Chapter 29

W ord the new owner of Netherfield Park had come to claim his estate travelled from house to house in the neighbourhood of Meryton like wildfire. When that news reached Lucas Lodge, Lady Lucas insisted her husband go call on the new master of the estate.

She had told Charlotte what she believed to be true, the estate belonged to the Bennets, but no word of the Bennets vacating Longbourn had reached her ears. Could it be that she was wrong?

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

When James Bennet, his sons, and daughter arrived at Netherfield Park after the family dinner, it had already been too dark to see anything of their new home. For the children especially, their arrival to the staff and servants lined up neatly in the entrance hall to welcome the new master was something they had never before seen. Although she held her peace, it almost prompted Maria to ask if those employed in the house thought they were royals.

Mrs Nichols had shown them upstairs to the family floor. They had thought the last time they would see such luxury was the night they spent at the Duke’s house in London. After all, at the van Buren farm, Maria had had a small bedroom and Henry and Abe had shared one, which was not that much larger than Maria’s. Thus, when the housekeeper showed them the suites from which they could choose, all three Bennet offspring were flabbergasted. They selected the two suites next to the master’s. Maria took the one closest to her father, while Henry and Abe the next one. For the latter two, rather than share a room as they had at the farm, they each had a chamber either side of a sitting room. If that was not enough there was a bathing room and a room for clothing off each bedchamber. Maria’s suite was identical so she would have the bedchamber closest to her brother’s suite.

After being assured the Freemans, Biggs, and Johns were all well situated on the guest floor, the Bennets eventually fell asleep in their large, soft beds.

First thing in the morning before he joined anyone to break his fast, James met with the steward, whom Thomas had assured him was a very good and knowledgeable man. He was informed that the largest of the tenant farms had recently been vacated. When the steward told him he had candidates who had applied for a lease, James instructed the man not to fill it, he had a family who would be ideal. He sent for Jeremiah and Jeminah and asked for them to be given a tour of the farm.

Thankfully the steward did not bat an eye or exhibit any reaction to the Freemans having come from Africa. The latter two were extremely keen to see the farm. With a basket made up in the kitchens, they and their children were soon off to view everything.

Next, James asked for Biggs and Johns to join him. “Given the way things are done on an estate in England where the land is worked by the tenants, you could have sought employment from one of them, or my preference would be that you would remain in my employ,” He told the two men.

They looked at one another and both nodded. “We’d much prefer workin’ for you,” Biggs, always the more talkative of the two stated.”

“In that case I would like you two to be the head footmen-guards who will look out for my children and my nieces. One of these days, word of how wealthy they are will leak out. Soon unscrupulous fortune hunters will be on the hunt. You are free to find up to fifteen men who want similar work. I will introduce you to Lord Hilldale when my brother, his family, and some friends visit in a few hours. He is a former colonel in the army so I am confident he will have a way to connect you with the type of men we need,” James stated. “You may remain in the chambers you were in last night, or if you are more comfortable, you may have rooms with the other footmen.”

“With the others is good,” Biggs said for both men. They had not felt comfortable in the fancy accommodations since they had left the Canadas. At least the cottage in Iceland had been much simpler. “You tellin’ us we gonna be working with former redcoats?”

“Do not forget, the soldiers only do what their leaders order them to do. I am sure you will find much in common with the men we find.” James rang for Mr Nichols and asked his butler to situate the men with the footmen after explaining what their role would be. The butler kept his expression schooled, but he was somewhat intimidated by the huge men.

A half hour later, James made his way to the breakfast parlour where his sons and daughter had just seated themselves. He filled a plate from the sideboard and sat. He looked around and saw that there were many questions they wanted to ask, so James pre-empted some of the questions by explaining what was happening with both the Freemans and the two men who had come with them. “I am not sure if they will like the farm, but it will be their choice. If they choose to take the lease, I will allow them one year free of rent so they will be able to build up a good financial base,” he explained to his children who all nodded their approval.

“I know you want to explore outside, but it is the custom in England for the men of the area to call on new neighbours. If I am too busy, speak to your cousins later, and they will explain about this and other customs. I am sure they will be willing to answer many of your questions.” James looked at his daughter. “One of the things that will be different for you, is that here you will be considered the hostess for us. That way we will be able to entertain those outside of the family. All of you, do not forget we will be attending Mary’s wedding in the morning.”

“Do we have to be with you when these men call?” Abe asked.

“I would prefer if you were all present. I know that means you will have to defer your exploration.” James raised his hands as he saw the protests forming, especially from Abe. “Your cousins have lived in the area all of their lives, so when you do want to explore, they will be able to guide you.”

A half hour after the morning meal was over, the first caller arrived. James and his children were in the main drawing room when the butler announced Sir William Lucas.

“Lucas, welcome. When did you become Sir William?” James said as he stood and extended his hand.

With all of the years which had passed since Bennet’s brother had disappeared, William Lucas had not thought of him in over twenty years. He had been the older Bennet’s friend, but he had been quite familiar with James Bennet. There was no mistaking who stood before him. The normally garrulous man was struck mute as he looked around the room and saw the three young people standing and waiting. There was no disputing that one of the two males he was seeing were James Bennet’s son, he looked too much like him not to be his offspring.

