Chapter 5

A s time is wont to do, the month of May sped by and soon enough it was June.

Elizabeth was greatly excited as the days passed, as she drew ever closer to reaching her majority. Adding to her pleasure was the fact that the Gardiners would arrive from London and spend the special day and the one following with her. Based on the letter from Aunt Maddie, they would return to Town on the morning of the third day.

There was one tinge of sadness for Elizabeth. This year was the first since she and Charlotte had become friends almost a decade past that she did not attend Charlotte’s birthday when she had turned eight and twenty in January of the current year. Likewise, her friend would not attend Elizabeth’s most important of birthdays either.

The truth was as soon as Charlotte had married their pompous, obsequious, and vastly unintelligent cousin, the friendship between them had been altered. Elizabeth was not sure things would ever return to be as they had been before her friend had cleaved herself unto Mr Collins.

Elizabeth pushed the maudlin thoughts of her changed friendship with Charlotte from her mind, and concentrated on the celebration which would be held in three days. Beyond that, just under three weeks would remain until the final Monday of June when she and the Gardiners would commence the two-day journey into Sussex ending at the rented house close to the sea in Brighton.

No matter how many times she had verified, whether Jane wanted to reclaim her turn she had given up, and be the one to join the Gardiners, her older sister had roundly refused.

Her mind wandered to the changes at home. With Aunt Maddie’s help, Papa had employed a governess and companion in one person. Mrs Maria Poppins had worked magic on Kitty—who for some weeks now wanted to be known as Kate—and Lydia. The change in attitude of the latter had not been transitory. Evidently the lesson, which Papa had engineered with Colonel Forster’s cooperation, along with many officers’ assistance, had chased the old brash, vulgar, and inappropriately flirtatious Lydia away on a permanent basis.

Unfortunately, there was one in the house who was not sanguine with the changes, especially in her favourite. Mama had not been able to accept Lydia was fully agreeable to being back in, as was Kate. She also insisted on continuing to use the name Kitty rather than comply with her second youngest daughter’s request to be called Kate. After correcting her mother a few times, Kate refused to answer to that version of her name. Eventually Mama gave up.

It had taken the loss of two quarters’ allowance for Mrs Bennet to learn to cease trying to sabotage Mrs Poppins’s work. So far Mama was refusing to adjust her behaviour, and in response Papa had restricted her to the house. He was threatening to send her out to a cottage if she did not make an effort to amend her character. Elizabeth was aware this was not a threat upon which he would follow through with, unless Mama pushed him to the extreme, leaving him no choice. As much as he wanted Mama to change, at this point, there was only so far Papa was willing to go.

In a snit, Mama had refused to plan the celebration for Elizabeth’s birthday. As an exercise in menu planning and to experience everything which was needed to be done when inviting guests to one’s home, Mrs Poppins had supervised her two charges, and between them they had planned everything to perfection .

When Elizabeth thought of her mother, she wanted to be hopeful the Bennet matriarch had the capacity for change. Her prayer was for Mama to stop fighting against Papa’s attempt to improve the family. Like Lydia before she had been shocked out of her bad behaviour, Mama was rather stubborn and could not, or refused to, see the only one she was harming was herself.

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

Wickham was as bored as he had ever been in his life. At least he had a decent bed to sleep in, the food was more than acceptable and nothing like the swill he had been forced to tolerate at the boarding house on Edward Street. The toff always had a few of his men, all armed, watching the cottage.

It was not like he, Denny, and Johnson—the name of the third man—had to remain indoors all the time. They were permitted to stretch their legs under the watchful eyes of the guards.

A good amount of time each day, weekends included, were taken up with the drilling of bringing a horse instantly to speed and being able to grab and lift something at a full gallop. Wickham had always been a natural horseman; it was one of the few things he was as accomplished at as Darcy and Fitzwilliam. One of the guards must have reported Wickham’s proficiency in the saddle to the master because from a certain day on, he had been the only one to train in grabbing and lifting the target, which was made to look like a person.

Denny and Johnson, neither of whom were bad in the saddle, were taught to do what Younge would be doing, causing a distraction. Wickham calculated their employer did not want to use his own men as they could be tied back to him, whereas as far as the world was concerned there was no connection between the four men who would carry out the task and their benefactor.

The lord had been so impressed he had promised Wickham would be paid double, if he performed on the day it would be done in actuality, as well, or better, than he had been doing in the training.

As pleased as Wickham was with the promise of an increased reward, the particular amount reminded him of leaving Pemberley subsequent to old Mr Darcy’s death with only the same amount as he would earn in his pocket. Wickham had been sure all his charm, combined with fawning over his godfather, would have gained him much more than one thousand pounds in the will. Had the prig not added three thousand in lieu of the living, he would have left with far less money than he had wheedled out of the bastard with stories of wanting to study the law. When Darcy had refused to pay him more for the living, it had been surprising which had led to his aborted plan to elope with the mousy Georgiana Darcy. It was all bad luck. Just like with cards, if damned Darcy had arrived two days later, he would have taken possession of her dowry, and then he would have been able to bleed Darcy dry by using the new Mrs Wickham as leverage.

