Lady Alexandra's Hunt Chapter 3, a pride and prejudice fanfic

Thank you to those few of you who are still reading this story, and do not insist on yet another rehash of the same thing every single time. I appreciate your support.

If you are wondering why I am writing this story, the explanation is very simple. I wanted to write a story where I was not constrained by expectations of the same general storyline and the same pairings. In this story I have complete freedom to mess with my characters. 😊

Admittedly, over the past two years, having the P&P characters as a starting point has helped me enormously while I learnt to write fiction (rather than technical specifications), but I find that I am having more fun with the characters I introduced into my stories. Lady Alex is the result.

I hope you continue to enjoy.

~~H~~

Arrivals

Two days later an express arrived, announcing the arrival of Lady Beatrice the following day.

The lady and her maid arrived in the late afternoon in high spirits. Their coach was followed by several hired carriages.

Alexandra had stepped outside to greet her aunt and was surprised to see the convoy, which continued on, to the side of the house.

'Welcome, Aunt. It appears you have brought us some guests,' she greeted the lady. 'But where is Daphne?'

'It seems the poor child became distracted while she was reading in the garden, and was caught in a shower. Currently she is abed with a nasty head-cold. While it is not too serious, Mrs Cartwright thought it safer if your sister stayed in bed for a few days. They will deliver her to us next week.'

She gestured towards the convoy. 'As for the rest, I hope you do not mind putting them up for a few days. I could not leave them to Frederick's not so tender mercies,' explained Lady Beatrice with a smile. 'I will tell you the full story as soon as I have refreshed myself.'

Lady Beatrice was as good as her word. In short order she had washed off the dust of the road, changed into a clean dress and come to the sitting-room. On the way she had collected her Mrs Hodges, Mrs Martin and Mr Martin, the butler.

'I think I will tell you the whole story from the beginning, based on the reports I had from various people,' said Lady Beatrice to her niece, when she had settled with a cup of tea to quench her thirst.

'The day after my husband's death, our solicitor, Mr Thompson came to see me. He had instructions from Gregory to oversee the removal of my inheritance from the estate, to ensure that I received everything my husband had wanted me to have. He was accompanied by our Magistrate, Mr Carsons, who offered to witness and notarise that I only removed my personal possessions and the items on the list. He also brought the list of bequests.

By the time you left, the packing of my property was well in hand, and the bequests had been bestowed or sent to the recipients. I sent everything, other than some clothing, two days after you left. The maids I sent to you, were the hardest working staff I have ever encountered since they knew that they would travel with my goods.' Lady Beatrice grinned at the memory.

'As it turned out, we could have taken more time, as Frederick only deigned to grace us with his presence a full week after your departure.'

~~H~~

Frederick strode into the house. 'I wish to view my cousin's remains,' he demanded without greeting or courtesy.

Lady Beatrice, who had just stepped into the foyer, followed by Mr Carsons, the local magistrate, replied, 'My husband Gregory, the Earl of Marven was buried two days ago.'

'How dare you did not wait for my arrival,' blustered Frederick.

'The weather was too warm to wait on your convenience. Since you could not be bothered to show respect to my husband by attending promptly, I saw no reason to delay his funeral.'

'I was busy attending to affairs,' Frederick exclaimed in a haughty tone.

I bet you were, thought Lady Beatrice, but aloud she said, 'since you are here now, we can get on with the reading of the will.'

'Send the solicitor to me after breakfast. I wish to rest and refresh myself before attending to business.' Frederick turned to the Butler, 'you may escort me to the Master's suite.'

'Certainly, Sir. This way if you please.' The butler bowed politely and indicated the way.

When Frederick entered the Master's suite he was affronted because it had been stripped of all personal items of the late Earl.

'What is this? This looks like a monk's cell, not the suite of an Earl. What happened to all the decoration?' Frederick fumed.

'His Lordship left instructions for his suite to be cleared so that his successor could decorate it to his own taste,' the butler explained.

Frederick looked around in disgust but decided to live with it until he could imbue the rooms with the grandeur he deserved.

'Very well, you may leave. But have a bath prepared and send me a bath attendant.'

The butler bowed himself out of the room with a politely murmured 'certainly, Sir.'

When the bath had been prepared and his valet had helped him undress, Frederick received yet another unpleasant surprise.

'What are you doing here?' he asked the big, burly man in his forties. 'And where is my bath attendant?'

