Ignoring Charles, Caroline stood and walked about the room. “After your marriage, our connections would rise very high indeed.”
He returned to his papers as his sister left the room.
++**++
In the dining room that evening, Mr. and Mrs. Hurst greeted Caroline and her guest.
“Mrs. Hurst, thank you for your kind welcome to Hertfordshire,” said Mrs. Myers. “All of London is flutter with talk of mysterious visitors in this county.”
“Mysterious visitors?” inquired Louisa.
“Ah, Caroline, you have returned at last,” Mr. Hurst said to divert the conversation from guests and visitors.
“Did Charles share his good news with you, Mr. Hurst?” Caroline asked.
“What news is that?”
“That Charles is engaged to the sister of a countess!”
Mr. Hurst glanced at his wife before he asked, “He did. And did Charles mention any more details to you?”
“It does not matter!” Caroline exclaimed. “Once our brother has a countess as a sister, all of London will welcome me! All doors will open for me for parties and balls!”
“Shall we go into supper?” Mr. Hurst asked.
“Should we not wait on Mr. Bingley?” asked Mrs. Myers.
Mr. Hurst answered the visitor. “Mr. Bingley has gone to Longbourn for supper.” He glanced at his wife who rolled her eyes.
“Why has Charles gone to Longbourn?” Caroline asked.
“What is Longbourn?” Mrs. Myers asked as they moved from the parlour to the dining room.
Caroline frowned but hid her unhappiness from her friend. “It is a neighbouring estate but the family is very provincial – not worth knowing.”
Louisa directed everyone to their seats and signalled the butler to serve the supper. “We only have one course this evening,” she reminded her guests.
++**++
Chapter 49.
In Which Miss Bingley Learns What She Missed
The next morning, Caroline Bingley rose earlier than usual – she was determined to speak with Charles and discover the family he expected to marry into. Glancing at a mirror in the hallway, she smiled at her escape from the ball and horrible company that had visited Netherfield earlier in the week.
“I wonder how Charles and Louisa enjoyed meeting the Bennet relatives,” she thought smugly. “No doubt they arrived in wagons filled with London merchants and farmers from Wiltshire! And Mr. Darcy; how did he stand it? I shall remind him how unsuitable the Bennet family is.”
She assumed the rest of the household would sleep late but was surprised to find her brother, sister and brother-in-law breaking their fast amid animated conversation. They stopped immediately when Caroline entered the room; she glided to the sideboard to fill a plate while behind her, Charles and Louisa exchanged glances as Geoffrey Hurst cleared his throat.
“Your guest has already left this morning, Caroline. Would you care to hear more about our week?” Mr. Hurst asked as his sister-in-law turned and carried her plate to the table.
“Did you have an interesting week with the Bennet family swarming over Netherfield?” Caroline asked as the footman held her chair. “I cannot imagine anything less interesting than the past week at Netherfield, Mr. Hurst.”
“The ball was splendid and our guests were interesting,” Charles said. “I believe you would have been as diverted as Mr. Darcy.”
“As I reminded you yesterday, I did not feel up to dealing with a gaggle of Bennet sisters and Mrs. Hamilton’s other relatives.”
“But Caroline…” Mr. Hurst began to add another comment when she interrupted him.
“Stop! I am sick of the Bennet family and Hertfordshire! I shall return to London today if you make one more insipient comment!”
“Return to London, Caroline?” Charles asked. “The season is over and does not begin again until February. I shall remain in the country for Christmas.”
“Charles, can we not return to London?”
Louisa sat down her tea cup and looked toward her sister but Caroline anticipated the coming comment. “Do not tell me who attended the ball, Louisa. I have no interest in farmers from Wiltshire or merchants from town.”
“Caroline, I insist that you allow Louisa to tell you of the guests who attended the ball,” Charles said forcefully. “Her triumph as a hostess will be discussed in many London houses next season.”
Sighing deeply, Caroline turned her attention to the plate before her, pretending to ignore her brother and sister.
Louisa spoke quietly but calmly, “We were surprised that Mrs. Hamilton’s father-in-law attended the ball. He came to Longbourn to visit with his daughter-in-law and grandson, and Mr. and Mrs. Bennet insisted that he come.”
