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“There are rumblings around town, centred on your friendship with the Duke.”
He lowered his head.
“I will not dignify them by repeating them here but you can imagine what is being speculated.”
“Even although I am staying at the house of his cousin?”
“Jealousy Miss Elizabeth.”
The first deep sigh of the morning.
“Anything else?”
Robert looked sheepish.
“I miss the children.”
Claire and Elizabeth failed to stifle a giggle. It was such an unexpected comment from the imposing man beside them.
“That was unexpected!”
“I know. But at Gracechurch Street there was a liveliness to the house. There were three children and although they were well-behaved there was still an energy to the house. You were always on the go, we had the daily trip down to the offices, notes to be delivered, but at the heart of it there was a bustle to our lives. When I explain it, I guess I am using the children as a way to explain our former daily routine.”
“It is an astute observation Robert. It all circles back to my own doubts about my life going forward, my place in this society. I have allowed Lady Maria to guide me this season but truthfully it is a way to pass the time until my majority. Come the summer I will be 21 years of age but still confused as to what lies ahead.”
They walked back to Lady Maria’s house in silence.
--
“I have an idea, which has grown in scope and scale the more I have thought about it.”
As an opening line, it captured the attention of Elizabeth’s uncle. Two hours later Elizabeth bent and gently hugged her uncle.
“You will send me a note when you have spoken to the appropriate General?”
“I will write a note requesting the meeting this very morning. Once I have his agreement then you may approach Mr. Angelo. And I will provide half the brandy. No Elizabeth, do not argue. It will be my name that is attached to this and it is the least I can do.”
It was just two days later that Elizabeth received the note from her uncle. She was surprised at how soon he had been able to meet with the General. Having a title clearly opened doors. Angelo’s School of Arms was known for admitting women and she was able to meet with the owner the next day. He was excited at the idea and stood ready to assist as soon as he was needed.
Elizabeth had a smile for the rest of the week, although she refused to be drawn on the matter when questioned by Lady Maria.
--
Lady Maria Leonard was feeling trapped. The Countess of Matlock, her friend Lady Susan Fitzwilliam, had arrived the previous day and surprised her. Lady Maria had been a fixture of the ton for 30 years and she knew the code. The words were not explicitly said but Lady Susan made it known that she and the Earl found Miss Bennet to be a suitable match for their second son. Normally this would be excellent news, but she had seen and heard the Colonel unwittingly patronise Miss Bennet. She was almost certain this was an action from which there was no coming back.
Elizabeth Bennet had mellowed and changed since arriving to stay with her. Then there had been an unforgiving anger to her, a dismissiveness of those who upset or annoyed her. After many weeks of talking every day she had seen the change in Elizabeth. What triggered it was Elizabeth’s ever clearer assumption that she would not marry. It was the source of her charm, a carefree attitude to society. Lady Maria saw it most clearly with her own cousin. The young Duke was probably the most eligible bachelor in the country, yet Elizabeth seemed unaffected by that status. She was polite and not overly familiar with him, yet treated him as merely a gentleman. He in turn saw she did not have him on a pedestal and so he too could relax his guard.
Where Elizabeth had changed was in dealing with the inevitable dismissal of the worth of a woman, other than as a mother and society wife. Her cousin had been clear in his agreement with this orthodoxy yet Elizabeth had not made a fuss, either consciously or subconsciously. Lady Maria saw Elizabeth start to develop putative friendships with gentlemen rather than instantly dismiss them. She had been rather blunt herself in asking Elizabeth if she was only maintaining the relationship due to the status of the gentleman.
“It is an interesting point. I would hope that it is my continued maturing but there may be some truth in what you ask. I will not know for sure until I am back living with my uncle.”
Lady Maria still had hope that such an occasion would not come to pass. Which just brought her back to her friend and the Colonel, and how to deal with the situation. They had been friends for too long, she would have to have the awkward conversation.
“Thank you for allowing me to visit, and on such short notice. I have a difficult conversation to have with you.”
She talked Lady Susan through what had occurred at the ball between Miss Bennet and the Colonel, but also imparted the crucial information regarding her wanting respect, rather than being patronised.
“You mean to tell me that she would refuse the offer of courtship from Richard over this?”
