Chapter 21

Lydia was greatly relieved from Mr Elliot's attentions by her weekly visits to the city with Dorian. Elizabeth and her family had finally begun taking the train for trips with more frequency. Lydia had become adept at train travel years ago, when she had returned from Paris with Georgiana and Vivian, and had found herself very much in demand in the world of fashionable decorating.

One afternoon, Lydia found herself in Mr Carter's drawing room with Dorian, sipping tea and laughing hilariously as Dorian embellished Mr Elliot's manners for Mr Carter, who nearly broke a rib laughing. Mr Carter had abandoned his curmudgeonly ways when the pair began sharing their lessons. He enjoyed Lydia's company far too much to continue poking at Dorian and agitating him. The two young people were both quick and determined to do their best, they worked hard, and were serious about their studies, and he could not help but hold a great deal of respect for them both.

"Ribbons on his shoes! Stop! Stop, please!" Mr Carter cackled, holding his side.

"And he even wears an ostrich feather in his hat!" exclaimed Dorian.

"No more! No more, please, I beg you!" gasped the elderly man. Eventually he gained control of his amusement, then looked at the pair of them speculatively and asked, "So is this what prevents the two of you from coming to the point? Are you dazzled by the man and his feathers, Miss Bennet?"

"Hardly," answered Lydia. "We have both had quite a deal of business to attend to this winter. Our family travelled into Hertfordshire, believing it would be beneficial to my infant niece, never expecting such events as we experienced with the weather this year. Thankfully, the unseasonable weather did not bring any harm or discomfort to my niece or the other children. My sister and her husband are thankful we were available, and in the area in order to provide assistance to the county. There has been a great deal to do on all of the estates since the flooding."

"This is hardly any way to conduct a courtship," Mr Carter observed. "If any young lady deserves to waltz with a beau and be courted by moonlight, it is Miss Bennet."

"Respectfully, I disagree," dared Dorian. "Miss Bennet has asked for a very long courtship, for she will not wed unless she is perfectly sure of her compatibility with her mate. I believe there has been no better experiment, than for us to see how the other manages a crisis, to learn to aid one another in times of hardship. It has been a hard time for Hertfordshire, and many counties, but after watching Miss Bennet and her family's response to such events, she has only risen in my esteem and admiration."

Lydia blushed, and said, "I cannot but agree. I have spent years waltzing in ballrooms to little effect. Sir Dorian and I have spent our time coming to know one another with much better results than we might at a night visiting Covent Gardens. I am certainly in no hurry to throw off my independence and the pleasures of unmarried life, and Sir Dorian has yet to decide how and where he wishes to settle. Those decisions of his will affect my choices, so it is better to see how things lie first, I believe, before jumping into anything blindly."

"And what delights will you enjoy tonight before you return to Hertfordshire?" Mr Carter asked with interest. He was always interested in their activities, whether it was a lecture at The Royal Society, or a night at the opera.

"Tonight, we will attend a dinner party with my aunt and uncle at Lord and Lady Berkeley's home. Lord and Lady Berkeley are both connected to my sister through marriage. Lord Berkeley's younger brother is married to Lord Darcy's sister, and Lady Berkeley's brother is married to my eldest sister Jane. There is to be a dinner in honour of Lord Berkeley's birthday tonight. We have promised to attend in Vivian and Georgiana's absence."

"Well, off with you." Mr Carter stood and rang the bell, then waved them out of the room. "Mind, do not dally with those translations!" He enjoyed their company, and hoped there would be an announcement for the pair sometime soon. His next student, a spoiled, pimply boy of eighteen whose father mistakenly thought he would make a scholar, was due to arrive soon.

The following morning, Lydia and Dorian boarded the train for Hertfordshire with Mrs Annesley. The dinner had been great fun, Lady Berkeley was a wonderful hostess, and her husband had enjoyed an evening with his dearest friends, though he was sad that Darcy and his brother could not make it. Lydia and Dorian had dutifully delivered their gifts, an impressive fly-fishing reel from America from Vivian, and a fine Whitworth rifle from Darcy. Lord Berkeley could hardly wait to return to the country and go stalking.

*****

When they entered the great hall at Netherfield, the house was a hive of activity. Lydia went to the drawing room immediately to find Georgiana sobbing in her husband's arms. "Georgie, whatever has happened. Is Elizabeth Rose well?"

