Chapter 9
A few days after returning to London, Jonathan spoke with his father about everything that had happened in Hertfordshire. If he was honest, he had no memory of the relationship between his uncle and his aunt Bennet. Mary, Kitty and Lydia were only little girls when he stopped seeing them, and the most direct contact with that family, were always his cousins Jane and Elizabeth, and now, it was clear that they were the more rational part of it.
Mr. Gardiner explained that it had always been difficult for him and his mother to deal with Mr. Bennet's indifference towards his daughters and wife, and with his sister's capricious nature. He also explained that at first they tried to talk, and help them to better manage their marriage, but both took each advice as criticism and became more stubborn and capricious in their own positions. That is why, it was a waste of time to explain to his sister Fanny that if Mr. Bennet died, they would help them, or to ask Mr. Bennet to teach his daughters to behave, probably they would not be silly if he had taken the trouble to educate them.
"With your mother", said Mr. Gardiner, "we decided that the best way to help your cousins was to save some money to contribute to their dowries, and try to collaborate in their education. Of course, we have never said this to them because my sister would tell everyone, and my brother Bennet would become even more indolent", concluded Mr. Bennet.
"Has Uncle Bennet always been like this?", asked Jonathan curiously.
"He was never a man extremely concerned with the affairs of his state, but in the beginning he did enough to maintain a reasonable income. When he realized that he would not have a son, who could inherit Longbourn, I think he became even more careless. I suppose he does not want to work, and pass the fruits of his effort to the son of a man with whom he never got along" explained Mr. Gardiner to Jonathan.
Jonathan thought for a few moments and realized that his parents, as always, had understood the situation correctly and had made the best decisions when facing it. Trying to reason with Thomas and Fanny Bennet was a waste of time.
The next day at breakfast, Jonathan told his parents and Jane that he planned to buy a house, because he needed to have his own place. His parents were sorry that their son will no longer live with them, but happy that he was a serious and responsible man.
Once everyone finished eating breakfast, each one began to prepare for the day. Mr. Gardiner and Jonathan went to work and Mrs. Gardiner and Jane started getting ready to make some calls to a family friend.
After almost three months of having returned to England, Jonathan had taken the normal rhythm of what would be his life. He spent an important part of his days managing his business, although he did not neglect to spend time with his family and friends. He had managed to amass a considerable fortune in his years of travel, the only ones who knew the real amount of his wealth, were his parents and his business partners, who were also his best friends.
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Robert Conwell was the third son of an earl, who had squandered what little his father had inherited, the late earl was also an immoral man who spent more than he had. He was a tall man with a distinguished appearance without necessarily being handsome; he had a charm that made him very attractive.
He met Jonathan at Oxford and they became fast friends. Robert came from a noble but ruined family, so none of the students who moved in the first circles, wanted to be associated with him. On the contrary, he felt welcomed and accepted among the sons of the tradesmen, so today, most of his true friends belong to that class.
When he just turned 21 years old, and had completed his studies, his father forced him to marry the daughter of a very wealthy banker, who had threatened to destroy what little was left of the Cowells if his daughter did not find a husband in a week. Robert had been abandoned by his parents, he saw them at most, once a year. He did not know how to make a living, and his father had threatened to cut him off the few funds he had to hardly subsist. For that reason he agreed to marry that woman. On the same day of his wedding, he met the bride, a woman about five years older than him, who was with child. She had been the mistress of her older brother the Viscount, and the child would be his niece.
Disgusted with everything, he looked for his friend Jonathan and told him what had happened to him, and his good friend offered him to be partners in the business he was starting. Jonathan would put up the funds and Robert would be the contact with the gentile class. And so, almost ten years ago Robert managed to become independent from his family.
He saw his wife only on their wedding day and did not hear from her until almost two years later, when he was informed that she had died and was a widower. From his wife he inherited a house located in one of the most exclusive places in the city. When he went to see the house to decide what to do with it, he found a little girl named Sophia, who was practically abandoned and in the care of only servants. That girl was legally his daughter and his niece in reality. Seeing her so helpless, reminded him of his own childhood, and decided to take care of and protect her.
When his father died, his brother became the new earl, but he was already sick with the French disease so he soon died. The second son was a drunkard, who devoted himself to a military career and died in the battlefield. So, when Robert was twenty-six he became the new Earl of Maxwell. In appearance, he stopped being in trade, but in reality, he kept working because he liked it and the earldom was bankrup. Now he was thirty-one years old, the proud father of a beautiful nine-year-old daughter, and had managed to rebuild part of his family's legacy. Many of those who years ago had ignored him, today wanted to be his friends, but he knew well who his true friends were.
