Chapter 21

N ot wanting to pressure her nieces with regards to their father, Madeline did not show them the letter but did relate the request for her to seek some candidates who could act as companion and governess in one person for Kitty and Lydia. Both older Bennet sisters were impressed their father was taking action and not just paying lip service to making changes.

Aunt Madeline related how she had requested that Kitty and Lydia be allowed to join the Gardiners when they travelled to Lambert Hills. She expressed the opinion that permission would not be denied. No mention was made of their mother by their aunt, and neither Elizabeth nor Mary asked about her.

When Gardiner returned from work, he asked to see his nieces before dinner. "I will miss the next week at work as I will accompany you two on the journey to Lambert Hills," he told his nieces.

"But Uncle Edward, how can you take time away from your business? We do not want to cause you to suffer financially because of us," Elizabeth insisted.

"As to how, it is one of the advantages of owning the business and not having to answer to anyone but myself…and your aunt," Gardiner quipped. "If there was any imperative reason I could not be away, I would not leave now. Besides, you are under my protection and even though there will be a maid, two footmen, and the coachman with you, if I am able, which I am, to escort you myself, it will be done. Your aunt will remain at home with the children. "

Accepting it was futile to dissuade her uncle from his path, Elizabeth did not attempt to do so any further .

The four Gardiner children were not well pleased that their cousins would be leaving them so soon, but at least they knew they would be with them for three to four months in the summer.

Before they knew it, the weekend had passed, their trunks were packed, and all the shopping completed. At first light on Monday morning, Gardiner, Elizabeth, and Mary, along with a maid were in the larger of the two Gardiner conveyances as it departed the house. It soon made its way out of Town towards the Great North Road.

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

When he returned to London from Netherfield Park, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam had made directly for Matlock House where he had told his parents, brother, sister-in-law, and ward the sad story of what had led to Miss Bingley being ejected from her brother's house, and being put in the path of one George Wickham. Giana had looked rather distressed at the mention of his name, but as the story had unfolded, her features had been schooled. She had expressed no discomfort that the man who almost ruined her life had finally received his comeuppance.

The family was very interested to hear about the young lady who had captured William's interest, especially when it was shared she was a niece to Edward Gardiner with whom the Earl, Viscount, and Colonel all invested. Giana had told them how she expected this based on her brother's letters. The Colonel reminded his ward that Miss Bennet was to mourn her closest sister for a year, so, if there ever were to be an understanding, it would be after that time had passed. He told Giana to watch for a letter from her brother which would explain everything to her. It pleased her that William was willing to take her into his confidence .

The Earl and Countess both insisted if their nephew and the lady came to an understanding, after meeting her of course, they would support the match. The former spoke of how he would control his sister, Lady Catherine, if she attempted to speak of the imaginary engagement between William and her sickly daughter, Anne de Bourgh.

The men all decided they would call on Gardiner before William arrived in London on the chance they would be introduced to Miss Bennet and her sister who were with the Gardiners.

The next morning, on his arrival at the Royal Dragoons' barracks, the Colonel was informed his first day off was to be Wednesday. He sent a note to his father to inform him. The return missive informed the Colonel that the three Fitzwilliam men would call on the Gardiners that day.

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

On Wednesday morning, Lord Matlock sent one of his footmen to Gardiner's offices located in his warehouse to tell the man he and his sons desired to meet with him. It was done because as long as he knew ahead of time, Gardiner would meet his clients who were of the Ton at his office in his home. Matlock was not one who would refuse to meet at the warehouse, but not all nobles were as liberal as he.

As soon as Richard was ready, the three Fitzwilliam men mounted the earl's town coach and made for Gracechurch Street. They missed the footman returning from Gardiner's warehouse by less than five minutes.

The earl knocked on the door and when the butler answered, he handed his card to the man. Giving them proper deference, the butler showed the Fitzwilliams into the entrance hall and requested they wait. Not many minutes after, he returned and asked them to follow him.

Lord Matlock wondered why they were being shown to the drawing room, and not the office. The three men saw Mrs Gardiner waiting for them, but no Gardiner and no other ladies.

"Have we come at a bad time?" Lord Matlock enquired.

"Did you send a note to the office in the warehouse, my Lord?" Madeline asked in return.

"I did," Matlock confirmed.

"Then I assume you missed your messenger's return from the warehouse, who would have delivered a message telling you my husband is away for the whole of this week. He is travelling to Derbyshire to see my brother and sister-in-law. I expect him home by Monday coming, at the latest," Madeline reported. She did not mention Lizzy and Mary as she did not think it was relevant information.

"If you will, please have your husband notify me when he is available again," Lord Matlock requested. "This was my error in assuming your husband was present and not waiting to see if there was a reply to my note."

