Everyone in the Gardiner household was excited that night when they thought that Mr. Gardiner was going to meet a real prince, perhaps in a palace. He rose early the next morning and dressed in his finest. His coachman knew where Mount Albion House was, so he took him there with no problem. His staff knew who he was meeting and its importance to the family, so Robert preceded his master to the door, knocked, and handed Mr. Gardiner's card to the person who opened the door. Normally Mr. Gardiner would have done that himself.
"Mr. Gardiner to see the Prince!" he proudly announced as he presented the card to the footman who opened the door.
Mr. Gardiner looked around as he was led in. The house was large and finely furnished, but it was not a palace, not by any means. He was led into a large drawing room where the Prince was waiting. He made his most polite bow to him. He was pleased to see that the Prince was smiling. He noticed that there was one other gentleman in the room, seated in a corner at a table with writing materials in front of him. Mr. Gardiner assumed he was some kind of secretary to the Prince.
The Prince gave a slight bow in return. "Please take a seat. Mr. Gardiner, as I said, I owe a tremendous debt to Miss Bennet. I would have been devastated if my daughter had drowned. I intend to reward your niece appropriately.
"First of all, please tell me how she is feeling? Is she suffering any ill effects from her being in the ocean?"
"No, none at all. She is a very healthy young woman, so that must be the reason she is feeling just fine.
"Your Royal Highness, my niece did not act with any thought of reward. She did only what needed to be done. It was fortunate that she had taught herself how to swim at her father's estate. Surely anyone would have done what she did."
"But no one else did; that is the point. Only your niece jumped into the water. In our eyes, she is a heroine, without question. Now, tell me about her and her family."
"Sir, she is twenty years old and so has not reached the age of majority. She is extremely intelligent and well read. She has read almost every book in her father's extensive library. My brother Bennet's library is large as he was a Cambridge don before he inherited the family estate. As you know, she certainly is brave, almost foolhardy at times. My wife and I have to look out for her as she seems not to worry about the risks that she takes sometimes."
"Yes, I certainly saw that."
"As for her family, her mother is my sister. Her father's estate of Longbourn is in Hertfordshire, near the town of Meryton. It is not very large or very profitable, but they live comfortably if not extravagantly. It has been in the Bennet family for many generations." Mr. Gardiner could see that the secretary was busy taking notes.
"Elizabeth is the second of five daughters. She has no brothers, which is a serious concern as the estate is entailed to the male line. Upon Bennet's death, it will pass to a distant cousin. Apparently, the cousin's family is not very genteel at all and Bennet expects that his cousin will not be kind to the family when he inherits. I expect that I will need to support my sister and any unmarried daughters when this happens. This will not be too serious a problem for me as my business is doing quite well."
"Who is the heir presumptive?"
"His name is William Collins. I heard Bennet say that he is a parson and has a living somewhere in Kent. I am not sure exactly where it is." The secretary made more notes.
"What is your business?"
"It is called Gardiner Imports. My warehouse is in Cheapside. I import many items from the continent, the Americas, India, China, and several other countries. We live not far from there, but I hope to purchase an estate at some time in the future."
The Prince was pleased to hear that. So far, he was quite impressed by Gardiner. It was rare that he ever spoke to anyone in business, but this man could pass as a gentleman anywhere. He did not flatter or add anything unnecessary when speaking to him. By no means would he be considered to be a sycophant as so many people appear to be when they spoke to any member of the Royal Family.
"So, should I understand that the family's main concerns are the entail on their estate and its relatively modest earnings?"
"Yes, sir."
"Those I can help with. Are there any titles in the family?"
"None that we are aware of. Bennet could have married a lady, but he chose my sister for love." Mr. Gardiner could see that these words affected the Prince, likely as the Bennet situation was the same as his own, but with happier results.
"I should be able to help there as well. My brother, the Prince Regent, is quite amenable to whatever I ask of him as long as it is not too extravagant. He is fond of my daughter and will be horrified when I tell him what happened.