Georgiana continued to weep, thrusting an express at Lydia amidst her sobs.

"Oh no…" Lydia, sighed, as she read the message.

"Is it bad?" Dorian asked quietly.

Lydia handed him the letter, "Her grandmother," she explained.

"Oh, I am so sorry." he said anxiously looking over the message. "Will you go north?

"I am sure we will," said Lydia. "The letter is from Evvie, who is my sister's ward. She saved Elizabeth from a kidnapping before she married Will. She has spent years attending the nursing school in Derbyshire, and was installed two years ago as Lady Rose's private nurse at Pemberley."

Dorian went to ascertain the family's intentions from Darcy while Lydia attempted to console Georgiana.

"What if the train is not safe for the baby? What if it makes Elizabeth ill? I cannot stay here; I must go to Granny!"

"Georgie, I have been taking the train weekly with no ill effects. And there was a woman on the train just this morning with four small children, one of them an infant, and she was heavy indeed with her next one. We spoke to her, she said she travels into the city to visit her mother every month with her children, and they all looked healthy indeed. We will travel first class, the rail carriage will be warm, they are heated with coal stoves, and I am certain my brother will arrange a private carriage."

Vivian persuaded Georgiana that Lydia was correct, and assured her that it would be a safe journey for everyone. Though the journey would be safe, it would not be overly comfortable. Though the carriages were heated, even the first-class carriages were not particularly opulent nor comfortable, and the family would still take nearly two days to make the journey. The first half of the trip would take nine hours. They would set out within the hour, and the carriages and trunks would follow. The second half of the trip also took nine hours, and they would begin very early the next morning, after spending the night at an inn. The last two-hour leg of the journey would be made by carriages that the travellers would hire upon their arrival. In the end, only a day of travel was saved, but every hour counted. Little Elizabeth Rose would be the most comfortable and least inconvenienced of the party.

Lydia encouraged Georgiana to follow her above stairs and assist her maid with their preparations. She found Jemima in her chambers, already packing madly. Lydia gave her the necessary instructions, and returned downstairs. Dorian was leaving her brother's study, and met her in the hall.

"Your family is leaving within the hour." he took her hand. "I will follow you north on horseback in a few days. I must attend to some business here in Meryton first. It is time to call an end to this charade with Elliot. It has been weeks, and it is far past time for him to make his decision and go. Your sister and brother allowed him to stay at Lilac Cottage for some weeks so the man could not later claim he had been coerced. He has had time enough to choose. I will see an end to the business, then follow you. I do not wish to leave him in your sister's dower house, that would be no way to repay her generosity. Lady Darcy has offered me the use of her dower house at Pemberley while I am in the north."

He stayed while the family made their preparations, then accompanied them to the train station in Ware. By the time he returned to Meryton, it was very late in the afternoon.

*****

Teatime had passed before he presented himself in his aunt's drawing room, where he explained his need to travel north by the week's end.

"Curse you, boy, for bringing that disgusting worm of a man among us, and then abandoning me here to protect Lavinia from him! I never thought you would be the lesser of evils, but I did expect you to defend your uncle and cousin's widows better than this!"

Dorian paused. "I had no idea that Mr Elliot was still calling at Haye Park. It is not exactly like I am always welcome to drop in for tea and biscuits, Aunt. I was aware that Mr Elliot has been paying some attention to ladies in the village, particularly Miss Bennet and the King sisters. Do you mean to tell me that he is also calling on William's widow?"

"Calling? He's done more than call upon her. She's been disappearing for hours each afternoon since a few days after he arrived," his aunt said disgustedly.

"Why would you wait so long to inform me?" demanded Dorian. "And why would you admit him to the house socially? I made it very clear to you what he is. It was one thing to entertain him once for a dinner. It is quite another to admit him to the house like family. You are the mistress here, the privilege of turning away visitors is yours. Why would you not use it?"

"I stopped admitting him to the house after the first few calls. I am certain she is sneaking out to see him, or another, but I have been informed he has been seen in the gardens by the groundskeeper," his aunt explained.

