Chapter 24

R ichard Fitzwilliam was thankful his brother was still alive, not only for that fact alone, but it meant he could travel to see the Bennets, and more explicitly his Mary. Unless she indicated she did not desire such, he intended to propose to her.

His parents would not leave Andrew’s side, but they wanted to meet Mary if she accepted him. Even when they thought she was the dowerless daughter of a country squire, Mother and Father had told him they trusted his judgement. When he had shared Mary was anything but without a fortune, they had been astounded by the amount.

Now he was in a coach on his way to Longbourn. He had spent the eve of Epiphany with his family, and departed with the light on the first Monday in January 1812. If he received the answer he was hoping for, he would request of Bennet if Mary and a chaperone, or as many as Bennet desired, could accompany him to London so she could meet his parents. He would not use Hilldale House yet as his brother still lived, but he did have a house he could use where he would spend the night, thus allowing Mary to stay at Matlock House.

He smiled when he thought of the ridiculous letter his Aunt Catherine had written to Father when that idiotic parson of hers had returned after his wedding to tell of the courtship between her nephew and one of the lowly Miss Bennets. To amuse himself and pass the time, he pulled it out of his inside jacket pocket and began to re-read it.

10 December 1811

Rosings Park

Reginald,

A report of a most alarming nature reached me when my parson returned with his wife from Hertfordshire. I was told that not only is one lowly Bennet sister on the point of being most advantageously married, but that the middle sister of five, Miss Mary Bennet, would, in all likelihood, soon afterwards be united to my nephew. My own nephew, Richard Fitzwilliam! Though I know it must be a scandalous falsehood, though I would not injure him so much as to suppose the truth of it possible, I instantly resolved on writing to you, that I might make my sentiments known.

I demand this report be universally contradicted! Do you not know such a report has already been spread abroad? You cannot pretend to be ignorant of it! I am sure it has been industriously circulated by the Bennets who will be impecunious when their father dies, and my parson inherits their estate.

You must publicly declare there is no foundation for it. I refuse to allow the noble Fitzwilliam name to be associated with these nobodies. The distinction of rank must be preserved!

This farce must be impossible. While you retain the use of your reason, I know you will not allow such a travesty to occur. I thought your second son was stronger than this, but to allow some hussy to use her arts and allurements on him and in a moment of infatuation make him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family is insupportable. This nobody has drawn him in.

You cannot allow this because honour, decorum, prudence, nay, interest, forbid it. Yes, Brother, interest; for do not expect this nobody to be noticed by his family or friends if you permit your son to wilfully act against the inclinations of all. If you allow this disgusting union to proceed, the woman will be censured, slighted, and despised, by everyone connected with him. Her alliance will be a disgrace; her name will never even be mentioned by any of us.

Come Reginald, you cannot refuse to oblige me. You would not refuse to obey the claims of duty, honour, and gratitude. Are you determined to ruin him in the opinion of all his friends, and make him the contempt of the world?

Do not make the mistake you made with your first son and allow him to run wild. If Andrew passes away, are the shades of Hilldale, Snowhaven, and the Matlock Earldom to be thus polluted by a fortune hunter of inferior birth when your younger son becomes Viscount Hilldale?

Have the boy marry Anne. Fitzwilliam has not done his duty and lost his opportunity to gain Rosings Park, so it is only right my Anne should be a countess one day.

Do not disappoint me,

Catherine

Fitzwilliam shook his head at the incoherent drivel in his aunt’s letter. After receiving this letter, it was the only time Father had left Andrew’s side. He had travelled into Kent and had given his sister a much deserved setdown. While there for his brief sojourn, he had reminded the virago that he was the executor of the late Sir Lewis’s will, and on the day Anne would turn five and twenty—in about a month—he would enforce all of the terms of said will.

Father had reported that for once his sister had had nothing to say. If that was not amusing enough for Fitzwilliam, his father had made a stop at the parsonage. He had torn a strip off William Collins’s hide, and threatened him with moving to have him defrocked if he ever interfered in his family’s business again. It had been made clear the warning included the Bennets. His father reported he had left the shaking, corpulent man in his study and departed the place. He had returned to Matlock House as dusk had begun to set in.

Lady Catherine and her sycophantic parson deserved one another. Fitzwilliam slipped the nonsense letter back into his inside jacket pocket and settled against the squabs. He was sure Bennet and Mary would enjoy seeing proof of his aunt’s intelligence .

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

When Hill showed Fitzwilliam into his study, Bennet was not surprised to see him. There had been no word of his older brother’s slipping away. As such, Bennet was certain Fitzwilliam was present for a particular purpose. It was not that he had decided to arrive almost a fortnight early for Jane and Bingley’s wedding.

