Chapter 15
Charles Bingley was sixteen and had completed his third year of Harrow. He would turn seventeen just before he was to begin at Cambridge at the end of August. Charles had enjoyed his education, but not the bullying he had received because of his father being actively in trade.
Bingley Junior had hidden the truth of his experience from his father who had been so pleased he was able to provide his son with the gentleman's education he himself had not had the option to attain. Whenever his father expressed his pleasure at his son's academic achievements, Charles had presented a picture of affability to the outside world while inside he knew the truth of his experience.
It had not been all bad. He had made a true friend in Stuart Jamison whose parents, Will and Yvette, had a small estate, Ashford Dale, in Bedfordshire. Stuart only had one sibling, a younger sister Karen, who was thirteen.
At least his friend would be going to Cambridge with him, and they planned to share a space in the first year's accommodations. Jamison was not picked on at Harrow like Charles Bingley had been, but he was not accepted by the snooty members of the Ton due to his lack of wealth, connections, and the size of the family estate.
When he had become friendly with Jamison, he had thought his social climbing mother and younger sister would have been happy as the Jamisons had been on their land for many generations. Just the opposite was true. Mr. Jamison was an insignificant country squire with a small estate and no useful connections. Luckily both his father and Louisa, who was eighteen, had encouraged his friendship.
It was deeply frustrating to Martha Bingley and her youngest, Caroline who was fourteen that they were the only two in the family who cared about raising the Bingleys from their roots in trade.
Louisa had completed her two years at the local school and did not have a second's regret that she had stuck to her choice and not bent to her mother's will and gone to the seminary in London.
Louisa had been working with her father and uncle in their office at the carriage works one day when a Mr. Hurst and his son Harold had an appointment to look at a new carriage. The family had a medium to small estate, Winsdale, a little southeast of Scarborough near the market town of Scampston.
There seemed to be a connection between Miss Bingley and Mr. Hurst Junior. He was five and twenty and from what Louisa could tell, he was a good man. It seemed the younger Mr. Hurst found many reasons to visit the carriage works. A month after meeting her he asked if he could call on her and not many weeks after that they were in a formal courtship.
One evening Martha Bingley complained to her husband about the Hursts only being members of the lower second circles, not high enough to help them in society. Arthur let his wife know in no uncertain terms that she would not interfere in their daughter's courtship at the pain of permanent loss of her allowance. With much bad grace, Martha Bingley kept her opinions to herself and was almost pleasant to the Hursts when the families met and dined together right after Louisa accepted a proposal from her suitor.
The wedding was set for August of 1803.
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The day after she died, Robert Darcy presented his late wife's best friends and sisters with their letters. There were two letters he held in reserve. His wife had written one to each of her children to be presented to them on the day they reached their majority, or they began a courtship, whichever came first.
The three ladies who received letters from Anne Darcy decided they would only open them after the funeral. The day after the former Lady Catherine had been removed from Pemberley was the day Fanny Bennet opened her letter in agreement with her friends Elaine and Edith who would open theirs that day as well.
June 20, 1803
To my dear friend and sister, Fanny,
What am I able to say to one who I have become so close to over the last eight years? I love you as a sister, just like our mutual friend Priscilla did. I will not ask you to keep any life defining secrets for me my friend.
All I ask is that you, Thomas, and your children will be there for Robert, William, and Gigi. You know my wishes that Gigi come spend some time with you and your family after the three months mourning is completed.
If she is dead set against it and does not want to leave Pemberley, that will be fine as well. I want my darling daughter to be able to choose and have her choice respected. I am confident she will want to be with Kitty and Lydia, so when you and Robert give her the option, you will know if I am correct or not.
William will need help as well. I intend to extract a promise from him that he will not withdraw into himself, I am sure he will deny me nothing, but he may need some prodding, or a kick from Lizzy.
