Chapter 17

T he letter Bennet had been waiting for from his sister-in-law arrived in the post that morning. Before he broke the Gardiner seal and read it at his own leisure, as he had in the past, he rang for Hill and had the butler inform the mistress that the master was requesting her presence in his study.

Fanny had been in conference with her housekeeper when the butler delivered his message. As the review of the menus and household matters was complete, she stood and made her way towards the study. Unlike the day she had thought her husband had summoned her to make sport of her, she knew that was no longer the case. Since that day Thomas had been warm, respectful, solicitous, and loving. She was overjoyed that the love which had originally drawn them to one another, had been rekindled. She blushed as she walked towards his study thinking of the pleasures of having her husband in her bed again, something which had ceased after Lydia’s birth.

She gave a single knock before pushing the study door open. Her heart warmed when she saw the expression of pleasure on her husband’s countenance as soon as he saw her.

“I trust I did not interrupt you, my dear?” Bennet enquired.

“You did not, Thomas. I had just completed my meeting with Mrs Hill,” Fanny replied with a smile.

“Will you join me on the settee, please love,” Bennet requested. He loved how Fanny’s colour heightened when he used endearments. “Maddie has sent me a letter, and I have a feeling it is regarding the companion for Kitty.”

She joined her husband on the indicated seat and felt a thrill as their legs touched. She lamented all the wasted years between them, but there was nought she could do to change that now. All she could control was how she behaved in the future, and she was determined never to return to being the annoying, flighty, gossipy, nervous woman she used to be.

Bennet broke the seal and held the missive so both of them could read the words easily.

5 November 1811

23 Gracechurch Street

London

Thomas,

I have done as you requested and made enquiries about a companion who has experience as a governess. At the last meeting of the charitable board on which I serve, I spoke to the Countess of Matlock, who is the chair of our board.

She told me of a lady who is the sister of her niece’s (Miss Darcy’s) companion, Mrs Annesley. The lady’s name is Mrs Elsa Doubtfire. She has worked as both a governess and a companion, and has an extensive education. In addition she has great skill on the pianoforte and the harp and is able to teach both.

Lady Matlock shared that had Mrs Doubtfire been available when Mr Darcy and her younger son were seeking a new companion for their ward, she would have recommended her to them. They and Miss Darcy are well pleased with Mrs Annesley, so they do not repine the choice they made.

Her most recent charge married a month ago, hence, Mrs Doubtfire had taken a few weeks to relax before seeking a new position. She saw the advert we placed on your behalf and was one of five who I interviewed. Her qualifications and manner were far superior to the others, which is why I am recommending her without any reservations. She is a no-nonsense lady, so if Lydia is not at school, I believe this lady is one of the few who would be able to make sure my youngest niece behaves and pays attention to her lessons.

She is aware yours is not a large house, and you are not members of the first circles like her previous charge was, but she sees those aspects as positives. She is ready to leave the members of high society behind for a good long time.

If you write back and let me know if you would like to meet with the lady, Edward and I will take a quick holiday of a few days and bring her and the children with us. The children will be overjoyed to see their cousins again as Edward and I will be no less pleased to see all of you.

Looking forward to your reply,

Madeline

“If only we knew…” Fanny began to say when there was a knock on the door. When told to, Mrs Hill entered the study.

The housekeeper looked a little uncomfortable. “Ehrm, Mistress, When I took Miss Lydia her meal, she was not interested in eating due to the pains which accompany her…indisposition, which commenced this morning,” Mrs Hill blushed while not daring to look at the master.

“Mrs Hill, I will not need my wife’s salts if you use the word courses . I live in a house with six females, it is hard to avoid talk of that subject from time to time,” Bennet assured the housekeeper. “That is very good news, we thank you.”

The housekeeper bobbed a curtsey to the master and mistress and exited the study, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Thomas, that is the best of news. It means our youngest is not with child,” Fanny said with much relief. “If this Mrs Doubtfire is as good as Maddie says she is, can we not see if Lydia can be educated without having to be sent to the wilds of Westmorland? You have not heard back from the Mother Superior at the Sisters of the Eternal Hope, have you?”

“I have not, I am hopeful there will be a letter any day now,” Bennet replied. “You and I will speak to Lydia, and when the Gardiners arrive with Mrs Doubtfire, she will evaluate our youngest. If the companion feels she can work with and correct Lydia, then she will remain. If not, Lydia will be on her way to Westmorland as soon as I hear from the convent. If she remains and misbehaves, then she will also be off to the school and will remain there for two years before being allowed to visit us.”

“Then you have decided to have my brother and sister bring the lady so you may evaluate her?” Fanny verified.

“As long as you agree, then yes, I intend to write in the affirmative,” Bennet confirmed, “but, Fanny, it is we who will make the determination after we both meet with her.”

Her husband’s including her in this way was very gratifying to Fanny, but thoughts of any of her daughters being sent hundreds of miles from home troubled her. “Although I would prefer Lydia not be sent away, if that is what we need to do, it will be done. As much as I will miss her, I know it is for her own good we do this. I am so sorry I did not educate her properly. If only the youngest two had spent time with Maddie like Jane and Lizzy did.”