“Welcome Fitzwilliam. How does your family?” Bennet enquired after they shook hands and each man had taken a seat, one behind the desk, one in front of it. “I assume you are not here to speak only to me.”

“That is an accurate surmise,” Fitzwilliam confirmed. “However, I need to show you a letter my dearest aunt posted to my father, and with your permission, I would like Mary present as well. She is entitled to see the depth of my aunt’s stupidity before she agrees to take our relationship to its natural conclusion.”

“That bad?” Bennet whistled. He rang the bell and had Hill summon his middle daughter.

It was the work of moments before Mary breezed through the door. On seeing who was with her father, she stopped and her whole countenance lit up with the brightness of the summer sun. “Richard,” she exclaimed happily. “When did you arrive?”

“Not many minutes ago,” Fitzwilliam stood and bowed to her. He waited for his beloved to sit in front of the desk before he took his seat again. “Mary, my aunt…” he explained why he wanted her to read the letter.

“I will read the nonsensical letter, but if you think this would turn me away from you, it will not. Even before you described Lady Catherine to me, I had a good mental picture of her based on her awarding a living to one like our cousin,” Mary said emphatically, all the while holding Richard’s eyes with her own. He handed over the letter. As she read, Mary’s mouth quirked several times as she fought to hold in a chortle or a giggle. When she had read the balderdash, Mary handed the letter to her father.

“Does she really believe she has the power to bend your father, a peer of the realm, to her will?” Bennet asked after he had released a guffaw or two while he had read, not succeeding in keeping his amusement at bay like Mary had.

“My aunt is under the illusion that if she wants it, so it will be. Now to relate my father’s reaction. It started off as amusement, before he decided a visit to Rosings Park was in order…” Fitzwilliam revealed all up to the Earl’s dressing down of William Collins. “Your cousin did not take being yelled at by a noble very well.”

“That man is his own worst enemy,” Bennet shook his head. “I know he was upset I refused to allow him to importune my daughters and put him out of my house. He is married, and it seems he likes to look back rather than forward. He had better not get himself defrocked because he will have no prospects. As you know, my brother and his family will arrive by the end of March. Now I am sure you did not come to discuss our respective families, did you?”

“No, no I did not. Bennet, if Mary agrees, may I address her in private?” Fitzwilliam requested.

Bennet looked at his middle daughter who vigorously nodded her agreement. He stood and made for the door, but turned and faced the couple before he exited the room. “You have ten minutes, I will leave the door cracked open a bit, and depending on Mary’s reply, we may need to speak afterwards.” With that, Bennet left and pulled the door until it was not quite shut.

Fitzwilliam stood and moved the chair he had been sitting in to the side. All the while holding her fine hazel eyes with his own piercing blue ones, he sank down onto one knee and took each of her delicate hands into one of his own large, rough hands.

“Mary Beth Bennet, from the first instant we met, I was intrigued by you. I had always scoffed at the idea of love at first sight as written about in so many gothic novels, but I believe that is what happened to me when you took up residence in my heart. That first day and each subsequent day it has become more and more yours. At this point in time, you hold my heart in your hands. Even though I have sold my commission, I am still a soldier at heart and flowery speeches are not my forte. Allow me to assure you of my irrevocable love and respect; there can never be any other but you. Mary, will you agree to marry me?”

“Like you felt about me Richard Phillip Fitzwilliam, I was attracted to you from the first time we met. I know not if it was love at first sight, but regardless of how we began, I love and respect you more than I thought possible. So yes Richard, yes, yes, yes, I will absolutely marry you.”

He rose to a standing position, not relinquishing his fiancée’s hands. “I want to seal our understanding with a kiss, no, far more than one.” Mary blushed a deep scarlet. “You are aware my brother will never leave Matlock House alive, are you not?”

Mary nodded, her colour returning to normal.

“I bring this up now because it will embargo us from setting a date. The only other way is if we were to have a hurried wedding, which I am sure your parents will not condone. From the time Andrew goes to his final reward, we will need to wait six weeks to marry. My parents have authorised six weeks of deep mourning for me rather than the full three months”

“Richard, you must know I would wait for you for as long as needed,” Mary assured her fiancé.

“In that case,” Richard gently pulled and Mary stood most willingly. She was taller than Lizzy, and he was shorter than his cousin which facilitated their mouths meeting without any bending or tilting of heads.

His lips were a little rough, but Mary understood they were thus from his days in the army. That was a part of him, so she loved his lips as much as she loved the rest of him.