Am I insane to think that one day they would be perfect for one another? Although Lizzy is still five years away from her come out, the revelations at that time will surely shockwaves through her life. By then, William will have finished at Cambridge and will be able to help her through that transition. I swear I see something there.
"You may have the right of it my sister," Fanny shook her head as she read the last. William and Lizzy had become very close, but there was still a long way between that and any romantic feelings between the two.
The answer to my above speculation is one you will have in the future. As much as I would love to be there to witness it for myself, it is not to be. I will have to find a way to send you a message from beyond when, as I suspect I will be, I am proved correct.
I want to thank you for your unwavering friendship, not only to me, but to my friend Priscilla as well. She gave you a herculean task and you accepted without a second thought. If that is not the purest form of love between friends—sisters—that exists, then I know of none other.
It was my privilege to be accepted as a close friend by you Fanny. You do nothing by halves, and it was—is—the same in out friendship. Because of the support my three sisters will give Robert, William, and Gigi, when my time comes I will be able to enter my eternal slumber in peace.
I very much desired to be there for all of the coming outs from Jane down to Lydia. You will have to help represent me at Gigi's coming out, as I am asking the same of Elaine and Edith as well. I will not be there with my daughter when she joins society, but I am confident in the three surrogate mothers who will be there in my stead.
I intend to have Robert promise that he will not give up and stop living. William and Gigi will need him more than ever. I will not try to take away from the one year of mourning, but after that I want him to begin to live again. All of you, including Frederick, will be integral to making sure my Robert carries on with life.
Let me close by thanking you for gifting me your friendship, your loyalty, and most of all the love of a sister.
Farwell Fanny,
Anne
By the time Fanny completed her letter the tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Anne, how I miss you," Fanny lamented aloud. The bond she had shared with Priscilla had been deep and she had never thought she would ever find such a bond with another friend. She was wrong, she had, with all three of her new sisters.
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After a subdued dinner that night, the three ladies who had read their letters from the late Anne Darcy, sat on one settee in the drawing room. No one spoke for a time. "Anne has charged us with looking after her family and by goodness, that is what we will do," Lady Elaine stated quietly so only her two friends could hear.
"That she has Elaine. I agree that it will be best for Gigi to be with the Bennets after the initial three-month mourning period is over," Lady Edith opined. "Fanny, if Cassie wants to, would you allow her to spend some time at Netherfield with Gigi? Cassie is not as close as Kitty and Lydia are to her, but she counts Gigi among her best friends."
"Edith, surely you know there is no need to even ask," Fanny returned as she took and patted Lady Edith's hand. "With or without Gigi's presence, Cassie—any of you—is welcome anytime we are home. Between the science, math, music, and singing masters we will keep her occupied, and the more the merrier. Mr. Mercury has said many times that a few more voices and he will be able to form a choir from his students."
"If Robert is not up to travelling yet, Reggie and I will transport Gigi to Netherfield and if you like Edith, we will collect Cassie on the way," Lady Elaine ventured.
"That would be perfect Elaine," Lady Edith responded.
"We must have our husbands talk to Robert," Fanny remembered. "Anne did not want Gigi to feel abandoned by her father, so even during his year of mourning it will be important for him to be present at Netherfield from time to time."
"We can always have Frederick make a royal decree," Lady Elaine jested.
"It will also be important for William to visit on his term breaks and holidays while Gigi is with us," Fanny pointed out. "Now that there is no longer a tension between him and Lizzy, I feel he will come visit Gigi as often as he is able."
The ladies allowed one another to read their letters from Anne as she had not asked them to keep what she wrote confidential. There were not a few tears that fell between them as they could hear their sister's voice in their heads as they each read each other's letters.
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The five fathers, along with Andrew, Jamie, Richard, and William were in the dining parlour still, each with a snifter of brandy except for Bennet who preferred his port. He would drink brandy or cognac if there was no choice, but when there was, he selected port.