“So, Mrs. Hamilton’s father-in-law does exist,” Caroline sniffed. “I am certain he smelled like a farmer from Wiltshire.”
Smiling at his brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst asked, “Charles, would you say the Earl of Rutherford smelled like a farmer?”
Charles shook his head as Caroline’s head slowly rose to stare at her siblings. “No, His Lordship was very finely dressed and I believe Viscount Lyndon’s coat and Lady Gwendolyn’s gown were the latest fashion from London.”
“And I particularly remember Lady Gwendolyn mentioning that Mrs. Hamilton and Miss Bennet attended their wedding in August,” Mr. Hurst said.
Caroline sputtered, “Do you mean Lady Gwendolyn Howell? I do not believe it. How could Jane Bennet attend the Howell wedding? What was Lady Gwendolyn doing in Meryton?”
Charles explained, “Lady Rutherford came with her husband to visit Mrs. Hamilton and young Matthew. Miss Bennet attended the wedding and the ball before the wedding as the guest of her sister, the Countess of Bailey.”
“Who is the Countess of Bailey?” Caroline demanded to know.
Louisa explained. “Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton is the Countess of Bailey. When she travelled to London this past August for her brother-in-law’s wedding, she took her sister Jane with her.”
“This is a horrible dream!” Caroline insisted, her hands alternating between holding her head and her stomach while trying to hold her upright in her chair. “It isn’t true!”
“But it is true,” Charles insisted.
Louisa smiled and added, “Lady Gwendolyn said she became friends with Miss Bennet immediately upon her arrival at the ball.”
Charles frowned, “I was not pleased to hear that the Prince Regent asked Miss Bennet to dance.”
“Jane Bennet danced with the Prince Regent!” squealed Caroline.
“Yes, the prince noticed her and asked her to dance.” Charles stared at Caroline now and added, “If she is chosen by the Prince Regent to dance and if her nephew is the Earl of Bailey, I imagine no one in my family will have objections to Miss Bennet’s connections or suitability to be my bride.”
Ignoring the comment Charles made, Caroline’s trembling hand attempted to reach for her cup of tea. “I do not believe any of this. You are inventing a story to excite my brain.”
“It is unfortunate that you made it clear that you did not feel that it was possible for you to continue the relationship with the Bennet family or Lady Elizabeth,” Louisa said.
“That woman is not a countess!” Caroline insisted. “She’s a country chit not worth Mr. D…”
“Not worth Mr. Darcy’s attention?” Geoffrey asked. “I imagine she is above his station socially but she has accepted his proposal of marriage.”
“And she is wealthy too,” Charles said. “An earl’s income is substantial and her son’s estate has been well managed by his relatives.”
“Mr. Darcy is to marry Mrs. Hamilton? And her son is an earl? How could a child of two years be an earl?” Caroline demanded to know. “How can the Earl of Rutherford…”
“Lady Elizabeth’s husband was the Earl of Rutherford’s son by a second marriage. That lady was the sister of the Earl of Bailey and when he had no children, the earls agreed that Matthew would be the he
ir to the Bailey estate. The old Earl of Bailey died February last and Lady Elizabeth’s son was only fourteen months but he became the Earl of Bailey,” Charles explained.
“And Lady Elizabeth is the Countess of Bailey until her son is five and twenty. Then she becomes the Dowager Countess of Bailey,” Mr. Hurst said to complete the tale.
Louisa smiled at her husband as she said, “It was very kind of Lady Gwendolyn to host a tea for everyone here at Netherfield yesterday afternoon before they departed for London. Lady Elizabeth brought her mother and all of her sisters and Miss Darcy.”
“Lady Gwendolyn Howell hosted tea at Netherfield?” Caroline sputtered. “How did this occur?”
“I believe she is Lady Gwendolyn Rutherford now. She and her husband have been our guests this week. They arrived on Monday and stayed until yesterday,” Charles said. “They are very nice people. And they are excessively fond of Lady Hamilton and her son.”
