Chapter 23

W hen the letter arrived from Richard informing Darcy of Wickham’s end as a coward who was attempting to desert, he felt mixed emotions. It was about a fortnight after Wickham’s life had ended. On the one hand, he mourned the young boy who used to be his good friend, while at the same time he knew the man his former friend had become deserved the end he had received.

Darcy believed God put each person on the earth to make His world better. All Wickham had done since he had become the man he was at the end was destroy lives for his own selfish desires. He had a feeling he knew where Wickham was now, and it was not in heaven. He lifted his eyes to the heavens to where he was sure his parents were spending eternity. “I tried Father, so many times, to redirect your godson onto a righteous path, but he steadfastly refused to take it. I am sure when you observed what he attempted with Giana, you finally saw the truth of your former protégé. I am sorry I did not show you proof of his behaviour while you were alive. I cannot but think had I acted then, between us we may have been able to save him,” Darcy told his father.

As he said the words, he heard Richard’s voice in his head telling him he had to stop taking responsibility for the actions of others. Wickham had made his own choices. If Darcy was honest with himself, he would have to admit that there was nothing other than giving the man money which would have placated him. Even if he had done so, Wickham would have run through the funds in short order, like he had with the four thousand pounds he had received after Father’s death. He would have come back again with his hand open for more, just as he had done in the past.

He remembered the letter Mr Bennet had written in which he had berated Darcy. The man was correct. Rather than stop Wickham, even after his attempt to elope with Giana, he had enabled his behaviour. That was not an error he would make again with anyone else.

It was close to the start of Christmastide, and since the Fitzwilliams were remaining in London, it would only be the two Darcy’s celebrating alone in their enormous house in Derbyshire. Of course there would be the dinner for the servants and tenants and the Christmas boxes to be distributed. However that did not fill the pangs of loneliness. When he thought of how to begin to wash away his and Giana’s solitude at Pemberley, the face of the woman he loved appeared to him.

He was under no illusion that if he had a chance to win her hand at all, he would have to work very hard to show her the man behind the mask.

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

Bennet surveyed his family, which included one of his two future sons-in-law and Jane’s soon to be siblings-in-law, the Hursts. He could not but be pleased at the changes which had occurred since he had decided to become a better husband and father. He saw contentment.

As they were wont to do, Jane and Bingley were seated with their heads together, the love flowing between them palpable. Mary sat looking off into space not paying much attention to what Lizzy had been saying. Bennet understood his middle daughter’s distraction. It was Christmas Eve and Fitzwilliam had departed that morning to join his family in London, as he had promised to do. Before the younger man had departed the area, he had arrived with Bingley and the Hursts that morning in his own coach before taking leave of the Bennets, especially one Bennet in particular. He had requested leave to say his farewells to Mary in private, and Bennet had asked Fitzwilliam to join him in his study first.

Once the door had been closed, he had asked Fitzwilliam when and if he intended to propose to Mary. The former colonel had explained about his vow of allowing Mary time until Twelfth Night was past. He told how he had already amended his promise to himself when Mary had indicated her willingness to enter into a formal courtship rather than an informal one. So it was not if, but when. If God decided to call his brother home before then, he would mourn his brother for six weeks before proposing.

Bennet had permitted the private farewelling as long as the door to the parlour was left open. Since then, Mary had been happy about what he had told her, while melancholy that her Richard would be in London until after, at the very minimum, Twelfth Night.

He felt proud as his eyes rested on Lizzy. His second daughter had made many amendments to her character since she had accepted her judgements were not infallible. She was still his vibrant, intelligent, book-loving daughter, but she was far more careful to assimilate all facts, especially those which proved her positions wrong, before reaching a decision.

Next, Bennet saw Mrs Doubtfire sitting and tatting with one eye on Catherine and Lydia, as always. The woman had worked wonders with both of his youngest daughters since her employment. Catherine had become very much her own person, and it seemed she had a hidden talent for drawing and sketching. An art master had been employed at the companion’s suggestion. Seeing that she had not played a note less than two months past, she was also learning, and doing quite well, to play the pianoforte.

As far as Lydia was concerned, a true lady was beginning to take form. She was using her intelligence for positive pursuits and excelling in her lessons, especially sums, and even more complicated maths. She had chosen to learn the harp like her eldest sister had years ago and was showing promise. Since the start of Mrs Doubtfire’s tutelage, there had been not one tantrum, stamping of feet, or talk of officers.

Mary had also benefited from Mrs Doubtfire’s presence. She had had almost daily lessons on the pianoforte, and her playing had improved steadily. Mary had begun to infuse her playing with emotion, much like Lizzy did, which made her a much better pianist. Although she had been more reluctant at first, even Lizzy had joined the companion’s lessons on the instrument. Since she had, her fingering had improved significantly.