“Yet Mary did not, but she behaves as she should,” Bennet pointed out. “Our two eldest tried to impart what they had been taught by Maddie to all three of their younger sisters. Mary was the only one who allowed herself to learn from them. It is our failure, although much more my own. I could have insisted you allow all three to be educated by their older sisters, and I did not. I saw how Lydia convinced Kitty to ignore what Jane and Lizzy were telling them, and I thought it was a good joke. Better yet, I should have employed a governess as soon as Jane was old enough.”

“Thomas, as you have said we both have many could haves, should haves, and many more regrets, but I agree with you that we need to look forward,” Fanny responded as she squeezed one of her husband’s hands.

“Thank you, Fanny, I needed that reminder of my words to chase the maudlin thoughts away, now rather than feel missish I am hopeful.” Bennet kissed his wife, stood, and went to sit behind his desk. He scribed the reply to his sister-in-law asking her to bring Mrs Doubtfire to them at their earliest convenience. “That was the easy piece,” said he as he allowed the ink to dry before he sealed his missive, “we need to go and confront our youngest, but knowing that the first few days of the courses are the worst, should we wait?”

“Our youngest does not suffer in that way like some of our other girls do, so no delay is needed,” Fanny clarified and waited until the letter was sealed and the direction written. After Hill was rung for and told to engage an express rider as soon as may be, husband and wife made their way up the stairs to the locked nursery door.

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

“Hello Wicky,” Fitzwilliam drawled nonchalantly. After Forster told him about the conversation with Wickham, they had agreed it would not hurt for the seducer to have a few days to lie and stew.

“W-what a-a-are y-y-y-you g-g-going t-to d-do w-w-w-w-with m-m-me?” Wickham stammered when he heard the voice of the man who instilled terror in him. He did not have to raise his head to see who it was. At least the pain from the cuts on his back had begun to subside, a little.

Rather than answer, the Colonel unsheathed his sabre and pulled the tip across the bars of the door to Wickham’s cell.

Wickham knew what the metal on metal sound was, and as he could envision Fitzwilliam plunging the cold steel into his person, he had to fight to not relieve himself at that instant as he turned cold with the abject fear he was feeling.

“Do you know why you are no longer headed for debtor’s prison and will soon be on your way to the Kingdom of Spain to fight for King and country?” Fitzwilliam asked. Not trusting himself to speak, Wickham shook his head briefly. “Which gentlewoman did you seduce with your lies and then steal her virtue? Before you think to prevaricate, we know the answer to this question already. Did you think your seducing the daughter of a gentleman would remain unknown?”

“Why would y-you care about that lightskirt?” Wickham enquired regaining a little of his confidence. “I will make it known if…” Hearing the sabre being unsheathed once again instantly made Wickham close his mouth.

“You mean like you did when you claimed to have compromised my ward?” Fitzwilliam thundered. “If you think I will allow you to blacken the family’s name because you are a bastard seducer, you are wrong! I will cut your lying tongue from your mouth first and then your fingers will be chopped off so you will not be able to write.”

Wickham had fought valiantly to stop his bladder from allowing its contents to spill out, but he was scared to the extent he had no more control over that organ. He felt the warm liquid pooling on the hard pallet below him.

“Wicky, it seems that you have soiled yourself again,” Fitzwilliam sneered. “As soon as Mr Jones says you may be moved, you will be on your way to join your new regiment, Private Wicky. You will be going to fight for King and country, but know this. Any attempt to desert will end with bullets in your back from those around you. If Miss Darcy’s, Miss Lydia’s, or the name of any other you have tried to harm crosses your lips, I will make sure you die a slow and extremely painful death. Your days of leaving havoc behind you for others to clean up are over. You had better make peace with your maker soon so when your end comes you will not go directly to hell.”

His life as he knew it was well and truly over. Wickham cursed the day his father had taken a position as Pemberley’s steward.

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

“I want out of this hellish place!” Lydia screeched when her parents entered the nursery, locking the door behind them. She closed her mouth when she saw her mother approaching her with her hand pulled back.

With her daughter’s cessation of her caterwauling, Fanny stopped walking and lowered her hand. “That kind of behaviour, and worse, is the reason you, and you alone, are locked in this place,” Fanny said firmly. “The only purpose of your father and I to be speaking to you now is because we know your courses began, which means you are not with child.”

Seeing Lydia perk up, Bennet spoke before she began to spout nonsense. “That fact only means you will not be cast out of Longbourn and the family on a permanent basis. Depending on your willingness and ability to amend your behaviour, that may yet occur,” he warned.

Lydia looked like she had been kicked in the gut by a stallion’s hind legs. “You would banish me?” she squeaked.

“After what you have done, what did you expect?” Fanny demanded. “Even though you are not with child, if what you have done were known in the neighbourhood, then yes, we would have to cut you from the family to stop your sisters from partaking in your ruin.”

