and spoke of whatever topic they chose. The fact that both wore gloves did not lessen the pleasure either took in the intimacy of their connection. Given that their backs were to the huge guards, the two men—as far as the affianced couple was aware—did not know they were pushing the bounds of propriety in that fashion. Neither of them could wait for the day they were married and would not need to worry about displaying the intimacies between them.

After watching the sunrise, they would ride to Longbourn’s manor house, and Conyers would remain there for the rest of the day, only departing for the dower house well after dinner each night.

On the final Saturday at Longbourn before the journey to London on Tuesday upcoming, as was her wont, Bethany walked William out to the drive where a groom was holding Zeus for him. One of John’s and Brian’s men was standing just outside the front door.

“Bethie, my dearest, loveliest Bethie, you realise that Monday will be the final day we can meet in the early morning before we depart Longbourn, do you not?” Conyers verified. “As the day after the morrow is the Sabbath, and on Tuesday we depart at daybreak, we will not have another chance for one of our morning rides here. However, I hope that we will be able to ride out in London in the mornings when you are not required for some wedding-related activities.”

“Yes, William, my love, I am aware that Monday will be our final ride from Longbourn before we are married. I do not repine that because I cannot wait to be your wife,” Bethany responded. “And yes, unless the weather interferes, you and I will watch the sunrise from Oakham Mount in the morning on Monday. Also, in London, when I am not required for final fittings or other such pursuits, I too hope we will ride out together. I would like to ride in Marylebone Park[16] as Mother told me that it is far less used than Hyde Park. Since it became known that my family and I like to ride early, that park has become much more crowded. I had hoped that the announcement of our betrothal would have stopped the dandies and peacocks from trying to impress me with their preening. I assume that until we are married, there will still be one or two who might think he would be the one to turn my head from you.”

“I would call out anyone who attempts such,” Conyers growled.

Bethany kissed her affianced’s as yet ungloved hands. “We had better part before the guard helps you onto Zeus,” she teased.

After kissing her hands in return, Conyers mounted his horse. As he rode away, his head was turned towards his lady love until he could no longer see her. He consoled himself that he would see her on the morrow, and they would sit next to one another in the Bennet pew at St Hugh’s Church to hear Sir William Collins’s sermon.

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

On Monday morning, Bethany galloped atop Jupiter with William on Zeus next to her, matching her speed. She relished this ride more than most for the simple reason that it would be the last time she could ride astride until after their wedding trip. She would ride in London; however, it would be on the hated side-saddle. Then after the wedding, Jupiter and Zeus would make a slow journey to Hornby Castle, where she and William would be after their wedding trip. None of their sisters would accompany them on the wedding trip, as was done sometimes; however, John, Brian, and some of their men would be with them to ensure their safety.

Hence, Bethie would enjoy this ride as much as possible. She felt at peace as she listened to the thundering hooves of Jupiter and Zeus while the wind whipped past her ears. As much as she felt she was alone with William, she was not. John and Brian were a few lengths behind them, ever vigilant.

After a longer gallop than normal, they reached the base of Oakham Mount with time to spare before the sun broke above the horizon. Brian rode up ahead of them while John would remain at the base of the hill. Bethany and William followed the huge man riding his gelding up the hill. As expected, there was no one else on the summit.

Conyers vaulted off Zeus and handed his reins to Johns. Next, he helped Bethie to dismount, even though he was fully aware that she needed no assistance when riding astride; however, both of them enjoyed the close contact it allowed them when he helped her down or to remount.

Once Bethany handed her reins to Brian, she gladly accepted William’s proffered arm as they walked to the boulder where they always sat.

The loving couple had barely made themselves comfortable when the sun made itself known. Its warming rays touched everything before it, nourishing the growing crops that had been sown four to six weeks previously. Except for the fields which were being left fallow, the fields below looked like a patchwork quilt of various shades of green. In between were areas without crops where sheep and cattle were grazing. As would be expected at this time of the year, ewes and cows were fussing around their lambs and calves which had been born in the early spring.

As they always did, the engaged couple sat, the fingers of the hands nearest to one another intertwined. The gloves had been pulled off their hands when they sat. The gloves lay next to them on the boulder. Both of them savoured being able to have their hands touch with no fabric between them.

“Are you as keen for us to be married as I am?” Bethany enquired.

“More than you will ever know,” Conyers responded. “Bethie, when did you know you were in love with me, which convinced you to want to marry before your majority?”

“I told you that when I proposed to you. Sorry, William, sometimes I forget that not everyone has my memory,” Bethany stated contritely.

“You have nothing for which to apologise,” Conyers assured his beloved.

“I did not recognise it then, or perhaps I was just not willing to admit it to myself, but I believe I was already in love with you when, or soon after, I asked you to defer your declaration. I certainly knew I had erred within months of asking you to wait. I fought against my own inclinations because I was cognisant there was still much I needed to learn about my role and everything that goes with it. So as much as I wished I had not stopped you, I knew I needed to keep my own desires at bay a little longer. It was not long before I proposed to you that I saw that if I desired a marriage of equal partners, then I needed to allow you to assist me in carrying the burden of my duties. Especially after speaking to Mother and Mamma, I owned how much easier my time would have been with the man I loved by my side.”

“Bethie, I was in love with you before you turned seventeen, although I was fully cognisant that I could not do anything about it until after your coming out. From the debates and our other interactions, I was relatively certain that you felt tenderly about me. I knew I would not know for certain until I made a declaration.”

Bethany squeezed William’s hand while conveying the love she felt for him from her eyes to his. “I have a question which may be premature given that we have not been married yet, but I feel this is something we must canvass.” She saw William extend his other hand, palm up telling her to continue. “Are you sanguine that our first-born son will be the heir to the Leeds Dukedom and not be part of the Holderness line?”

“I do understand that is how it will be, and yes, I am sanguine with it. If we only have daughters, then the Leeds line will continue, but after me, the Holderness line will end. Father and I discussed this after we became engaged, and he made some enquiries. What he discovered regarding a son or sons was that, as you said, the firstborn will be the next Duke of Leeds, who will be an Osborne, and the next son, if we are so blessed, will be the future Earl of Holderness.

“However, if we only have one son, then he will hold both titles, and he will bear the Osborne and Darcy names. If our hypothetical son has two sons, then the first one would be Marquess of Carmarthen until he becomes the duke. The second son would be the Earl of Holderness. I tell you this, Bethie, so you will know that I will have no regrets regardless of how many children we do or do not have.”

“It pleases me greatly that this is not an issue between us. It is good that we discussed it prior to marrying.” Bethany paused and looked deeply into his eyes. “William, I love you so very much.”