“Lady Gwendolyn!” Caroline exclaimed again, her voice growing louder with each sentence. “Lady Gwendolyn Howell was a guest in this house for a week? Why did you not write and tell me!”
Geoffrey Hurst looked at his sister-in-law with a curious look on his face, “Caroline, how could we tell you? You swore you would never sit with another member of Lady Hamilton’s family for dinner, supper or tea! You said that you would never set foot in the Bennet home again. And you insulted Lady Elizabeth’s son – what was it that Caroline called the child, Charles?”
“Our sister called the Earl of Bailey a ‘pinch-faced piglet’ or something equally vulgar.”
Caroline’s face turned white remembering her words spoken in front of large number of local people at Longbourn at the party to celebrate Mr. Bennet’s return. Mr. Darcy’s attentions to Mrs. Hamilton had been marked that day and the boy had refused to leave Mr. Darcy’s arms when Caroline tried to speak privately.
“Is it against the law to insult an earl?” asked Geoffrey.
Charles shook his head. “No, it is not against the law. But it is not wise to say such things in front of the earl’s mother. Can you imagine the social sway a countess has in the ton?”
“I remember Lady Gwendolyn was affronted at hearing her nephew called such,” Mr. Hurst said.
“You told her that I said that!” Caroline practically screamed.
“No, I did not Caroline. But I believe you authorized everyone in our acquaintance to inform anyone who asked, what you thought of the child, his mother and her family.”
“And Miss Lydia was very interested in sharing all your comments with His Lordship,” Charles explained.
“Oh, good God!” Caroline exclaimed. “What did that spoiled child tell Earl Rutherford and Lady Gwendolyn?”
Mr. Hurst added, “I remember that the earl asked if you would be expected to attend Longbourn today when we go for supper. He wanted to address you.”
“I hope His Lordship is not too angry with Caroline,” Charles said. “And that the Bennet family will not hold her words against our entire family.”
“Miss Bennet did not hold Caroline’s words against you, Charles,” Louisa said sincerely. “She accepted your proposal.”
“Your proposal? What do you mean?” Caroline demanded. “Oh! The sister of a countess?”
“Yes, Miss Bennet is the sister to a countess and she has a respectable dowry now as well though I would take if she only had one hundred pounds a year.”
“When… but…” Caroline floundered.
“During the ball earlier this week, we announced our engagement before the supper set,” Charles explained happily. “She has agreed to be my wife and Mr. Bennet has consented. We plan to marry in spring when three sisters will marry the same morning.”
“But I do not think it will be possible for you to attend the wedding sister,” Louisa said shaking her head. “Mr. Hurst and I shall return but I believe you will have to go to our aunt in Scarborough for a time. Charles and his bride will require privacy for their honeymoon.”
“Perhaps Mr. Boston will call on you again while you are there,” Mr. Hurst said. “His brewery is very profitable and he does want a fashionable wife.”
“Do you think the Prince Regent will attend the wedding?” Louisa asked her brother as Caroline stared at them.
Charles shook his head, “I believe that three earls, two countesses, a viscount and his lady at the wedding will be all I can bear. Besides, I do not care for my future wife to be often in the company of the Prince Regent.”
And breakfast ended as Caroline fainted and slumped over in her chair.
++**++
It was almost four months from the end of November until Easter. Mr. Darcy was required to spend two full months in the north at Pemberley, though Georgiana elected to remain with Elizabeth at Longbourn.
In the new year, Mr. Bennet hired his own steward, and Mr. Smyth and his family travelled north with Mr. Darcy to take the reins at Mount Pleasant. The Smyth family was settled in the home reserved for the steward and his family at the end of January. Mr. Augustus Tanner and his wife had removed to a nearby cottage to allow the growing family the room needed for children.
++**++
The separation of one hundred miles of snow-covered farmland and forests proved to be trying for Elizabeth and Darcy. Matthew and his mother both were so despondent between letters that Mr. Bennet insisted that the young man return at the beginning of March. By that time, the sale of Purvis Lodge was complete and Mr. Darcy did not have to take up residence at the White Pig again.
++**++
Chapter 50.