A little voice told him Fitzwilliam would have killed him long before he was able to claim the dowry, and according to the prig, he would not have received it in any case, but Wickham ignored it as it did not fit with what he chose to believe.

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

Elizabeth stood in the drive with her father and four sisters to welcome the Gardiners the afternoon before her momentous day.

“Welcome Gardiner, Maddie, and children,” Bennet drawled once the six Gardiners had alighted. “You are all most welcome. Gardiner, once you have changed, I would like to meet with you in the study please.”

Gardiner nodded to his brother. “It is good to see all of you even if Lizzy is about to become ancient,” he jested .

“Wizzy to be anc…ant?” Peter, at three the youngest Gardiner, verified with knit eyebrows.

Eleven-year-old Eddy, the eldest Gardiner child, took his little brother’s hand. “Papa was funning with Lizzy, telling her she is very old,” he explained to his brother.

“Lizzy is younger than Mama and Papa, is she not?” May, at six, the second youngest checked.

“I should hope I am, May dear,” Elizabeth smiled. She shifted her vision to Lilly, the second eldest Gardiner offspring who had turned nine in March. “My you have grown, Lilly.” Seeing the other three were about to protest, she added, “ all of you have grown since I last saw you.” The statement satisfied the other three cousins.

The six Gardiners greeted all the Bennets who had been waiting to welcome them. Their parents having prepared them, the children did not ask where Aunt Fanny was. Thereafter everyone made their way into the house. Madeline held back and asked her eldest nieces to remain with her.

“Jane and Lizzy, you both wrote and described the changes in your two youngest sisters, especially Lydia. I must admit it sounded too good to be true, but what a difference. Not one word about gifts or meeting officers,” Madeline noted. “Also, it seems Mrs Poppins’s lessons are being well learned.”

“Kate began to change while Lyddie was in Brighton, and once the latter decided she needed to make adjustments to her behaviour, she has been working very diligently. What you noted about the lady’s teaching is correct. It does not hurt that Mrs Poppins is a miracle worker,” Jane reported. “If only Mama would embrace the changes in the family.”

“We can only hope. The differences are plainly evident, especially your father coming out of his study. It is all very welcome to see,” Madeline observed.

“You will hear no argument from us, Aunt Maddie,” Elizabeth agreed. “You know what they say about Rome not being built in a day, do you not?” Her Aunt Maddie nodded.

That evening Elizabeth fulfilled a promise to Peter and the other three Gardiner children when she told them a ‘ stowie’ as Peter called it, before their parents said their goodnights in the nursery. The children loved how Lizzy made different voices for each character in the tale she was reading or telling them.

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

After he had changed, Gardiner met Bennet in the study, where Bennet turned his wife’s dowry of five thousand pounds over to his brother-in-law to invest and promised to begin sending him as much as he was able starting with the next quarter day, which would include his wife’s forfeited allowance.

Dinner that evening was a joyous affair, except for Fanny’s sniffing and complaints of ill-usage. A stern look from her husband caused her to close her mouth, so it only left her sniffing. It garnered her no sympathy from anyone at the table. Even her brother and sister-in-law paid her no heed.

Lizzy reaching her majority the next day was celebrated by all except her mother. Thanks to a derogatory comment she had made about her second daughter during the morning meal, she had returned to her chamber with an indisposition after her husband had taken her to his study for a discussion. The atmosphere became lighter once the mistress of the estate was no longer present.

The birthday was celebrated in the early afternoon. Cook baked a cake with chocolate as an ingredient, an expensive treat rarely seen at Longbourn. As Lizzy had a sweet tooth, Bennet had authorised the expenditure. In addition to the cake, there were various flavoured pastries and biscuits, including shortbread which was a family favourite.

After wishes from all, the family party moved into the drawing room where gifts were waiting to be opened. Lydia had made Elizabeth a new bonnet, while Kate presented her with a drawing she had made depicting one of the views from the summit of Oakham Mount. Jane and Mary pooled some of their allowance to gift Elizabeth with a matching pelisse and shawl.

The Gardiners presented her with a gift from all of them, a gown and two day dresses. Elizabeth tried to protest it was too much especially as she was joining them for the holiday. Her aunt and uncle made it clear one had nothing to do with the other, pointing out having her along gained them much, thanks to her helping with the children, especially with her stories at bedtime.

Papa presented her with a set of books which encompassed her three favourite plays written by William Shakespeare. No one commented on the fact there was nothing from the Bennet matriarch.

