Chapter 21

B efore taking the final step of making an irrevocable break with his wife, Bennet met with his daughters and the Gardiners to tell them of his tentative decision. He explained he could not have a cancer in his home, one who would undermine him and encourage his daughters into improper behaviours.

Although some of the girls were saddened by the necessity, none spoke against what he had chosen to do. They understood, given everything he had attempted to prevent taking this step, it was now unavoidable.

With his family’s blessings, Bennet explained his changed feelings, regarding the dissolution of his marriage to the Regent. As the latter understood Bennet’s reasoning, he had not withdrawn his previous offer and had promised to send his recommendations to the Archbishop of Canterbury as soon as may be.

Once Bennet had the Regent’s agreement, he wrote to Phillips to advise and warn him of what was to come, both as his solicitor and Fanny’s brother-in-law. Her dowry would be returned to her in full, and he would allow her to remain in the cottage for up to three months longer. He had told Phillips as her dowry was with Gardiner now and not in the four percents, she would have around five hundred pounds per annum to live on, rather than the two hundred pounds the dowry previously earned in the percents.

In a way, Bennet was pleased he would not be present to see his soon-to-be former wife’s reaction when the news was delivered to her. He knew it was cowardly on some level, but he could not force himself to make the journey back to Meryton again after having arrived back in Brighton just a few days previously.

He could not have been happier about the progress his family was making. Although there had not been any formal requests for courtships yet, Bennet opined that for Jane and Mary it would not be long before he would be fielding a request from one, or both, of the Fitzwilliam brothers. In addition, he had not missed the amount of time Darcy spent in Elizabeth’s company, and contrary to how she felt about him in Hertfordshire, she seemed to welcome his attention now. Bennet was not worried that any of the three men were interested in his daughters for their new-found wealth.

He had discussed his observations with Maddie and Gardiner who had both agreed the interest in his daughters predated Lizzy’s elevation or the other girls being dowered. He was also heartened by the fact that Hilldale had an estate and was heir to a rather wealthy earldom, and Darcy was one of the wealthiest non-peers in the country, neither needed to marry for money. Fitzwilliam did not have the wealth of his brother or cousin, but Bennet was aware of some facts Mary’s suitor was not that would change the situation. When the Fitzwilliams and Darcy returned from Rosings Park, he was sure at least one of the men would be seeking an interview with him. They had travelled thither to make sure Miss de Bourgh was well, after they delivered the news of her mother’s banishment, and they would return in a few days.

Bennet stopped himself as he was about to visit Lizzy in her sickroom when he remembered that Mr Winthorpe, with Mr Winklevoss’s concurrence, had agreed Lizzy could be placed in a bath chair. Elizabeth had been greatly excited when she had been informed. At long last she was to be allowed to sit outdoors. Today they were seated on the enormous rear veranda which overlooked the sea.

He changed directions and made his way to where he knew his daughters, the Gardiners, Miss Lucas, Anna, Mary Anne, and Emma were situated. Along with them were the companions, a governess, and maids. Of course the guards were also present.

As he walked, Bennet grinned as he thought of Lizzy’s personal guards. They were gentle to those they cared for, but one threatening their charges would see a very different side of them. He pitied the fool who tested the guards’ determination to keep Lizzy and those she loved safe.

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

It took being confined to a bed for nigh on a month to make her appreciate those things which she could no longer do with ease. Until now, Elizabeth had never understood how much she had taken for granted the freedom of being able to be outside whenever she chose.

Sitting in her bath chair, on the enormous veranda with the glorious views of the sea stretching out towards the horizon was a treat second to none. Feeling the light breeze blowing in off the ocean, the smell of the spray, even the cawing of the gulls that landed on the low wall at the end of the veranda in the hope they would be thrown some scraps was also amazing to her. The scamps did not need someone to offer them something to eat. Poor Peter dropped a biscuit and the scavengers pounced. The surprised lad had been scared, thinking he was about to be attacked by the flying fiends, but Anna had pulled him away from the flock fighting over the remains of his treat. By doing so Anna had cemented herself as Peter’s favourite person, especially after Elizabeth had been hurt, and her stories had been few and far between.

Two of the footmen in their royal livery had chased the birds off, and they had taken to the air, squawking their indignation at the men as they ducked and weaved on the wings of the breeze. It did not take too long before some of the intrepid gulls once again landed on the wall .

Jane was sitting on one side of Elizabeth with Charlotte on the other, and Mary next to her. The younger girls, from Mary Anne down to Lilly were seated in a group speaking of whatever interest girls of that age had. Eddy was playing with May and a much more circumspect Peter. Since his brush with the seagulls, Peter made sure he was close to his parents, the two companions, and the governess who were seated under a gazebo when he enjoyed a biscuit. Eddy had promised to chase any rude birds away, but Peter felt safer with the adults.

“Does anyone know when the party who travelled into Kent will return?” Jane wondered.