There was a knock on the door and a clearing of a throat which caused the newly engaged couple to jump back one from the other. Bennet knocked one more time and entered his study. If he noticed his daughter’s swollen lips, he did not comment on that fact.

“I take it Fitzwilliam proposed to you, Mary?”

Both his daughter and Fitzwilliam nodded.

“And you accepted him?” He looked at Fitzwilliam. “This question is for Mary only. ”

Mary nodded emphatically, not trusting herself to speak yet.

“In that case you have my consent and blessings. Have you discussed a date yet?”

“I did relate…” Fitzwilliam repeated for Bennet what he had told Mary.

“That is wise,” Bennet agreed. “You were correct. Her mother and I would never have agreed to a rushed wedding. Waiting will not kill you. If you are not in mourning for your brother a month from now, I am sure my wife will agree that a month before marriage after almost two months of courting is acceptable. Speaking of which, I think we should share your news.”

As the two youngest Bennets were at their lessons with Mrs Doubtfire, Bennet had them summoned before he made the announcement. Once he had, Mary was first hugged by her mother and afterward each of her sisters in descending age order.

Bingley shook Fitzwilliam’s hand vigorously. “We will be brothers,” he exclaimed. “And Darce will be my cousin. And my banished sister said the Bennets had no wealth or connections. Ha! They have more than enough of both. She would have killed to be connected to the Darcys and Fitzwilliams. My sister never can see anything beyond her own immediate, selfish desires. Enough about her. Will you write to your cousins or tell them when they arrive the Tuesday before Jane’s and my wedding? If I am not mistaken, they will arrive at Darcy House on Friday.”

“This is news I will share in person,” Fitzwilliam responded. Once her mother and sisters had expended their excitement at the betrothal, Fitzwilliam cleared his throat. “Mrs Bennet…”

“Mother Fanny if you please,” Fanny instructed her son-in-law to be.

“ Mother Bennet and Bennet, you are aware my parents will not leave Matlock House and why.”

The Bennet parents nodded their agreement.

“They have a request though. They would like to meet their future daughter, so they ask through me if Mary might travel to London with whatever level of chaperonage you require.”

Mary looked at her parents pleadingly.

“Jane does have to return for her final fittings,” Fanny mused. “Thomas, what if all of us except for Catherine and Lydia go? The two youngest will be safe at home with Mrs Doubtfire, the Hills, and our servants.”

Neither of the two youngest Bennets voiced any complaints. Mrs Doubtfire watched her charges behave like proper ladies with immense pride in the progress both Misses Catherine and Lydia had achieved in a relatively short time. She was very much looking forward to the Darcys arriving at Netherfield Park as her sister Agnes Annesley would be arriving with them. Elsa had not seen Agnes since the latter had spent the day with her prior to her joining the Gardiners to travel to Longbourn.

“That is a good plan.” Bennet turned to Fitzwilliam. “Is there room for five of us? Bingley, I assume you will travel with us, but like Fitzwilliam here you will sleep elsewhere. I suppose we could take a suite at a hotel in London if it is a problem. What say you?”

“I have the perfect solution, Darcy House. It is across the green from Matlock House. If we leave in the morning we can spend three nights in Town. My Darcy cousins will only arrive on Friday,” Richard related.

“Are you sure Mr Darcy will be sanguine with me in his house after the way I treated him?” Elizabeth worried.

“I know William holds nothing against you,” Fitzwilliam asserted. “Besides, I am allowed to use the house as I see fit. Trust me when I tell you my cousin would never complain about my future family, his soon-to-be family, being hosted in his house. With the position and closeness to Bond Street, residing in Grosvenor Square will have you perfectly located. If I may use your desk, please Bennet, I will send an express to my mother to warn her that she will have dinner guests on the morrow.”

“Go to it, you know the way,” Bennet allowed.

Fitzwilliam looked at his fiancée lovingly and then made his way to the study.

Elizabeth was doing her best emulation of Mr Darcy. She had her back to the room and was looking out of the window into the dreary winter weather. One thing she knew. As soon as she had a chance before Jane’s and Charles’s wedding, she needed to beg Mr Darcy’s pardon for the way she behaved and her unfounded assumptions. He had been gracious in apologising; it was her turn now. She was keen to meet Miss Darcy as Mary’s Richard had painted her as a sweet, if very shy, girl who was still recovering from the late Mr Wickham’s attempted perfidy.

She found she was looking forward to seeing both Darcys. One thing she knew was if she was to make a true sketch of Mr Darcy’s character, it had to be without any of her prior prejudices.