"Now Gardiner, I believe I have the information that I need to decide how I will reward your niece. May I invite you to take tea with me?"
"I would be greatly honoured. Sir, I must tell you that this is the very first time that I ever met royalty, so I hope that I have not embarrassed myself." Mr. Gardiner was struck by this offer to take tea with the Prince.
"Not at all. Your manners have been exemplary." The Prince nodded to the secretary and tea was quickly brought in. While they had their tea, the Prince asked more questions about Elizabeth and both the Bennet and Gardiner families.
When they had finished their tea, the Prince rose to signify the end of their meeting. "Gardiner, I am pleased with what I learned from you. Lady Augusta would like to meet Miss Elizabeth and your family. Will you bring them here tomorrow to have tea with us?"
"I know they would be honoured, Sir, but are you sure you want all four of my children here? The youngest is only four. They can be quite lively."
"We both love children but were blessed with only two. I assume you know of our marital situation?"
"Yes, sir, I do. I am very sorry for your difficulties, as I know many people are."
"Be that as it may, the law is the law, which I learned to my chagrin. I will see you all tomorrow." He nodded to the secretary, who ushered Gardiner out to his carriage. Mr. Gardiner made sure to give the Prince a very polite bow before he left, although he noted that the Prince obviously did not want to talk about his personal situation.
When he returned to the house, he told his wife and niece the full details of his conversation with the Prince. "He made no promises, but he definitely suggested that he would do something about the entail and Longbourn's profitability. I am not sure what he meant by the latter. Perhaps more acres or even another estate? We will know in time. He also asked if there were any titles in your family. The Prince was perfectly amiable and even asked about my business. I never expected that. I even had tea with him and we chatted as if we were equals."
He saved the best news for last. "He invited all of us, even the children, to go there tomorrow to have tea with them. I assume he meant that Lady Augusta and his daughter will be there. He said they love children and suggested that they wanted to have more but were not so blessed."
The next morning, they dressed their children in their finest clothes and tried to impress upon them the importance of their behaving politely. They were all very excited to have tea with a real prince. The oldest, Elaine, asked, "Will we meet a real princess?"
Their parents were not sure how to answer this as the Prince's marital situation was so complicated. "I am not sure if their daughter can be called a princess, but her father is certainly a prince. We will find out how we should call her when we meet her. Just remember to be polite."
Elizabeth, being Elizabeth, seemed to be the least excited of them all. Mainly she was curious as to what the Prince might offer as a reward, but then thought that this subject would likely not be raised with the children being present.
They arrived at Mount Albion House and were ushered into the same drawing room where Mr. Gardiner had been received the day before. Waiting for them were the Prince, a lady, and the young girl that Elizabeth had saved. Elizabeth was surprised to notice that the lady appeared to be quite a bit older than the Prince. The Prince welcomed then and said, "May I introduce Lady Augusta and our daughter, Lady Emma? Mr. Gardiner, you may introduce your family."
"Your Royal Highness, My Lady, may I introduce my wife, Mrs. Madeline Gardiner? This is our niece, Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Our children are Elaine, James, Henry, and Susan. I believe that our Elaine is about the same age as Lady Emma." They each curtsied or bowed when they were named.
The Prince took Elizabeth's hand and kissed it very politely, saying, "Miss Elizabeth, Lady Augusta and I cannot thank you enough. We are in your debt and will never forget what you have done for us." He added, "Lady Emma is just ten this month. I came here to celebrate her birthday."
Lady Augusta then went to Elizabeth and took her hand, "I was horrified when I heard what happened to our precious daughter. Miss Elizabeth, I will be your friend for life."
She then turned to Mrs. Gardiner, "We thought we might have tea in the garden as it is such a fine day. Please come this way." She led them out into the large garden where two tables had been set up. Several footmen and nurses led the children to the farther table while she sat at the second and larger table. She had Mrs. Gardiner and Elizabeth sit by her while the Prince had Mr. Gardiner sit by him. Elizabeth was impressed with how well they were being treated.