“B-but I-I w-w-was y-your f-f-favourite,” Lydia stammered.

“The important word there is was . Your father and I own we made many errors, one of them was choosing favourites and showing that favouritism. For my part, I should never have allowed you out at fourteen, and the advice I gave you about how to catch a man was all wrong,” Fanny admitted. “That being said, never once did I tell you to allow a man to take any liberties with you, but I did tell you your virtue is to be gifted only to your husband after marriage.”

The shock she would have been cast out on her own, that it could still occur, had shaken her to the very core of who she was. “I believed his lies,” Lydia owned with her eyes downcast.

“Lydia, as much as I used to call you one of the silliest girls in the realm, I know you are not unintelligent,” Bennet interjected. “At least let us be honest here. You knew what you were doing was very wrong, but you so much wanted to best Lizzy that you did what he wanted you to do. You leaned on the lies he told you as a crutch to excuse your behaviour once it became known to us. By the way, Lizzy felt a friendship for Mr Wickham, but never more than that. Now that she, and everyone else in the area, knows he was a wolf in sheep’s clothing among us, your sister dislikes the man as much as the rest of us do.”

Realising her future place in her family rested on her owning the truth, Lydia fell back to sit on her bed and hung her head. “Papa is correct,” she said softly. “I could not bear to think Mr Wickham liked Lizzy better than me.”

Fanny looked at her husband and both nodded. “You will remain here until the lady we are meeting with to determine if she will be employed to help you and Kitty become credible gentleladies, arrives. Once we have offered her a place in our household and she accepts, she will speak with you,” Fanny began to relate.

Bennet continued, “It will do you no good to be less than honest when you speak with her. If she determines you are unteachable, you will be sent to a school for wayward young ladies in Westmorland, and there you will remain for two years before you are allowed to come home. If once she begins to teach you, Mrs Doubtfire feels you will not, or cannot learn, then the next day you will be on your way to the north.”

“If you do remain, you must acknowledge you are back in; you will wear clothing appropriate for your age; and you will have to vow that until we decide otherwise, you will remain in,” Fanny completed what they wanted to impart to their youngest.

“There is no answer required from you as of yet. Once the new companion speaks to you, she will report to your mother and me. At that time we will decide how to move forward. As soon as we do, then we will speak to you about it,” Bennet stated.

After her mother unlocked the door and her parents exited, she heard the click of the lock being engaged. Lydia sat without moving; she had much about which to think.

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

Mrs Louisa Hurst presided over a celebratory meal to honour the engagement of her brother to Miss Bennet, or as she had been asked to address her future sister-in-law, Jane. In a way, she missed Caroline as the sister she could have been, but she did not repine the lack of nastiness and chaos which followed the youngest Bingley everywhere she went. Added to that, her relationship with Harold had improved greatly ever since Caroline had been cast out. Besides, as she had said to her sister, she had caused all of her own problems, so she had no one to blame but herself. Unfortunately, when it came to seeing how others, like Mr Darcy, felt about her, Caroline was blind.

Word of Caroline’s run in with four countesses and a duchess had reached Louisa’s ears. Only her younger sister would not believe she was ruined and try forcing her way into Madam Chambourg’s, a place where she had never been welcomed. She had wasted enough time on her wayward sister, so she concentrated on her guests.

As she had not had much contact with the Bennets since her return to Hertfordshire to act as her brother’s hostess, she still marvelled at the changes she saw in that family. Louisa could not believe the Mrs Bennet sitting and speaking quietly to Lady Lucas was the same one they had met some months ago.

Miss Kitty was sitting with a demure posture, just as a young lady who was not out should, and best of all, the worst behaving Bennet, Miss Lydia, was not present.

When she remembered she had been willing to support Caroline in her quest to split Charles from Miss Bennet, Louisa still felt embarrassed. As soon as all of Caroline’s lies came to light, she had realised she had been ready to serve her younger sister’s aims without thought of their brother’s happiness. Then again, the only interests Caroline had ever cared about were her own.

The more she came to know Jane, Lizzy, and Mary, the more Louisa Hurst liked them. She looked across at Colonel Fitzwilliam who was, as he had been at every meal they shared so far, sitting next to Mary. There was talk in town regarding Viscount Hilldale not being well. Could it be she was looking at the next viscount and viscountess?

Determined to become better acquainted with Miss Mary Bennet, Richard Fitzwilliam had applied for and been granted extended leave from his regiment. The more time he spent with her, the more he came to enjoy her company.

He was aware she had only turned nineteen in October past, so he did not want to rush her, however, he did not think she was indifferent to him. He would need to be with his family in a few weeks as they all wanted to spend some time with Andrew over Christmastide before he slipped away from them. He knew it was a risk, for if his brother succumbed before he had asked for Miss Mary’s hand, he would have three months of deep mourning before he could do so.

Fitzwilliam shook the melancholy thoughts from his head and returned to his conversation with the lady to whom he was quickly losing his heart.