Jonathan's other partner was Aaron Mortimer, who had joined the company almost six years ago when Robert had had to assume the responsibilities of the earldom. Aaron was the third son of a very wealthy family of wool entrepreneurs. His father handled almost 50% of the production in the north of the country with large investments in Scotland and Ireland as well. Aaron was a man who might be considered handsome, but was always hiding behind books and cared little about his appearance. His father wanted him to go into the family business, but he wanted to be an inventor. He loved to design things and having been involved in the loom business his whole life, he had been inventing and perfecting loom prototypes for years. His dream was to be able to create a one hundred percent automatic loom.
When Jonathan met him, he became very interested in his work and promised that the company would help him finance his creations, if he could assume parts of Robert's responsibilities and those of himself, who at that time knew that he should travel to India, and stay there for a few years until their new business would be installed and running. The new loom designs had been a success, and the three partners were currently investigating how they could build more looms in less time.
Jonathan looked out of his office window, and saw that his two associates and friends were arriving. Today they would have an important meeting with some potential investors and they had to discuss the terms and conditions of the contracts well. He also wants to be able to solve all that soon, because in a few days Mary and Lizzie would arrive, and he had to travel to Kent to close some contracts with some clients.
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The days had flown by, and finally Elizabeth and Mary had arrived in London and were staying with their uncle and aunt.
"Today we have an appointment with Madame Blanchet", Mrs. Gardiner told her three nieces. Madame Blanchet was one of the most recognized and exclusive modiste in London. For any normal client, it would take many months to get an appointment with her, but she always had time for her dear friend Madeline. Amélie Blanchet had come to London with her ideas and talent but with very little funds. The Gardiners, who sold the finest fabrics in town, helped her get started, and she would always be grateful for that.
"I will ask her to make the most beautiful gowns so you all will be the most beautiful women in the ball of Lord Maxwell. In the invitations he sent us, he said that we would be his special guests", Aunt Gardiner told her nieces.
"Aunt, I won't even be here, by that time I'll be in Kent visiting Charlotte", Lizzie said "and I don't think I feel comfortable in such an elegant gown" Mary added.
"Mary, you can order something that is to your liking, and that you feel is according to your personality, and Lizzie it is always convenient to have a beautiful gown just in case you need it". Mary and Lizzie resigned and understood that their aunt wanted to give them these gowns as a way to show affection.
When they arrived at Madame Blanchet's store, she received them with great affection, she spoke with them to find out what their tastes were and showed them some of the latest fashion designs. Her assistant took their measurements, and they decided to select fabrics and colors.
Then she invited them to sit on some comfortable sofas in the waiting room, and they had tea and chatted for a while. As the time for the next appointment approached, they kissed each other and said goodbye. Madame Blanchet told Madeline that when the dresses were ready, she would send them to her home.
As they approached the door to leave, two women entered; Caroline Bingley, and a very pretty blonde woman.
"Dear Jane, how nice to see you" Caroline said with an insincere voice "How long have you been in town? How could you be so ingrate that you have not called on me?" and he added with open contempt, "hello Miss Eliza. But what a lack of manners of mine, let me introduce you to my dear friend Lady Isabella".
After the introductions were made, they spoke for a few minutes, in which Caroline did everything possible to demonstrate with her tone of voice, that everything she said was the opposite of what she really meant.
Finally, they left the nasty company of Miss Bingley. Lizzie, who had long lost her patience with Caroline, was complaining about the bad luck of finding just that woman in a crowded city. Jane asked her not to be unfair to Caroline, that she had taken the trouble to greet them and introduce her friend, she pleaded her not to be prejudiced and assume what she did not know. Mary was silent, staring at the shop windows. Their aunt Madeline in order to end the discussion, told them that she had a surprise for them. Jonathan would be waiting at the corner bakery to have tea and eat some delicious pastries with them.
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"Thanks for joining me Aaron, my mother has asked me for a long time why you haven't come to visit us. I have told her that you are always busy and not to take it personally", said Jonathan.
"You know me well Jonathan, and you know that when I have an idea in my head I don't rest until I see it done", Aaron commented.
At that moment, his mother and his three cousins came in and Jonathan introduced them to his friend and partner, and they all sat down to have tea and converse. Aaron had the same science magazine that Mr. Bennet read, and along with it, what looked like a small book with notes. Jonathan, who saw the curiosity in Mary's eyes, and knowing that she would not dare to speak, told his friend that his cousin Mary also read that magazine, and that she liked to draw sketches of the machinery that appeared there. Aaron looked at Jonathan in disbelief and Mary felt a bit appalled that this strange man doubted she was able to understand complex topics.
"That's right sir" Mary said to Aaron , "I've been reading that magazine for a while, I don't understand everything on it, but I do understand enough to create my sketches", added proudly.