“Is there perhaps one particular member of those who travelled there you are more interested in seeing again, Janey?” Elizabeth teased. She smiled when she saw how much Jane’s cheeks pinked up. She knew she could also tease Mary as well, but Mary had not said anything about which Elizabeth could tease her—as of yet.

“What of you, Eliza?” Charlotte asked with a knowing smile.

“I know not of what you speak,” Elizabeth affected a haughty air and stuck her nose in the air like Miss Bingley had been wont to do. She was fully aware of what Charlotte was intimating.

“Have you finally accepted Mr Darcy does not look at you to find fault, and has been interested in you, since well before you were elevated?” Charlotte quipped.

Elizabeth should have known, as soon as she teased Jane on the subject she would open herself up to similar teasing. She breathed out with a huff. “I have openly acknowledged my former opinions of Mr Darcy were almost all wrong. So yes, I know he was not looking to see my warts.”

“Without jesting, I am in fact looking forward to when Lord Hilldale returns, I feel his absence keenly,” Jane admitted.

“And I miss the Colonel,” Mary said so softly the other three almost missed it. “He is my counter-balance. Where I am more serious, he is more affable. I want to learn of many places as he has travelled to countries I have only read about in books. He is everything a man should be.”

“Mary, if you two end up married, and you need somewhere to live, I evidently have four houses in London, and as you know, I have a few estates. Other than the primary one, Falconwood, you may live at any of the others for as long as you choose,” Elizabeth offered.

“Lizzy, you well know that thanks to the Regent and yourself, I will not lack for funds, so there is no need for you to give us more,” Mary stated gratefully.

“I did not say I was to present a house and an estate to you. I would if I could, but they are tied into the dukedom. There is nothing to stop me, however, allowing anyone to reside at any of them,” Elizabeth explained. “If things progress with Janey and Lord Hilldale, she will have all the houses she needs.”

Although she did not show it, Charlotte felt a tinge of regret while listening to her friends talk about possible suitors. She would never know love like she was sure the three eldest Bennet sisters would. Even with the dowry Eliza gifted her, she was still approaching the age of thirty, and unlike the Bennet sisters, she was no beauty.

“Papa,” Kate called out when she noticed her father walk from the interior of the house through the open double glass doors.

Bennet went around and greeted all of the younger crowd, made sure Lizzy was well, and went to sit with the group under the gazebo. Not wanting to discuss something so sensitive with the companions and governess present, Bennet just nodded to the Gardiner parents who understood that the process had been begun.

“Did the Regent say how long?” Gardiner enquired in a way no one else would understand about what they were referring to.

“Not many days,” Bennet averred succinctly. Once the deed was done, there would be no hiding the fact, but until then, even in this setting, Bennet preferred not to reveal too much.

“And the notification?” Gardiner queried.

“Phillips and in writing,” Bennet replied. He decided to change the subject. “Lizzy seems to be revelling in being out of doors again.”

“She most certainly is,” Madeline agreed. “If Mr Winklevoss had not splinted her leg so well, I am sure she would have wanted to see if she could leave her bath chair.” She knew she was exaggerating; Lizzy was far more sensible than that, but it was also something she would not put past her niece to at least threaten to attempt.

“I think my three eldest daughters will be well pleased when the Fitzwilliams and Darcy return,” Bennet opined. The Gardiners did not disagree with him.

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

It had been more than a sennight since those who travelled to Rosings Park had arrived at the estate. On the way from Brighton, they had all decided they needed to be very gentle in how they told Anne about the Regent’s stripping of her mother’s title and of her subsequent banishment.

They had not anticipated joy when Anne had been told. Lord Matlock, as the late Sir Lewis’s executor, had felt embarrassed when Anne had told them how her mother had stifled her, not educated her, nor allowed her to acquire accomplishments in an effort to make sure her daughter would never be fit to take over her inheritance. And worse, she had made sure Anne was unable to communicate with anyone to ask for help. The fact Anne had turned five and twenty while her mother had been on the fateful trip which had ended with her punishment and the awful Mr Collins’s eventual execution, explained why Lady Catherine had been on the fool’s errand to get her daughter married to William.

For the first two days, while Lady Matlock and the Colonel kept Anne and Mrs Jenkinson company, the Earl, Viscount, and Darcy went through the study and found the real ledgers, not the works of fiction the former mistress would trot out when anyone like her brother or nephews were present to check on the running of the estate. Rosings Park had almost been run into the ground.

Lord Matlock could only shake his head as he saw the truth of his sister’s mismanagement. Money spent on gaudy décor, ornate chimney pieces, wasteful replacement of glazing which did not need it, and on and on.

The steward, although honest, had not been able to stand up to Mrs de Bourgh, so he had assisted her in keeping the truth from her family members. He was dismissed, with the advice to take up the law once again. Lord Matlock sent to Snowhaven for his under-steward who would be more than qualified to take the position in Kent. He was to arrive in a day or two.

