The next morning, the Colonel rode to Lambton with his batman and met the Gardiners and Elizabeth at the inn. At Mr. Gardiner's invitation, he gave his horse to his batman to lead while he rode in the carriage with the others. All the way to Matlock Manor, he kept the conversation light and easy, talking about Derbyshire and his family.
At Pemberley, Bingley saw his sisters leave on their trip to the north, then he entered one of Darcy's carriages for his trip to Netherfield. Before he left, he and Darcy talked about their visit and they had arranged to meet there in about two weeks. Darcy and Georgiana then settled in to their normal routine at Pemberley; Darcy to make sure his business was up-to-date and Georgiana to keep up with her lessons.
When the Gardiners arrived at Matlock Manor, Richard led them into the house and introduced them to his parents. "May I present my Father, the Earl of Matlock and my Mother, the Countess of Matlock? Father, Mother, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and their niece, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. The Gardiners know all about the attempted abduction and what Miss Bennet did, so we can talk freely with them."
The Earl was the first to speak, "I am pleased to meet you, especially you, Miss Bennet, as we owe you a great deal for your saving our niece, Miss Darcy. We both admire your bravery in fighting with that villain when you did not even know who the lady was."
The Countess then interrupted her husband, "I am also pleased to meet you. Before we begin to talk, our housekeeper will show you to your rooms so you can freshen up; then please come down for tea and we can talk." The guests were led up the stairs and Richard stayed in the drawing room with his parents. The Gardiners and Elizabeth were very impressed by the sumptuousness if the rooms they were assigned; they were the finest they had ever used in both size and furnishings. Upon entering their rooms, they were even more surprised to be greeted by a valet and lady's maids who had been assigned to serve them while they were there. They had certainly not expected to be treated so well.
When they had gone up, Richard said, "Well, now do you believe me when I told you how attractive Miss Bennet is? Even before I knew how brave she is, she impressed me when I met her in Kent. When you get to talk to her, you will see how intelligent and well-read she is. Her education was a bit erratic, but she has read many books in many different disciplines and can talk knowledgeably about them. From what I heard, her Father is also very intelligent and he basically taught her everything she knows without the help of governesses."
"You said she is the daughter of a landed gentleman?"
"Yes, I have not been to their estate, but from what she and Darcy told me, it is not large and it is entailed to her cousin as she has no brothers, only four sisters. Her cousin happens to be Aunt Catherine's parson at Hunsford. This cousin married Miss Bennet's good friend, so that is why she was in Kent when Darcy and I were there."
The Earl's first impression of Miss Bennet had been that she was indeed quite attractive with a pleasing appearance, so he saw why Richard had been impressed by her. "If she is as remarkable as you say, I believe that we could accept her into our family. I assume she has a minimal dowry?"
"She has not mentioned it, but I assume the same. With only a small estate and five daughters, I would be surprised otherwise. I hope that you also noticed that the Gardiners appear to be quite genteel, even though he is in trade? I believe that he is quite successful in what he does."
Further discussion was cut short as the Gardiners and Elizabeth came in then. Mr. Gardiner said, "My Lord, we would like to express our appreciation for your hospitality. Colonel Fitzwilliam said that we could stay here for a few days, but we have to return to London very soon. If it is acceptable to you, we will be stay here for two nights. One of the problems of being in business is that it requires my close attention if I want it to continue to be successful."
"Mr. Gardiner, I hope we will have a chance to talk while you are here as I am always looking for investment opportunities. I expect that we may be able to help each other. But now, we would like to get to know your niece better."
The Countess took over the conversation. "Miss Bennet, would you mind telling us about what happened that day from your point of view? We have heard from Miss Darcy and our son, but want to hear about what you did."
Elizabeth was embarrassed at this request, but she answered. "My sister and I were shopping on New Bond Street that morning. We had not found much to buy there, so we were just walking slowly, looking at the shops and shoppers. Suddenly, right in front of us, a carriage stopped and a man jumped out. He grabbed a young lady who had been standing there and when she resisted him, it was obvious that she did not want to go with him. She began to protest and he put his hand over her mouth while he continued to pull her toward his carriage. When she began to fight harder, I just reacted. I was carrying my parasol, so I went to him to hit him over his head. My blows had no effect on him and they had almost reached the carriage. Then I poked him in his face with the end of my parasol and hit him on his cheek. This must have hurt as he let go of the lady's mouth to grab my parasol. When he removed his hand, the lady gave out a mighty scream that stopped everyone in their tracks. When I lost my parasol, I grabbed the lady's other arm and tried to pull her away from him.
"The next thing I knew, I saw a red coat rush past me, running at the man. Then I saw the officer standing right in front of the man and his sword was sticking into the man's chest. The man then let go of the lady's arm and I pulled her away. When the carriage began to move, the man fell into the street with the sword sticking out of him. I was trying to comfort the lady when my sister came to me saying that she could not stand seeing the body lying there and wanted to get away from that awful scene. Another older lady came to the young lady, so I let my sister pull me into the crowd. That was the last I saw as the crowd was getting thick by then. We found our Uncle's groom who had been with us and we went to our carriage and left.
"That is all I know as we went back to Hertfordshire soon after that."