"I don't doubt it, Jonathan has spoken highly of his cousins. I was impressed because I don't recall meeting a lady who enjoys learning about machines. May I show you my designs?" he asked nervously, "but if you don't want to, that's fine, I don't want to bother you".
And so, Mary and Aaron fell into a never-ending conversation about machineries. Aaron showed Mary all the sketches and notes that he had in his notebook, and she was genuinely interested. For his part, Jonathan smiled to himself, thinking that he never imagined that he would be a matchmaker.
Lizzie asked her aunt if she could go to the bookstore, which was in front of the bakery, to buy a book for her trip to Kent. She promised that it would not take her more than twenty minutes. Mrs. Gardiner, who was a little tired, told her not to worry, that they would be there for at least another half hour. Also, she did not want to interrupt Mary and Aaron, who were so happily talking.
Elizabeth asked Jane if she wanted to accompany her, but she declined. Jonathan said that he would accompany her, because he wanted to see if he could find something interesting to read. So, Lizzie and Jonathan went together to the bookstore.
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Darcy had arrived in London a week ago, he had to get some things ready before going to Kent for his annual visit to Lady Catherine. Also, Georgiana would start piano lessons with Signore Pollini, a renowned Italian master, and was very excited about the idea.
"Brother, sorry for interrupting you but I wanted to ask you something, only if you can and if you want", Georgiana said shyly.
"Tell me dear, how can I help you" asked her brother.
"I wanted to know if you could take me to the bookstore, I want to buy the new novel of my favorite author. I'm dying to read it… but if you're too busy it doesn't matter".
"No problem, my dear. Give me half an hour to finish this and we can go. Tell Mr. Peters to order the carriage".
An hour later Darcy and his sister arrived the bookstore. It was a very large one, with two levels and many bookshelves arranged in rows. When they entered the building, Elizabeth was on the second floor looking for a poetry book, and Jonathan was on the first floor, looking for an interesting novel without knowing exactly what he wanted to read about.
He was concentrating on the book in his hand when he felt several books fall. When he looked he saw that a very pale girl had accidentally thrown the books from one of the shelves, and was nervously trying to pick them up. He graciously helped her, and Georgiana thanked the gentleman who assisted her to put all the books in their place. When he was done, he bowed to her, and kept looking for another book in the next row.
Darcy, who saw the incident from afar, immediately approached but when he reached his sister's side, the man had already left. He had caught a glimpse of him, and looking at her sister's flushed, dreamy face he couldn't help but think of George Wickham.
"Who was that man and what did he tell you?", he asked in a grave voice.
Georgiana looked at him with amusement and said, "I have no idea, he just helped me pick up the books and left".
Georgiana told him that the book she was looking for was not in that section, and therefore surely must be on the second floor. So they both went upstairs to the second floor. Georgina finally found the book, and asked her brother if they could stay a while longer checking to see if she could find another interesting book.
Darcy agreed, and told her that he would go a little further to see if he found something new. As he approached the fifth row of books, he heard someone trying to hold back her laughter, and that laughter was familiar to him. At that moment he felt uncomfortable, he assumed that he no longer remembered her, and here he was hearing her laughter.
But curiosity was stronger, so he peeked around the corner to look at the next row of books, and there she was, Elizabeth Bennet, totally absorbed in a book, holding back her laughter, and as pretty as ever.
Instinctively he took a book to prevent her from seeing him, he knew that he should look for Georgiana and leave, because if she saw him and approached to greet him, he could not reject her. Elizabeth was in the past, and there she should stay, but watching her for a while without anyone noticing would not hurt, he thought.
For her part, Elizabeth, without knowing that someone was watching her, noticed that she hadn't realized how long she had been reading, and looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall to check the time. She knew that she had to immediately pay for the book, and find Jonathan because the rest of their party was waiting for them at the bakery. She left quickly and Darcy followed her with his eyes making sure she did not see him.
Darcy looked for Georgiana, and she told him to give her two more minutes and he nodded. From where he was, he couldn't see Elizabeth, but he could see the exit door, so he was sure she hadn't left the bookstore yet. Until suddenly he saw that she appeared, smiling and beaming on the arm of a man. Although from a distance he could not appreciate the detail of their faces, it was evident that they had a close relationship.
He thought in all the time he wasted thinking about her, wondering how much his departure would have affected her. It turned out that a few months later she was hanging on the arm of another man, perhaps her betrothed or her husband, as if she had never flirted with him and provoked him every time she saw him just a few months ago.
"Are you okay brother?" Georgiana asked, a little worried to see her brother so serious.
"I'm better than ever dear sister, better than ever" Darcy concluded with a cold and bitter voice.