"Would you like some tea, my Lords, and Colonel Fitzwilliam?" Madeline offered.

"Thank you, but no, Mrs Gardiner. We will not take up more of your time." The Earl gave an incline of his head, as did his sons, and then the three men exited the drawing room and were soon in the coach on the way back to Grosvenor Square.

"You did not ask about the nieces, Father?" Lord Hilldale queried.

"It would not have been polite. If Richard had met them in Hertfordshire, or if William was with us, it would have been acceptable to ask after them," Lord Matlock responded.

"I will write to William and inform him as he planned to see Gardiner on Friday," the Colonel decided.

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

The Gardiner coach arrived at Lambert Hills a little before four o'clock the afternoon of the third day of travel. Once they had left the Great North Road not too many miles after entering Derbyshire, Elizabeth had expressed her disappointment she could not see the peaks. Also, the land she had seen was not as wild as she had thought Derbyshire to be.

Gardiner had explained that as Lambert Hills was in the south eastern part of the county the peaks could only be seen in the distance when conditions were perfect, and where they were was much flatter than much of the rest of the shire. He had pointed out to them how much colder it had become as they moved further and further to the north.

Four of the five Lamberts were waiting for them when the coach came to a halt. Elizabeth recognised Aunt Gwen, Uncle Tim, Addie, and Henry. There were quick words of welcome before everyone went inside to escape the biting cold.

Once divested of their outerwear, they all made for the drawing room. Gwen pulled Elizabeth into a hug. "It was devastating to read what Maddie told us in her letter. I am so very sorry Lizzy, I know how close you and Janey were," Gweneth said next to Elizabeth's ear.

The embrace and kind words released some tears which were never far from the surface. Addie and Henry were distressed to see Lizzy so sad, but they had been told what had befallen the Bennets, so it was not completely unexpected.

When Elizabeth was welcomed by her Uncle Tim and he expressed his condolences, Mary was introduced to Gwen who proceeded to pull the younger Bennet into her arms and whisper words of comfort. It was decided that the three arriving guests would go up to their chambers to wash and change, which would also allow the Bennet sisters to compose themselves.

By the time the three returned to the drawing room, the children had been sent back to the nursery. Gwen called for tea and soon the housekeeper, a kindly looking lady in her middle years, was supervising the placement of the tea service and some welcome biscuits.

"Gardiner, when do you begin your return journey?" Lambert asked. "I hope you will rest for at least a few days first."

"I must away at first light on the morrow as I intend to arrive home on Saturday, so I do not need to be at an inn on the Lord's day," Gardiner replied, "although I do appreciate your offered hospitality. I will have much rest in the coach as I will not have two chattering girls with me," he teased.

"Even if Uncle Edward does not value your hospitality," Mary said as she smiled at the named man, "we do."

"You two are welcome to remain here for as long as you need," Lambert told his nieces. "Addie is much in anticipation of lessons on the pianoforte, Mary, and all three expect at least one story a day from you, Lizzy. Not only were they treated to some when we last visited Gracechurch Street, but in letters between the older cousins, Lilly, Eddy, and Peter never fail to mention how much they love it when you tell them stories."

"When we next come to visit, there is a good chance Lizzy's and Mary's younger sisters will be with us if that is acceptable to you two," Gardiner related.

"Edward, you know this is a large house. If we ever needed it, my late parents' estate is less than three miles from here, and there is another good sized house there," Gwen reminded her brother-in-law. "So yes, as many as you and Maddie desire to bring with you, would be more than welcome." She turned to the sisters. "We are aware you like to take long, solitary walks, Lizzy. This estate is somewhat larger compared to what has been related to us of Longbourn's size. Due to that, walking is not ideal, but if you know how to ride, it is the best way to see the combined lands of Lambert Hills and Green Hill. However, even though Rory's future estate is not as large as this one, together there is much land to cover."

"I do not ride," Elizabeth explained. "I began to learn when I was seven, but Papa did not have a pony. He put me on his gelding, and the horse sensed my fear and threw me off his back. It was not only my dignity which was damaged that day, as it cost me a broken arm. Since then, I have not ridden a horse."

"Is this my niece who claims her courage always rises at any attempt to intimidate her?" Gardiner questioned.

"That is not playing fair to use my own words against me!" Elizabeth put on some mild outrage. She regulated her look and turned to her younger (not by many years than Uncle Edward) uncle. "I take it you have a larger variety of horses here than my father has at Longbourn?"

"I have no basis to compare, but we do have an extensive stable. If you agree to learn, my stable master or I will teach you, and you will begin on a pony like the one Addie rides."