Her audience had been listening with rapt attention. The Colonel shook his head in awe at her description and the Earl said, "Miss Bennet, that is basically what we thought had happened. I cannot tell you how impressed we were when we heard what had occurred from our niece. I assume you know now that it was Richard who put an end to that villain. I have to tell you that that person was well known to us as he was raised at Pemberley but he had gone very wild in spite of everything that the Darcys, father and son, had done for him. We believe that he must have been desperate for money to try to kidnap Miss Darcy. I hope you know that Mr. Darcy would have paid whatever he asked to ensure her return. I hope I do not shock you when I say that we feared that he might have harmed her just to spite Darcy.
"When we heard the details of the attack, we realized that he would have succeeded in taking our niece if it had not been for your actions. We decided that we owed her saviour a very large debt and wanted to reward the lady as soon as we found her. So, Miss Bennet, I am not sure if Darcy already spoke to you about a reward, but we are in your debt. This discussion may embarrass you, but we want to do something for you. Would it be better if I spoke to your uncle or father about this?"
"No, please do not mention this to my father as he knows nothing about what happened. I worried that his dislike of London, even before he learned that a lady could be attacked right in one of the best areas of town, would have resulted in his not allowing us ever to return.
"In any case, I did not do what I did in hopes of a reward. I did not think; I just reacted. You owe me nothing, but I thank you for your consideration. I cannot tell you how surprised I was when I learned that the lady was Mr. Darcy's sister. I met him when he went to Hertfordshire with his friend, Mr. Bingley, to help him become acquainted with the estate that he rented. It happened to be quite close to our estate of Longbourn."
Her refusing to talk about a reward impressed the Earl and the Countess as it showed that she was definitely not mercenary. The Earl was not to be put off. "Miss Bennet, if you will not accept anything from us just now, I hope that you will allow us to assist you in the future. You only have to ask and we will do whatever we can for you, no matter what it is."
The Countess had an idea, "Miss Bennet, have you been presented to Her Majesty?"
Elizabeth blushed at this question as the very idea reminded her of her relatively low social status. "No, My Lady, I have not. In truth, we have no family who could sponsor us, so we just never think about it. Our society in Hertfordshire is not the same as that found in town."
"Miss Bennet, it would be my pleasure to sponsor you. Of course, we would also be pleased to sponsor you for the season to ensure that you attend the most important functions. Would your father or your mother have any objection to my doing that?"
"No, indeed; my mother would be especially pleased. However, my father would not be happy at the cost of a presentation. With five daughters, he must be careful of what he spends on any one of us." Elizabeth knew she had to be very careful speaking of money as she was aware that this topic was never mentioned among the higher classes.
"Please do not worry about the cost as we would be pleased to do this for you. The main cost is the court dress, which is quite ugly, in my opinion, and cannot be worn anywhere else. We would have to find a design that does not detract from your attractiveness, but my modiste will be able to help us there. You know that the dresses are white for unmarried ladies, and you will look very good in white with your dark hair. I made my own curtsy many years ago, but we had our daughter presented more recently, so I know how to help you learn to walk, curtsy, and back up while wearing it. That process can be frustrating to learn, but the whole affair can be quite fun and you will meet other ladies going through the same process. Will you accept my doing this for you?"
Elizabeth thought about the advantages and disadvantages of this offer. On the positive side, her being presented would make her parents very proud and it may lead to her entry into higher levels of society. She did not want this very much, but knew that it may lead to advantages for her sisters. A disadvantage would be the nuisance involved in finding a court dress and learning how to walk and curtsy in it. Perhaps the main advantage would be the fact that she would be in the company of the Fitzwilliams for some time, meaning that she would be in contact with both Colonel Fitzwilliam and Mr. Darcy. When she thought this, she acknowledged to herself that if Mr. Darcy did not offer for her, the Colonel's close attention to her seemed to indicate that he very well might. She was quite sure that her affection for the Colonel would grow and that she could be happy married to either gentleman. She thought that she was already half in love with Mr. Darcy, but only enjoyed the Colonel.
"My Lady, if my parents have no objection, I will gladly accept your offer. I am quite sure that they will not object as my presentation would be a significant achievement for our family. As far as I know, none of our relatives has ever been presented; my family has never been close to the Crown."
"I am pleased to hear that as I will enjoy helping you through this whole process. Now, however, it is time to go dress for dinner." The Countess then rose, signaling her intention to go up. Elizabeth and the Gardiners dutifully followed her lead.
Before Mrs. Gardiner left Elizabeth to go to her own room, she praised the graciousness of the Countess in making her offer, knowing what a significant compliment it was for the family. When her Aunt left, the maid assigned to help her came in to assist Elizabeth to dress for dinner, saying how pleased she was that the Countess had assigned her to act as Elizabeth's lady's maid while she was there. Elizabeth saw that this was another sign of the great courteousness being shown to her. She thought that she could get used to living in such luxury.
Dinner was a lively affair as the Colonel, who was seated next to Elizabeth, kept the conversation going with his easy manners. Elizabeth saw that the Earl maintained a quiet conversation with her Uncle, which pleased her very much. This left the three ladies to be entertained by the Colonel, which he had no problem doing. She knew that life with him would never be dull.
After dinner, Elizabeth was persuaded to play and sing, which she was pleased to do. It was obvious to everyone that the Colonel greatly admired both the performer and the performance. When Elizabeth noticed the keen attention he was paying to her, she smiled shyly and almost lost her place in the music.