Mrs. Gardiner, ever the careful mother, looked over to the other table, but she could see that the children were being well attended. She noticed that Elaine was sitting next to Lady Emma and they were already chatting to each other. The younger children were busy inspecting the trays of sweets and biscuits that had been provided, obviously impatient to sample them.
After Lady Augusta had served tea to everyone, the Prince began to talk to Mr. Gardiner about two of his favourite topics—religion and science. Fortunately, Mr. Gardiner had some knowledge of both of these topics, so their discussion was lively and intelligent.
Lady Augusta again thanked Elizabeth for saving her daughter and explained that she had not been present on the pier as she had been feeling poorly that day. She asked a lot of questions of Elizabeth about her life and her family. She seemed to be sincere in her desire to know more about this brave young lady. She also spoke briefly about her growing up in Scotland, the daughter of an Earl. She and Elizabeth compared their experiences growing up the second children of large families, as she had five brothers and two sisters compared to Elizabeth's four sisters.
Lady Augusta was very impressed with Miss Bennet and vowed to herself to help her in any way that she could. She knew that she owed her an immeasurable debt for having saved her only daughter.
During the rest of their stay in Ramsgate, the Gardiners were often invited to come for tea as a family and the adults were invited to come for dinner, twice. Lady Augusta also invited Elizabeth to several entertainments and even a ball that was held by one of her friends. Even though Elizabeth had no title, she proved to be popular, perhaps as she was being sponsored by Prince Augustus Frederick and Lady Augusta. Her attractiveness, excellent manners, and lively conversation added to her popularity.
The Prince did not stay in Ramsgate long, but had to return to his duties in London. After he left, Lady Augusta saw even more of the Gardiners and Elizabeth. In addition to being so indebted to Elizabeth for her heroic action, perhaps she saw herself in her new friend when she was her age. Now, at age 50, this may have been a way for her to relive her carefree youth before she met the Prince. She even wondered briefly if Miss Elizabeth might make a suitable wife for her and the Prince's son, Augustus Frederick d'Este, but she rejected this thought as she knew that her son needed a wife with a substantial dowry as he was not officially recognized as a member of the royal family.
One day, Lady Augusta took Elizabeth to an afternoon tea party being held by her friend, Lady Morley, who was summering in Ramsgate. Lady Augusta introduced Elizabeth to all the ladies there, the youngest of whom was a Miss Georgiana Darcy. While they spoke only briefly, Georgiana was impressed by this young lady for her obvious intelligence and composure in society. She wished that she had the same poise as this lady. They did not meet again as Georgiana was busy with her companion and a certain gentleman.
Before they left Ramsgate, Lady Augusta made Elizabeth promise to write to her frequently, especially if she encountered any problems, anything at all. With her close contact with the Royal Family, she knew she could solve almost anything that might bother her young friend. She seemed to be sincere in her interest in what Elizabeth's life was like in a small town.
As soon as Elizabeth returned to Longbourn, she talked to her father about what had happened in Ramsgate, including her saving Lady Emma from drowning, her Uncle Gardiner's talk to Prince Augustus Frederick, and their subsequent invitations to various entertainments by Lady Augusta. She knew that she had to tell him all this as the Prince had promised to reward her and that just might affect her father and his estate.
Elizabeth had promised to write to Lady Augusta about her family and life in Hertfordshire, so she began to do this as soon as she returned home. She wrote about the excitement in her family upon hearing that Netherfield, the estate that bordered Longbourn, was to be let, as Mr. Bingley was said to be young, handsome, and rich. She wrote about her anticipation of meeting him at the Meryton Assembly.
Immediately after the Assembly, she wrote about the shock she received when she was publicly insulted by one Mr. Darcy of a great estate called Pemberley in Derbyshire. Lady Augusta could easily read that this insult hurt Elizabeth very deeply, as it would have for any young lady. Lady Augusta could not believe that any so-called gentleman would publicly criticize a lady's appearance, especially as she knew how attractive Elizabeth actually was. She decided not to let this insult pass without repercussions.