Once it was certain the new steward was on a path to set things to rights, then the Fitzwilliams, Darcy, and Anne de Bourgh would travel to Brighton.

The day after the men had worked through the mess left in the study, Anne had handed a letter to Darcy explaining it was what sent her mother off on the futile quest to force a marriage which would never take place.

Darcy was enraged. First the shrew tried to compromise him, then he heard about the letter she wrote Miss Bennet, and now the work of fiction she had posted to his aunt. With the letter in hand, he stormed off to the study and wrote a letter to Bingley, the last one he would ever write on the subject of the shrew.

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

Bingley was sitting in the office at Bingley House. Regardless of his younger sister’s pretentions, he was not a gentleman, and more than likely never would be, so it was an office and not a study. He ignored his sister’s objections on the subject.

Thankfully, since she had read about the new Duchess of Hertfordshire, she had kept to her chambers, a result Bingley found he could not repine. His cogitation was interrupted by the butler proffering him his salver holding only a single letter. Bingley immediately recognised the distinctive script. He was hopeful. Could it be Darcy was willing to forgive him? He was sure his former friend would never be in Caroline’s company again, and for that he was not able to condemn Darcy.

He eagerly took the missive and waved his butler away with his thanks. He broke the Darcy seal, and did not notice the enclosed letter right away, but once he did, he pushed it off to the side and began to read.

7 August 1811

Rosings Park

Bingley,

If your younger sister was a man, I would call her out! She is very lucky I was not aware of the drivel she had written about you and my sister to Miss Bennet when she attempted her inept compromise. Had I known I would have had my footmen throw her into the street, bloody nose and all!

As disappointed as I was with you, I am sure you were not aware of what she wrote to Miss Bennet. Capricious you may be, but a liar you are not, and I have never known you not to be honourable, only not considerate of others. Your sister (I refuse to scribe her name) told Miss Bennet that you were courting my sister with the approval of all of my family. Miss Darcy is not even out! It was an attempt to convince Miss Bennet you were only trifling with her.

In addition to that lie, she alluded to her imminent engagement to me. If all of that were not enough, I suggest you read the enclosed letter now. She posted it to my Aunt Catherine.

Bingley was already livid at his sister, but he put Darcy’s letter on the desk and unfolded the one written by his sister. He could not believe the poison she had written, and none of it was true! Shaking his head as the anger roiled inside of him, he threw his sister’s vitriol down and continued reading Darcy’s letter.

If you have read the lies she sent, you should know that as a direct consequence of her letter, my aunt ended up insulting the Regent and Mrs Fitzherbert. You may remember Mr Collins from Hertfordshire (who your sister claimed married Her Grace, another lie). He accompanied my aunt, and during the confrontation between my aunt and the Regent, Mr Collins attempted to strike the Regent. He was arrested and was executed for treason. For her insult, my aunt was stripped of her title and has been banished to a cottage on the Isle of Wight.

A fair warning, the Duchess of Hertfordshire is the darling of all of the royals, but especially the Regent. An insult to her is one to all of the royals. My advice to you is to get your younger sister away from the realm. Even the farthest island in the Shetland Isles, Unst, is not far enough, and I would not send her to a colony of the empire’s. I say this because I am sure the Regent will have your sister punished.

His Highness has not issued any order yet, so I am not endangering myself by telling you this, it is as yet, my informed opinion. The former colonies may be one of the safest locations to send her.

If you are able to cast her off, and grow a backbone, I would be happy to know you once again.

FA D

There was nothing for it; Caroline had to go. If not, banishment from London would be the least of her problems.

Bingley climbed the stairs to his sister’s sitting room where she had been sequestering herself when not asleep. He pushed the door open and saw her busily writing at her escritoire, a pile of possibly ten sealed letters beside her. Suspecting what she was about, Bingley grabbed the letter his sister was writing before she was able to react.

“Charles Arthur Bingley, how dare you…” Miss Bingley ceased speaking on seeing her brother’s look of unmitigated fury.

It was as he had suspected; she was writing a pack of lies to her so-called friends in Town about Her Grace to try to create a scandal around her and the Bennets. He picked up the completed letters, and with the one she had been writing, Bingley ripped them into little strips of paper. “Have you posted any of these lies yet?” He asked sharply.

She shook her head.

“Thank goodness for at least that. You will be leaving England for the Americas on the first ship out of Liverpool. The Captain will hold what is remaining of your dowry, after I deduct all of your overspending and breakages, and you will receive it when you arrive in the new world.

“Darcy sent me the letter you wrote to the former Lady Catherine, and he knows of all the lies you wrote to Miss Bennet! Due to your actions, the Prince Regent will soon be seeking you out to punish you. You have no idea of the high estimation he and his family hold for the Duchess of Hertfordshire and all of her family. Any word against her, is a slight of them, which could be treason. Your choice, Caroline! Remain in England and chance losing your head at the Tower of London, or you leave as soon as may be.”

Knowing she really did not have a choice; Miss Bingley gave a one word answer. “America.”