'I am Brian, your bath attendant,' replied the man politely, without the slightest indication that he thought the situation amusing.

'I expected a female bath attendant,' growled Frederick.

'I am sorry sir, but she only attends the Countess,' replied Brian.

'I do not care, send her to me,' came the shouted demand.

'Sir, you should be aware that that particular woman is my mother.'

Frederick looked horrified. 'Why would I want to bed a crone?'

'Why indeed?'

'You insolent cur, you are fired without a reference!' Frederick shouted and lashed out at the man with his fist.

The man swayed slightly and the fist missed its mark. 'Thank you, sir,' was the unruffled reply as the man quickly left the room.

Frederick picked up a pitcher of cold water and threw it at the man's retreating back. It hit the door just as it closed.

~~H~~

The next day, Frederick had a leisurely breakfast at what he considered a civilised hour. By the time he finished, it was noon and he had kept Mr Thompson and his two clerks, who were on hand to ensure the reading of the will would go smoothly, cooling their heels for three hours.

Although Mr Thompson and Mr Carson, the magistrate, had been visiting with Lady Beatrice for the whole morning.

When Frederick decided he was ready, he was directed to the library, where everyone was waiting for him.

When he walked into the room, Lady Beatrice greeted him with a sarcastic, 'so good of you to join us.' She then introduced the solicitor, the magistrate and Mr Thompson's assistants, before saying, 'now let us get down to business.'

Frederick protested, 'Cousin Beatrice, it was good of you to entertain these gentlemen, but you may now leave. We have business to discuss.'

Mr Thompson said, 'The late Earl of Marven specifically instructed that the Countess of Marven should be present at the reading of the will.'

'She does not have a mind to understand business,' complained Frederick.

'If the Countess should have an issue in comprehension, which I doubt, I will offer an explanation,' said Mr Thompson.

'Very well, she can stay,' Frederick graciously conceded.

When Mr Thompson read out the conditions of the will, Frederick became incensed. He had assumed that everything in the manor was part of the entail and when he found out that the particular art-works he had been planning to sell, were not to be his, he tried to bully Lady Beatrice into leaving them behind.

He became furious when she handed him the notarised list of items she had removed.

'How do I know that you did not take things which are not yours to take?' Frederick growled.

Mr Carson spoke up, 'As the magistrate, I was asked to be an independent witness. I checked off every item on the list. The Countess meticulously only took items to which she is entitled. Everything else is here. To suggest anything else is to impugn her honour. Also known as defamation, which is punishable by law. Even peers are not exempt.'

Frederick grudgingly accepted the injunction, but could not resist to have a petty revenge. 'Cousin Beatrice, since you have removed your possessions already, you can now remove yourself from Marven Manor as well.'

Then he seemed to have an afterthought, 'but before you go, send your nieces to me. They have been most remiss not to have presented themselves to me already. It is time they met their new guardian.'

'What gives you the idea that you could be the guardian of Lady Alexandra and Lady Daphne?' asked Mr Carson.

'As head of the family, I am the only one qualified for that office,' replied Frederick pompously. 'And if one of them pleases me, I shall make her my bride.'

'Apart from the fact that since neither Lady is yet out in society, your demand for a bride is obscene, you sir, are not the head of the Hunt family. You are the head of the Marven family. Therefore, you are not qualified to be their guardian,' huffed Mr Thompson. 'The late Earl appointed a new guardian and several alternatives, if the first choice becomes unavailable. You are not on the list.'

'There was no mention of the guardianship in the will,' protested Frederick, ignoring the slur about his wish for a young bride.

'The guardianship was not related to the estate and was dealt with in a separate document,' explained Mr Thompson without betraying the satisfaction he felt in thwarting the new Earl.

'I wish to see that document,' demanded the Earl.

'I am sorry, Sir. But you have no right to demand access to the personal documents of another family completely unconnected to you,' Mr Carson pointed out.

'Apart from that, you are too late. the Ladies have left the estate,' Lady Beatrice said as she quit the room.

~~H~~

Alexandra laughed, 'oh dear, what condescension. Make me his bride, indeed. But I should be safe. I have no intention of pleasing him.' Then she bristled. 'But the idea that he would consider my little sister, who is only fourteen years of age…' She shook herself in disgust.

'The only pleasing things about you that he cares about are your looks, wealth and title,' cautioned Lady Beatrice. 'He does not care about your character or personality. And even your looks are secondary to your wealth.'