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

Since arriving at the Granier Hotel more than a month past, Bingley’s younger sister had refused to set foot outside of the suite until her nose healed and all the bruising around her eyes had vanished.

It had taken her almost a full month before she would look at herself in the mirror because she did not want to see her beautiful face marred. The day Caroline Bingley did so, she was horrified. Her nose was no longer a perfect Grecian one, it was bent towards the right and in her opinion it looked hideous. Her shrieking and screams had brought her brother running.

“Caroline, what ails you?” Bingley asked.

“Do you not see this monstrous thing on my face! How will Mr Darcy marry me with such a gruesome nose on my person? How did this happen? It is that quack’s fault!” Miss Bingley shrieked.

“Do you not remember Mr Bolton made no secret of the fact your nose may not look like it did before? It is thanks to the force of your falling on it, and the floor being too unforgiving,” Bingley pointed out. “Also Caroline, have you forgotten Mr Darcy’s words that he will never marry you under any circumstances?”

“That was not a dream?” Miss Bingley verified as she froze in place.

“No, Caroline, it was not. Neither was his cutting ties with me due to my failure to check you,” Bingley reminded his sister. “The way mother spoilt you, and then Louisa and I pandered to your every whim did you no favours.”

“How am I to show my face in society again?” Miss Bingley enquired ignoring what her brother had said.

“If you attempt to show yourself in London society, you will be cut. Darcy has withdrawn all support for us and has let it be known all association between us is ended. Not only that, but he told all to the Countess of Matlock, and as you know, there are few leaders of the Ton she does not know.”

For the first time since her injury, the enormity of the mountain placed in her path became clear to Miss Bingley. “I will have my maid acquire some black veils for me, and then we must make for Scarborough.”

Thinking his sister was finally seeing reason, Bingley agreed.

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

Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam arrived at the house the agent had leased on the former’s behalf on Coast Road on the twentieth day of June. They had escorted Anna, Mrs Annesley, the former’s maid and six of the most trusted footmen Darcy employed. They were led by the ever faithful Thompson, and would make sure no undesirables importuned his sister. Neither of her guardians were willing to take a chance; their ward would be well protected at all times.

Coast Road ran past the shopping area and Prinny’s Pavilion. Except for the Regent’s palatial residence and the jetty beyond it. The sea side of the street was free of structures allowing an unobstructed view of those who would promenade along that side of the road, the beach, and the ocean beyond. There was a section with bathing machines for rent about a half mile up the beach from 39 Coast Road where Anna would be residing for the next month or two. She was fully aware that if she wanted to leave sooner, all she had to do was send a request to her brother with the courier William would leave behind.

Thanks to the faithless Mrs Younge not posting letters from Anna, or handing her letters which had arrived for her, Darcy would not rely on the Royal Post this time.

The house was staffed by a friendly housekeeper, Mrs Lancaster. She was not very tall and rather portly with pink cheeks. Her husband was the butler. In addition, there were four maids, a cook, scullery maids, and two footmen. Darcy issued orders that at least two of his footmen plus one of the local men would be on duty at all times.

On the final Monday in June, the two guardians departed for London. They were well pleased that their ward was happy and more importantly, well and truly guarded. After a teary goodbye from their ward, the cousins climbed into the Darcy travelling coach and they were off.

They travelled until they reached the Golden Bull Inn, a little more than halfway to London, which was the same one they had stayed at on the way to Brighton. At that time, Darcy had reserved chambers for himself and Richard for the return journey.

It was just as well they had; the inn was at capacity that particular night.

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

Gardiner had sent a footman ahead on his horse to find an inn for the night. He preferred the Golden Bull Inn; however, his man had returned with the news that the Inn was full, but he had found and booked rooms for them at the Strutting Rooster Inn, less than five miles the London side of the Golden Bull.

Although the Strutting Rooster was not quite as good as the Golden Bull, the Gardiners and Elizabeth found it more than adequate.

The next morning, they were off with the sun so they would not arrive in Brighton too late. It was about two miles after their departure that Elizabeth noticed a coach travelling in the opposite direction, as she looked out of the window on her side where she was seated on the forward-facing bench.

She did not think much of it, until they were passing each other, and she saw a crest she had seen before. In fact, she had seen it in Meryton; it was the Darcy coat of arms.

Elizabeth shrunk down in case it was Mr Darcy within, and he saw her, as she felt embarrassed by her prejudices against him—many of which had been proved wrong by Mr Wickham’s perfidy in Meryton. She knew it was silly of her, but she nevertheless did so. When she noted her aunt’s raised eyebrows, she made as if she had not noticed.

In his coach, Darcy too was sitting on the forward facing bench next to the window closest to the carriage they were passing. For an instant he thought he saw Miss Elizabeth in the other conveyance.

He dismissed it as his over-active imagination and wishful thinking. After all, in his mind’s eye, he saw her everywhere.