Like his wife, Sir William had been pleased Charlotte’s reward for marrying the pompous buffoon was that one day she would be the mistress of Longbourn. He saw that future vanish before his eyes like a wisp of smoke.

“It has been many years,” Sir William responded as soon as he regained the power of speech. He related the circumstances of his knighting with many fewer words than was his wont. “Will you please introduce me to your children?”

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

Normally Sir William rode his gelding at a sedate pace. This morning he had his horse at a gallop. He did not stop in Meryton to share the gossip of the new master of Netherfield Park with any of his friends, but headed directly home. He slowed as he turned onto his short drive and was at a trot before he stopped in front of the house handing the reins to the lone groom he employed.

He burst into the house and did not bother to remove any of his outerwear. He found his wife in the sitting room. “A disaster,” Sir William moaned dramatically.

“William, what is it?” Lady Lucas demanded.

He related what had occurred, and more importantly who he had seen, at Netherfield Park. “Two sons, Sarah! James Bennet has two sons!” Sir William complained. “Our Charlotte will never be the mistress of Longbourn.”

Lady Lucas sat in shock as she remembered the conversation she had had with Charlotte before her daughter had married that fool. That is why Jane and Eliza had said what they did to Charlotte, and she had dismissed her daughter’s worry. “Surely, William, his sons have no need for Longbourn when they will have Netherfield Park,” she asserted hopefully.

“They do not want it for themselves.” Sir William saw the false hope his statement gave his wife. “Sarah, Henry Bennet will reach his majority on the second day of April, in just over one month from now, and then Bennet, the brother, and young Henry will break the entail.”

Sir William watched as his wife’s hope fled, and her face contorted with sadness. “Even if he is such a man, at least Charlotte is no longer an old maid and has a respectable situation in her own home.” Lady Lucas was trying to find the silver lining in a very dark, and grey cloud. She started to stand. “I must write to Charlotte!”

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

This was one morning Darcy did not want to smell like horseflesh so he took his coach for the less than two miles from Purvis Lodge to Longbourn. Bennet had given his permission to address his eldest unmarried daughter in private. Now all he had to do was to get the words out without getting tongue tied or saying the wrong thing.

Giana had told him to go get her sisters and cousins. She liked Elizabeth very well, but she was excited about the prospect of gaining five sisters and three more cousins.

For Darcy, besides securing the hand of the woman he loved, he would be gaining two of the best men he knew as brothers. He could not help but grin when he remembered how for the longest time, even before the lying letter, Miss Bingley had pushed for a marriage between her brother and Giana. That neither of them had seen the other in that fashion had not bothered her. She claimed it would make the bonds between the families much stronger. Now when one of her dreams, of a connection between the Fitzwilliam, Darcy, and Bingley families was about to become a reality, she would never enjoy the fruits of the connections with her permanent banishment from society.

He shook his head. The very last thing he needed to be thinking about was that shrewish harpy. Before he could have any more frightening thoughts, his coach was pulled to a halt in the drive in front of Longbourn.

Mr Hill showed Darcy to the drawing room where he greeted those within but noticed his beloved was not present. “Lizzy is with her father in the study, they are waiting for you there,” Fanny relieved the man’s anxiety as he had been frantically looking for Lizzy.

With a huge grin on his face, Darcy bowed to Mrs Bennet and those in the drawing room and turned on his heel. It was less than a minute before he was standing before the thick oak door which led to the study. He pulled his jacket straight by tugging on the bottom of it, and then straightened his cravat. He knew he was procrastinating, so he rapped on the door.

It was opened by an amused Bennet. “Lizzy is within. You have ten minutes and the door will remain partially open.” He stepped aside and allowed Darcy entrance. As Bennet left, he pulled the door closed three quarters of the way.

To settle his nerves, Darcy paced back and forth a few times. “Miss Bennet, you must allow me to tell you how ardently I love, respect, and admire you. There is a question I want to ask you above all others, but if you are not ready for that yet, if you do not love me yet and need more time, I am willing to wait for as long as it takes.”

Elizabeth said nothing at first as she found herself getting lost in the intense look from his icy-blue piercing eyes; a look she now knew conveyed his love and admiration for her. She saw the look change to concern, and she realised she had said nothing in response. “If the question you most want to ask depends on my loving you, go ahead and ask it,” Elizabeth replied as her heart rate sped up in anticipation of hearing the words she finally acknowledged she most wanted to hear.

“Elizabeth, you are too good to trifle with me, does that mean you love me as well?”

“Yes William, that is exactly to what I alluded.”

Not needing any more encouragement, Darcy dropped to one knee and took her left hand in both of his. “Elizabeth Rose Bennet, I love you with the power of a million suns. I care not that you have no dowry; all I want is you with me for the rest of my life as I cannot imagine my life without you by my side. Will you marry me?”