"And it took you this long to inform me. Well, madam, as you say it is my responsibility to look after you and Lavinia, but I cannot do so if I am uninformed. I will see that the devil vacates the area, but perhaps in the future, you could be slightly more informative when the situation calls for it. And another thing. Before I go, I will have the journals that were left to me by Uncle Frank. No one believes your story of them being missing. I will wait here while you send for them."

His aunt glared at him hatefully until he spoke again, "Madam, I insist; do not force me to go upstairs and enter your rooms to begin a search." He folded his arms firmly in front of him.

Aunt Ada rang the bell and whispered into the ear of the housekeeper when the woman entered the room. The housekeeper left, and several minutes later, returned with a battered set of matching leather-bound diaries in burgundy leather, with his grandmother's name inscribed on them in gold leaf.

"I thank you, Aunt." He stood and saw himself out of the room.

*****

He went next to Lilac Cottage, and was shown into a small parlour. After a few moments, Elliot entered the parlour, fiddling with his cravat. "Rather late for a polite call, is it not?" he asked. "I only just have half a moment; I am expected for dinner at the Kings'."

"I have a few matters to discuss with you, Elliot. It has been clear to me what you are doing in Meryton, Elliot. With the number of girls with dowries visiting the area, you are trying to find a wife with a halfway decent dowry to add to what you will get from me. I do not care what you do, or whom you marry, though I wouldn't like to see my neighbours taken in. They have been informed of your debts, and if they choose to seek a connection due to your expectations, that is their problem. But I draw the line at your meddling with my cousin's widow! My aunt says that since she stopped accepting your calls, that you have been seen skulking in Haye Park's gardens, and that Mrs Goulding has been missing from the house on several occasions."

"It is true that I have encountered Mrs Goulding on a number of occasions while visiting the grounds at Haye Park while mulling over my decision, but it does not follow that I am meddling with her," Elliot replied easily.

"Your presence at Haye Park among ladies in mourning is inappropriate, sir, and your welcome at Lilac Cottage has worn out, I am afraid," Dorian said, as the man continued to look unconcerned. "The Darcys have gone north on a family matter, and they request that you remove to the inn tomorrow. I am out of patience for your decision. I gave you a number of weeks so that you might not say later that you have been coerced, but if you cannot make up your mind then we will leave it. I have no need to settle here. I would be just as happy in London or in the north. I can purchase another estate easily, lease Haye Park, and put those funds by for my children. I do not have to live here, so if you have not made up your mind by tomorrow morning, I will abandon the offer, and you can find some other way to pay your debts.

"You may meet me at Phillips' office tomorrow at ten o'clock," Dorian concluded. "You can give me your answer then, and I expect you to have vacated Lilac Cottage and removed to the inn, or returned to London tomorrow. I will be travelling myself by the week's end, and I will see that you have vacated the area before I go."

*****

The following morning arrived, and Elliot did not. Dorian waited for an hour at Mr Phillips' office, before a note arrived for him there from Elliot.

Goulding,

I have decided to accept your offer, though I cannot meet with you this morning. I have received word of another important business matter awaiting me in London, but I will return as soon as I am able. I understand that you have your own affairs to attend to in the north. Have your attorney prepare the necessary documents and leave a bank draft in his care. I will return to Meryton in one to two weeks, take rooms at the inn, and return to London when the business is finished.

Wm. Elliot

Dorian had mixed feelings about Elliot's acceptance. He had felt an obligation to bring an end to the entail on his family estate, but he was still unsure he wished to settle there. It had been a rather large expense, and would prevent him from buying another estate for some years if he chose not to settle in Meryton permanently. Everything still hung upon the whims of Lydia Bennet. He was wild about her, and every week that passed made him more certain that she was his best hope for happiness. He was happy to indulge her whims. If she wished to settle in Meryton, Haye Park was there for them. If she wished to settle in the north near her family, then some years down the road, when his investments continued to grow, they might purchase an estate in Derbyshire, and Haye Park could be given to a second son, if they had one.

Two days later, Dorian set out for the north on Sir Horatio with his grandmother's diaries following him in his trunk. He would ask Lydia to read them with him, when the moment was right. Three days after that, he was astonished at the sight before him when he sat atop his horse at the overlook near the entrance to Pemberley's lands. He only grew more impressed as he travelled closer to the house. If someone had told him that this was the northern home of The Queen, he would have believed them. It was quite possible he had never seen a property so grand.