Easter at Longbourn
One morning, two weeks before the wedding that would take three Bennet sisters from Longbourn, Mrs. Bennet had a revelation that when communicated to Mrs. Hill, made her fly to the kitchen and send Mr. Hill scurrying into Meryton with Mr. Thomas and the Hamilton coach to transport a woman of particular skills for an interview with the mistress of Longbourn and her three eldest daughters.
There were many tears shed in the chambers above stairs that afternoon. When Miss Lydia, Miss Kitty and Miss Darcy returned in Elizabeth’s carriage from Purvis Lodge, they found Mrs. Bennet and their sisters waiting quietly in the mistress’ sitting room above stairs.
“Mamma, we have been practicing our song for the wedding breakfast,” Kitty reported. “Lydia and I have mastered the words and Georgiana’s playing helps hide our weak notes.”
Mrs. Bennet was smiling and hugging her two youngest daughters and included Miss Darcy in hugs much to the young woman’s pleasure.
From the noise downstairs, it was evident that the men had returned.
“Mamma, shall I send Papa up to you?” Elizabeth asked with a grin on her face.
“Yes, please Lizzy,” Mrs. Bennet said. “You girls go downstairs and we shall all go into supper shortly.”
“Mamma, what is wrong?” asked Kitty.
“Nothing is wrong, dearest,” Mrs. Bennet assured her daughter. “I must speak with your father.”
Downstairs, the older sisters directed the younger girls and gentlemen into the parlour – Elizabeth spoke softly to her father and sent him upstairs to her mother.
“What is afoot, Elizabeth?” Darcy asked when she joined him in the parlour. She did not answer him but took his hand as they waited amid the questions from Bingley, Lucas, Kitty, Lydia and Georgiana.
“My sister fits into Longbourn life now very well,” Darcy commented. “When she is with Kitty and Lydia, I forget she was ever shy or retiring.”
“And Georgie has helped my sisters blossom into young ladies,” Elizabeth replied. “They will all three be formidable women someday.”
Darcy smiled contentedly, taking Elizabeth’s hand into his own.
“It was very wise of you to purchase Purvis Lodge,” Elizabeth added. “With Mr. Fielding and his bride in residence in the steward’s cottage, there is someone there year-round to see to the staff at the house and we have a residence when we come to visit our family in Meryton.�
��
“Georgiana prefers Hertfordshire to London as do I and yet we are close enough to conduct business in town,” Darcy said.
“It will not be long before we retire to Pemberley and Mount Pleasant,” Darcy said though he noticed that Elizabeth was strangely silent but she did not seem distressed. When the door finally opened and Mr. Bennet led his wife into the room, the gentlemen all rose as the ladies held their breath.
“Well, we have an important announcement to make my dears,” Mr. Bennet said. “My lovely wife has just informed me that this fall, we shall welcome a new member to our brood.”
“What do you mean, Papa?” asked Lydia. “Is someone else getting married?”
“Papa means that Mamma will have a baby this fall, Lydia,” Jane explained to her sister.
“A baby!”
++**++
Longbourn was the scene of much activity in the days before the weddings. Someone kept watch for visitors most of the time – Mr. and Mrs. Hurst returned to Netherfield though Miss Bingley remained in Scarborough with an elderly, maiden aunt. The Earl of Rutherford was in residence at Purvis Lodge until after the wedding and the Earl and Countess Fitzwilliam were due any day to join the wedding party. Mrs. Bennet refused her husband’s demands to rest and spent a great deal of time each day in consultation with Mrs. Hobbes at Netherfield where the wedding breakfast would be held to celebrate the weddings of three of her daughters.
Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and their four children came to Longbourn the day after the announcement. Thereafter Longbourn was louder with the nannies caring for five children while Mrs. Gardiner spent her waking hours calming the nerves of her nieces, soothing the grooms and supervising fittings of three exquisite, wedding gowns.
Viscount Lyndon and Lady Gwendolyn would join the party from London the day before the wedding. Lady Gwendolyn was increasing with her first child due to be born in late summer. Elizabeth and Mrs. Bennet had many conversations with Jane, Mary and Gwendolyn regarding what to expect with increasing, the quickening of the child and the birth.
Follies and Nonsense Page 39