“Before I answer you, I should correct one misconception.” Darcy cocked his head as she looked down on him, her emerald-green eyes shining with love. “My father will explain how it came to pass, but each of us has a dowry of more than forty thousand pounds.”

For a few seconds Darcy was too astounded to speak, until he reminded himself he had been wrong about almost everything he had originally thought about the Bennets, so it stood to reason he would be wrong in this as well. He looked up hopefully into the face of the woman he loved more than life itself. She held his future happiness in the palm of her dainty hand. If she did not accept him, he would marry none other.

“That being said, I can give you but one answer, the only one my heart would allow me to give. Yes, Fitzwilliam Alexander Robert Darcy, I will most certainly marry you.”

Hearing the response he had only dreamed of receiving, Darcy did not even remember when he had stood, but he was standing now and had removed a velvet pouch from his one pocket. He stopped just before he opened the pouch. “Should I wait until I have your father’s permission and blessing to marry you?” he verified.

“That may be prudent, even though I know Papa would not deny me what I want most in the world. If he did, I reach my majority in less than a sennight.”

Elizabeth looked up at her fiancé and closed her eyes hoping he would understand what she wanted. He did not disappoint her, as his lips lightly touched her own. He was about to withdraw to make sure she was sanguine with the kiss. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her. He needed no more encouragement.

They jumped apart when there was a clearing of a throat followed by a loud knocking on the door. By the time Bennet entered, they had some distance between them, but he did not miss his daughter’s swollen lips.

“I take it Lizzy said yes, to…?” Bennet inquired.

“To marry William, Papa, I said yes to a proposal of marriage,” Elizabeth responded.

“In that case you have my blessing and consent. I think you two will be very happy. Your tempers are very unlike; hence you will never be bored, and I believe you will be the foil to one another. Each of you have strong opinions, and can be stubborn at times, but you are too intelligent not to reach resolutions. No servant will ever dare to cheat you; and you two will be generous, but never come close to exceeding your income.”

“Thank you, Papa,” Elizabeth pecked her father’s cheek and Darcy slipped a gold ring with a centre cut, enormous brilliant diamond surrounded by smaller emeralds, onto the relevant finger of her left hand.

“I think we have an announcement to make,” Bennet stated as he led the newly engaged couple out of his study.

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

Since the day she arrived in Hunsford, after her husband had refused to allow for them to remain for the wedding breakfast in order to see the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Charlotte Collins had known she had made a huge mistake in marrying William Collins.

The man was a self-important, pompous bully—only with those he did not think above him. He had not been physically abusive yet, but Charlotte felt it was only a matter of time. Eliza’s words against her choice rang in her ears, and she knew her friend had been exactly right. A few minutes ago an express had been delivered, and her husband had since then closeted himself in his study, knowing how he hated to be disturbed when the door to his study was closed, Charlotte would not approach.

The other thing which had vastly disturbed her husband’s equanimity was now with the death of the former viscount, when she married, Mary Bennet would become Lady Hilldale and daughter to an earl and countess. Charlotte had been careful not to say anything in support of the match, or that it was to occur on the morrow, while patroness and lackey had railed against it, both of them impotent to stop it.

Just then she heard an angry scream coming from the study, followed by the crash of something being thrown. Charlotte heard the door slamming into the wall when it was pulled open before her corpulent husband stomped towards her sitting room. Not too long after that, the sitting room door was pushed open with force, causing it to crash against the wall. Her husband’s colour was a dark purple caused by his obvious rage.

“What vexes you so, Husband,” Charlotte asked timidly.

“This…this falsehood, this pack of lies,” Collins screeched with spittle flying from his mouth, “Read this travesty.” He threw a balled up letter at his wife. It landed on the floor, but he made no move to retrieve it.”

Charlotte bent down, retrieved the wadded up paper, and unfolded and flattened it. Once it was reasonably smooth, she began to read.

26 February 1812

Longbourn, Hertfordshire

Mr Collins,

It is my proud duty to inform you that my brother, James Bennet, and his three offspring, Henry who is 20, Maria who is just 19, and Abraham who is 17 have returned to England where my brother has taken up his inheritance, Netherfield Park.

You will remember my Bingley daughter and son-in-law held the lease on that estate, but they gave it up and took a lease on Purvis Lodge (your wife knows it) instead.

We expected James and his family by the end of March or early April, but by God’s good graces, my brother arrived today. I tell you this because you are no longer the heir presumptive, as my brother takes that title. If you read the entail documents, a copy of which was provided to you when you visited, you will see that the entail ends with the generation after mine.

Henry will turn 21 on the 2nd day of April. The entail will be ended, and a Collins will never inherit Longbourn.

With my best wishes for your future endeavours,

Thomas Bennet

Before Charlotte could tell her husband everything in the letter was true, he grabbed the letter from her hands.

“I will go show this attempt to steal my birthright to Lady Catherine, she will set things to rights,” Collins bellowed before making his way outside into the freezing cold, grabbing his hat, but not the rest of his outerwear.

He was gone before Charlotte could attempt to stop her husband and his rather unintelligent patroness from making fools of themselves.