Lastly, Bennet’s eyes settled on his beloved wife. She had made many changes on her own, and he had assisted when she had requested it from him. However, his Fanny had also benefited from Mrs Doubtfire’s presence. There were no formal lessons as such, but from time-to-time, Fanny would ask Elsa, as she called her in private, for advice. The woman who was fast becoming her friend had been the mistress of an estate before her useless husband had gambled away all their money and property. In his melancholy and when he had been deep in his cups, he had crossed the street without paying attention. A cart loaded with barrels of ale had hit him and ended his life leaving his wife destitute which was why she had begun working as a governess, and then some years later, as a companion.

The Hursts were a welcome addition to the family party. Since Miss Bingley had been banished, Hurst no longer feigned sleep in drawing rooms and Bennet had discovered a man whose company he enjoyed. Mrs Hurst and Bennet’s three eldest daughters had become very friendly. It seemed once Miss Bingley’s pernicious presence was removed, Mrs Hurst had come out of her younger sister’s shadow and was her true self, and a person his daughters enjoyed knowing.

There were two families missing, which in Bennet’s opinion would have completed their gathering perfectly. It was the first year in the last ten that the Gardiners would not be present when this year’s yule log was lit from a remaining piece of last year’s. Their two sons had contracted influenza. Thankfully it was not a very bad case, but of course, even had this been summer, they would not travel until Eddy and Peter were both completely healthy. With that said, Phillips had elected to spend Christmas with the Gardiners.

The family he had been missing for many years was his younger brother. Of course he wanted to meet his nephews and niece, but Bennet had waited more than a quarter of a century to hug James. His return was so close he could taste it, but yet they were so far. Bennet wondered how James and his family were enjoying themselves among the Nordic people.

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

“Pa, they have trees for Christmas like Grootmoeder and Grootvader van Buren always did,” Henry exclaimed when they called on the Skarsg?rds on the morning of Christmas Eve to see if Abe could be moved to their house yet. Even after all the years since the van Buren grandparents had gone to their final rewards, the three Bennet children still used the Dutch words for grandmother and grandfather. “But they hang theirs from the ceiling.”

“You know the tradition began with the Germanic people, and spread to the kingdom of Holland. It seems to have been adopted by Nordic and Scandinavian people as well, but they have their own way of celebrating the season,” James told his eldest. “You can see they do not decorate their trees like we do.”

“We will have a tree at Netherfield Park, will we not, Pa?” Maria enquired. “Even if our cousins do not have one?”

“Yes, Maria dearest, we will. We will speak about this later. Mr Skarsg?rd, the surgeon, comes.”

“You are here to ask if Abe may be moved to your home, correct?” Lars Skarsg?rd verified in his heavily accented English.

“Indeed that is why we are here,” James confirmed. In the more than a month they had been in Stykkishólmur they had been made to feel reasonably welcome, but yet they well knew they were outsiders by the little distance the locals kept from them. However, the coins James spent were always welcome.

“I am sorry, but young Abe needs another three to four weeks before it be safe to move him,” the surgeon explained. “Then he can move to your house. After that, about a month and then you will be able to continue your path to Englandi .”

James was used to the Skarsg?rd men using words in their own language from time to time. Thankfully, the one for England was easy to identify. Others were harder to translate, although what they had been speaking of usually helped them understand what was being said. He did not miss the looks of disappointment on his children’s faces. “It will be the first Christmas day we are separated as a family,” James explained.

“Then you all come and be here,” Skarsg?rd insisted.

“All of us? There are seven more,” James checked.

“All of you,” the surgeon clarified.

When the Bennets visited Abe, his dejection at not being able to be moved changed to joy when he was informed of his family’s invitation to join the Skarsg?rds on the morrow.

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

After visiting with Abe for about an hour, James Bennet and his oldest two arrived at the rented house. Jemimah was waiting for them. “Dis comes for you, Masser,” she stated as she handed her employer a letter.

James recognised the writing immediately. It was from Thomas, and appropriate that it arrived on the day of Christmas Eve. He saw it as a gift from his brother. “Come,” he told Henry and Maria, “your uncle Thomas sent a missive, we will go read it together.”

“Do you not want to read it in private?” Henry enquired.

“No, Son. If it was not for you three forcing me to admit how stubborn I had been, I would not have reconnected with my brother. As such, you should be here when I read it. I am only sorry Abe is not present, but we will let him read it when we see him on the morrow,” James explained.

He sat on the sofa, Henry on one side and Maria on the other. James broke the familiar Bennet seal and after unfolding and smoothing the paper, he held it out a little so his son and daughter would be able to read it with him.

9 December 1811

Longbourn,

James,

You will never know how much your first letter lightened my heart (Fanny shares my joy), and had our dear parents still been alive, they would have been pleased beyond words that their sons have been able to reconcile.

Thank you for your consideration of writing to inform us you have been delayed in Iceland. Without the missive, when you did not arrive as expected, we would have worried ceaselessly.