'I stand corrected,' conceded Lady Alexandra. 'But the story thus far does not explain that convoy of carriages.'

'I was coming to that. Since Frederick effectively threw me out of the house with nothing but the clothes I was standing up in, Mr Carsons kindly offered to put me up for the night. He thought it was too late in the day to start a journey.

What Frederick was not aware of, since he slept so late, was that the rest of my things were already packed and loaded and my maid Dorothy was awaiting me in the carriage.

The other thing he missed was that Brian had come to me, asking for a reference from me since Frederick had fired him without one. While I spoke to Brian, he mentioned that due to the treatment he had received, it had caused great concern amongst all the staff. Apparently, they did not feel safe working for their new employer, who was prepared to use his fists simply because his desires could not be satisfied. I offered references to anyone who wanted to leave.'

Lady Beatrice smirked. 'That may have been a mistake. I spent the morning approving references for staff who have family in the area and therefore, somewhere to go. Mr Thompson's clerks were very helpful, not just in preparing the references for me to sign, but also calculating and documenting the severance pay for everyone. Luckily, the household funds on hand were sufficient, although barely, to pay out everyone who wanted to leave.

The ones without families pooled their resources to hire any conveyance they could get hold of.

I am told Frederick overindulged again that night and did not notice the exodus which occurred at dawn the next day. To the best of my knowledge, he still has a valet. Even the carriage he arrived in had been hired since he expected to use the Marven carriage, which is much better than the one he used to own.'

'Good grief. Are you telling us that the new Earl has that big manor house and not even a cook?' exclaimed Mrs Martin.

'Terrible, is it not?'

~~H~~

The following week, late one afternoon, saw the arrival of the final member of the small family. Lady Daphne Hunt was being returned to her sister by Mrs Cartwright.

As soon as the carriage stopped, without waiting for a footman to place the steps, Daphne jumped out and rushed to her sister to engulf her in an enthusiastic hug. 'You cannot imagine how much I missed you, Alex.'

'Can I not? You forget that I too was without my favourite sister.'

'I am your only sister,' huffed Daphne.

'Therefore, it follows that you are my favourite,' Alexandra completed their private joke.

'I am glad to see you back at Herne Hyde,' declared Mrs Cartwright, who had exited the coach much more decorously. 'Although I am saddened by the passing of the Earl of Marven. He was an excellent man.'

Mrs Cartwright was a distant cousin of the Hunt family, whose daughter Amelia had gone to school with Daphne, where they had become close friends. The school had been necessary for Daphne, since neither of her parents could satisfy her hunger for knowledge.

After their parent's passing, Alexandra had been busy learning all that she could from her uncle, to prepare her for her role as Master of the estate, Daphne had been glad of the support from Amelia and her family. And though she refused to admit it, Daphne had found the Earl to be rather irritating.

Yes, the Earl had been a true gentleman and respectful towards his wife, yet, being rather traditional, he could not comprehend that his young niece was more intelligent than most, if not all, of the men he knew. The Earl had struggled to accept that Alexandra was the heir to the Earldom, but since she had the courtesy not to rub his nose in her more masculine accomplishments, the Earl had come to a grudging respect for the young woman and fulfilled his duty by teaching her.

But Daphne was altogether different. She had a brilliant mind, but the arrogance and impatience of youth, untempered by social skills. Daphne had no problems pointing out in minute detail any misconceptions he might voice. The Earl in return had tried to force her into what he perceived to be the proper female role. To keep the peace, Daphne had spent much of the last year at school or visiting with the Cartwrights, whose daughter Amelia was similarly gifted, although not as abrasive.

Now that the Earl was gone, Daphne was glad to be reunited with her sister.

'Mrs Cartwright, I cannot thank you enough for the care and support you have shown to my sister. Perhaps, if it is agreeable to you, Amelia could spend some time with us at Herne Hyde.'

Mrs Cartwright laughed. 'My dear Lady Alex, I would be delighted to have Amelia come and stay with you. I should probably not say so, but it would be exceedingly pleasant for my family not having to try to keep up with Amelia for a time.'

'Surely, Amelia and I are not that bad,' pouted Daphne.

'No, child. But whilst you are both wonderful girls, it is exceedingly tiring for us lesser mortals to comprehend how your minds work.'

Lady Beatrice, who had joined them, suggested pointedly, that they would all be more comfortable inside the house.

~~H~~