When Dorian entered the house, there was thankfully no black wreath upon the door, but the house was hushed, as if the family were already in mourning. Lydia was in the back of the ground floor, keeping Georgiana company as she sat vigil with her grandmother. No one could persuade her to rest. Darcy, Elizabeth, Lydia and Aunt Dashwood took turns sitting with her, but Georgiana could not be moved from her grandmother's bedside and had been there since arriving in the house.

Elizabeth Rose was brought in periodically for feeding, but otherwise, Lady Rose had Georgiana's complete attention. She sat by her grandmother's bedside, and spoke endlessly until her voice was hoarse and cracked, recounting memories, praying, and occasionally singing softly. The maids had been sent away; nothing was to be done for Lady Rose that Georgiana did not do herself. Eventually Darcy and Elizabeth persuaded her that it was cruel to send the lady's maid away. The woman was in her sixties, and had served Lady Rose for nearly thirty years. Of course she wished to serve her mistress until the last possible moment. Aunt Dashwood too, was uncommonly close to Granny Rose, and ought to be allowed to stay. Georgiana had wept and begged the two women's pardon, and the two resumed their vigil together.

Early the next morning, just before sunrise, Georgiana's head was upon the bed next to her grandmother's hand when she heard her grandmother whisper, "Anne."

Her head jerked up, "Granny," she whispered urgently. "It's me, It's Georgie!"

"They are both very well, Anne," Lady Rose said, looking at Georgiana with what looked on the surface like recognition, as Darcy crept over quietly to join his sister by the bed. "So very well. So happy, both of them. I waited, Anne. I waited to go until they both found their happiness. Georgie waited so long for her blessing, but she got it."

"She's here, Granny, our blessing is here! Do not go without meeting her properly! Brother, send for her, please send for the baby!" Georgiana cried. "She's awake, we must all gather round, she must see us all with her!"

Darcy did not think Granny Rose was seeing what Georgiana saw, but he sent the maid to wake Vivian and Elizabeth, with a request to bring the infant, as well as Mr Lloyd, who had been staying in the house for some days.

When they entered the room, Georgiana wasted no time in laying the babe in her grandmother's arms. "See, Granny? Here she is, our blessing that we waited so long for! She's named for Elizabeth and Lady Berkeley and for you Granny. Little Elizabeth Rose!" Georgiana cried.

"Such a blessing, Anne," Granny Rose whispered as Vivian attempted to comfort his wife. "Such a blessing." Her eyes closed, but her breathing continued slowly for several more minutes. As the sun rose, its rays crept into the room until it was filled with bright yellow morning light. Lady Rose took her last breath as a nearby blackbird opened its beak in celebration of a new day. Evvie went and opened the window a crack, a superstitious practice, but Darcy made no objection, while Mr Lloyd felt their grandmother's wrist and nodded to Darcy. Granny Rose had passed on.

Georgiana was devastated, and fell into her brother's arms sobbing inconsolably. Elizabeth took the infant while Darcy and his sister shed their grief together. Lady Rose was the only mother Georgiana had ever known, and the only mother figure Darcy could depend upon for support since he had been twelve. Eventually, Vivian lifted his wife into his arms and carried her to her rooms, where she was tended by her husband and her maid, and put to bed.

She slept for an entire day and night aside from Elizabeth Rose's feedings, then she descended the stairs and joined her subdued relations for breakfast, all attired in full mourning, her eyes red rimmed. The Brandons, Fitzwilliams, Bingleys and Matlocks were all about the table, all having arrived at Pemberley shortly after the Darcys. She took a seat while her husband made her plate, and conversation resumed about the table.

Darcy began discussing the plans for the funeral with Elizabeth. When Elizabeth began to talk about the refreshments that would be served to the visitors, and the number of ladies who would surely come to the house, Georgiana spoke up, "I beg your pardon, but I will walk with my brother, and attend the funeral."

There was silence at the table, as her brother spoke, "Georgie, you know that ladies do not attend funerals."

"Nevertheless, I will attend," she insisted quietly, refusing to speak any more, nor defend her position, as Darcy and her husband attempted to persuade her to their way of thinking.

"Darling, women are starting to attend funerals in London and the smaller cities," Elizabeth pointed out tactfully.