As I mentioned in my letter of 1788 after our parents had been taken, I did harbour resentment against you for the way you departed, and also for you not responding to any of the letters we sent you. That is in the past and that is where any bad feelings will stay. We are neither of us the same people we were then. Both Fanny and I have forgiven you without reservation. All I want now is to see my little brother again.

Without realising it, James had held his breath on seeing the word resentment. As soon as he read the whole paragraph he began to breathe again. Thomas had mentioned anger in his letter after their parents had passed away, and if that had turned into resentment, James would have been able to understand. However, he was extremely grateful Thomas and Fanny wanted to move forward and not look back. His eyes went back to the page.

I, we all, were very sorry to hear of Abraham’s accident during the storm. We give thanks to God you all survived the ordeal and from what you wrote; my nephew will recover.

You should know my second daughter is also adventurous like your youngest son. She is named Elizabeth Rose and (I am sure you know for whom she is named), looks like a younger version of Mother right down to the colour of her eyes and we call her Lizzy. She is 20 so she has grown out of most of her tree climbing, jumping in ponds, and challenging the boys in the neighbourhood in feats of strength. Coincidently, she is a month or less older than your Henry.

Our eldest daughter, Jane Clarissa, is 22, soon to be 23. Jane is as beautiful as she is serene. She is to marry the man who coincidently, is leasing Netherfield Park, on the 18th day of January 1812. It is unfortunate you and your children will miss the wedding, but by the time you arrive, Jane and Bingley, will have returned from their wedding trip and vacated your estate.

After Lizzy, comes Mary Beth. She and Maria are within two months in age, Mary being the older. Mary has a dry wit, is very intelligent, and is the musician in the family. She is being courted by a very estimable man. If his brother, who is very ill, does not pass before then, he intends to offer for Mary after Twelfth Night.

Next is Catherine Franny, who was born on the 7th day of February 1795. I know your Abraham Thomas was born in the same month of the same year. She is our artist responsible for the drawing of the family on the last page of this letter.

“Abe and Cousin Catherine were born on the same day!” Maria exclaimed. “It is strange how each of us are born close to the dates of our cousins, except for Cousin Jane who is older.” James nodded and directed his daughter back to the missive before she asked to see the sketch prior to them completing the reading.

Our youngest, Lydia Hattie (named for her maternal grandmother and Fanny’s late sister) turned 15 recently. She was born in November 1796, about a month before your Mattie, who we all would have loved to have met, was taken with your second daughter. Lydia is also adventurous, but not in the same way Lizzy is.

All James could do was shake his head. By the dates of the children, from Thomas’s second onward, it seemed there was an invisible thread which connected the brothers, one his petulant escape from England had not succeeded in severing. His children looked at him and waited until he was ready to continue without saying a word.

Brother, you must know my desire to see you and meet my nephews and niece would not be diminished even had you not agreed to break the entail. In that case, Abe would have been able to inherit Longbourn. As long as it is a Bennet, and not that buffoon of a distant cousin of ours, who is master of this estate after I go to my reward, I will be content. My wife and daughters (the unmarried ones) will be secure (there is much to tell when you arrive) with or without Longbourn.

I know you must wait until your youngest is ready to travel, but I find I am in great anticipation of seeing you again. Fanny is keen to see us reunited, and my daughters are no less excited to come to know their uncle and cousins.

Thank you for informing us of how your children address you and Henry. Without that knowledge, I am sure there would have been an interrogation by at least two of my daughters to discover why. From my description of them above, I leave it to you to puzzle out which two.

We are all praying hard that when you are permitted to travel once Abraham is healthy enough, that the balance of the journey will be boring and uneventful.

In anticipation of seeing you,

Thomas

“We will be welcomed,” Henry pointed out. Then he thought for a while. “Pa, you went to university, did you not?”

“I did, why?” James responded.

“May I go as well? In the United States I was going to take over running the farm after you, so when you asked me, I said I did not need to go. I have heard you speak of your time at Cambridge; I would like to study where my Pa did,” Henry explained.

“Once we are situated at our estate, we will speak about schooling. If you want to go, so be it, but we need to arrive first,” James smiled at his son.

Maria knew there were no opportunities for women to attain higher learning in England, so she held her peace. At least she would have been able to study to become a teacher in the United States. She pushed the ideas of higher education out of her head, they needed to prepare for Christmas.

The three looked at the drawing of the Longbourn Bennets that Catherine had made. It was done by a skilled artist. Thomas looked like James expected he would, his daughters were all very pretty, just like their mother, and Lizzy did in fact look greatly like his late mother. As Maria had some of her late Grandmother Bennet’s looks, she and Lizzy looked somewhat alike, except it seemed from the likeness that Maria was taller.

“Now we have to meet them in person,” Henry stated. His father and sister did not disagree with him.