"So not as far to fall," Elizabeth responded drolly. "At Longbourn, we have two work horses who are used to pull the carriage when they are not needed on the estate." Everyone noticed the dark look Elizabeth got when she mentioned the last, but no one commented. "There is Nellie, the old mare Janey used to…" Some tears fell as she spoke of Jane and Nellie.

"And then there is Father's gelding, the one that threw Lizzy," Mary completed for her sister.

"In that case, the stables here are much larger. There are carriage horses, work horses, and a good number of animals for riding from smaller ponies, to cobs, all the way up to full sized horses," Lambert shared. "Unless you object, Lizzy, I will teach you myself. Paulson is a good teacher, but I think I am better, especially with someone like you, who is nervous to ride."

"And what of you, Mary?" Gweneth queried, "Do you ride?"

"After the accident with Lizzy, our father never took the time to teach any of the rest of us to ride, so no, I do not. But, if it is a possibility, I would love to learn also."

"In that case, I will teach both of you," Lambert decided.

"While you two are in deep mourning, we will not have any festive public events at the estate," Gweneth told her nieces.

"We do not expect you to change your lives for us," Elizabeth insisted as Mary nodded her head emphatically. "If there is anything we feel we cannot attend, we will simply keep to our suite. On that subject, thank you. It is large and very comfortable. Our shared bedchamber was smaller than the one each of us has now."

"Even though we were not directly related to Jane, we also mourn her, so for at least the first month you are with us," Lambert looked at his wife who nodded, "we will not attend anything beyond church and family related events."

A half hour later, the butler announced dinner.

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

That evening when Elizabeth and Mary retired to their suite—each sister had a bedchamber separated by a private sitting room—and once they were ready for bed, they met in Elizabeth's chamber and snuggled under the warm covers. The heat radiating from the crackling fire caused the temperature in the room to be very pleasant.

"What think you, Lizzy?" Mary wondered, "Will you enjoy being here?"

"That depends on you, Sister dear," Elizabeth averred. She did not miss the quizzical look on Mary's countenance. "I could only be happy here if you are. What do you feel, Mary?"

"I think, no, I know, I will favour our time here," Mary replied. "Aunt Gwen and Uncle Tim are such pleasant and genuine people, and the children are darling. I will have as much fun teaching Addie to play the pianoforte as I did with Lilly for the few days we were at the Gardiners' house. I promised Lilly I will dedicate as much time to her lessons this summer as she desires." Mary paused. "I think of Jane all the time, but I do not feel her presence here like I did at Longbourn or Gracechurch Street."

"Then we are of an accord. I believe we will be very happy here, and I agree with you. There are a few times in each day when I do not think of Janey, but it may be because we are in a place where we do not see signs of her at every turn," Elizabeth owned. For the first time, Elizabeth began to feel as if she would recover from Janey's loss, although it would still take considerably more time.

"Lizzy, I need to ask you something, and if you are not ready to answer, then do not."

"You may say what you will."

"Do you think you will ever be able to forgive Mother and Father?"

"I must," Elizabeth replied succinctly. She did not miss Mary's eyebrows knit in question. "It would be as much for me as it is for them. I do not want the resentment to fester until I am a bitter person beyond redemption. You know me well enough to realise I was not built to not laugh and enjoy life, and if I hold onto the enmity, I will not ever be happy again. Also, as you well know, it is my Christian duty to do so. Further, Janey would want me to forgive. I would never dishonour her memory by holding a grudge against our parents for the rest of my days. There is a reason I did not forgive our parents before we departed Longbourn."

"And that is?" Mary prodded.

"When I accept their amends and forgive them, I must mean it. I was far too irate to do so and be sincere when we decamped from Longbourn. Also, I would need to hear our parents understand what they did and own their errors. If you are about to ask me when I will be willing to hear their apologies, I cannot predict when that will be at this moment in time. I can tell you though that each day the wrath I feel towards Mother and Father lessens. Once it is gone, then I know I will be ready to see them again. If that will be before or after my year of mourning is completed is a question I cannot answer now."

"That is a healthy way of looking at it," Mary owned. "I was worried you would never be able to release your outrage at our parents. I, too, will forgive them. Like you, I am not sure when that will be, but in the meanwhile, some distance is a good thing."

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

In the morning, Gardiner was joined by the Lambert parents and his two Bennet nieces while he broke his fast before he commenced his return journey. Lizzy and Mary handed him letters for Maddie.

After his meal, Gardiner shrugged into his heavy coat with the aid of the butler, farewelled his in-laws, kissed each niece on her forehead, and then made the quick walk from the warm house to the not so warm coach. As soon as the door was closed, Gardiner struck the ceiling with his cane and he was off, beginning his journey back to his wife and children.