"Not in Lambton, or Kympton, or any other village close by, Elizabeth. What will be said?"

"Lady Rose was beloved and very well respected in these parts. I am sure that it would be said that her granddaughter's grief is a testament to her legacy," Elizabeth insisted. "Besides, this is Georgiana you are speaking of. The beloved Miss Darcy as was? The cherished and esteemed daughter of the revered Lady Anne? I think you exaggerate the danger to her reputation."

"It is unseemly," Darcy insisted.

"Well then, we shall have to make it seemly, shall we not? I will also attend, and I invite all of the ladies of the house to join us," Elizabeth said obstinately.

"Elizabeth," Darcy groaned.

"I shall certainly accompany the party tomorrow. Lady Rose was a highly individual woman, and worthy of the greatest respect," agreed Lydia. "I shall follow her casket with pride and not worry a whit about my reputation."

Lady Matlock and Kitty chimed in next, and soon every lady in the house was insisting on following the coffin, even Diane and Anne, to which young Richard chimed in that he would follow Granny Rose as well, for he certainly would not be left behind while even the girls attended.

"I shall walk with my father," Richard said seriously, "For Granny,"

In the end, Darcy and the men were powerless against their wives. The staff at Pemberley were not gossips, but the news that the women of Darcy House would follow Lady Rose's carriage still quickly made its way to the tenants and local villages. The next morning, instead of a group of local women arrived to condole with the ladies, they found a line of tenant wives, spinsters, matrons, and widows from the villages and even neighbouring estates lined up outside when the family stepped out the front doors, ready to lend the ladies of Pemberley their respectability, and to show the utmost final respect to Lady Rose. Darcy was nearly overcome by emotion at this display of respect for his grandmother, and support for the ladies of his house, and followed at the head of the procession with his wife upon his arm and his son at his side.

The next days were spent in quiet contemplation at Pemberley. Lady Rose's disposition had been such that she had been beloved of all the Bennet sisters, and liked and respected by all of their husbands. Aunt Dashwood was perhaps one of the most distraught. That lady had split her time between Pemberley and Delaford Parsonage since Margaret had married and birthed three strong boys. She had been a most devoted friend to Lady Rose in her final years.

*****

A week after Lady Rose's passing, he received an express from Mr Phillips.

Meryton

Hertfordshire

Sir Dorian,

The business has been completed. Elliot returned, signed the necessary papers, and left with his bank draft. Unfortunately, he left the neighbourhood in the company of Mrs Lavinia Goulding. A letter is enclosed from your aunt with more details.

Sincerely,

George Phillips, Esq.

Enclosed was the following letter.

Haye Park

Near Meryton, Hertfordshire

Nephew,

I appreciate that you did try to prevent this calamity, and indeed it seemed as if you had accomplished it when the gentleman left Hertfordshire, but sadly we were mistaken. I do not know what anyone else thinks, but my opinion is that Mr Elliot allowed you to travel all the way to Derbyshire before considering it safe to return to Meryton and abscond with Lavinia. It seems like she planned this in advance with him. She was very thorough about taking all of her possessions with her, and left not a scrap behind. They must have planned this mischief very carefully.

Word in the village is that Mr Elliot asked for Louise King the evening before he left Meryton the first time, and Mr King declined to bless the match when Mr Elliot objected to Miss King's uncle's insistence that her dowry must remain in trust for her. He must have gotten word to Lavinia to be ready for him, for he was in the village for only a night, and Lavinia had disappeared by the following morning.

I am leaving Haye Park. If you have read the journals your uncle left you, you are aware it was never properly ours in the first place. I will henceforth share my time between my daughter in Kent and my family in Bath. I am closing Haye Park by the end of next week. You will need to arrange for the servants to be paid on quarter day. I will not turn them out, they have all been with the family too long. You must decide what to do with them, and pay them in the meantime.

Do not waste your time going after Lavinia. It is obvious that she was never good enough for my William. Her fortune will ensure that the rascal marries her, and she is beneath our notice now, after disgracing the memory of my son.

I wish you good luck in your pursuit of Miss Bennet. If you want my opinion, she will accept you when you finally ask. I knew when you were seventeen that she was yours.

Regards,

Mrs Ada Goulding