"It has been but a few days and I still hear my Anne's voice echoing in the house, I can smell her lavender scent in her chambers still," Robert Darcy stated reflectively as he swirled the golden-brown liquid in the snifter in his hands.
"It has been thirteen years since my beloved Priscilla died," the Prince stated pensively, "and I still imagine I see and hear her, and it is not only because of my daught…" It hit the Prince at that moment there were four younger men present who had no idea about his daughter. He saw four pairs of eyes staring at him in question and four others who shook their heads almost imperceptibly.
"Do you have a daughter Uncle Freddy?" Richard asked as he gave the Prince a questioning look.
"Do you know of a daughter of mine Richard?" Frederick deflected. "I have often dreamed of my Priscilla still being alive with the son who was buried next to her. In my dreams we have a daughter too, one who looks and sounds just like my late wife. In my melancholy as I thought of my beloved, I misspoke."
"No Uncle, I know of no daughter of yours," Richard answered. His suspicion was aroused. His brother, Jamie, and William thought nothing of it but Richard knew what he heard and the Prince's explanation just did not add up.
"We are returning to the drawing room," Andrew stated as he led the other two young men out of the dining parlour. Lord Holder and Robert Darcy left and closed the door behind them.
"Your Highness, who is your daughter?" Richard suspected who it was. He remembered the way his Aunt Anne and his mother both had stared at…Lizzy! He recognised men from the royal guard in the footmen and outriders the Bennets employed. He looked at the Prince, his father, and Mr. Bennet all watching him as his mind wrestled with the problem.
"Do you have a question you need to ask son?" Lord Matlock asked.
"Mr. Bennet, Lizzy is not your daughter is she? She is his Royal Highness's daughter from his first marriage. Oh Lord, William called a princess 'riffraff!'" Richard concluded.
"Lizzy does not know," Bennet owned. "We need you to swear under pain of death you will not disclose what you have stumbled on to anyone until she is told when she turns eighteen."
"Is it not treason so keep a royal in your household Mr. Bennet?" Richard worried.
"No Richard, it is not as I have given the Bennet's royal indemnification to keep and raise my daughter…" Frederick gave Richard an abbreviated explanation of why Lizzy was being raised by the Bennets.
"So Mr. Taylor is there to make sure Lizzy is healthy, not to see to you when you visit?" Richard asked.
"That would be correct, except he would take care of me too if I fall ill when at Netherfield Park," the Prince stated.
"Aunt Anne, may she rest in peace, and Mother found out eight years ago at Holder Heights. Aunt Anne and Mother would never keep secrets from you and Uncle George, so you have known since then have you not Father?" Richard puzzled out.
"Yes, it is true Son, but you understand why it is imperative to keep this knowledge to yourself?" Lord Matlock asked his son. "You cannot act any differently than you always have around Lizzy. This knowledge is a burden you will have to bear for the next five years and as you know, you are now one of Lizzy's protectors."
"Netherfield Park was Lady Priscilla's was it not?" Richard asked.
"Yes and it belongs to Lizzy, or it will do when she turns one and twenty," Bennet explained. "That is another thing which is kept secret, Lizzy's wealth—which is vast—for obvious reasons."
Richard was almost sorry he pushed the point, as he was able to see the knowledge was a burden. He could not talk to Andrew, Jamey, or William about it; no one outside of the small circle who already knew. Lizzy a Princess of England. Richard just shook his head as if that would shake the knowledge back out of his consciousness.
"When we have absolute private you may talk to any of us, and that includes your Uncle Robert and Lord Holder," the Prince assured Richard. "Swear to me. You will not reveal what you have learnt to another; we have five years to get through."
"On my life, I give you my vow of secrecy," Richard swore.
"Think of this as good practice for the army Lieutenant," Frederick stated.
"Yes Sir, Field Marshal Sir," Richard snapped off a smart salute. He often forgot Uncle Freddy was one of the highest-ranking military officers in the realm.